In the Nation

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A man allegedly molested three decades ago by a priest was arrested Friday on charges that he lured the clergyman to the lobby of a Jesuit retirement home and beat him in front of shocked witnesses, authorities said.

William Lynch, 43, was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for the May 10 attack that sent the Rev. Jerold Lindner, 65, to the hospital with bruises and lacerations, said Sgt. Rick Sung, Santa Clara County sheriff's spokesman. Lynch is said to have harbored a fantasy for years of confronting the priest, who also allegedly molested his little brother.

Lynch and his younger brother settled with the Jesuits of the California Province, a Roman Catholic religious order, for $625,000 in 1998 after alleging that Lindner abused them in 1975 during weekend camping trips in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Police connected Lynch to the attack using phone records, Sung said. A half hour before the beating, a caller identifying himself as "Eric" called the rest home and said someone would arrive shortly to inform Lindner of a family member's death.

- AP

CANTON, Ohio - Campaigning in the heart of Ohio's football country, former President Bill Clinton on Saturday compared the sport to politics as he tried to save the Democratic governor's job.

Clinton canvassed the bellwether state flanked by Gov. Ted Strickland and U.S. Rep. John Boccieri, both in tight races this year. Speaking on a leaf-strewn parking lot in Canton, Clinton implored his audience of about 1,000 people to vote based on the facts - not out of anger over the still-sputtering economy.

"When something's important to us, life or death, like football, we not only build a Hall of Fame," said Clinton, referring to the fact that the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in the city, about 60 miles south of Cleveland. "We have instant replay to make sure we get the facts right."

- AP

ATLANTA - A Georgia firefighter plans to appeal his dismissal for taking cell-phone video of a woman killed in a car crash. The video was later received by the woman's parents.

Lawyer M. Michael Kendall said that firefighter Terrence Reid would challenge the decision by Spalding County officials to fire him effective Nov. 7. Kendall said the punishment is too harsh.

Reid used his personal cell phone to film the body of Dayna Kempson-Schacht, 23, who died July 17 when her Jeep crashed into trees. Kendall said the firefighter shared the video with three or four people. The video spread until it was eventually forwarded to the woman's parents.

- AP

More than 1,700 people evacuated because of a wildfire west of Boulder, Colo., were being allowed to return to their homes after firefighters worked through the night into Saturday. Calm winds and higher humidity helped keep the 144-acre fire from spreading, and it is now 70 percent contained.