Security screeners violated rules at JFK

Security screeners at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York violated procedures when they asked two elderly women to show them medical devices concealed by their clothing, Homeland Security officials admitted.

In a letter to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole and Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Betsy Markey said screeners at the airport will get refresher training on how to handle passengers with medical devices.

The action followed complaints by Lenore Zimmerman, 85, and Ruth Sherman, 88, that they were effectively strip-searched in November. Sherman said female screeners made her lower her pants to examine her colostomy bag.

Washington Monument gets $7.5M gift

David Rubenstein, a billionaire history buff, said he will donate the $7.5million matching gift that's needed to start repairing cracks near the top of the Washington Monument from last summer's East Coast earthquake.

Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group private equity firm, said he was inspired to help fund the repairs to the 555-foot obelisk when it became clear how severely damaged it was by a 5.8-magnitude quake on Aug. 23.

His gift is to be announced today. Congress allocated $7.5million late last year, expecting a matching amount to be raised privately.

Wisconsin governor draws challenger

Kathleen Falk, a Milwaukee native who ran unsuccessfully for Wisconsin governor in 2002, became the first Democrat to formally enter the race to replace Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

Falk's announcement came one day after 1million signatures were submitted on petitions seeking to recall Walker, who is under siege for championing legislation that curtailed bargaining rights for public employees. If 540,000 signatures withstand challenges, an election could come this spring. Walker spokeswoman Ciara Matthews said Falk was "handpicked by big-government, public employee union bosses."

Lawyer arrested for gun at DFW airport

A lawyer was arrested for carrying a loaded handgun aboard an American Airlines jet at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Judith Kenney, 65, was released on her own recognizance, said her attorney, David Finn. Kenney carries a handgun for protection but had forgotten that it was in her computer bag, he said.

Screeners detected a gun, but she "picked up the bag and left the checkpoint," said Greg Soule, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. When screeners spot a gun in a bag, they are to seize the bag and notify police, he said. The plane, bound for Houston, was headed for the runway when it returned to the gate and was met by airport police. Kenney is "absolutely mortified, embarrassed," Finn said. "She feels terrible for putting the pilot and passengers through all that."

Pentagon plan targets sexual assaults

The Pentagon is preparing a series of initiatives to try to curb sexual assaults in the military, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.

He called the problem a "stain on the good honor" of the armed forces. Panetta said there were 3,191 sexual assaults reported in the military last year, up slightly from 3,158 in 2010. He said that because so few victims report the crime, the real number is closer to 19,000 assaults.

Also

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A jury convicted Kevin Benefield, 47, of the killing of a mother of four in 1986, a crime for which another man served 20 years before being exonerated by DNA tests.