CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

Final flight of space shuttle practically flawless so far

The space shuttle Atlantis hasn’t performed like a ship ready for retirement.

The first full day of the final flight of the aging space shuttle fleet — the most complicated machines ever built — was practically flawless.

NASA officials say the unusually small four-person crew of Atlantis worked through lunch Saturday and finished their tasks in near-record time.

After Friday’s launch, they inspected the shuttle’s heat shield for launch damage and prepared for this morning’s docking with the International Space Station.

So far, Atlantis doesn’t even have minor glitches. The worst problem is that the crew could not find an eye chart for a vision test, something that caused a chuckle among ground controllers.

“We couldn’t be more happy with what we’ve seen from the crew and Atlantis,” Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho said.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.

Betty Ford services planned for California, Grand Rapids

Public and private memorial ceremonies will be held in California and Michigan this week for former first lady Betty Ford as her casket travels to be laid to rest alongside her husband in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Family attorney and spokesman Greg Willard said Saturday that Ford died of natural causes at Eisenhower Medical Center at 3:30 p.m. Friday, and ceremonies are proceeding according to her wishes.

Ceremonies will be held Tuesday at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Palm Desert.

On Wednesday morning, her casket will travel by motorcade to the Palm Springs airport, destined for Michigan.

Ceremonies will be held in Grand Rapids on Wednesday night before burial Thursday.

For eulogies, Ford chose former first lady Rosalyn Carter, Lynne Cheney, wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and Cokie Roberts to speak, among others.

CARPINTERIA, Calif.

Royal watchers turn out to see William play polo

Prince William, with his wife watching, starred Saturday in a charity polo match that brought the crowd pouring onto the field in the most spontaneous moment of the couple’s visit to Southern California so far.

William scored four goals as his team went on to win the overall match. The crowd at the sun-splashed Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club rushed onto the field despite an announcer’s pleas for them to return their seats, and finally security used a line of rope to push them back.

Decorum was soon restored, and William’s wife, the former Kate Middleton, was to present the trophy to the winning team.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived by helicopter in Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County, joining hundreds of well-heeled royal watchers who’d traveled long distances — and paid big sums — to see them.

The cheap seats cost $400, while anyone paying $4,000 for a VIP ticket got a chance to hobnob with William and his bride.

Today, the royal couple will watch a dance at a nonprofit academy in the gritty Skid Row area of downtown, then attend a job fair for U.S. service members transitioning to civilian life.

BEAUMONT, Texas

Driver faces murder charge after crashing into cruiser

A man has been charged with capital murder after police say he intentionally drove his fleeing sport utility vehicle into the patrol car of an officer, who was struck and killed.

Bond was set at $250,000 Saturday for John Wesley Nero, 30, of the southeastern Texas city of Beaumont. He remained in a hospital in serious condition with injuries he sustained in the Friday night crash.

Beaumont Police Chief Frank Coffin said Officer Bryan Mitchell Hebert, 36, was retrieving road spikes from his trunk to try to stop the SUV when the vehicle struck the patrol car head-on, pushing it into the officer.

Hebert was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police said the suspect had assaulted his mother and grandmother Friday evening.