■ United States
Starbucks loses name suit
In a rare setback for the firm that made "Frappuccino" a household word, a federal judge ruled that a small New Hampshire coffee roaster can keep selling its "Charbucks" brand coffee beans, following a nearly decade-long legal battle with Starbucks Corp. Judge Laura Swain of the New York federal court ruled last month that consumers were unlikely to be confused between Starbucks and the "Charbucks" and "Mister Charbucks" coffee blends sold by Black Bear Micro Roastery of Center Tuftonboro, New Hampshire. Swain also ruled that Starbucks had failed to prove the "Charbucks" products had tarnished its image.
■ United States
Pregnant actress sues ABC
Kari Wuhrer, an actress who formerly appeared on the soap opera General Hospital, sued ABC Productions and American Broadcasting Companies on Thursday, saying that the show's producers killed off her character and dismissed her last August because she was pregnant. In documents filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Wuhrer, who started on the soap last January, says that she was told by a producer that the writers had refused to accommodate her pregnancy and that she was dismissed because of it. She also asserts that her case reflects a systemic anti-pregnancy attitude on ABC soap operas.
■ United States
Kilt-wearer wins apology
A Missouri high school student who was barred from a school dance because he was wearing a Scottish kilt has received an apology from school officials after the action sparked outrage among Scottish heritage supporters. In a letter dated Jan. 9, district superintendent Ron Anderson apologized to Jackson High School senior Nathan Warmack and said the district would train staffers how to properly apply the school dress code. The letter came after more than two months of debate and discussion about the actions of school officials when they asked Warmack, who is of Scottish descent, to change into trousers before entering the dance on Nov. 5.
■ United States
Elderly killer to be executed
California is set to execute a 75-year-old blind man who has diabetes, suffered a heart attack in September and cannot walk unaided. Unless a last-minute appeal to a federal court delivers a stay of execution or Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger grants clemency, Clarence Ray Allen will be executed by lethal injection at one minute past midnight on Jan. 17. For death penalty advocates, Allen's case demonstrates the inadequacies of the life sentence. For opponents, the execution of a frail elderly man is inhumane. In 1982 Allen was convicted of ordering the 1980 killings of Bryon Schletewitz, 27, Josephine Rocha, 17, and Douglas White, 18.
■ United States
Judge orders FEMA support
A federal judge ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Thursday to continue paying hotel bills for thousands of hurricane evacuees until Feb. 27, giving them up to three extra weeks to find permanent shelter. The ruling requires the agency to keep paying those bills for evacuees in New Orleans and its suburbs for two additional days, through Mardi Gras. The order, the latest in a series of extensions in a program that FEMA had originally said would end on Dec. 1, comes as some hotels have told evacuees that they will have to check out to make way for tourists who long ago booked rooms for the Mardi Gras.
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