Feb 20, 2014 3 min read

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – An 84-year-old nun has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for breaking into and defacing a storage bunker holding bomb-grade uranium in a peace protest at a Tennessee weapons plant.

Sister Megan Rice was sentenced Tuesday along with two men who were each sentenced to more than five years in prison.

The three activists cut through three fences on July 28, 2012, and reached a storage bunker that holds the nation’s primary supply of bomb-grade uranium. They painted messages, hung banners and threw blood on the bunker wall.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Bibles will be removed from guest rooms at Iowa State University’s Hotel Memorial Union in Ames.

The Des Moines Register says a guest complained to a watchdog group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The organization wrote to Memorial Union director Richard Reynolds on Jan. 29, asking for the Bibles to be removed. The group’s attorney, Patrick Elliott, said that for a state-run university to provide a Bible to guests, “that policy facilitates illegal endorsement of Christianity over other religions and over nonreligion.”

NOVI, Mich. (AP) – A Detroit-area pastor’s vision of guiding thousands of volunteers to pack 2 million meals over a three-day weekend has come true.

The Rev. Brad Powell said it was better than he imagined. His 2 Million Meals effort reached its goal Sunday.

When it did, the seven digits were displayed on an oversized video screen and volunteers cheered and danced as the sports-arena anthem “Rock & Roll, Part 2” filled the convention hall in Novi.

The food is a mixture of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and 21 vitamins and minerals.

It will be shipped to El Salvador, Haiti and the Philippines, where it can provide one meal a day for a year to 5,560 children.

MIDDLESBORO, Ky. (AP) – A snake-handling pastor in Kentucky who died after being bitten by one of the serpents during a church service has been remembered fondly at a memorial service.

Jamie Coots was known for his role on the National Geographic television reality show “Snake Salvation.” But a family friend remembered him Tuesday night for his “great faith” and tolerance of others. Bill Bisceglia of Middlesboro told Knoxville, Tenn., station WBIR-TV that the 42-year-old Coots didn’t argue with people who didn’t agree with him, but maintained his own beliefs until he died.

People parked blocks away from the funeral home where visitation and a funeral service were held. Visitors said afterward the funeral home was full and lines were long.

Coots was handling a rattlesnake when he was bitten Saturday night.