TON OF MARIJUANA FOUND IN TRUCK AFTER TRAFFIC STOP: PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — A traffic stop of a semi-truck in northern Arizona has resulted in the seizure of more than a ton of marijuana worth more than $8 million, authorities said Monday.
The big rig's driver and passenger, both from California, were each being held on $15 million bonds.
Yavapai County Sheriff's officials say deputies stopped the tractor-trailer Thursday on Interstate 40 between Seligman and Ash Fork.
Authorities believe the 2,300 pounds of marijuana, packed in vacuum-sealed plastic bags in cardboard boxes in the big rig's trailer, was headed to the East Coast.
Sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said the big rig was stopped for malfunctioning splash guards, and it also was seen swerving.
A police dog turned up a strong odor of marijuana, and a search revealed the drugs, which had an estimated street value of about $8.2 million.
D'Evelyn said the driver was identified as Peng Law, 44, of Sunnyvale and the passenger as Bing Huang, 45, of San Jose.
ORE. WOMAN ESCAPES HARM AS PLANE CRASHES INTO HOME: MCMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say a pilot whose plane crashed into the side of a house in Oregon has died, but a woman inside the dwelling was able to escape without injuries.
The McMinnville Police Department says the crash occurred Monday afternoon, southwest of Portland. The first law enforcement officers to arrive said the plane hit a garage and ended up inside the home.
The pilot has not yet been identified. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.
McMinnville is located in Oregon's wine country, about 40 miles from Portland.
GARTH BROOKS PLANS LIVE BROADCAST OF ONE-MAN SHOW: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Garth Brooks is taking his intimate one-man Las Vegas show to live television.
A news release issued Monday says CBS will broadcast Brooks' performance at the Wynn Las Vegas live on Nov. 29.
Brooks came out of retirement in 2009 for a series of occasional gigs at Steve Wynn's invitation. Brooks formally ended that run after three years, but has played occasionally since then.
The broadcast will be his final performance of the show, which has mostly been Brooks with just his guitar exploring his musical influences with fans.
Brooks has mostly been out of music since 2001, when he became a stay-at-home dad. But fans remain fervent, helping to set a record viewership for the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this year when Brooks performed with George Strait.
3 WASHINGTON YOUTHS RECOVERING FROM DOG ATTACK: HOQUIAM, Wash. (AP) — An 8-year-old boy, his younger sister and their baby sitter are recovering from bite wounds after a dog belonging to the siblings' family attacked them in their backyard in Washington state.
The boy had the worst of it. He received stitches for wounds to his head and thigh. His 3-year-old sister and their 15-year-old baby sitter also were treated for dog bites.
When police were called to the home in the coastal town of Hoquiam on Friday, the officer found a mastiff mauling the boy in the yard and the baby sitter and 3-year-old in a shed trying to hold off the dog with a rake.
The officer used a stun gun to shock the animal and then shot it three times with his service pistol to stop the attack.
Police Chief Jeff Myers says the dog was still aggressive when a veterinary tech arrived and euthanized it at the family's request.
TEXAN SURVIVES BEING HIT BY LIGHTNING TWICE: SAINT JO, Texas (AP) — An off-road racing enthusiast has survived being struck by lightning twice during the same storm in North Texas.
Casey Wagner said Sunday that doctors told him a tingling feeling would last for about a week.
Wagner was at an off-road competition in Saint Jo, 85 miles northwest of Dallas, when storms arrived.
The 31-year-old Wagner was under a tree when he was hit by lightning. He dropped to his knees then he was struck again. Wagner says he saw sparks during the strikes.
A nurse who happened to be nearby cared for Wagner until he was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.
Wagner says he believes God kept him alive — and he plans to start going to church more.
WOMAN TO FACE TRIAL ON CHARGE SHE DUMPED BABY: EASTON, Pa. (AP) — An eastern Pennsylvania woman has been ordered to stand trial on charges accusing her of giving birth in a sports bar bathroom, wrapping the newborn in a plastic bag and hiding him in a toilet tank.
Twenty-six-year-old Amanda Hein, of Allentown, was ordered to stand trial on a criminal homicide count after a preliminary hearing Monday.
A cleaning crew found the baby's body in the toilet on Aug. 19 at Starters Pub in Bethlehem, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia. A coroner concluded the boy was born alive.
Police say they traced blood found in a bar booth to Hein. Investigators say she couldn't give them a reason she allegedly killed the baby except that she was "scared."
EMILE HIRSCH TO PLAY JOHN BELUSHI IN BIOPIC: NEW YORK (AP) — Emile Hirsch will play John Belushi in a biopic on the comedian.
Production company Film 360 confirmed Monday the casting of Hirsch in the currently untitled independent feature. Directing will be Steve Conrad, who wrote the screenplay of the upcoming Ben Stiller film, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Conrad will also pen the screenplay, adapting the biography "Belushi."
The 28-year-old Hirsch has starred in Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and the 2008 action film "Speed Racer." He co-starred earlier this year with Paul Rudd in David Gordon Green's "Prince Avalanche," and also co-stars in the upcoming Navy SEAL war film "Lone Survivor."
One of the original "Saturday Night Live" cast members, Belushi starred in "The Blues Brothers" and "National Lampoon's Animal House" before dying at the age of 33 in 1982.
