LANSDOWNE, Va. (AP) -- Charles Colson, the tough-as-nails special counsel to President Richard Nixon who went to prison for his role in a Watergate-related case and became a Christian evangelical helping inmates, has died. He was 80.
Jim Liske, chief executive of the Lansdowne-based Prison Fellowship Ministries that Colson founded, said Colson died Saturday
Colson, with his trademark horn-rimmed glasses, was known as the "evil genius" of the Nixon administration who once said he'd walk over his grandmother to get the president elected to a second term.
The Washington Post described him in 1972 as "one of the most powerful presidential aides, variously described as a troubleshooter and as a `master of dirty tricks."'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Politicians and friends are remembering Charles Colson, who went from serving time in prison in a Watergate-related case to serving God by ministering to inmates.
House Speaker John Boehner (BAY'-nur) says the former aide to President Richard Nixon "lived an extraordinary life" and "went on to spark a movement of ideas and people focused on spiritual transformation."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Colson's life was a reminder of "the seductions of power and the rewards of service."
And the Rev. Billy Graham says, "When I get to Heaven and see Chuck again, I believe I will also see many, many people there whose lives have been transformed because of the message he shared with them."
Colson died today at age 80. The chief executive with Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries says the preliminary cause of his death was complications from brain surgery Colson had last month.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- The overnight disappearance of a 6-year-old Arizona girl has triggered a massive search by scores of police, FBI agents and a large contingent of deputy U.S. Marshals as officials investigate the possibility that she was kidnapped or just wandered off.
A Tucson police spokeswoman says first-grader Isabel Mercedes Celis's parents last saw her in bed at 11 p.m. Friday, and they discovered her missing at about 8 a.m. Saturday.
Police continued to search an area of Tucson around East Broadway Boulevard and Craycroft Road into the evening using street patrols, canines, detectives and a helicopter.
KVOA-TV in Tucson reports that friends of the family have fanned out to distribute fliers with a photo of Isabel.
Investigators are looking into all potential scenarios, including the possibility that Isabel got up and wandered out of the home she shares with her parents and two brothers or that she was kidnapped.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investigators have finished ripping up the concrete floor of the New York City basement where they are searching for traces of a 6-year-old boy who vanished in 1979.
So far, authorities haven't given any outward sign that they've found anything.
FBI agents and police have been excavating for three days in a hunt for any remains of Etan Patz (AY'-tahn payts).
FBI spokesman Tim Flannelly said Saturday that all the concrete flooring had been removed.
He said the next step is digging in the dirt beneath the floor.
Etan was on his way to school when he disappeared. He would have passed the stairwell leading to the basement during his walk.
Authorities say they began the search after an FBI dog indicated the scent of human remains in the room.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) -- Reporters, photographers and cameramen are staking out the Seminole County Jail in Florida today after a judge agreed to let George Zimmerman out on $150,000 bail.
The neighborhood watch volunteer is facing a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. His attorney says it'll be a few days before Zimmerman is released as his family tries to secure collateral for the bail.
Defense attorneys for other high-profile clients who awaited trial on bail had advice for how to protect Zimmerman, whose shooting of the unarmed black 17-year-old sparked nationwide protests. They say he should leave Florida, avoid going out in public and never be left alone.
New York attorney Barry Slotnick represented subway shooter Bernhard Goetz in the 1980s. He says Zimmerman will put himself in harm's way unless he takes precautions.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Federal scientists say that a volleyball and soccer ball that washed ashore on an island may be the first pieces of debris to arrive in Alaska from the last year's tsunami in Japan.
The Anchorage Daily News reports that the sports balls were spotted by a radar technician on Middleton Island. His wife traced the writing on the balls to a Japanese school in an area hit by the tsunami.
Doug Helton of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the balls are one of the first pieces of debris that can be traced back to Japan -- and make it possible to return it to the owner.
Middleton Island lies almost due south of Cordova in the Gulf of Alaska, 70 miles from the mainland.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A published report says Wal-Mart hushed up a vast bribery campaign that top executives of its Mexican subsidiary carried out to build stores across that country.
The New York Times reported Saturday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. failed to notify law enforcement officials even after its own investigators found evidence of millions of dollars in bribes.
The bribery campaign was reported to have first come to the attention of senior executives at Wal-Mart in 2005, when a former executive of its largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico, provided extensive details of a bribery campaign it had orchestrated to win market dominance.
Wal-Mart, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., issued a response Saturday saying that it takes compliance with that law very seriously. It says it's "working aggressively to determine what happened."