Sanford dodges impeachment

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford dodged impeachment Wednesday but was scolded by legislators for his travels to see a mistress in Argentina and his misuse of state planes.

A legislative panel voted down a measure to impeach the two-term Republican, opting instead to recommend a formal rebuke for bringing the state "ridicule, dishonor, disgrace and shame."

"We can't impeach for hypocrisy. We can't impeach for arrogance. We can't impeach an officeholder for his lack of leadership skills," said Rep. James Harrison, a fellow Republican who headed the panel.

Most of the seven legislative committee members said the Republican should resign, though his affair, use of state planes and a 2008 taxpayer-funded trip to Argentina were not serious misconduct that merited a recommendation to remove him from office.

Sanford has been under scrutiny since June when he revealed a yearlong affair. Ensuing probes of his travel and campaign spending led to more than three dozen state ethics charges.

Rating agencies' role targeted

WASHINGTON -- Enforcement officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department said Wednesday that their staffs are targeting the role of Wall Street rating agencies in the financial meltdown.

The three dominant agencies -- Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings -- failed to give investors adequate warning of the risks in subprime mortgage securities, whose collapse touched off the financial crisis.

The agencies are crucial financial gatekeepers. Their grades of creditworthiness can be key factors in determining at what cost securities will be purchased by banks, mutual funds, state pension funds or local governments.

Carter grandson eyes state seat

ATLANTA -- Jimmy Carter's grandson is following the former president into politics with a run for the Georgia state Senate.

Democrat Jason Carter says he will run for an Atlanta-area seat that's being vacated by President Obama's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Singapore.

If David Adelman is confirmed as ambassador in January, a special election could be held in March for his Senate seat representing part of DeKalb County. Jason Carter is the only candidate so far for the seat, a Democratic stronghold.

Rifle jammed after 2 shots

WOODBRIDGE, Va. -- A community college student was upset about his grades when he walked into a classroom and fired two shots at his professor before his new rifle jammed, police said Wednesday.

Jason M. Hamilton, 20, was unable to continue shooting at mathematics professor Tatyana Kravchuk, who ducked behind a desk and was not hit, Prince William County police Maj. Ray Colgan said. No one was injured.

Hamilton bought the Marlin .30-06 bolt-action rifle Monday at a Dick's Sporting Goods store near the campus, police said.

Hamilton was arraigned and held without bond Wednesday on charges of attempted murder and discharging a firearm in a school zone.

ACLU loses $19M annual donor

NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union has lost a quarter of its yearly donations after a major donor cut off $19 million in annual donations because of economic difficulties.

David Gelbaum, a wealthy California conservationist, said he was indefinitely stopping the donations that had made him the New York-based group's largest anonymous donor.

"For a number of years, your organization has received very substantial charitable contributions from me," Gelbaum said in a statement. "My investments in alternative, clean energy companies have placed me in a highly illiquid position as a result of the general credit crisis in the American and world financial systems."

Gelbaum also announced he was halting some $12 million in yearly gifts to the Sierra Club Foundation and about $50 million a year that he's been giving to an organization serving veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

-- From wire reports