In the news
Dylan Dyke, a 12-yearold with autism, will be able to keep two ducks, named Bill and Nibbles, that are his emotional support animals, after the zoning appeals board in Georgetown, Mich., granted a variance imposing 18 conditions, including keeping them out of neighbors’ yards.
Becky Muhs of West Fargo, N.D., said she’s been getting calls from neighbors and a visit from a police officer over a sign that appears to be written in blood hanging in a window reading “Help Me” that’s part of the family’s Halloween decorations.
Ed Sheets and David Dunkleberger, after going to a yard sale in Brownstown, Pa., created an online fundraising campaign to benefit Willie Davis, 66, a Navy veteran with terminal cancer, when they learned that Davis was selling belongings to pay for his funeral.
Julian Felix-Aguirre, 45, one of 24 people indicted in a drug ring that connected an Overland Park, Kan., couple to Mexican drug cartels, faces life in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and other drugs.
Carlos Mejia, 43, of New York City faces aggravated-assault charges after being accused of using a sword to slash a bride on the arm and threaten others in the bridal party before guests at a New Jersey hotel subdued him, police said.
Sid Tatem, 60, and his 8and 14-year-old grandsons were kicked out of a park in Chesapeake, Va., when a ranger discovered the three sipping home-brewed kombucha, a fermented tea that contains a slight bit of alcohol, violating a city ordinance that bars alcoholic beverages in public parks.
Shailesh Desai, owner of an Atlanta gas station where police found drugs hidden in a cappuccino maker, was fined $1,000 and had his business license suspended for six months for selling marijuana and failing to adequately supervise his business.
Sonjay Fonn, a neurosurgeon in Cape Giradeau, Mo., and his fiancee Deborah Seeger, both convicted in a kickback scheme involving Fonn using spinal implants distributed by a company Seeger owned, were ordered to pay the U.S. government $5.5 million.
Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston, said he’s not trying to be the “moral police” but he’s calling for a review of city health and safety ordinances to address concerns about a robot “love dolls brothel” that a Canadian company wants to open in the city.