Girl, 4, dies in washer

Girl, 4, dies in washer

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — A 4-year-old girl in Southern California has died after she climbed into a washing machine that began tumbling when her toddler brother hit its simple push-button start.

Orange County Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said Kayley Ishii apparently climbed into the front-loading washer Monday afternoon. Her 15-month-old brother either bumped or pushed the button to start the machine.

Amormino said the machine’s controls were only 20 inches from the floor. The girl was in the water-filled, tumbling machine for at least two minutes before her mother found her.

An autopsy Tuesday found Kayley died of blunt force trauma, and the death was ruled accidental.

3 get life in prison

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — A judge has sentenced three Columbus women to life in prison in the 2005 hit-and-run death of a man in a Springfield mall parking lot.

A jury found Alicia McAlmont, Toneisha Gunnell and Mahogany Patterson guilty of murder, aggravated robbery, theft and involuntary manslaughter during their third trial.

An appeals court overturned their first round of convictions, and the second trial ended in a mistrial.

They were sentenced Tuesday in Clark County and will be eligible for parole in 18 years.

Prosecutors say the women shoplifted clothes at the mall and then struck and killed 49-year-old John Deselem as they fled.

A fourth defendant who prosecutors say was the getaway driver is still appealing her case.

Guard helps woman, 92

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — As Sgt. Michael Franks pulled up to a shack resting among the ice-coated limbs of a forest in northeast Arkansas, he said he couldn’t believe that anyone was living on the property located miles from any major road — let alone a 92-year-old woman waiting for something to eat.

But there was Jewel Kitrel, sitting on a tattered couch, warming herself by a wood-burning stove.

Kitrel has lost almost all of her vision, and Franks said he and four other Arkansas National Guardsmen had to explain that they were sent to check on her and bring her food and water after the debris from last week’s ice storm made it impossible for her regular nurse to deliver her food.

The storm, blamed or suspected in at least 56 deaths nationwide, has left a trail of grief from the Ozarks to the Appalachians.

Lesbian couple divorcing

BOSTON — A lesbian couple who led the fight for gay marriage in Massachusetts has filed for divorce.

Julie and Hillary Goodridge were among seven gay couples who filed a lawsuit that led to a court ruling making Massachusetts the first state to legalize same-sex marriages in 2004. The couple became the public face of the debate in the state and married the first day same-sex marriages became legal.

The divorce case was filed last week in Suffolk Probate and Family Court and was not unexpected. The couple announced they were separating in 2006.

Disease killing bats

ROSENDALE, N.Y. — A mysterious and deadly bat disease discovered just two winters ago in a few New York caves has now spread to at least six northeastern states, and scientists are scrambling to find solutions before it spreads across the country.

White-nose syndrome poses no health threat to people, but some scientists say that if bat populations diminish too much, the insects and crop pests they eat could flourish. Researchers recently identified the fungus that creates the illness’ distinctive white smudges on the noses and wings of hibernating bats, but they don’t yet know how to stop the disease from killing off caves full of the ecologically important animals.

Pigeons in his pants

SYDNEY — An Australian traveler was caught with two live pigeons stuffed in his pants after a trip to the Middle East, customs officials said Tuesday. The 23-year-old man was searched after authorities discovered two eggs in a vitamin container in his luggage, said Richard Janeczko, national investigations manager for the Customs Service.

They found the pigeons wrapped in padded envelopes and held to the man’s legs with a pair of tights, according to a statement released by the agency. Officials also seized seeds in his money belt and an undeclared eggplant.

Australia has very strict quarantine regulations on imports.

Associated Press