National Roundup

Pennsylvania
Road crew paints yellow line over dead raccoon

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The “squirrelly” configuration of a western Pennsylvania road helped cause a state road crew to paint a double-yellow line over a dead raccoon.

Motorcyclist Sean McAfee snapped a photo of the mistake before it could be cleaned up and submitted it to the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown.

He says he almost crashed, he was laughing so hard.

PennDOT spokesman John Ambrosini says paint crews usually have a foreman on the job who clears away any dead animals before the paint-spraying truck equipment passes by. This crew didn’t have a foreman and the equipment was too big to turn around in traffic, remove the animal and repair the paint. He says the “the squirrelly geometry” of the narrow road didn’t help.

But the crew did try to stop the paint gun.


California
Judge dismisses workers’ lawsuit against Dole

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by nearly 3,000 Filipino workers claiming injury from pesticide exposure while worked for Dole Food Co.

The Ventura County Star reports the plaintiffs said they were exposed to the pesticides at banana plantations more than 30 years ago.

The food company says an identical lawsuit filed 13 years ago in the Philippines was dismissed by that country’s supreme court.

The pesticides have since been banned by the Environmental Protection Agency, and classified as a probable human carcinogen.


California
Brown: Romney’s comment on economy ‘silly’

TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown says Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ought to rethink how he compared California to struggling European nations.
While visiting a Frito-Lay distribution center near Los Angeles on Thursday, Brown dismissed Romney’s remarks as inaccurate in light of California’s relatively manageable debt burden and economic wealth. He labeled the remark “just silly.”

Brown told reporters that California has one of the richest economies in the world.

In Iowa on Wednesday, Romney said that people around the world worry that America is going to become “like Greece or like Spain or Italy, or like California.”


New Jersey
Town considers goats to eat all of its poison ivy

SEASIDE PARK, N.J. (AP) — Officials in a New Jersey shore town might use goats from Maryland to rid an environmentally-sensitive area of poison ivy.

Seaside Park can’t burn the toxic plant or use chemicals because the patch overlooks Barnegat Bay. The town is considering an alternative.

Officials believe it would cost between $15,000 and $20,000 to use nature’s weed eaters.

Councilman Michael Tierney said the cost includes two handlers who come from Maryland to watch over the 15 to 18 goats.

Dawn Yurkiewicz of Stratford Farm in Whiteford, Md., tells the newspaper it might take the entire herd up to three weeks to eat all the poison ivy.

New Jersey environmental officials are worried the goats might also eat rare plants along the bay.


New York
Eminem to fans: Thanks for help in my dark times

NEW YORK (AP) — Eminem, who battled an addiction to prescription drugs, thanked his fans at a New York concert for helping him get through dark times.

The 39-year-old told attendees that he “wouldn’t have gotten out of that dark place without y’all” before he performed the Grammy-winning song “Not Afraid.” He said the performance was “dedicated to anybody tonight who’s been through personal struggles.”

Eminem’s addiction and climb to sobriety is detailed in his 2010 album “Recovery.” It was that year’s best-selling album.

At the Hammerstein Ballroom the rapper performed more than a dozen songs at a promotional event for the watch brand G-Shock.


New York
Trial date set in Kennedy newborn scuffle charges

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. (AP) — A trial date has been set in the case of a New York maternity ward scuffle involving a son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

A Mount Kisco town judge said Thursday that Douglas Kennedy will go on trial Oct. 22. Kennedy has pleaded not guilty to physical harassment and child endangerment.
The charges stem from Kennedy’s Jan. 7 attempt to take his 2-day-old son from the maternity ward at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco. Nurses tried to stop him, citing hospital policy, and two claim he injured them.

The judge also denied most of Kennedy’s requests for access to hospital records. But he said the hospital should turn over its written policies about taking a baby from the hospital.


Pennsylvania
1873 dime costs a pretty penny: Nearly $2 million

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A dime made in 1873 has cost someone a pretty penny: It sold for nearly $2 million at an auction in Philadelphia.

The unique coin was minted in Carson City, Nev., during a one-day run of dimes.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the anonymous winning bidder paid $1.6 million for the pristine coin, plus a 15 percent buyer’s fee.

The 1873-CC “No Arrows” Liberty Seated dime was auctioned during a convention of the American Numismatic Association.

All 111 pieces were parceled off Thursday night, fetching a total of nearly $10 million.


New Jersey
2 towns turn down ‘Jersey Shore’ spinoff

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. (AP) — The Jersey shore town that tried to close its bars early and restricts overnight parking has said no to “Snooki & JWoww.”

The Point Pleasant Beach Council unanimously voted against 495 Productions’ request to tape the “Jersey Shore” spinoff featuring Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Jennifer “JWoww” Farley.

The request says the cast would be living outside of town.

Councilman William Mayer tells the Asbury Park Press it’s not what the town needs at this point.