Obama dog’s baseball card available free online

June 20, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

WASHINGTON — You don’t have to trade your vintage Joe DiMaggio to get this baseball card.

The Obama White House, known for embracing the newest digital trends, is inviting Internet users to download and print out the baseball card for the first family’s dog, Bo Obama. The card says you can call him the “first dog of the United States.”

Bo’s portrait shows him sitting on the green South Lawn with his tongue out. Want to know his stats? The card’s other side lists his birthday and hobbies, such as playing on the lawn and taking walks. Bo’s goal is to “make friends with foreign dognitaries,” it says.

Favorite foods are “tomatoes — or toys.” Favorite exercises? Running and napping.

But he’s not the most athletic. The “did you know” section reveals the Portuguese water dog doesn’t know how to swim.

Group asks GM to refit trunks on 2000-01 sedans

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A safety foundation asked General Motors Corp. on Friday to recall its 2000-01 sedans and refit their trunks with emergency-release latches after two Arkansas children were found dead in the trunk of a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu.

Kansas-based Kids and Cars said that while Ford has installed glow-in-the-dark handles inside all trunks since 2000, General Motors offered the latches only as an option on models made before 2002.

“If these two children found themselves trapped inside a 2000 Ford trunk, they would be alive today,” the group said in a statement.

Washington County Coroner Roger Morris said it appears 5-year-old Curtis Markley and 4-year-old Virginia Markley of Springdale died accidentally in the car’s trunk on Monday. The state Crime Laboratory at Little Rock was asked to examine the bodies.

Police said it is likely that the children were playing in the trunk when it closed. Sgt. Shane Pegram said the siblings likely died of asphyxiation but that further investigation was needed. Temperatures were nearly 90 degrees Monday afternoon.

Accused in triple slaying complains about jail food

CANTON — A man who police say confessed killing his two young children and his former mother-in-law is complaining about the food he’s getting in jail.

James Mammone III told Stark County Common Pleas Judge John Haas on Friday that he’s having problems getting food that fits his strict vegetarian diet.

Mammone is charged with killing his two children, 3 and 5, and his former mother-in-law June 8.

Canton police have said he confessed the slayings and was trying to punish his ex-wife, Marcia Mammone, after their recent divorce.

Federal judge impeached

WASHINGTON — The House on Friday impeached a federal judge imprisoned for lying about sexual assaults of two women in the first such vote since impeaching former President Bill Clinton a decade ago.

The impeachment of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Texas sets up a trial in the Senate. Kent is the first federal judge impeached in 20 years.

The House approved four articles of impeachment against Kent accusing him of sexually assaulting two female employees and lying to judicial investigators and Justice Department officials. All four articles passed unanimously.

Kent, 59, entered a federal prison in Massachusetts on Monday to serve a 33-month sentence. He pleaded guilty last month to lying to judicial investigators about the sexual assaults.

Kent is refusing to resign until next year so he can continue to draw his $174,000 a year salary. If he is convicted of the impeachment charges in the Senate, he will be forced off the bench.

Hawk skateboards at the White House

WASHINGTON — Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk on Friday took a brief ride at the White House as part of a Father’s Day celebration.

Hawk, 41, skated in the grand foyer and the nearby Old Executive Office Building, with the permission of White House officials.

The skateboarding icon, also known for his popular brand of skateboarding video games, posted photos to his Web site and Twitter page.

Hawk joined other dads, athletes and celebrities at a Father’s Day forum hosted by President Barack Obama. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay helped man the barbecue grills for a White House picnic for the attendees, which included NBA players Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and Etan Thomas of the Washington Wizards.

Associated Press