■ United States
Man bequeaths it all to L.A.
A 79-year-old man gave over US$400,000 to the people of Los Angeles in his will but snubbed his five siblings by leaving them only US$1 each, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday. Theodore DiFiore died in 1990, leaving most of his assets -- which included an old gas filling station and a car repair shop -- to the people of Los Angeles, the newspaper reported. "I think he was just a ornery guy ... and why he chose the city of Los Angeles, I don't have any idea," said attorney Robert Pasquinelli, who handled the case. DiFiore's properties were run down and needed renovation before being sold, the reason Los Angeles is only getting the money now.
■ United States
Jell-O catharsis
By day Sandra Martinez works at a New York law firm, but by night she abandons her conservative outlook and becomes "Sandra Claws" -- an amateur female Jell-O wrestler. At a grungy live music bar on New York's Lower East Side, she joined 11 other women to do battle -- several for the first time -- in a blue, blow-up kiddie pool decorated with orange fish and filled with warm, clear clumps of an unflavored version of the gelatin dessert. "It [lets us do] things we probably want to do to women sometimes that we dislike, but we have a forum where we can express it in a fun and safe way," the 29-year-old Martinez said.
■ United States
Baby not missing, but dead
A woman who reported her young son missing over the weekend was booked on suspicion of murder after sheriff's investigators found the toddler's small body stuffed in a trash bin near the family's home in Escondido, California, authorities said on Wednesday. Erika Panyavong, 30, told investigators on Tuesday night that 19-month-old Keithan's death was an accident, said Captain Clay Reynard, a San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokesman. "The baby was sick, she gave the baby some medication and the next thing she knew the baby wasn't breathing," Reynard said. On Sunday afternoon, Panyavong had told investigators a different story.
■ United States
Here, pee in the bottle
A teacher who did not have time to escort three students to the bathroom is under fire for allegedly telling them to urinate in a soda bottle. The students did as they were told, said Thomas Field, interim superintendent of Wicomico County schools. The incident happened last Friday at Salisbury Middle School in Maryland, where restroom vandalism has led to a policy that some students have to be escorted to the restroom. Students said that the eighth-grade teacher -- who was not identified by the school pending a review of the matter -- could not find anyone to escort three students and told them to urinate into a soda bottle.
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