National Roundup

Illinois
Sperm bank wants judge to toss lawsuit 
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (AP) — A sperm bank in Illinois is arguing for the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing it of mistakenly providing sperm from a black donor to a white Ohio woman, arguing that the baby was born healthy.

The Chicago Tribune reports that lawyers representing Midwest Sperm Bank say state law doesn’t allow for damages arising from the birth of a healthy child.

Jennifer Cramblett became pregnant in December 2011 through artificial insemination using sperm donated by a black man instead of the white donor whom she and her partner selected. Her lawsuit accuses the sperm bank of breach of warranty and “wrongful birth.”

Attorneys for the sperm bank say those allegations don’t apply because the sperm wasn’t deficient or contaminated, and the child wasn’t born with a hereditary or genetic disorder.

Missouri
Women believe babies they were told died are alive
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Eighteen black women told decades ago that their babies had died soon after birth at the old Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis are now questioning if the children weren’t instead taken from them while very much alive.

A video that went viral last month shows Melanie Gilmore reuniting with her birth mother, Zella Jackson Price. DNA confirmed with near 100-percent certainty that the two are mother and daughter.

Price was 26 in 1965 when she gave birth, only to be told hours later that her daughter had died.

Media attention about the reunion led to other women reaching out to Price’s attorney, Albert Watkins. He says city officials are trying to help investigate, but that no one can locate birth records from the hospital that closed in 1979.

Pennsylvania
Kids find 60 guns in vacant home
LAUREL MOUNTAIN, Pa. (AP) — Police say they’ve taken possession of dozens of firearms, including a flintlock muzzle-loader, an AK-47 and a Tommy gun, found by children who broke into a vacant Pennsylvania home.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Friday at least 60 guns — plus knives, bayonets and swords — were in the Laurel Mountain home.

Police traced the weapons to a 93-year-old collector who owns the home and who’s currently in the hospital.

Authorities say four boys and a girl ages 11 to 14 broke into the home Tuesday evening and shot some of the weapons in the woods. They say they also broke into two other abandoned homes nearby.

Police are holding the weapons for safe keeping. They’re waiting to see if the elderly man’s family wants to press charges.

Texas
Teen gets 45 years for killing mom and sister
WEATHERFORD, Texas (AP) — A teenager has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for fatally shooting his mother and sister at their North Texas home.

The Weatherford Democrat reports that 19-year-old Jake Evans pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of murder in the killing of 48-year-old Jami Evans and 15-year-old Mallory Evans in October 2012.

Jake Evans, who was 17 years old when he shot his mother and sister at their Weatherford home, called 911 and told the dispatcher that he didn’t know why he killed them but that he had been planning to do so for a while.

Evans will serve at least 22½ years in prison before becoming eligible for parole and will receive credit for the 2½ years already served.

Washington
Woman beaten in bus tunnel sues
SEATTLE (AP) — A 21-year-old woman who was beaten in Seattle’s downtown bus tunnel in 2010 as two security guards watched is suing King County Metro, the Seattle Police Department and others.

The attack by several teens on then-15-year-old Aiesha Steward-Baker was caught on surveillance video, prompting a widespread outcry and changes in tunnel security.

The Seattle Times reports that Steward-Baker filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court this week against several entities, including the private security company. It alleges they failed to protect her because of her age and her African American race.

She says she sought help from Seattle police officers just before the attack because the group had threatened her in a nearby store, but the officers just told the other group to leave.

The sheriff’s office, which provides law-enforcement services for Metro, defended the security company after the attack, saying they were not supposed to intervene in dangerous situations. However, King County Executive Dow Constantine disagreed and directed Metro to hire another company to provide tunnel security.

Texas
Federal judge upholds Texas’ Alamo trademark
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that as the owner of the Alamo, the state of Texas also owns the shrine’s image and can challenge those who use its likeness.

The San Antonio Express-News reports the judge signed a court order Thursday restricting two beer makers from using images the Texas General Land Office said infringed on the state’s Alamo trademark.

Last year, Alamo Beer Company of San Antonio filed a lawsuit against Old 300 Brewing, which operates as Texian Brewing in Richmond, claiming trademark infringement occurred with the use of the Alamo on products and promotional materials. The Land Office intervened leading to the ruling.

The court order permanently enjoins and restrains the companies from using “any other mark or name confusingly similar” to those trademarked by the state.

Colorado
Policewomen claim fitness discrimination
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A group of 12 Colorado Springs female police officers are suing the city for what they say is an unfair fitness test that discriminates against women over the age of 40.

The Gazette of Colorado Springs reports that the complaint filed Thursday says the female detectives, lieutenants, officers and a sergeant with the Colorado Springs Police Department were stripped of their uniforms and normal duties when they didn’t pass a new annual physical fitness test that is not normed for age or gender.

The testing program was adopted in December 2013, and officers were required to take the starting at the end of 2014.

The lawsuit asks that CSPD be barred from enforcing the test and seeks monetary damages.