Florida
Domestic cat goes wild, forces owner to call 911
DELAND, Fla. (AP) — A 4-year-old Russian blue cat named Kush is being quarantined after apparently going berserk inside a central Florida home, prompting its owners to call 911.
Police say the feline scratched owners Teresa and James Gregory on their arms and legs Saturday, causing the couple to retreat to a bedroom, where they called 911.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports Teresa Gregory told the dispatcher she had mistakenly stepped on the cat’s tail earlier in the day and the cat went after her husband. They locked Kush in the bedroom for most of the day. When they finally opened the door, Kush wasn’t happy.
Kush was placed in quarantine for 10 days at a pet shelter. Officials say the owners can then take the cat back home, relinquish ownership or have it put down.
Pennsylvania
Man’s draft notice was 102 years late
KENNERDELL, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania woman says her late father has received notice to register for the nation’s military draft — some 102 years too late.
Martha Weaver, now in her 80s, tells The (Oil City) Derrick that the Selective Service System notice arrived Saturday in Rockland Township, Venango County. That’s about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Her father’s name was Fred Minnick, though the notice misspelled the last name “Minick” and warns that failure to register is “punishable by a fine and imprisonment.”
Her father was born on June 12, 1894, which means he would have turned 18 in 1912.
Weaver suspects the confusion was spawned by the incorrect birth date on the form, which lists the birth year as 1994.
Minnick had died by then, on April 20, 1992.
California
Teen fatally injured chasing iPhone thief
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a 15-year-old Southern California girl was fatally injured after jumping onto the speeding car of a robber who snatched her iPhone.
Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna says Rubi Rubio briefly held onto the trunk of the car before falling off and hitting her head last Thursday in Santa Ana.
The Orange County Register says Rubio died from her injuries on Saturday while surrounded by her family at a hospital.
Investigators are asking for the public’s help in finding the robber.
Police say the man forcibly took the phone from the teen while she was walking her 7-year-old sister home from school. He ran to the car, which was driven by another person, with Rubio giving chase.
Bertagna described the vehicle as a light gray or silver Pontiac.
California
Police: prostitute accused in yacht overdose death
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A woman police describe as a high-end prostitute has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly injecting heroin into a tech executive on his yacht in Santa Cruz and leaving him to die when he overdosed.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported Tuesday that surveillance video from the boat shows 51-year-old Forrest Timothy Hayes losing consciousness.
Investigators say the suspect, Alix Catherine Tichelman, makes no effort to help him and instead gathers her belongings and even gulps a glass of wine before leaving. Hayes’ body was discovered the next day.
The 26-year-old from Georgia was taken into custody last week after being lured back to Santa Cruz County in a prostitution sting.
She faces charges including second-degree murder.
Police say Tichelman provided heroin for Hayes, a Google executive, while they were aboard the 50-foot yacht.
Florida
Court date could be set in theater shooting case
DADE CITY, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for a retired Tampa police captain accused of shooting a man in a movie theater might use a “stand your ground” defense at trial next year.
Attorneys for Curtis Reeves Jr. will have to let the court know four weeks before the trial starts if they plan to use the “stand your ground” defense.
Reeves is charged with second-degree murder in the Jan. 13 shooting of Chad Oulson of Land O’Lakes.
Prosecutors said Oulson was shot in the chest during an argument about texting. Reeves’ attorneys say their client shot in self-defense.
Florida’s “stand your ground law” says people not involved in illegal activity have the right to “stand their ground” and even use deadly force if they reasonably believe it’s necessary to avoid death or great bodily harm.
Nevada
Mom sentenced in shooting that paralyzed son
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Court officials say a Nevada woman who was convicted of shooting and paralyzing her son decades after she was acquitted of her husband’s death has been ordered to 13 to 41 years behind bars.
Linda Cooney was sentenced in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning.
A jury in April found the 66-year-old mother guilty of attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and intimidating a witness.
Prosecutors say she shot Kevin Cooney on June 28, 2011, while they fought about his then-girlfriend, Karina Taylor.
Defense lawyers say Kevin Cooney attacked his mother and the gun went off accidentally.
A Florida jury acquitted Linda Cooney of murdering her husband James Cooney in 1992, saying she shot him in self-defense.
Kevin Cooney defended his mother in both trials.
New York
Court upholds $1.75B award in Iran terror cases
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court says $1.75 billion for terrorism-related judgments against Iran can be distributed to victims of attacks, including a 1983 bombing that killed 241 Marines in Lebanon.
Lawyers for several hundred families of victims of the attack on a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut praised the ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.
The ruling upheld a decision by a lower-court judge last year who rejected claims by lawyers for Bank Markazi, Iran’s central bank.
The lawyers had argued that seizing the assets would conflict with treaty agreements between the United States and Iran.
Lawyers for the bank did not immediately return a message for comment Wednesday.
