Regional & National

A natural gas line explosion northeast of Oklahoma City sent flames into the air but caused little damage and
no injuries.

Oklahoma Natural Gas spokesman Don Sherry says the fire burned out after crews shut off the flow of gas to the pipeline Thursday afternoon.

The blast happened near Chandler, which is about 45 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. Flames whipped by northerly winds could be seen shooting into the air.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner says the blast did cause a small grass fire, but it was quickly
extinguished.

A police tow truck removed a minivan parked outside a New York City funeral home, giving its dearly departed passenger an unexpected side trip.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne says there was "nothing to indicate it was more than just an illegally parked car."

Redden's Funeral Home director Paul DeNigris said a windshield placard had fallen flat. The van's tinted windows helped obscure the white cardboard box that held the remains.

An 18-year-old student says a Mississippi school board that canceled a high school prom did so in retaliation for her request to bring a same-sex date.

The American Civil Liberties Union had demanded that the Itawamba County school district allow senior Constance McMillen to
attend with her girlfriend. A school district policy requires that dates be of the opposite sex.

A school board statement Wednesday announced the district wouldn't host the April prom. The district's statement didn't
mention McMillen's request but did refer to unspecified recent "distractions."

A Pennsylvania woman has been charged with using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters, help terrorists overseas and allegedly agreeing to kill a Swedish citizen.

Colleen R. LaRose of Pennsburg, Pennsylvania allegedly worked with five co-conspirators to recruit men who would carry out violent attacks and women who would assist in the jihad crimes, according to a federal indictment released Tuesday.

LaRose, who also went by the names "Fatima LaRose" and "JihadJane," allegedly began communicating via email with the co-conspirators in December 2008.

The first women to fly U.S. military planes will be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal on Capitol Hill.

More than 1,000 women flew aircraft during World War II. They were known as Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. Their primary mission was to fly noncombat missions in the United States.

Thirty-eight of them were killed in service. But they were long considered civilians, not members of the military, until 1977 when they were afforded veteran status.