National Roundup

Missouri Shop owner apologizes to religious skeptics SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A businessman has apologized for briefly posting a sign in the window of his Springfield gelato shop informing those in town for a convention of religious skeptics that they were not welcome at his Christian business. Andy Drennen apologized in a letter posted Monday on the website Reddit. He said he posted the hastily drawn sign in his shop, Gelato Mio, on Saturday after seeing someone attending Skepticon delivering a mock sermon and cursing the Bible. The sign read: "Skepticism is NOT welcomed to my Christian Business." Dreenen, 28, said his response was impulsive and "was completely wrong and unacceptable," and that he didn't actually turn anyone away from the store, which opened last year. He said he removed the sign after about 10 minutes, realizing it was wrong. But it was up long enough for someone to snap a photo and post it online, leading to a flood of angry emails and comments on the company's Web pages, The Springfield News-Leader reported Tuesday. He said he disabled the store's Facebook page Sunday because of overwhelming traffic. Ryan Culbertson-Faegre, captain of the Springfield chapter of the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which helped organize the convention, said the sign violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination based on race, religion and national origin. "It's flagrantly illegal. It's flagrantly un-American," he said. Culbertson-Faegre said he doesn't expect any legal action to be taken against Gelato Mio, especially after Drennen's apology. "As humanists, we have to forgive other people for their trespassing," Culbertson-Faegre said. "I personally accept the apology. Forgiveness is very important to humanism." Drennen said he mistakenly assumed Skepticon had something to do with UFOs, and that he had welcomed the convention by offering attendees a 10 percent discount. He said he served about 250 convention-goers on Saturday before venturing out when business slowed to find out more about it. "Everyone that came through the door was nice," he said. "They were really nice people." He said it he was surprised and offended when he heard disrespectful comments about Christianity. "There was this guy who made very vulgar comments about my faith," Drennen said. "He was just really disrespectful. Very, very disrespectful toward my Christian views." The negative reaction to Drennen's sign has pushed down Gelato Mio's user ratings on Yelp and Google Review. Drennen said he is concerned, but he hopes his community support and prior reputation will help him persevere. Kentucky Advocate urges action in wake of child's death LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A leading children's advocate is urging Gov. Steve Beshear to investigate and overhaul the state's child welfare system. The call comes after a judge ordered the release of documents in the death of 9-year-old Amy Dye, who was beaten to death by her adoptive brother. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, told The Courier-Journal that the issue is "shouting out for the governor's attention" and he hopes Beshear will respond. Beshear's spokesman, Terry Sebastian, said in a statement Monday that "the safety of Kentucky's children is one of the governor's top priorities." Sebastian says Beshear "is reviewing all options available to see if there are steps that should be taken to make them even safer." Brooks said he thinks a thorough review and restructuring of the Kentucky's child-welfare system should be ordered based on information now available in Dye's case. Court records show that social workers either ignored or dismissed allegations of abuse and neglect against the girl. "Anything less than a fundamental review of the abuse and neglect system in this state is too little and could be too late for kids," Brooks said. South Dakota US Attorney collects $4 mil in fines, fees SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- U.S. Attorney for South Dakota Brendan Johnson says his office has collected more than $4 million in restitution and fines related to criminal and civil cases during the 2011 fiscal year. Johnson says the U.S. Attorney's Office collected $3.1 million from criminal cases and $1.2 million in civil cases, for a combined total of $4.3 million. The U.S. Attorneys' Offices, along with the department's litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting debts owed to the victims and court system. Nationwide, the U.S. Attorneys' Offices collected $6.5 billion from criminal and civil actions during the fiscal year. In a news release, Johnson says recovering money for victims and the federal treasury is an integral part of seeking justice. Illinois Sugar Grove man acquitted of 1981 murder BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) -- Cook County jurors have acquitted a 49-year-old deaf Sugar Grove man accused of murdering his disabled teenage girlfriend 30 years ago. Jurors on Monday found Gary Albert not guilty of stabbing Dawn Niles of LaGrange Park to death in an attack on St. Patrick's Day 1981. Judge Joan O'Brien told Albert he was "free to go." Fishermen found Niles' body four days after her disappearance in a pond in a Cook County Forest Preserve in Palos Park. She was three months pregnant and stabbed 34 times. At the time Albert was an 18-year-old high school senior. Cook County sheriff's detectives reopened the case in 2006. Albert was arrested in 2008 after DNA tests found he'd had sex with Niles shortly before her death. Texas Suicide threat causes mistrial in San Antonio SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- A mistrial was called in the case of a woman accused in the death of her 2-year-old daughter after a juror said in a note that he'd kill himself if he was forced to change his vote to guilty. The San Antonio Express-News reports the Monday message was in the last of three notes the jury sent at the murder trial of 24-year-old Andrisela Ng, accused of severely beating her daughter. Defense attorney Stephanie Boyd says, "This juror decided what his vote was and he was not going to bend." All three notes told the judge that they were hung at 11-1 for guilty -- though it was unclear if it was for murder, or a lesser included charge of injury to a child. Published: Thu, Nov 24, 2011