OHIO MAN POPS THE QUESTION WITH PUMPKINS: DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man got into the Halloween spirit by crafting a clever marriage proposal for his girlfriend.
Zach Stoddard of Dayton used five carved pumpkins strategically placed on the side of a hill to pop the question to his girlfriend of three years, Lauren Brenneman. When the illuminated pumpkins were uncovered, they showed the words "Will You Marry Me?"
Brenneman said "yes," much to the delight of the hundreds of people gathered Wednesday night for a popular neighborhood event called the Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow.
Organizers tell The Dayton Daily News that the proposal was a first for the annual event, which featured hundreds of carved pumpkins lighting up the night. It ended Thursday.
PA. DRUG DEALER TO VIEW DAUGHTER'S BODY IN COURT: PITTSBURGH (AP) — A convicted Pittsburgh drug dealer can have a private funeral viewing of his daughter's body — in the courthouse, a federal judge ruled after prosecutors and marshals raised security and other concerns about letting the man go to a church funeral viewing.
Ronnie Lubron Steave, 39, pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking Wednesday and was jailed at a federal detention center in northeastern Ohio to await sentencing. His daughter, 17-year-old Mysharri Millender, died in a car crash Sunday. Steave's attorney asked that his client be allowed to go to her visitation at a city church.
Prosecutors objected, saying Steave is a risk to flee because he faces 15 years in prison, is a danger to the community and because of costs of transporting him and securing the viewing.
Federal marshals also told the court that they frown upon such arrangements for security reasons, though they've done it when judges have insisted.
That's why U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab crafted a compromise to have the girl's body brought to the courthouse for a private viewing, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
The judge ordered Steave's family to pay for the transfer, and details were still being arranged Friday.
HALLOWEEN TOY GUN PROMPTS WASH. SCHOOL LOCKDOWN: WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — Police in Washington state say a woman's Halloween costume that included a realistic-looking AR-15 toy rifle sent Wenatchee city officers and Chelan County sheriff's deputies rushing to a school.
A passer-by reported seeing someone walking near Lewis and Clark Elementary with what appeared to be an assault rifle. The school was put on lockdown for about a half-hour Thursday afternoon while the report was checked out.
KHQ-TV reports that dispatchers received another call from someone who said a friend had just walked home wearing a costume that included a replica rifle.
The Wenatchee World reports the woman wearing the costume was in her 20s.
Sgt. Jim West says officers contacted her and told her, "carrying a 'weapon' like that was probably not the wisest of ideas."
DALLAS POLICE TO HONOR TIPPIT, SLAIN BY OSWALD: DALLAS (AP) — About 45 minutes after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas, Officer J.D. Tippit was on patrol in the nearby Oak Cliff neighborhood. He slowed down as he saw a man who met the vague description of the shooting suspect walking down the street.
Moments later, Tippit got out of his patrol car and Lee Harvey Oswald opened fire, killing Tippit instantly.
In tribute to the fallen officer, the city's police force can wear a special badge throughout November, which marks the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination and Tippit's death.
"We wanted to pay our respect to the sacrifice that J.D. Tippit made to the city of Dallas," said Ron Pinkston, president of the Dallas Police Association, which is helping facilitate the sale of the badges.
Tippit's 85-year-old widow, Marie Tippit, appreciates the gesture. She said the badge bearing her husband's name, number and date of death not only honors him but also serves as a reminder of all of those who have died in the line of duty — and how fast an officer can be killed.
"It was just remarkable that I kept going. Without God's help I wouldn't have because I just couldn't picture how we were going to live without him," she said. "I just couldn't figure that out.
