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Nation news briefs
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6-YEAR-OLD BOY RIDES 3 MILES ON VAN ROOF IN ALASKA: ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska State Troopers say a 6-year-old boy climbed on top of his parents' minivan and rode it for three miles down a highway before he fell off and suffered cuts and bruises.

Trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said the boy has apparently gone for roof rides before, hanging on to the bars mounted on the minivan.

The boy told troopers he climbed on to the vehicle Sunday as it left his home at Mile 52 on the Parks Highway about 10 miles north of Wasilla. He lost his grip at Mile 49. The driver continued on.

Another motorist picked the boy up, drove him to a gas station and called 911.

Ipsen says no one has been charged with a traffic violation or crime.

COLORADO MOM SAYS WILDLIFE GOT TO SON'S REMAINS: DENVER (AP) — A Colorado woman says whoever killed her 13-year-old son was a monster for leaving his remains where wildlife could get to them.

Dylan Redwine's bones were spread out when they were found last week in the southwestern Colorado mountains.

She says "he deserved so much more."

Dylan lived in the Monument area with his mother but arrived in La Plata County on Nov. 18 for a court-ordered visit in Vallecito with his father, Mark Redwine.

The father says he returned home from running errands Nov. 19 to find Dylan was gone.

Elaine Redwine says she's grateful she asked her son for a hug before he left for that visit. But she never thought he wouldn't come back home.

SO. CALIF. PAINTER AWARDED $58M FOR BAR BEATING: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 43-year-old house painter so badly brain damaged that he cannot speak has been awarded $58 million for a beating in a bar that left him with half his skull permanently bashed in.

Antonio Lopez Chaj appeared at a news conference Monday with lawyers who announced the award handed down against a security company by a jury in Torrance Superior Court on Friday.

They said it was among the largest damage awards ever given to one person in California.

Chaj was attacked at a mid-Wilshire bar after trying to intercede in an attack by a bartender on two relatives who were with him.

Lawyers said an unlicensed, untrained security guard beat him with a baton, kicked him In the head eight times and smashed his skull against pavement.

ALA. BASEBALL TEAM CANCELS GUN GIVEAWAY: HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama minor league baseball team has cancelled a gun raffle that was supposed to be featured during its Second Amendment Night promotion.

Huntsville Stars spokeswoman Nicole Colonis said Monday that the raffle during the team's Wednesday night game against the Chattanooga Lookouts was cancelled after Minor League Baseball officials said the promotion was likely not in the franchise's best interest.

Colonis says Second Amendment Night will still feature free admission for members of the National Rifle Association who present their membership card.

The Huntsville Stars are a Class-AA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

DIPLOMAT: NURSING GOT US OUSTED FROM COUNTRY CLUB: NEW YORK (AP) — A Belgian diplomat says he and his wife were kicked out of a members-only New York restaurant because she was breastfeeding.

Tom Neijens, his wife and daughter went to the Metropolis Country Club in White Plains for lunch on June 8.

Neijens says that when his wife began to breastfeed, a manager asked them to leave because they were disturbing the members. The incident was resolved when Neijens produced State Department-issued identification.

The New York Post first reported the story, including that club members told police they thought the couple were terrorists because they had a black backpack.

Neijens, who works at the U.N., confirmed the facts to The Associated Press but declined further comment. A Belgium foreign ministry spokesman called the incident strictly personal.

 

FEDERAL DRUG BUST NETS 22 SUSPECTS IN ND OIL PATCH: FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Federal authorities unsealed indictments Monday against 22 people charged with conspiracy to sell heroin and other drugs on an Indian reservation in the heart of the North Dakota oil patch.

The first indictment in the investigation, dubbed "Operation Winter's End," was filed in March, but authorities didn't make the case public until Monday because of the ongoing investigation.

Investigators say heroin and other drugs were brought to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, located southeast of Williston within the Bakken oil patch, from other parts of the country.

BC ANNOUNCES SEQUEL TO 'THE BIBLE' MINISERIES: LOS ANGELES (AP) — NBC says it will air a sequel to the hit cable miniseries "The Bible."

The network said Monday that it will join with producer Mark Burnett and his actress-wife, Roma Downey, on the sequel. Burnett and Downey produced "The Bible" for the History channel.

Downey starred in "Touched by an Angel" and also played Jesus Christ's mother, Mary, in the miniseries that aired earlier this year.

NBC says the sequel has the working title "A.D.: Beyond the Bible" and will open in the days following Christ's death.

Casting and an air date haven't been announced.

Burnett's producing credits include the NBC series "The Voice" and "Celebrity Apprentice."

Judge tosses 3 NY lawsuits against ex-Elmo actor
LARRY NEUMEISTER,Associated Press

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Three lawsuits brought by men who said former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash sexually abused them when they were underage were tossed out by a judge who said in a decision published Monday that the men waited too long to sue.

U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl said the claims must be barred because they came more than six years after the men reasonably should have realized that the physical and emotional injuries they're suing over were caused by alleged encounters with Clash. The judge also noted that each man had been over the age of 18 for more than three years before the lawsuits were filed.

Clash was the man behind Elmo, the popular furry red monster, for 28 years.