Law & disorder
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Susan Speer ruled Wednesday that Emily Leatherman, 33, wHO is accused of stalk actor John Cusack, is competent to stand trial but cannot represent herself. A court-appointed psychiatrist evaluated Leatherman and said she was "delusional" and "paranoiac." The pass judgment appointed an attorney to represent Leatherman at test, set to begin Sept. 9.
Coke-mobile unmasked
Police in Providence, R.I., said an unmarked car that officers had been drive for several years came with a surprise: a half-pound of cocaine concealed behind the radio. Deputy Police Chief Paul Kennedy said the Ford Taurus was confiscated from a drug dealer in 2000. He added that constabulary search for contraband in confiscated vehicles but sometimes "miss stuff." The cocain was base about trinity weeks agone by a repairman world Health Organization was cannibalizing the motorcar for spare parts.
Worth a try
In coins he trusts
An Ohioan wHO doesn't trust paper money delivered enough coins to cover half the damage of a new pickup truck. Employees at a dealership in the Cincinnati suburb of Springdale aforementioned James Jones, 70, plunked down 16 coffee cans full of coins Tuesday for a Chevrolet Silverado. Salesman David Crisswell aforementioned employees played out 90 proceedings counting coins, which covered half the $16,000 price of the pickup. Jones and his wife, Betty, wrote a chequer for the other half.
Update
Actor pleads non guilty
Actor Shelley Malil, 43, best known for his performance in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of attempted mangle in an attack that left his former lady friend in critical condition with 20 stab wounds, regime said. He faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted, aforementioned San Diego District Attorney spokesman Paul Levikow. The charges against him admit allegations of using a knife, domestic violence and causing grave bodily wound. He is being held in place of $10 million bail. Malil played Haziz, nonpareil of star Steve Carell's co-workers at an electronics store in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."
Steinbeck revision
A federal appeals court has reversed a ruling that awarded John Steinbeck's son and granddaughter publication rights to 10 of the author's early workings, including "The Grapes of Wrath." The appeals lawcourt said Wednesday that a judge made a misunderstanding when he ruled the works belonged to the son, Thomas Steinbeck, and granddaughter Blake Smyle. The two had won rights previously held by various individuals and organizations, including Penguin Group and the heirs of John Steinbeck's widow, Elaine. The appeals court ordered the lower court judge to rule in favor of Penguin and the heirs of Elaine Steinbeck, who died in April 2003.
People
Fabian to be honored
Fabian Forte, 65, will receive the Harvey Award on Oct. 24 at the James M. Stewart Museum in Stewart's hometown, Indiana, Pa., about 45 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Fabian appeared in 30 films, including two with Stewart, "Dear Brigitte" and "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation." The awarding, named subsequently Stewart's 1950 film around an invisible rabbit, has previously been given to June Allyson, Janet Leigh, Shirley Jones, Ernest Borgnine and impressionist Rich Little.
Jolie may substitute Cruise
Angelina Jolie is in negotiations to replace Tom Cruise in Philip Noyce's espionage drama with the working title of "Edwin A. Salt" and a by-the-numbers secret plan: Jolie plays a CIA agent wHO has been accused of "being a Russian sleeper spy and must evade capture long enough to establish her innocence," Variety says.
Passages
Darren "Bo" Taylor, 42, a former member of the Crips who brokered a armistice between war-ridden inner-city gangs after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, died Monday of cancer in San Diego.
Don Helms, 81, the steel guitar player whose ache instrumental cry gave musical voice to the anguish and the joy in virtually all the key recordings by country-music titan Hank Williams, died Monday in Nashville, Tenn., of an manifest heart attack.
Today in History
1848: The Oregon Territory was created.
1900: International forces, including U.S. Marines, entered Beijing to put depressed the Boxer Rebellion, which was aimed at purging China of foreign influence.
1908: Rioting erupted in Springfield, Ill., as a white rout, enraged that two black criminal suspects (one later convicted of murder, the other exculpated of rape) had been spirited away from the city clink by authorities, began mount black-owned homes and businesses on fire. At least two blacks and pentad whites were killed in the force. (The sidesplitter helped inspire the universe of the NAACP the following year.)
1945: President Truman announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, termination World War II.
1980: Workers went on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, in a job action that resulted in the creation of the Solidarity labor movement.
2003: A huge blackout hit the northeastern United States and part of Canada; 50 million people lost power.
Today's Birthdays
Author Russell Baker, 83. Rock singer David Crosby, 67. Comedian-actor Steve Martin, 63. Actor Antonio Fargas, 62. Actress Susan Saint James, 62. Author Danielle Steel, 61. Film composer James Horner, 55. Actress Marcia Gay Harden, 49. Former basketball player Earvin "Magic" Johnson, 49. Singer Sarah Brightman, 48. Actress Halle Berry, 42. Actress Catherine Bell, 40.
Seattle Times news services
More info
