The details: An air-traffic controller in New Jersey was suspended and might be fired for talking on the phone with his girlfriend at the moment a plane collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine. The controller’s supervisor, who was reportedly absent from his post at the time, has also been suspended.

UFO Minister?

2| Aussie science minister reaches out to aliens

The details: Australian Science Minister Kim Carr invited his countrymen to send a message to aliens on planet Gliese 581d by entering it on a Web site. The messages entered there will reportedly be beamed to the faraway planet by the government’s observatory in Canberra. Carr was the first to send a message. ‘Hello from Australia on the planet we call Earth,’ he wrote.

Specter of defeat

3| Switch did little good for senator

The details: After a poll showed him trailing an intra-party rival by double-digits, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties to avoid a primary. Now a general election poll shows him trailing the same man, former Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., by double digits. The Rasmussen poll showed Specter’s large lead from earlier in the summer had evaporated.

Picking the wrong fight

4| Philly cop versus 100-lb. woman

The details: Philadelphia cop Tamika Gross allegedly started a fight with a civilian half her size –and lost. “You got a lot of mouth ’cause you holdin’ that baby,” Gross allegedly said to Latifa Savage before striking her. Savage, who weighs about 100 lbs., handed her baby to a neighbor and beat up Gross. Police are investigating the incident.

Hitler for Halloween?

5| White House spokesman makes bizarre claim

The details: Bill Burton, a spokesman for President Barack Obama, claimed in an interview this week that people had “dressed up as Hitler” to oppose Obama’s health care reform plan. “People are showing up to events with swastikas, dressed up as Hitler,” Burton told Fox News. When asked, the White House failed to substantiate Burton’s claim.

Another fatal accident

6| Metro employee killed on tracks

The details: Michael Nash, a 21-year veteran of Metro, was killed Monday near the Orange Line Vienna station when he was struck by a gravel spreader. This was the second fatal accident in less than two months. Metro is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board for a June 22 Red Line crash that killed nine people and injured dozens more.

Checkpoint Charlie

7| Court asked to reconsider ban

The details: An omnibus crime bill passed by the District Council makes checkpoints unnecessary, but Attorney General Peter Nickles is asking a federal court to reinstate them anyway. The court previously ruled that checkpoints set up in the Trinidad neighborhood after a crime spree were unconstitutional.

Enough already

8| Another stadium?

The details: Mayor Adrian Fenty and Councilman Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, are hoping to lure the Redskins back to D.C., possibly erecting a 110,000-seat domed stadium in RFK’s current location. The city has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to Nationals Stadium.

Stinging hike

9| Tour group attacked by bees

The details: A tour group going through Rock Creek Park was attacked by a swarm of bees. Eight people, including adults and children, were stung multiple times when they happened upon a bee hive. Two children were taken to the Children’s Hospital, but are not considered in serious condition.

Bad education

10| Faculty at D.C. charter school cheated

The details: Two teachers and one administrator at Howard Road Academy Public Charter School in Southeast have been fired for giving advanced copies of the DC-CAS standardized exam to students for “extra practice.” Student scores have been invalidated, and the campus will lose $10,000 of Title 1 funding in order to cover the costs of the tests.