Sunday, November 23, 2008
Army wife accused in arson that killed her 2 kids
GAINESVILLE, Ga. — An Army wife accused of setting her apartment on fire botched an attempt to collect on her husband’s $400,000 insurance policy when he survived and her two children died instead, a federal prosecutor said.
Billi Jo Smallwood, 35, was denied bond at a Friday hearing in northeast Georgia, where she appeared on federal charges of damaging government property by fire.
The May 2007 fire at the Fort Campbell Army post on the Tennessee-Kentucky border killed 9-year-old Sam Fagan, and 2-year-old Rebekah Smallwood.
Smallwood’s husband, Army Spc. Wayne Smallwood, crawled out of a second-level window and suffered a leg injury when he jumped. Their toddler daughter, Nevaeh, was not injured.
Hunter’s stray bullet grazes 2 kids at day care
BENTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Authorities in Michigan say a hunter’s stray bullet has grazed two young boys at a day care near Cheboygan.
The Cheboygan County sheriff’s department says a 43-year-old woman fired her rifle at a deer Thursday, but the bullet penetrated a wall and grazed the boys — ages 3 and 5 — inside Angie’s Country Kids Day Care in Benton Township.
The Petoskey-News Review reports they were released from a hospital after treatment.
Authorities say the woman was hunting about 400 yards away and may not have realized there was a day care in the area.
As drinking deaths rise, Brits may ban happy hour
LONDON — Britain is considering a ban on “happy hour” discounts at bars and restaurants to curb drinking, a spokesman said Saturday, as health advocates warned that a rise in liver-related deaths among young people may signal a future epidemic.
Health officials will decide on whether to ban the happy hours — designated times for discount drinks — once an independent policy review is published in coming weeks, a health department spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.
The proposal was one of several aimed at stemming a trend in binge drinking in recent years, particularly among teenagers and young adults. The government also plans to spend $15 million on a new public awareness campaign and wants to improve enforcement of laws against underage drinking.
Panda in China zoo bites man who wanted a hug
BEIJING — A college student in southern China was bitten by a panda after he broke into the bear’s enclosure hoping to get a hug, state media and a park employee said Saturday.
The student was visiting Qixing Park with classmates on Friday when he jumped the 6.5-foot-high fence around the panda’s habitat, said the park employee, who refused to give his name.
He said the student was bitten in the arms and legs. Two foreign visitors who saw the attack ran to get help from workers at a nearby refreshment stand, who notified park officials, the employee said.
The student was pale as he was taken away by medics but appeared clear-headed, he said.
Ark. man sentenced for killing slow hairdresser
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas man has been sentenced to prison for fatally shooting a stylist who was taking too long to braid his hair.
Thirty-year-old Kerry Rendall Wilson, of Little Rock, was sentenced Friday to 24 years for second-degree murder. He will be eligible for parole in six years.
Wilson’s lawyer says his client was high on marijuana dipped in formaldehyde when 39-year-old Henrietta Jones was killed in November 2007.
But the lawyer, Bill James, says one of the woman’s sons actually killed her.
Teacher reaches plea deal in classroom porn case
NORWICH, Conn. — A former substitute teacher in Connecticut has reached a deal that calls for her to lose her license after exposing students to online pornography.
Forty-one-year-old Julie Amero pleaded guilty Friday in Norwich Superior Court to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. She will also pay a $100 fine.
Pornography appeared on her classroom computer in 2004 in view of seventh-graders. Several computer experts believe the machine was infected with programs that caused the images to pop up beyond her control.
Amero was convicted in 2007 of risk of injury to a minor and could have faced 40 years in prison. A judge threw out her conviction after finding flawed testimony.
She was awaiting a new trial when she reached the plea deal.
Associated Press