New Jersey governor Chris Christie, 48, has agreed to pay the state $3,170 to cover the cost of using a state patrol helicopter to travel to and from his son's high school baseball game. Christie, who touts himself as a fiscally conservative budget-cutter, defended his personal use of the $12.5 million chopper, telling the press: "I'm governor 24/7 every single day, but I'm also a father." The United States Supreme Court threw out damage claims against former attorney general John Ashcroft, 69, over the post-9/11 detention of Kansas-born University of Idaho football star Abdullah al-Kidd, 38. Al-Kidd, a Muslim convert, was headed to Saudi Arabia on a scholarship in 2003 when he was arrested by federal agents and held for 16 days, during which time he was repeatedly strip-searched, left naked in a jail cell, transported in handcuffs and leg irons, and kept with people who had been convicted of violent crimes. Jan Mary Beach, 47, and Scott Evan Beach, 49, were arrested for allegedly running an illegal mouse-racing operation at their Danville, Iowa, tavern. Investigators discovered several mice in cages and a miniature race track, and described the bets as "over any limits that would make it legal."