DOVER, Del. (AP) — The NASCAR driver known as “The Outlaw” testified Tuesday he believes his ex-girlfriend is a trained assassin dispatched on covert missions around the world who once returned to him in a blood-splattered gown.

“Everybody on the outside can tell me I’m crazy, but I lived on the inside and saw it firsthand,” Kurt Busch said when his attorney, Rusty Hardin, questioned why he still believed Patricia Driscoll is a hired killer.

Busch, appearing in court again over Driscoll’s request for a no-contact order, continued the push of his legal team to discredit his ex as a scorned woman out to destroy his career, portraying her as a character fit for a screenplay.

Busch said Driscoll repeatedly asserted her assassin status and claimed the work took her on missions across Central and South America and Africa. He recounted one time when the couple was in El Paso, Texas. He said Driscoll left in camouflage gear only to return later wearing a trench coat over an evening gown covered with blood.



Assault charges dismissed against
soccer star Hope Solo

KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) — U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo had domestic violence assault charges against her dismissed Tuesday, ending what she called “one of the most difficult and emotionally draining times of my life.”

Now, she can turn her attention fully to World Cup preparations.

The U.S. Soccer Federation had resisted pressure from some to suspend Solo after she was charged with two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree assault stemming from an altercation with her half-sister and 17-year-old nephew at a party in June. The case had been set for trial in a week in suburban Seattle.



NCAA loses bid to toss

law over $60 million
Penn State fine

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday declined to throw out a state law that requires the $60 million fine Penn State has been paying over the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal be spent to address child abuse within the state.

U.S. Middle District Judge Yvette Kane ruled against the NCAA’s effort to have the 2013 Endowment Act declared in violation of the federal constitution, deferring to a parallel case in state court that is scheduled for trial next month. Her decision was based largely on the fact the constitutionality of the law had already been upheld in the Commonwealth Court case, which pits state Treasurer Rob McCord and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman against the NCAA and Penn State.

“A judgment on the constitutional claims from this court, at this juncture, would unnecessarily interfere with state court proceedings and result in needless duplication,” the judge wrote.