In the news
Janine Barbera-Dalli, a district judge in Suffolk County, N.Y., recused herself after defense attorneys accused her of texting advice to prosecutors on how to try the case against a defendant accused of a drug offense.
Jason Phillips, 34, convicted two years ago of stealing packages delivered to homes before Christmas, was again arrested when security cameras recorded him stealing packages delivered to homes in St. Andrews, Miss.
Don Lutz, 84, of Ellwood City, Pa., said he armed himself when he was jolted awake by the noise of people entering his home and fatally shot one intruder and successfully fought off another as he scuffled with both in his kitchen, police said.
Karlyn Tilley, spokesman for the Golden, Colo., Fire Department, said rescuers took about two hours to rig a system of ropes and pulleys to lift a stretcher holding a 15-year-old boy out of an old mine shaft where the teen had fallen and injured his leg while exploring the shaft with several friends.
Donna DeMarco, a tenured elementary school teacher in Wayne, N.J., was fired for confining two unruly special-needs students in a bathroom after an arbitrator found the action an improper way to control student behavior.
Laquita Goudy, 38, of Harvey, La., pleaded guilty to felony theft and got a suspended prison sentence and probation for stealing more than $97,000 in cash payments from customers at an animal shelter paying for services such as vaccinations and adoptions, prosecutors said.
Tony Myers, a volunteer fire chief in Shrewsbury Township, Pa., said two women died when they re-entered their burning home attempting to rescue several pet cats that also died in the blaze, which left a third woman hospitalized with burns on her face and arms.
Justin Larry, 21, and Najee Logan, 18, drove off after they stole a wallet from a man at gunpoint in a grocery store parking lot but were arrested and charged with armed robbery when their getaway car ran out of gas, Gwinnett County, Ga., sheriff’s deputies said.
Oscar Campos, and his wife, Humberta, owners of a landscaping company who went to New Jersey from Mexico nearly 30 years ago, told their three children, ages 16, 22 and 24, “Don’t give your hopes up,” as the couple were deported as illegal aliens.