NATIONAL BRIEFS

COLORADO: Sex charges for 3 cadets

The Air Force charged three cadets with sexual misconduct Thursday, one accused of rape, just over a week after the government revealed a rise in reports of sexual assault at military academies. The three attended the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, but were involved in separate incidents over the past 15 months. "Sexual misconduct is a particularly egregious offense and we have a zero tolerance policy in the Air Force," Col. Tamra Rank, academy vice superintendent, said.

PENNSYLVANIA: Hearing in abduction hoax

A woman who faked her own kidnapping while actually at Disney World and stole more than $1 million is a "master con-woman" who should go to prison for 10 years, prosecutors said Thursday in Philadelphia. Bonnie Sweeten captured headlines in 2009 when she triggered an all-out search by making a phony 911 call to say she and her 9-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by two black men in a truck. The 40-year-old mother from Bucks County had taken her daughter to Disney World. It was the start of a sentencing hearing for Sweeten, a former law office manager who pleaded guilty to defrauding several people, including her boss.

MONTANA: Dog survives avalanche

A dog feared dead after he was swept away in an avalanche Saturday that killed his owner showed up four days later at the motel where his owners had stayed before going back-country skiing. On Wednesday, the Welsh corgi, named Ole, showed up exhausted and hungry back at the motel. "It was sitting in front of their room staring at the door," Cooke City Alpine Motel owner Robert Weinstein said Thursday. Dave Gaillard of Bozeman, skiing with his wife, was killed in the avalanche.