University cuts ties with alumnus Cosby

University cuts ties with alumnus Cosby

BOSTON

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has cut ties with alumnus Bill Cosby amid allegations by women accusing him of sexual assault.

A university spokesman told the Boston Globe on Wednesday university officials had asked Cosby to step down as an honorary co-chairman of their $300 million fundraising campaign, and Cosby agreed.

Cosby received a master’s degree and a doctorate in education from the university. He and his wife donated several hundred thousand dollars to the university.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley sent a letter to the university urging it to cut ties with Cosby.

Coakley says while Cosby hadn’t been criminally charged his association sends the wrong message when the state is focused on the prevention of campus sexual assault.

Cosby’s lawyer has called the allegations “unsubstantiated” and “discredited.”

Justice Ginsburg home from hospital

WASHINGTON

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was released from the hospital Thursday after having a heart stent implanted to clear a blocked artery, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said.

The 81-year-old jurist was sent home and was expected to be at work when the court hears its next round of oral arguments Monday, spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said.

Ginsburg was rushed to MedStar Washington Hospital Center late Tuesday after experiencing discomfort during exercise with a personal trainer.

She has had a series of health problems, including colorectal cancer in 1999 and pancreatic cancer in 2009.

Two boys buried in snow rescued

NEWBURGH, N.Y.

Two boys who had gone out to build a snow fort were inadvertently trapped for several hours in a Newburgh, New York, snow bank when a plow operator clearing a parking lot pushed snow over them, not realizing they were there, officials said.

The 11-year-old and 9-year-old children were taken to the hospital. Officials said one child was hospitalized for observation.

Authorities said the boys’ parents became alarmed when they didn’t come home from playing, and after a fruitless search called police around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday.

Officials searching a snow bank at a health center nearby found the boys around 2 a.m. Thursday, after an officer saw a shovel half buried. The officer took the shovel and started to dig, and saw a small boot. Others joined in, some digging with bare hands, and the boys were found.

Family trapped in forest found

SANFORD, Fla.

A central Florida father and four kids are thankful they didn’t have to spend a cold night in a state forest after getting lost while biking.

Thirteen-year-old Christine Mills told WKMG that she was riding trails in Little Big Econ State Forest with her two siblings and an 11-year-old girl Wednesday when they were forced off the path by flood waters from recent rains.

They called their father, firefighter Buddy Mills, who came to get them. But with darkness closing in, he realized they would need help.

They called Seminole County firefighters, who used a bulldozer to make their own 2-mile trail to find the family. They were able to bring them to safety on ATVs late Wednesday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS