National news briefs

Men name pastor in a sex abuse lawsuit

ATLANTA (AP) — Two men have filed a lawsuit accusing Bishop Eddie Long of exploiting his role as pastor of an Atlanta-area megachurch to coerce them into sexual relationships when they were members of his congregation.

Lawyers for the men, now 20 and 21, say they filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in DeKalb County Court. The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they were victims of sex crimes.

Craig Gillen, Long's attorney, says the pastor "categorically denies the allegations."

Detroit mayor picks new chief of police

DETROIT (AP) — Mayor Dave Bing on Tuesday named the city's interim police chief to the role permanently, saying the new chief has shown he can "deliver the results" the city deserves.

Ralph Godbee took over the job this summer after Bing fired his predecessor, Warren Evans, who held the job for just over a year. Bing, in a statement, said he chose Godbee to run Detroit's police operations after a 60-day search.

"Chief Godbee has demonstrated that he can deliver the results this administration expects and our residents deserve," Bing said. "Nothing is more important than making Detroit a safe city."

Evans, a former Wayne County sheriff, was appointed chief by Bing in 2009 and fired after he raised the mayor's ire by taking part in a promotional video for a cable police reality show.

Supreme Court will not stop execution

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has refused to block Virginia's plan to execute a woman convicted in two killings, setting the stage for the state's first execution of a woman in nearly a century.

The woman, Teresa Lewis, is scheduled to die by injection Thursday for trading sex and money in the hired killings of her husband and stepson in October 2002 for a $250,000 insurance payout.

Two of the three women on the court, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, voted to stop the execution. The court did not otherwise comment on its order Tuesday.

Mother, father get prison for abuse

CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland mother has been sentenced to 34 years in prison and the father got 26 years for abuses that included hog-tying their son to a table nightly for months.