In the Nation

ALABAMA

Minister fights for job after confession

An Alabama minister was back in court Monday, fighting to keep his job after confessing he had sex with married church members inside the church and did not tell them he has AIDS.

Circuit Judge Charles Price said he will rule within a week on whether the Rev. Juan McFarland can return to Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery or whether the judge's order temporarily banning him from the church will become permanent. McFarland's attorney, Dwayne Brown, said the minister, 47, is terminally ill with AIDS. Under questioning McFarland admitted that he confessed to the congregation during sermons in August and September that he had committed "sins against God." Attorney Kenneth Shinbaum asked him repeatedly for specifics, and McFarland answered each time, "I plead the Fifth." - AP

HAWAII

Lava flow shifting

Hawaii County says the front of a lava flow near the small town of Pahoa has shifted. County civil defense officials said Monday the front is now nearly three miles upslope of an intersection at the entrance of Pahoa town. The lava is moving through forested land and has advanced about 400 yards since Sunday. The county says the lava doesn't immediately pose a threat to area communities. - AP

WEST VIRGINIA

Gunman found dead

Police say a West Virginia man suspected in four killings in separate shootings has been found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A state police spokesman says Jody Lee Hunt, 39, was found in the woods Monday evening in the southern part of Monongalia County. Earlier, state police said Hunt was being sought in two shootings in the Westover area and another in the Cheat Lake area. - AP