Ohio

Following the fatal fall of a young actress during a Christmas performance at a Cincinnati megachurch, four special services that will focus on helping to process the loss are being held this weekend.

"Our prayers and heartfelt sympathies go out to her family during this incredibly difficult time," Crossroads Community Church said in a statement. "We are shocked and deeply grieved by this tragic accident."

Keri Shryock, 23, fell about 25 feet to a concrete floor during the opening night performance of "Awaited" on Wednesday. She died a few hours later. more >>

CLEVELAND – A woman so horribly disfigured she was willing to risk her life to do something about it has undergone the nation's first near-total face transplant, the Cleveland Clinic announced Tuesday. Reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow and a team of other specialists replaced 80 percent of the woman's face with that of a female cadaver a couple of weeks ago in a bold and controversial operation certain to stoke the debate over the ethics of such surgery.

The patient's name and age were not released, and the hospital said her family wanted the reason for her transplant to remain confidential. The hospital plans a news conference Wednesday and would not give details until then.

The transplant was the fourth worldwide; two have been done in France, and one was performed in China. more >>

Joanne Brown and her friend, Linda Bennett, said they were doing their Christmas shopping last year when they noticed many people saying "Happy Holidays" to them instead of "Merry Christmas."

"Tired of hearing that greeting," they decided to do something about it, they told Fox News. The two brainstormed and finally decided to purchase a billboard as a way to spread the Christmas greeting.

The idea caught on and donations poured in, allowing the duo to post a total of four billboards last year. more >>

A high volume of complaints have forced the Cincinnati Zoo to pull out of a special business partnership with the Creation Museum in nearby Petersburg, Ky., after running for less than three days.

The two institutions had come together to offer a special ticket package that gave visitors the opportunity to drop in on both at a discounted rate while promoting one another at the same time.

According to the Creation Museum’s founder, Ken Ham, however, the zoo received hundreds of complaints, many of which were opposed to the faith and ideas that the museum presents. more >>

The newly elected president of the American Civil Liberties Union says the organization plans to reach out to communities where it is not well-known or not well-understood.

"There's a very widespread misimpression that the ACLU opposes religion" despite its efforts to protect rights to religious expression, ACLU president-elect Susan Herman told The Associated Press after she was tapped Saturday to replace Nadine Strossen, the ACLU's longest-serving president.

In particular, the Brooklyn Law School professor said she was surprised "there aren't more people in the African-American community that believe the ACLU is their organization." more >>

A group of clergy filed a complaint Monday with the Internal Revenue Service to block a conservative legal group from organizing pastors willing to risk their church’s tax-exempt status to preach about politics.

The group, backed by three former top IRS officials, contends that pastors should respect the 54-year-old rule of law that bans tax-exempt houses of worship from endorsing political candidates. They call on the IRS to examine if organizer Alliance Defense Fund has violated its own tax-exempt status by encouraging pastors to make political endorsements from their pulpit.

"As religious leaders, we have grave concerns about the ethical implications of soliciting and organizing churches to violate core principles of our society," the 55 Christian and Jewish leaders wrote in their claim, according to The Washington Post. more >>