National Roundup

Ohio
Man put on house arrest in Batman weapons case
CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio man arrested with a loaded gun, ammunition and knives at a showing of the latest Batman movie has been placed on house arrest while awaiting trial.
A prosecutor says 37-year-old Scott A. Smith will wear an electronic ankle bracelet while he awaits his next court date Sept. 24. He appeared in court last week.
The (Lorain) Morning Journal reports that Smith will be examined to determine his sanity.
Smith faces two concealed weapon counts and one count of having a weapon under disability, which police say is drug dependency. He was arrested at an Aug. 4 showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Westlake.
His attorney says he had the weapons for protection in case someone tried to copy the Colorado theater shooting that left 12 dead.

Pennsylvania
2nd suspect in officer killing in federal custody
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man charged in the fatal shooting of an off-duty police officer is back in Philadelphia to face charges after surrendering to federal agents in Alabama.
Chancier McFarland was flown back to Philadelphia on Monday, the same day Officer Moses Walker Jr. was buried.
Investigators say the 19-year-old McFarland and 23-year-old Rafael Jones are responsible for the Aug. 18 robbery that left Walker dead. Walker was heading home in street clothes after his shift when police say Jones and McFarland approached him and announced a robbery.
Police say Walker drew his weapon before he was shot three times.
Jones was charged last week after lengthy interviews with police. McFarland turned himself in to the FBI in Montgomery, Ala., on Sunday.
Court records don’t list attorneys for either man.

Nebraska
Drought-stricken states welcome rain from Isaac
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The remnants of Tropical Storm Isaac could bring welcome rain to some states in the Midwest this week, although it is unlikely to break the drought that has been gripping the region.
The states most likely to benefit from the storm are in the Mississippi River valley. The National Weather Service predicts 2 to 6 inches of rain will fall in eastern Arkansas, southeast Missouri and southern Illinois later this week.
Those areas have been in a severe drought with some places short more than a foot of rain this year.
Heavy rains also could aid traffic on the Mississippi River, which has been snarled by temporary closures due to low water conditions.

New York
Autopsy for NY girl, 5, found in trash; 2 charged
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — Two teenagers charged in connection with the death of a 5-year-old New York girl whose body was dumped in a trash can are expected to make their first court appearance since their arrests.
Authorities said 16-year-old John Freeman and 18-year-old Tyler Best are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning in Niagara Falls City Court. An autopsy of the body of Isabella Tennant is also scheduled for Tuesday.
The arrests came after Best came to police Monday morning and led them to a garbage can containing a trash bag holding Isabella’s body. He told them he had helped Freeman dispose of it after Freeman had killed her, police said.
Isabella’s family had called police Monday morning to say she was missing from her great-grandmother’s Niagara Falls home, where she’d been staying overnight. Isabella’s great-grandmother said she’d last seen her Sunday night with Freeman, a neighbor and family friend.
Authorities said it appeared Isabella had been killed without any weapons being involved.
Police have charged Freeman as an adult, and he faces a murder charge. Best is charged with tampering with evidence. Freeman and Best were in custody and couldn’t be reached for comment. There was no listed home phone number for them, and no information about attorneys was available.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, Niagara Falls Chief Detective William Thompson said there were signs of injuries but no indication of sexual abuse.

California
Copter makes forced landing in Hollywood
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California news helicopter with a smoking engine had to make an emergency landing in an empty Hollywood parking lot.
The Los Angeles Fire Department says the helicopter from KTLA-TV landed safely Monday evening, and the two people on board were not hurt. The smoke came from an apparent oil leak, and there was no fire.
The helicopter landed in a parking lot near a senior center.
Pilot Tim Lynn told his TV station that another pilot from a KCBS-TV helicopter first saw the smoke and alerted him. The smoke eventually began coming into the cockpit, but Lynn was able to maintain good control of the helicopter.
Lynn says he first considered landing in a high school football stadium before spotting the empty lot.

Texas
Famous pianist Van Cliburn said to have cancer
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Renowned classical pianist Van Cliburn has been diagnosed with advanced bone cancer and is resting comfortably at his Texas home, his publicist said Monday.
The 78-year-old Cliburn is under excellent care and his spirits are high, said longtime friend and publicist Mary Lou Falcone.
Cliburn skyrocketed to fame in 1958 when he won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at age 23. He triumphantly returned to a New York ticker tape parade, the only one ever for a classical musician, and a Time magazine cover proclaimed him “The Texan Who Conquered Russia.”
In the years that followed, Cliburn’s popularity soared, and the young man from the small east Texas town of Kilgore sold out concerts, broke record sales, caused riots when spotted in public and even prompted an Elvis Presley fan club to change its name to his.
He has performed for every president since Harry Truman, and for years has devoted his time to the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Founded by Fort Worth music teachers in 1962, it’s held every four years and considered among the world’s premier piano competitions.
Cliburn won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, and was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003.