Gaithers to return to Verizon Arena
Grammy Award-winning recording artist Bill Gaither will bring the Gaither Christmas Homecoming to Verizon Arena in North Little Rock on Dec. 12. The program of Christmas music featuring Gaither and the Gaither Vocal Band will begin at 6 p.m.
Other performers include the Isaacs, the Nelons, Angela Primm, Charlotte Ritchie, Gene McDonald and Kevin Williams.
Gaither and his wife, Gloria, are known for songs like "Because He Lives," "The King Is Coming," "Something Beautiful" and "He Touched Me," among many others. They have won multiple Grammy and Dove awards and are well known for their Homecoming series.
Ticket information is available online at premierproductions.com or gaither.com. Prices range from $20.50 per person for groups of 10 or more to $71.50 for Platinum Circle seats. To charge by phone, call (800) 745-3000. Tickets are also available at the Verizon box office. Group ticket information is available by calling (501) 975-9131.
-- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Pope calls slum conditions in Nairobi an injustice
Pope Francis denounced the conditions slum-dwellers are forced to live in during a visit to one of Nairobi's many shantytowns Friday, saying access to safe water is a basic human right and that everyone should have dignified, adequate housing.
Residents of the Kangemi slum lined the mud streets to welcome Francis, standing alongside goats and hens outside the corrugated tin-roofed shacks where many of the shantytown's small businesses operate: beauty parlors, cellphone "top-up" shops and storefront evangelical churches.
Those lucky enough to score a spot at St. Joseph's parish erupted in cheers and hymns when Francis arrived, ululating and waving paper flags printed with his photo and the "Kariba Kenya" welcome that has been ubiquitous on the pope's first-ever visit to Africa.
In remarks to the crowd, Francis insisted that everyone should have access to water, a basic sewage system, garbage collection, electricity as well as schools, hospitals and sport facilities.
"To deny a family water, under any bureaucratic pretext whatsoever, is a great injustice, especially when one profits from this need," he said.
-- The Associated Press
Prosecutors seek 580 years for kidnapper of 2 NY Amish girls
Federal prosecutors are seeking a maximum 580-year prison sentence for a man who sexually abused six children, including two Amish girls he kidnapped in northern New York.
Stephen M. Howells, 40, and Nicole Vaisey, 26, admitted in May that they sexually exploited children. Authorities say victims were drugged and recorded during sex acts.
The abuse ended after the couple was arrested for kidnapping two young Amish girls at a farm stand in northern New York in August 2014. The girls were released after a day.
"It is overwhelming to imagine the sheer terror inflicted on these young girls, taken from their family and their community, held captive for more than 24 hours, drugged, and subjected to degrading and unspeakable brutalities," read the sentencing memorandum by assistant U.S. attorney Lisa Fletcher.
The pair will be sentenced Dec. 17 in federal court in Syracuse.
Howells' public defender asked for a 30-year sentence. Prosecutors hadn't filed a recommended sentence for Vaisey by Friday morning. Her attorney, Bradford Riendeau, asked the judge this week in a filing to consider a sentence below the lawful maximum, arguing she had been severely abused by Howells and considered herself his "slave and property."
-- The Associated Press
NAN Religion on 11/28/2015