"Hello, truth. Hello, freedom. " The slogan was printed on the T-shirt Robert McClendon wore in court Monday when his release from prison was ordered, 18 years after conviction of child rape. Franklin County's Common Pleas Court Judge Charles A. Schneider ordered the release of McClendon, 52, of Columbus after new DNA tests showed that semen in the underwear of the then 10-year-old rape victim was not his.

FBI agents arrested a Houston woman Thursday who refused to return five children victims of Hurricane Katrina to their mother and recovered the kids she allegedly kidnapped. Rhonda Tavey, 44, was at her mother's home in northwest Houston when authorities arrested her, her attorney, Dick DeGuerin, told Chron. com. She is now detained at the Harris County Jail without bail and will appear in court Friday to face charges of kidnapping.

It is not impossible that U. S. adults could be overweight in the next 40 years if the trends of the previous three decades continue, according to a new government-funded study. Researchers say that the figures may seem impossible and that the actual rate does not reach the 100 percent mark. However, any upward movement in the rate is disturbing, considering that two in every three Americans are already overweight.

A controversial new "thrill ride," has been added to New York's Coney Island, only it's not actually a ride, and most would agree, there is no "thrill" in waterboarding. The store front attraction uses robots that look human to depict the act of waterboarding, a method of torture that gives the victim a feeling of drowning. A life size figure in a dark sweat suit and holding a bucket of water stands over a figure in an orange jump suit who is tied to a tilted board. Putting a dollar into a machine causes the robotic man in the sweat suit to dump water onto the face of the bound figure, whose face is covered by a towel. For 15 seconds, voyeurs watch the robot in the orange jumpsuit convulse.

This summer, adult amateur kickball leagues are being founded around Seattle at a surprising rate. Thanks to the efforts of the Underdog Sports League, kickball teams have grown from 70 teams in 2005 to 200 this year. Let's face it: the Supersonics are gone, the Mariners are horrible and the Seahawks won't be starting until the kids are back in school. At this point. . . Seattle sports fans just want to kick something.