96-year-old gets bachelor’s degree
96-year-old gets bachelor’s degree
LOS ANGELES
It took more than 60 years, but a University of Southern California student finally has received his diploma.
Ninety-six-year-old Alfonso Gonzales received a bachelor of science degree in zoology Friday, making him the oldest graduate in USC history.
The World War II veteran thought he’d already graduated when he skipped commencement exercises in 1953 because of work obligations. He was founding a soil company that he ran for 55 years. But when relatives recently approached the university about getting a copy of his diploma, they learned he was one unit short.
Although the school no longer offers a zoology major, it crafted an independent-study course through the gerontology school that included reading, video assignments, visiting other classes and writing a thesis about his life.
Train hits pickup, killing 3 men
FRESNO, Calif.
Three men in a pickup died Friday when the driver pulled in front of a speeding Amtrak train, ripping the truck in two but injuring none of the train’s passengers, authorities said.
The driver of the pickup pulled around a stopped freight train at a crossing on a private dirt road and got slammed by the passenger train on a parallel line, officials said.
“They weren’t taking into consideration that there were two sets of tracks there,” said Officer Josh McConnell of the California Highway Patrol, who described the unidentified men as being in their late 20s or early 30s.
The train carrying 217 passengers was traveling up to 80 mph from Bakersfield to Oakland through rural Central California.
Ex-president faces state-fraud charges
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina
Former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez was charged Friday with defrauding the state as part of her government’s handling of the dollar futures market.
Federal judge Claudio Bonadio said that a scheme to keep the Argentine peso inflated by selling dollars below market value would not have been possible without Fernandez’s approval.
Mo. lawmakers expand gun rights
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.
Missouri lawmakers passed a sweeping expansion of gun rights Friday, allowing people to carry concealed guns without needing permits while also expanding their right to stand and fight against perceived threats.
The legislation, which goes to Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, was among the most-prominent measures passed by the Republican-led Legislature on the final day of its annual session.
Under the measure, most people could carry concealed guns, even if they haven’t gone through the training now required to get a permit. The legislation also would expand the state’s “castle doctrine” by allowing invited guests such as baby sitters to use deadly force against intruders.
Ancient artifacts in Florida sinkhole
NEW YORK
Scientists say a stone knife and other artifacts found deep underwater in a Florida sinkhole show people lived in that area some 14,500 years ago.
That makes the ancient sinkhole the earliest well-documented site for human presence in the southeastern U.S., and important for understanding the settling of the Americas, experts said.
The findings confirm claims made more than a decade ago about the site, some 30 miles southeast of Tallahassee.
Associated Press