National Roundup

California
Pelican released after having beak surgery, rehab
IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — A pelican found tangled in fishing line with a 6-inch hook lodged in its lower bill has been released back into the wild after surgeries and months of rehabilitation in Southern California.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Nigel, an American white pelican, underwent a first-of-its-kind procedure to straighten out the fractured beak.
The newspaper says the bird's recovery took months because it developed an infection, which led to another fracture and caused bone tissue to die.
Nigel ate 8 to10 pounds of fish each day as it was nursed back to health at the nonprofit Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach.
The bird was outfitted with a tracking device before being released Wednesday at the Irvine marsh where he was discovered last April.

Tennessee
Abortion clinic closes, citing new law’s strictures
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new Tennessee law requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals is being blamed for the closure of a longtime Tennessee abortion provider.
An executive director of the Abortion Care Network confirmed to The Tennessean that the Volunteer Women's Medical Center in Knoxville recently closed its doors.
The clinic had been operating for 38 years.
Executive Director Deb Walsh posted a public letter on the Abortion Care Network website saying the clinic was unable to keep operating in part due to the “Life Defense Act,” which requires abortion physicians to obtain admitting privileges at area hospitals.
Walsh said while working on legal remedies, the clinic was unable to pay its bills because it could not see patients.
She said one of the clinics physicians had successfully obtained privileges, but recently died.

California
Kenny the Clown had late Steve Jobs’ stolen iPad
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Imagine the potential treasures inside the stolen iPad of the late Steve Jobs: Secret corporate documents, personal correspondence and maybe even game prototypes.
But professional entertainer Kenny the Clown, who unwittingly received the stolen tablet after the Apple co-founder’s Palo Alto home was burglarized last month, says he never examined the touch-screen device’s contents.
Instead, the 47-year-old clown downloaded music to play for San Francisco Bay Area kids and tourists.
The San Jose Mercury News says Kenny the Clown, whose real name is Kenneth Kahn, had no idea the iPad came from the Jobs residence until a friend who gave it to him was charged with burglary and police had confiscated the device.
Authorities say 35-year-old Kariem McFarlin stole iPods, Macs, jewelry and Jobs’ wallet. He is due in court Monday and recently hired a lawyer.

Texas
297-lb boy too big to play in peewee football
MESQUITE, Texas (AP)  - A suburban Dallas boy has been barred from playing peewee football because the league says he is just too big at nearly 300 pounds.
Mesquite Pee Wee Football Association President Ronnie Henderson said the rules are clear and 12-year-old Elijah Earnheart is not eligible. The 6-foot-1-inch boy exceeds the 135-pound limit for seventh-graders, and he got the bad news last Sunday when the league held its official weigh-in.
Henderson said he asked Elijah whether he was in sixth or seventh grade, then told him “no need going” any further.
Cindy Earnheart, the boy’s mother, said she was incensed and Elijah was humiliated.
“They would not even let him weigh in on the scales like every single boy out there,” she said. “He might be the size of a grown man but he’s 12 years old and he has feelings, too.”
“We've got little boys that play against him that are 85, 95 and 100 pounds,” Henderson said. “We have to look out for all the kids, not just him.”
When he’s playing football Elijah said, “I feel energetic. I feel happy.”
Cindy Earnheart said barring her son was discrimination.
“No one is telling boys who are too thin or too small that they can’t play football,” she said. “Why tell my kid he’s too big?”

New York
Underwear-clad Beckham statues appear in NYC
NEW YORK (AP) — David Beckham, sporting designer underwear, is making appearances around New York City — in the form of 10-foot-tall metallic statues, that is.
The massive sculptures have gone up as part of a promotion for the soccer player’s new underwear line for H&M.

Georgia
Animal rescuer is killed in dog attack at home
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — Police outside Atlanta say a college student who took in abandoned animals was attacked and killed by a dog.
DeKalb County police tell The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that 23-year-old Rebecca Carey was killed at her Decatur home sometime over the weekend.
Authorities say Carey had five dogs living with her at the time of her death. They included a pit bull she had owned for six years. Other dogs included a boxer mix she had taken in and a Presa, a large Spanish breed. Authorities say she was also dogsitting another Presa for a friend.
The friend discovered her body after Carey failed to show up for work at Alpharetta's Loving Hands Animal Clinic.
DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish says all of the dogs were euthanized Wednesday.

Mississippi
Motorists help woman, child pinned in car
HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. (AP) — Passing motorists who saw smoke billowing from a stand of pine trees along Interstate 10 in southern Mississippi rescued a woman and her disabled teenage daughter trapped inside a wrecked, burning sport utility vehicle.
Fifteen to 20 motorists, including a photographer for The Associated Press, managed to save the woman and girl Thursday afternoon in Hancock County.
Photographer Gerald Herbert said the rescuers pulled the girl from the wreck first, but getting the woman out was difficult.
As flames spread in the SUV and the driver screamed in panic, Herbert and others flagged down motorists in a desperate search of fire extinguishers.
Using extinguishers provided by passing truckers, the rescuers were able to control the fire as they worked to get the woman out of the SUV.?