Boston Herald - Boston Herald

Service planned after man dies day after wedding

Associated Press — Sat, 25 May 2013 08:10:17 -0400

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A memorial service is planned for a newly married Detroit-area youth minister who was killed in a traffic accident as he and his wife were en route to their honeymoon in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The service for 21-year-old Jordan Costa is Saturday at Connection Church in Canton Township, Mich.

Costa was pronounced dead at the scene of Sunday's rollover crash in eastern Ohio's Tuscarawas County. Twenty-one-year-old Heather Favazza-Costa suffered minor injuries.

Ohio kidnap case hero not endorsing free burgers

Associated Press — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:26:42 -0400

CLEVELAND — The man who famously put aside his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive in a Cleveland house said Friday that he's not endorsing a group of restaurants that are offering him free burgers for life and wants his name kept out of it.

"I never told these people they could use my name for this," Charles Ramsey said in a written statement released through attorney, Patricia Walker.

Police: 'Thong Cape Scooter Man' not breaking law

Associated Press — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:14:53 -0400

MADISON, Wis. — A man who wears thong underwear and a cape while riding his scooter through Wisconsin's capital city may be a strange sight. But police say he isn't breaking any laws.

Earlier this month, staff at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Madison called authorities after the man rode by in his unmentionables while students were walking to a bus.

Ohio kidnap case hero gets year of free McDonald's

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:39:22 -0400

CLEVELAND — The man who famously put down his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive for years in a Cleveland house will get free McDonald's for the next year, a company spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.

Local franchisees in Charles Ramsey's neighborhood have offered him free food at their restaurants, said Heidi Barker, a spokeswoman for Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's Corp.

Talk of lies, pride as Trump case goes to jury

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:15:38 -0400

CHICAGO — The lawyer for an 87-year-old woman who accuses Donald Trump of cheating her in a skyscraper condo deal told jurors in Chicago on Wednesday that he was personally repulsed because he felt the "Apprentice" star conned his client and lied about it on the witness stand.

Plaintiff attorney Shelly Kulwin's comments came during a sarcasm-filled closing argument at the federal civil trial that pits Jacqueline Goldberg against the billionaire real estate mogul-turned TV showman.

Man who kidnapped 2 Iowa girls had long record

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:48:15 -0400

IOWA CITY, Iowa — When Michael Klunder enticed two girls to enter his pickup truck near a rural Iowa school bus stop Monday, it was at least his third kidnapping in a long criminal history in which he was ordered to receive sex offender treatment starting as a teenager.

Highway patrol: 29 hurt in Ohio bus, car crash

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 08:20:15 -0400

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — The State Highway Patrol says 29 people have been injured in a crash between a commercial bus and a car on Interstate 75 in northwest Ohio.

The patrol says the crash on northbound Interstate 75 near Bowling Green happened at about 10:30 p.m. when the 2001 Bluebird bus ran into the back of a 1995 Toyota Camry that slowed down in traffic.

Nineteen of the bus passengers were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. One of them, a 19-year-old man, was seriously injured.

Cleveland kidnapping victims 'happy and safe'

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 08:19:40 -0400

CLEVELAND — The three women rescued after being held captive in a Cleveland house for about a decade say they are doing fine.

That was the message in a letter released by their attorneys on Tuesday that also noted a charity fund to help the women has now raised more than $650,000.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reports that attorneys who are representing Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight for free say the women are "happy and safe and continue to heal, a process that requires time and privacy."

Teen pleads not guilty in deaths of Ohio brothers

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:54:42 -0400

OTTAWA, Ohio — A 17-year-old boy charged with killing two teenage brothers in northwest Ohio has pleaded not guilty.

Michael Aaron Fay entered the pleas during an arraignment Tuesday in Putnam County Juvenile Court. He's charged with delinquency in connection with aggravated murder.

Fay is accused of killing 17-year-old Blake Romes and 14-year-old Blaine Romes in their Ottawa trailer May 9.

Police: Suspect in Iowa abduction killed himself

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:30:06 -0400

DES MOINES, Iowa — Authorities say a man suspected of abducting two girls near an Iowa bus stop had committed suicide.

Forty-two-year-old Michael Klunder was found dead Monday night at a rural property northeast of Dayton.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation did not release more details Tuesday about Klunder's death.

Dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement are searching by air, land and water for 15-year-old Kathlynn Shepard.

Kohler ordered to pay $9.6 million in patent suit

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:37:58 -0400

KOHLER, Wis. — The Kohler Co. has been ordered in federal court to pay $9.6 million to a Massachusetts manufacturer for infringing on two of its patents for components that reduce exhaust emissions in marine generators.

Jurors in U.S. District Court in Boston last week found Kohler willfully infringed on the patents issued in 2008 and 2010. They are owned by an affiliate of the Westerbeke Corp., which accused Kohler of infringing on both patents with several models of its low carbon monoxide marine generators.

Woman on Trump: 'Somebody had to stand up to him'

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:13:16 -0400

CHICAGO — An 87-year-old woman who alleges Donald Trump cheated her in a skyscraper-condo sale told jurors Monday she had qualms about suing the real estate mogul and TV celebrity. But, she quickly added, "Somebody had to stand up to him."

Jacqueline Goldberg's comment came during her second and final day on the stand at a civil trial examining her claim that Trump perpetrated a bait-and-switch as she bought properties at the glitzy Trump International Hotel & Tower in downtown Chicago.

Mich. man dies in traffic crash day after wedding

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:02:18 -0400

DETROIT — A newly married Detroit-area youth minister was killed in a traffic accident as he and his wife were en route to their honeymoon in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Jordan Costa, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene of Sunday's rollover crash in eastern Ohio's Tuscarawas County. Heather Favazza-Costa, also 21, suffered minor injuries.

The Costas were married Saturday at Connection Church in Canton Township, Mich., where both were involved in the youth ministry and she was a lifelong member.

Milwaukee Pug Fest attracts 1,700 dogs

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:51:05 -0400

FRANKLIN, Wis. — Milwaukee Pug Fest, billed by organizers as the largest such event in North America, had its best year yet.

The annual gathering in a Milwaukee suburb Sunday attracted more than 1,700 pugs and other smushy-faced dogs along with 2,900 humans from the U.S. and Canada.

Pug Fest founder Rick Kopaczewski says early estimates show more than $40,000 was raised this year to help pay for medical and dental bills for rescued pugs. They've raised about $240,000 since the festival started 9 years ago.

Ferris wheel ride world record broken in Chicago

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:23:12 -0400

CHICAGO — A manager of Chicago's Navy Pier rode the tourist spot's Ferris wheel for more than two days — 384 times, up and around — bringing the world record for the longest ride to the birthplace of the amusement park favorite.

"I thought Chicago should have that title," Clinton Shepherd said after finishing his record-breaking ride on Sunday. Shepherd, the park operations manager, spent 48 hours, 8 minutes and 25 seconds riding Navy Pier's Ferris wheel over the weekend.

The first Ferris wheel was built in 1893 in Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition.

Somali reaction to al-Shabab sentences mixed

Associated Press — Sun, 19 May 2013 13:39:57 -0400

MINNEAPOLIS — The Somali community in Minnesota is reacting with a mix of outrage, confusion and relief to sentences handed down last week in the long-running investigations into recruiting and financing for the terrorist group al-Shabab.

At least 22 young men have left Minnesota since 2007 to join the group in Somalia.

Nine people who have been convicted were sentenced last week and received penalties ranging from two to 20 years in prison.

Fund for freed women in Ohio reaches $480,000

Associated Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:16:05 -0400

CLEVELAND — An official says a charity set up to help the three women freed from a decade of captivity in a Cleveland house has raised more than $480,000 so far.

Lynne Woodman of KeyBank tells The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer (http://bit.ly/10V7Mh8 ) that there have been more than 5,100 donations to what has been named the Cleveland Courage Fund. She says donations have come all 50 states and several foreign countries.

The money will go into four trust funds established for the victims.

NW Wisconsin wildfire consumes 8,700 acres

Associated Press — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:35:12 -0400

MILWAUKEE — Authorities are investigating whether logging operations may have sparked a massive wildfire in northwestern Wisconsin that destroyed dozens of buildings and forced at least 60 people from their homes, state officials said Wednesday.

The wildfire has consumed about 8,700 to 9,000 acres in Douglas and Bayfield counties but is about 95 percent contained, meaning firefighters have largely arrested the spread of the fire, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Donald Trump completes testimony in Chicago trial

Associated Press — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:59:06 -0400

CHICAGO — A scowling Donald Trump raised his voice on the witness stand Wednesday while an attorney grilled him and then rolled his eyes at the "Apprentice" star's answers, prompting a federal judge to scold both men in open court and order them to behave.

The admonition came during Trump's second and final day on the stand at a civil trial where he is accused of making false promises to an investor to lure her into purchasing condos at his glitzy Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.

Jurors deliberate at Ohio trial hinging on blinks

Associated Press — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:37:04 -0400

CINCINNATI — Jurors will head into a third day of deliberations in an Ohio murder case hinging on whether a dying, paralyzed man identified his shooter by blinking his eyes.

Jurors are scheduled to reconvene Thursday after failing to reach a verdict after a second day of deliberations Wednesday in the trial of 35-year-old Ricardo Woods of Cincinnati. Woods is accused of shooting David Chandler in 2010. Chandler was left paralyzed from the neck down and unable to speak before his death about two weeks later.