Alaska
Oxygen problem grounds F-22 Raptors
ANCHORAGE - The U.S. Air Force is no longer flying its entire fleet of F-22 Raptors because of concerns about the system that delivers oxygen to pilots aboard the stealth fighter jets, a military spokeswoman said Friday.
Gen. William Fraser, the head of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, issued the directive earlier this week, said Master Sgt. Pamela Anderson with the Command's public-affairs office.
The fleet of 158 fighter jets is on stand-down because of "hypoxia-like" events reported by some of pilots, she said. Hypoxia is when the body receives too little oxygen.
Last November, an F-22 pilot was killed in Alaska when he lost control of his jet during a training exercise. Since January, the Raptor fleet has been restricted from flying above 25,000 feet because of concerns with the plane's oxygen supply system.
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New Jersey
US halts deportation of man in gay marriage
NEWARK - A dancer from Venezuela who legally married an American man in a same-sex ceremony last year had his deportation placed on hold Friday, one day after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder set aside an immigration ruling in a similar case.
Henry Velandia, 27, a professional salsa dancer from Caracas, wants to be allowed to remain in the U.S. as the spouse of U.S. citizen Josh Vandiver, a 29-year-old graduate student at Princeton University. The couple lives in New Jersey, but were married last year in Connecticut, where same-sex marriage is legal.
On Friday, an immigration judge in Newark adjourned Velandia's case until December, citing Holder's decision from a day earlier. In that case, Holder set aside a Board of Immigration Appeals ruling allowing the deportation to Ireland of Paul Wilson Dorman, a gay man illegally in the U.S. who celebrated a civil union in New Jersey with his male partner.
Kansas
Leopard mauls boy
WICHITA - A first-grader on a school field trip to a zoo was mauled by a leopard Friday after the boy scaled a railing and approached the animal's cage, a zoo spokesman said.
Jim Marlett, spokesman for the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, said the boy climbed the 4- to 5-foot railing surrounding the leopard exhibit, crossed an 8-foot gap and stood next to the metal mesh fence of the animal's cage.
The boy's age hasn't been released, but first-graders are generally 7 or 8 years old.
Nevada
'Feeding frenzy' hits convenience store
LAS VEGAS - Police in Las Vegas say a crowd of young people swarmed a convenience store and stole nearly $600 worth of merchandise amid the confusion and chaos.
City Stop owner Jon Athey tells KLAS-TV the mob was in the store for 3 1/2 minutes and "it became a feeding frenzy." He says the thieves took anything they could get their hands on: beer, beef jerky, candy bars and even the clerk's cellphone. Some even left and returned for more. KSNV-TV says the clerk estimated about 35 people were involved.
No one was injured. Police say they are looking closely at surveillance video of the April 30 ordeal.
Illinois
Pizza restaurants linked to cocaine ring
WAUKEGAN - Authorities in suburban Chicago say they've charged 19 people in connection with a cocaine ring that operated out of pizza restaurants.
They say pizza delivery vehicles were used to distribute drugs out of pizza and hamburger restaurants in Waukegan and Grayslake. Waukegan Police Chief Daniel Greathouse says the ring has long been "a thorn in the side" of authorities.
Authorities charge man for having gator
FORD HEIGHTS - A suburban Chicago man thought he had the perfect chick magnet in his pet alligator. Authorities only saw a dangerous animal.
A charge of possession of a dangerous animal has been filed against 43-year-old Dewayne Yarbrough of Ford Heights, who claims he kept the 4-foot alligator to impress women.
Animal control investigators did not say how they learned of the alligator, which they found in Yarbrough's kitchen.
Wire reports
