National Roundup

Kentucky
Man charged in overnight feast at supermarket
MOUNT WASHINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Authorities in Kentucky have charged a man who officers say had an overnight feast in a closed supermarket outside Louisville.
The manager of a ValuMarket says he found 57 empty whipped cream cans in the garbage when he arrived Monday morning. WAVE-TV in Louisville reported 30-year-old Trevor Runyon was charged after he was found in the ceiling of the store.
Surveillance video from the store showed that Runyon cooked and ate six steaks, washed them down with beer and then topped off his meal with shrimp and birthday cake.
Police say Runyon slipped into the store and hid while employees closed it for the night.
Bullitt County Detention Center records show Runyon is from Shepherdsville, Ky. It wasn’t clear whether he has an attorney.

South Carolina
Smithsonian to preserve slave cabin on island
EDISTO ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — A slave cabin on Edisto Island in coastal South Carolina will be preserved by the Smithsonian Institution.
The Post and Courier of Charleston reports the two-room, wooden building is being dismantled and will be taken to Washington, where it will be placed in the new National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society had planned to relocate and restore the cabin but could not find enough money for the project. Society director Gretchen Smith says she’s sorry the island is losing part of its history but is glad the nation can benefit from it.
The cabin will be included with Harriet Tubman’s shawl, Nat Turner’s Bible and other artifacts.

California
Man who said he fled zombies pleads guilty
TEMECULA, Calif. (AP) — A Tennessee man who stole a big-rig truck in California, caused several accidents and told investigators he was fleeing zombies when he did it has pleaded guilty to several felonies.
U-T San Diego reports Jerimiah Hartline pleaded guilty Monday to assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run causing death or injury, and vehicle theft. He could get five years in prison.
The California Highway Patrol says Hartline stowed away in the truck in Tennessee and stole it when the driver got out at roadside scales near Temecula, Calif.
The CHP says after Hartline caused several crashes, the big-rig overturned on Interstate 15 and spilled its load of strawberries.
Seven people were injured.
CHP investigators say Hartline told them he had to speed and swerve because he was fleeing from the walking dead.

Colorado
Remains in car man said to be missing 26 years
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — Authorities in western Colorado say a human skeleton found in a partially buried car belongs to a man who was reported missing 26 years ago.
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports the Mesa County Coroner’s Office identified the man on Monday as 65-year-old Ronald Vasey. He went missing in 1987.
The sheriff’s department says someone hiking near John Brown Canyon Road, near Gateway, called 911 at about 6 p.m. Thursday to report a crashed vehicle below a cliff. The old station wagon was roughly 100 feet off the roadway, and it was partially obscured by rocks and sediment that presumably washed down over the years.
Deputies found personal items in the car, including clothing and credit cards.
The coroner’s office says it appears Vasey committed suicide.

Ohio
Gay teacher says union won’t back firing complaint
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A gay teacher challenging her firing by an Ohio Catholic school says the local union for Catholic educators has decided not to proceed with her complaint.
Carla Hale said Monday the grievance committee for the Central Ohio Association of Catholic Educators isn’t supporting her efforts to get back her job as a physical-education teacher. The association hasn’t returned telephone calls seeking comment.
Hale also filed a complaint with the city of Columbus, which prohibits firings based on sexual orientation.
Hale says she was fired from Bishop Watterson High School after her partner’s name was revealed in her mother’s published obituary and someone complained.
Bishop Frederick Campbell says Hale was fired not because of her sexual orientation but because she violated the church’s moral teaching by having what he describes as a “quasi-spousal relationship” with a woman.

Tennessee
Memphis test fraud ringleader gets 7 years
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge in Memphis has sentenced a longtime Memphis educator to seven years in prison in a test-taking fraud scheme.
Clarence Mumford Sr. pleaded guilty in February to leading a 15-year scheme to help teachers cheat on qualification exams. The passing scores were then used to help people get jobs in public schools.
Prosecutors say teachers in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas paid Mumford $1,500 to more than $3,000 to have ringers take the Praxis certification tests for them.
The 59-year-old Mumford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail, wire, identification and Social Security fraud and one charge of aggravated identity theft.
U.S. District Court Judge John Fowlkes on Monday also ordered three years of probation and Mumford must pay $167,000 in restitution.

New Jersey
Ex-yeshiva teacher admits sex assault of boy
TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — With other accusers stepping forward, a former yeshiva teacher changed pleas Monday in the middle of his trial, admitting he sexually abused a boy he met while working as a camp counselor.
Rabbi Yoself Kolko, 36, shifted uncomfortably on the stand as he pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault, attempted aggravated sex assault, sexual assault and child endangerment. The abuse occurred from August 2008 to February 2009. It ranged from fondling to oral sex and stopped when the boy told his father, who confronted Kolko.
The change in plea came after the prosecutor’s office was contacted Friday by a representative for a woman who said she had been a victim of Kolko and a man who said he had a victim, Senior Assistant Prosecutor Laura Pierro said.
 Kolko’s bail was revoked, and he was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation.

New York
NYPD officer tries to help cat in tree, gets stuck
NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say a New York police officer who went after a cat stuck in a tree got caught himself and needed a little help getting back down to the ground.
The Fire Department of New York says it happened Monday afternoon in Queens.
A call came in that a man attempting to get a cat out of a tree had gotten stuck. Fire department personnel used a bucket ladder to get the man and the cat down.
The fire department says the man is a police officer.
The New York Police Department has no comment.