Professor suspended after filing of charges

POCATELLO (AP) — Idaho State University has suspended with pay Thomas Hale, a history professor and director of the Oral History Project at the school, who was charged in federal court last month with falsely claiming that he mailed out a dangerous substance.

Hale, 61, was arrested in Salt Lake City and faces three felony charges for mailing a substance he claimed was hantavirus to a trustee overseeing his bankruptcy case. He has pleaded not guilty.

Hantavirus, which is carried by rodents and can cause acute respiratory problems or death, has sickened at least 317 Americans and killed at least 93 since 1996.

Hale is also an attorney, and he filed a motion Friday asking U.S. Judge William T. Thurman to recuse himself from Hale's bankruptcy case.

In that motion Hale included three memos, one of them concerning his suspension from the school.

"Pending resolution of these charges, I believe it is in the best interests of the university to relieve you of your teaching responsibilities for the spring semester and until further notice," wrote John Kijinski, Hale's superior and dean of ISU's College of Arts and Sciences.