NEW YORK
Waterford crystal will usher in 2009
YONKERS — Next month, it'll be the famous New Year's Eve ball. Next year, it could be the Great Pumpkin.
A bigger, brighter Waterford crystal ball will usher in 2009 above Times Square, then remain in place all year to celebrate other holidays including Valentine's Day, the Fourth of July and Halloween, organizers said Monday.
"You won't have to be here on Dec. 31 anymore to see the Times Square ball," said Jeff Straus, president of Countdown Entertainment. "You can come anytime now and it will be up there like a jewel, every day. And we expect to have special programming for special days."
The new ball, which was being assembled Monday at a studio in Yonkers, is 12 feet in diameter and weighs nearly 6 tons. Last year's ball was 6 feet across and less than a ton.
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The flagpole that was used for previous balls wasn't considered sturdy enough, so a new shaft was built, and steel bracing was added to the building beneath it, 1 Times Square.
"We pretty much had to redesign the top of the building," Straus said.
The ball is a geodesic dome built of 2,468 Waterford crystal triangles, each etched with a stylized starburst or a stylized angel, Waterford spokesman Peter Cheyney said.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Gas-relief drops for infants recalled
WASHINGTON — About 12,000 units of Mylicon drops to relieve gas for infants were recalled Monday because some bottles could include pieces of metal.
Johnson & Johnson-Merck Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co. recalled certain bottles of nonstaining Mylicon gas-relief dye-free drops. The recalled drops were sold in 1-ounce plastic bottles that were distributed to stores and pharmacies after Oct. 5. They were sold over the counter.
The recalled bottles are from lots SMF007 and SMF008. These numbers are printed on the bottom of the box and on the lower-left side of the sticker on each bottle.
The recall does not include any bottles of original infant's Mylicon gas-relief products or half-ounce bottles of non-staining Mylicon gas relief dye-free drops.
For information on how to dispose of the drops and obtain a refund or replacement, call 800-222-9435 or visit http://www.mylicon.com
NEBRASKA
Mom leaves boy, 17, at Omaha hospital
OMAHA — A 17-year-old boy left by his mother at an Omaha hospital on Monday is the 30th child abandoned under Nebraska's safe-haven law, state officials said.
The boy from the Omaha area was left at Creighton University Medical Center on Monday morning, said Todd Landry, director of children and family services for the Department of Health and Human Services.
The state was still investigating the case and additional details were not available, he said.
Nebraska was the last state to enact a safe-haven law, intended to protect unwanted newborns from being abandoned.
Some have interpreted the state's law as meaning it could apply to children as old as 18, because it uses the word "child" and doesn't specify an age limit. Those interpretations take the word "child" to mean "minor," which in Nebraska includes anyone under the age of 19.
TENNESSEE
Contents in purse save student's life
MURFREESBORO — Don't knock those trendy, oversized purses — they could save your life, as one college student found out.
Police say the contents in an oversized purse saved Elizabeth Pittenger, a 22-year-old Middle Tennessee State University student, by stopping a bullet during an attempted robbery.
Pittenger was walking to her car on campus Thursday evening when a man confronted her and demanded her purse, cell phone and laptop, university Police Chief Buddy Peaster said. She fought the man off, but he fired a gunshot before fleeing.
The bullet was found inside the purse, along with a calculator, umbrella and small case that had been punctured. Pittenger was not injured.
Police nearby heard the gunshot and arrested Orlando Edmiston, 20. Officers found a .38- caliber handgun beneath a parked van.
Edmiston was charged with attempted murder, attempted armed robbery and possession of a weapon on school property. He was being held at the Rutherford County jail on $32,500 bond.
ILLINOIS
Goodwill employee finds $7,500 in cash
GLEN CARBON — This stacks up among the better finds at a Goodwill store: $7,500 in cash stuffed in a shoebox.
A recent Bulgarian immigrant found the money during her first day on the job last week at a Goodwill near St. Louis in Glen Carbon, Ill.
Teodora Petrova didn't hesitate after finding the cash with a pair of donated shoes — she turned the money over to a manager who told executives for the nonprofit charity.
The president and chief executive of the area's Goodwill organization says it's eager to find the owner of the money. The charity figures it may have been left with the shoes accidentally.
If the owner isn't found, Goodwill says the money will go toward the charity's job-placement efforts.
CALIFORNIA
Cyber-abuse trial sets evidence limits
LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors in the trial of a woman accused of a MySpace hoax that allegedly led a 13-year-old girl to kill herself will likely be prohibited from presenting evidence of the suicide, a federal judge said Monday.
U.S. District Judge George H. Wu told attorneys he was leaning toward excluding the evidence from the trial of Lori Drew, who is accused of using a fictitious profile on the social networking site to drive Megan Meier, her daughter's former friend, to hang herself.
Drew has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization.
"I don't necessarily think the suicide is relevant to the crime charged," Wu said, adding he thought details of Meier's death would unfairly prejudice the jury. He said he planned to announce his final decision Friday.
Prosecutors say Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Mo., helped create a false-identity MySpace account and harassed Meier with cruel messages.
Meier, who was being treated for depression, hanged herself after allegedly receiving messages saying the world would be better off without her.
The government is prosecuting Drew under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which has never before been used in connection with a Web site's terms of service barring misrepresentation by users setting up new accounts.
Drew's attorneys have argued that cyber-bullying is not a violation of the act, which is typically used to prosecute hackers and those committing high-tech crimes.
On Wednesday, defense lawyer Dean Steward waived Drew's right to a jury trial in an effort to have the case decided by a judge, not jurors. But prosecutors refused to agree with the defense waiver, which resulted in a jury trial.
Jury selection is set to begin Nov. 18.
FLORIDA
Cancer claims life of 'ugliest pooch'
GULFPORT — A one-eyed, three-legged dog that won the title of world's ugliest pooch this summer has died.
The St. Petersburg Times in Florida reports that Gus, a Chinese crested dog, had cancer. He was 9.
Gus was rescued from a bad home and went on to win the annual World's Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Northern California.
Gus came from humble origins. According to the fair, his adopted family in Gulfport, Fla., rescued him after learning he was being kept in a crate inside someone's garage.
He had one leg amputated because of a skin tumor and lost an eye in a cat fight.
Gus' owner had said the prize money from the contest would be put toward the dog's radiation treatment.
