Man charged with attacking ‘minion’
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A man has been charged with attacking a person dressed as a minion cartoon character along a Florida boardwalk.
Police say Jamie Roehm was costumed as a yellow, cylindrical minion and working outside Jungle George’s on Daytona Beach’s boardwalk Sunday evening when a man started messing with him. According to the police report, Roehm says the man slammed him onto the pavement and kicked him when he tried to get up.
Police said witnesses cheered 25year-old Ryan Nihart on during the alleged attack. The store owner and others helped detain Nihart until police arrived. He was charged with battery and criminal mischief.
Roehm declined medical treatment, saying he was mostly bruised. The store owner told police the $300 minion suit was destroyed.
Execution blocked by drug maker
LAS VEGAS — A Nevada judge effectively blocked the execution of a two-time killer Wednesday after a pharmaceutical company objected to the use of one of its drugs to put someone to death.
Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez disallowed the drug in a ruling that came less than nine hours before Scott Raymond Dozier, 47, was to be executed by injection with a three-chemical combination never before tried.
Prison officials called off the 8 p.m. execution. They could appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Despite the manoeuvring around him, Dozier had repeatedly expressed his desire to be put to death and had stopped fighting for his life.
New Jersey-based Alvogen urged the judge to block the use of its sedative midazolam, saying the state secured the product through “subterfuge” and intended it for unapproved purposes. The pharmaceutical company also raised fears that the drug could lead to a botched execution.
Wyoming OKs longer wolf hunting season
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Wednesday approved a wolf hunting season this fall that allows for hunters to take up to 58 wolves from 44.
There are about 350 wolves roaming Wyoming, including about 210 in areas where the state manages their numbers with hunting.
State game managers who are tasked with trying to control the animals that can prey on livestock want to see that 210 brought down to 160.
Wolf biologist Ken Mills told commissioners that 160 wolves would leave the state with about 14 breeding pairs, meeting the state’s commitment to maintaining at least 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs.
Wolf advocates say Wyoming continues to focus on reducing the wolf population toward the bare minimum.
Changes approved by the state commission include allowing hunters to kill up to two wolves and starting the season a month earlier in some places on Sept. 1.
Driver says Clooney ‘slammed’ his car
ROME — The driver of a station wagon hit by George Clooney’s scooter in Italy says he was waiting to turn when a scooter whizzed by, then the actor slammed into him.
Italian news agency ANSA quoted Antonello Viglino as saying he was “stationary on the roadway,” ready to turn left when two motorcycles came from the other direction Tuesday.
Viglino, 67, says the first “avoided collision” but a second “slammed into me.” Clooney was treated at a hospital and released after a few hours to recover in Sardinia, where he’s filming the TV miniseries Catch-22.
Separately, Corriere della Sera daily quoted Viglino as saying “I didn’t see anything, I had the sun in my eyes” and had just slightly moved into the opposite lane.
Hawaii Court sides with lesbian couple
HONOLULU — A Hawaii appeals court ruling that a bed and breakfast discriminated by denying a room to two women because they’re gay will stand after the state’s high court declined to take up the case.
Aloha Bed & Breakfast owner Phyllis Young had argued she should be allowed to turn away gay couples because of her religious beliefs.
But the Hawaii Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Young’s appeal of a lower court ruling that ordered her to stop discriminating.
Diane Cervelli and Taeko Bufford tried to book a room in 2007. When they specified they would need one bed, Young told them she was uncomfortable reserving a room for lesbians and cancelled the reservation.
— The Associated Press