Donkey baseball; Elvis museum closing; porta-potty drugs

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police say an undercover drug bust netted an Albuquerque drug dealer who was doing business out of an adult video store's portable toilet.

The Albuquerque Journal reports 22-year-old Aaron Gonzales was arrested in the Pussycat Video store's parking lot on Tuesday and is facing drug-trafficking charges. Andres Plata, an 18-year-old who is accused of leading an undercover officer to Gonzales, also was arrested.

Court documents show Plata, who said he was Gonzales' brother, took the officer to the porta-potty after he asked him for heroin.

The officer ended up buying $10 worth of heroin and $10 worth of methamphetamine as part of the investigation before Gonzales was arrested.

It's not known whether Gonzales or Plata have an attorney.

TOLEDO, Ohio — One of three Kodiak bears whose mother was killed by hunters has been relocated from Alaska to an Ohio zoo.

The male cub, named Dodge, arrived last fall at the Toledo Zoo, The Blade newspaper reported. He has since bonded with two female grizzly cubs that were moved from Yellowstone National Park after their mother killed a hiker and was euthanized.

"You try to have everything be positive. You give them the space and availability to get out of sight if they want to, and you don't force anything on them. ... They eventually get curious," said Dr. Randi Meyerson, the Toledo Zoo's assistant director of animal programs.

The cubs are now getting along well after they were first brought together about a month ago.

Nathan Svoboda, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said this is only the second time that Kodiak bear cubs have been relocated in about 35 years.

"This was somewhat of a unique circumstance in that we had a couple of zoos looking for cubs and were able to place them," Svoboda said.

The Toledo Zoo expects the cubs will go on public exhibit this summer.

The zoo said hunters without a guide killed Dodge's mother last spring. It's illegal to kill female bears with cubs in Alaska. A second, guided group of hunters later searched for and found the cubs.

The cubs initially were hand-reared at the Alaska Zoo. Dodge's siblings went to a zoo in Marshfield, Wisconsin.

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Information from: The Blade, http://www.toledoblade.com/

KALISPELL, Mont. — A statue of Jesus that has spent more than 60 years overlooking a northwestern Montana ski hill is there to stay as an anti-religion group says it will not appeal its case for removal.

In August, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from a group of atheists and agnostics that allowing the statue on U.S. Forest Service land violates the constitutional separation of church and state. The majority agreed that a privately owned memorial in the middle of a ski resort does not violate the constitution. A U.S. district judge found that the statue's secular and irreverent uses outweighed its religious uses.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation had until this week to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Court of Appeals denied a request to re-hear the case in November, according to the Daily Inter Lake.

"There was no point in bringing this to the Supreme Court with a 5-4 block," Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said. "It's dead in the water."

The Knights of Columbus placed the statue on U.S. Forest Service land on Big Mountain in the mid-1950s as a memorial to World War II soldiers and it remained in place with few complaints for decades.

The Flathead National Forest decided in 2011 not to renew the 10-year permit for the statue near a run at Whitefish Mountain Resort but reversed the decision due to public outcry.

The foundation sued in 2012.

"It's just an injustice," Gaylor said. "All we wanted the government to do is give the shrine of Jesus back to the Knights of Columbus so it could be displayed on their own property where it belongs."

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Information from: Daily Inter Lake, http://www.dailyinterlake.com

POCATELLO, Idaho — Officials in a southeastern Idaho city and the owner of a historic building are feuding over the fate of a mural that didn't receive approval before being painted.

The Pocatello City Council will decide the fate of a horse mural on the side of a firehouse building downtown after the city's Historic Preservation Commission recommended it be removed, The Idaho State Journal reported.

Artist Stan Gates owns the building and commissioned another artist to paint a mural to cover and preserve a crumbling exterior brink wall.

"There was a building there once and when it came down it exposed these bricks that weren't meant to be exposed," said Gates. "Every day I'd find bricks on the ground. I knew I'd have to stucco it. But being an artist, I thought 'why just stucco it?'"

However Gates failed to request permission from the city to paint the mural. The city issued a notice telling Gates to remove the mural just days after the painting of horses won an award from Old Town Pocatello Inc.

"We received complaints from two people who felt it was unfair that they were jumping through the hoops when he didn't have to," said Terri Neu, the assistant city planner and liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission.

Gates submitted the appropriate paperwork for the mural, but the commission denied his request, saying proper procedures weren't followed.

Gates is appealing the Historic Preservation Commission's decision at the City Council meeting on Thursday

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Information from: Idaho State Journal, http://www.journalnet.com

CANON CITY, Colo. — A 37-year-old man has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to stabbing his girlfriend's former teacher in Fremont County.

The Canon City Daily Record reports that a judge on Tuesday ordered a sanity evaluation for Sean Overstreet, who is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, robbery and other charges.

Overstreet is accused of having his girlfriend and co-defendant Courtney Plante lure the victim from his Cotopaxi home before Overstreet stabbed him and smashed his head into the ground. After a struggle, the victim was able to flee his attackers.

Overstreet's attorney says his client had suffered head trauma in an auto accident that contributed to his mental impairment.

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Information from: Canon City Daily Record, http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/

PAYETTE, Idaho — Idaho police believe four teenage boys are responsible for setting fire to the high school principal's house.

The Idaho Statesman reports that Payette Police Chief Mark Clark said Tuesday he asked a judge to issue a warrant for the arrest of three high-schoolers and one middle-schooler.

The Feb. 22 fire destroyed Payette High School principal Mark Heleker's home and three cars parked in the driveway.

Payette Fire Chief Steve Castenada says the blaze started in a trash can outside the garage. He says investigators think the kids set the fire in retaliation for being suspended.

Heleker says he knows the high-school suspects but does not know the younger student.

Clark says social media posts helped lead investigators to the suspects.

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Information from: Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima has tabled plans for a community court system for low-level offenders due to budget problems.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports (http://bit.ly/1Qs36b7 ) that on Tuesday the City Council moved to pull the proposal while staff looks for ways to sole a projected $750,000 shortfall in the general government budget.

The proposed program would have worked to connect people convicted of misdemeanors such as graffiti, drugs or prostitution with rehabilitative services. It was projected to cost about $45,000 this year.

The City Council may revisit the proposal next year when the budget is more balanced.

COLUMBIA, Calif. — Delmer Berg of Columbia, the last known survivor among the Americans who fought fascists in 1930s Spain, has died

Berg died at his home on Sunday, a friend confirmed. He was 100.

The Modesto Bee reports Tuesday that friend Pat Cervelli said Berg became politically active at a young age.

Berg was among about 2,800 members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who sought to defend an elected leftist government from a revolt led by Gen. Francisco Franco.

Berg told The Modesto Bee in a November interview that he was a farmer in support of the Spanish working people, and wanted to go to Spain to help them.

He was wounded in a bombing at a monastery where he was quartered and left Spain after several months.

Berg remained an activist against nuclear weapons and U.S. involvement in Central America.

FRESNO, Calif. — The Fresno home of Armenian-American author William Saroyan is slated to become a museum to host literary and cultural events.

The Fresno Bee reports that the tract house where the author spent the last 17 years of his life has been purchased by the Intellectual Renaissance Foundation, which will renovate the 1,228-square-foot house into the museum.

The property has had three different owners since Saroyan's death in 1981. It was a rental home for years, attracting squatters, and last summer the vacant home fell into foreclosure.

Saroyan was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film adaptation of his novel "The Human Comedy." His other notable works include "My Name is Aram" and "The Time of Your Life."

LOS ANGELES — In the wake of two suspected overdose deaths at rave concerts the Los Angeles County Fair Association says there will be no raves at the fairgrounds this year.

The Los Angeles Times reports that association spokeswoman Renee Hernandez said there are no planned electric dance music concerts or related events planned for 2016.

The announcement comes after say 18-year-old Tracy Nguyen and 19-year-old Katie Dix died of apparent drug overdoses after attending Live Nation Entertainment's Hard Summer at Fairplex Park in Pomona on Aug. 1. Los Angeles authorities have confirmed Nguyen died from the party drug Ecstasy

Raves stopped being held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Sports Arena in 2011 after a 15-year-old girl who attended a rave died of an Ecstasy overdose.

LOS ANGELES — Motorists are warned of limited visibility as dense fog blankets much of Southern California.

The National Weather Service says a fog advisory will be in effect until 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Areas affected stretch from the south coast of Santa Barbara County to San Diego.

The weather service urges drivers to reduce speeds, increase following distance and use low-beam headlights.

The fog will give way to partly cloudy conditions, with temperatures mostly in the 60s and 70s.

Slightly lower temperatures and big surf are expected later in the week. Forecasters say rain is possible starting Sunday.

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — A southern New Mexico city is hosting a donkey baseball game.

The Alamogordo Daily News reports the Optimist Club of Alamogordo and the Wisconsin-based Dairyland Donkey Ball have invited Alamogordo Police Department and the U.S. Border Patrol to a friendly game of baseball while riding on donkeys.

Optimist Club Secretary Treasurer James Scott said in donkey baseball, the rules are like regular baseball but with a few twists.

The fielders are all on donkeys. They are allowed get off the donkey to pick the ball up but they have to get back on to throw it.

The game scheduled for Saturday is aimed at raising money for area youth programs.

In addition, officials say the agencies will get to display their equipment to educate the community about their work.

EL PASO, Texas — The purported site in southern New Mexico where the killer of Billy the Kid was murdered himself is in danger of more vandalism and possible development.

KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas, reports that history buffs fear the site of the alleged murder of Sheriff Pat Garrett could face more trouble if the state doesn't work to preserve it.

The site is about one mile from a historical marker in east Las Cruces.

Garrett is famous for gunning down the legendary outlaw, Billy the Kid. But the circumstances surrounding Garrett's death are unclear. Some say he was ambushed while taking a stop in the desert.

The New Mexico State Historical Society said it was not aware of any plans to preserve the site.

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Information from: KVIA-TV, http://www.kvia.com