ILLINOIS
Women taken hostage in standoff
CHICAGO - Two women were taken hostage inside their Chicago apartment building early yesterday, sparking a police standoff that stretched more than 10 hours.
The women were being held by a gunman in his 20s or 30s who fired at police at least once, and officers were negotiating with the suspect by phone, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.
“We don’t actually know what precipitated it,” Miss Bond said.
The standoff in the city’s South Shore neighborhood began about 2:30 a.m. after a 911 call about gunshots in the building.
No injuries were reported, Miss Bond said. She described the female hostages as young adults, but did not know their ages or relationship to the gunman.
NEW YORK
David Blaine’s latest stunt ends
NEW YORK - David Blaine’s latest stunt ended with a crash yesterday when the performer escaped from shackles in a gyroscope 50 feet above New York’s Times Square, leapt and fell through a plywood stage below.
After two days of twisting and turning in the air, Mr. Blaine unhooked himself, jumped and crashed through the stage about a half-hour after being given the go-ahead to try to escape.
He emerged moments later, able to walk but appearing woozy, and greeted a few hundred spectators before being whisked away in a taxi.
Mr. Blaine has locked himself in a fishbowl, a block of ice and a coffin in previous stunts.
CALIFORNIA
Wildfire accidentally started by lost camper
YUCAIPA — A wildfire that had consumed about 125 acres and continued to burn yesterday was started by a camper who lit a signal fire after getting lost in a national forest, authorities said.
The man got lost trying to return to a group of other campers after a hike in the San Bernardino National Forest, U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Miller said. The camper was about a mile from where he started when he set the signal fire Tuesday night.
Authorities hadn’t determined whether to charge the man, whom Mr. Miller declined to name.
FLORIDA
Students get ‘grandma time’
BONITA SPRINGS — Kindergartners and first-graders here are getting some “old-school” education.
A group of 15 grandmothers logged more than 1,500 hours volunteering with struggling students at Bonita Springs Charter school last year. “Grandma Time” began after 70-year-old Ceil Jennings started volunteering in her grandsons’ class in 2002.
Mrs. Jennings, a mother of five with 11 grandchildren, said grandmas help students learn in a different way than teachers do. They go over areas where the children need help, such as letters, numbers or hand-eye coordination, and hand out high-fives and hugs, the News-Press of Fort Myers reported Wednesday.
HAWAII
Quake shakes islands, causes little damage
KAILUA-KONA — An earthquake with a magnitude of at least 4.5 struck off the northwestern coast of the Big Island yesterday in the same area where two stronger temblors struck last month.
The quake, centered about 11 miles northwest of Puuanahulu, shook homes on the Big Island, Maui and Oahu, but it did not produce a tsunami threat, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated its magnitude at 5.0; the Tsunami Warning Center estimated it at 4.5.
There were isolated power outages in Kona on the Big Island, but no other damage was reported.
INDIANA
Donated toys stolen from firemen’s fund
COLUMBUS — Someone broke into a warehouse over the weekend and stole toys and electronics equipment that had been donated to a Christmas gift program organized by city firefighters.
The burglary was discovered Monday after thieves made off with at least two shopping carts full of goods, including compact disc players and boomboxes, organizers said.
“You always hear about the Grinch who stole Christmas. Whoever done it is kinda the Grinch to us,” firefighter Leroy Armstrong said.
The items were part of the Firemen’s Cheer Fund, which was founded in 1930 and provided gifts to about 1,500 children last year in the city about 40 miles south of Indianapolis. Police were investigating but had no suspects.
KANSAS
Man sentenced for HIV exposure
LAWRENCE — An HIV-positive man accused of knowingly exposing three women to the virus has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
Robert Richardson II, 30, apologized at his sentencing Wednesday, but he argued that although his behavior was unethical, it wasn’t criminal.
Richardson was found guilty last month of four counts of HIV exposure involving three women, and he was found not guilty of exposing a fourth woman.
Jurors said they were appalled by how he deceived the women by telling them that his health problems were from a “heart” condition. Richardson said that he didn’t lie, and that he did have a “HAART” condition — short for highly active antiretroviral therapy, his HIV-treatment drug regimen.
WASHINGTON
Man uses toilets to fend off golfers
SOAP LAKE — Some people use scarecrows to chase away birds, or garlic to block vampires. Rick Froebe uses toilets to repel golfers.
Mr. Froebe has erected a backyard “fence” made of seven old toilets, a few used bathtubs and some broken water heaters, all designed to prevent golfers from the adjacent Lakeview Golf & Country Club from approaching his yard.
Gerald Coulter, representing the country club’s nine-member board of directors, called the situation “completely ridiculous.”
“I’ve had several people call that were upset with [the fence]. It’s an eyesore,” Mr. Coulter said. “I’m surprised the health department hasn’t been out there because of the used toilets and water tanks. It’s not a sanitary condition.”
WISCONSIN
12-year-old charged with stabbing girl
KENOSHA — A 12-year-old girl accused of stabbing a classmate in the chest with a picklike metal comb, piercing her heart, was charged as an adult Wednesday with attempted homicide.
The seventh-grader was ordered held pending a hearing Monday in Kenosha County Circuit Court, when bail could be set. She was charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and authorities said she would be kept away from adult prisoners.
Under state law, juveniles older than 10 who are charged with homicide-related offenses automatically go to adult court. The charge carries up to 45 years in prison.
The victim, also 12, had surgery at a Milwaukee hospital to remove a 4- to 5-inch piece of metal from her chest, according to court records. The metal was embedded about two inches into her heart, but no valves were damaged and she is expected to fully recover, the documents said.
From staff reports and wire dispatches
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