Polls give lead to Schwarzenegger

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is leading state Treasurer Phil Angelides in the race for California governor, boosted by support from the heavily Democratic San Francisco Bay area, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Schwarzenegger had the support of 48 percent of likely voters polled, while 30 percent said they supported the Democrat, Angelides, according to the Public Policy Institute of California survey. Thirteen percent of voters, half of them Democrats, said they hadn’t yet made up their minds.

One reason for Schwarzenegger’s big lead is that he is polling better than Republican candidates typically do in traditionally Democratic areas. In the Bay area, he leads Angelides 40 percent to 34 percent.

Angelides has a narrow lead in Los Angeles, where he has the support of a larger percentage of the city’s Hispanics, who make up one in three voters in Los Angeles County.

Starke, Fla.

Serial killer Rolling executed in Florida

Danny Harold Rolling, Florida’s most notorious serial killer since Ted Bundy, was executed by injection Wednesday for butchering five college students in a string of slayings that terrorized Gainesville in 1990.

Rolling, 52, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. EDT, more than 16 years after his killing rampage at the start of the University of Florida’s fall semester.

When asked for a last statement, Rolling sang for two minutes what sounded like a hymn with the refrain “none greater than thee, O Lord, none greater than thee,” witnesses and prison officials said.

He appeared to continue singing after prison officials turned off the microphone, finally stopping just before he died.

Denver

Toys used to ship meth, agents say

Authorities said Wednesday that they have broken up a methamphetamine ring that shipped the drug in toys including an Elmo doll.

Agents said 19 people were in custody, including the alleged leader of the northern Colorado drug ring, and that they seized more than 45 pounds of what they described as high-quality methamphetamine.

Officials released photos of an Elmo doll found in a car in Barstow, Calif., with a caption saying 4 pounds of methamphetamine was found inside.

Authorities said other toys also were used to hide drugs but did not elaborate. Other photos showed drugs shipped in a suitcase and tucked inside a tire.