■HONDURAS
US execution lamented
The government protested Thursday’s execution in Texas of a Honduran man that the Central American country says was arrested in violation of an international treaty. The country lobbied to stop the execution of Heliberto Chi, saying he was not permitted to contact anyone from his government after he was arrested in California and extradited to Texas. The argument is similar to the one raised earlier this week by Mexican-born Jose Medellin, who was executed late on Tuesday night for his part in the gruesome gang rape-slayings of two teenage Houston girls 15 years ago. Chi was executed for the 2001 killing of Armand Paliotta at a men’s clothing store in suburban Dallas during a robbery.
■UNITED STATES
Man uses truck in fight
Authorities say a man rammed his house with a semitrailer during a fight with his roommate and tried to run down police called to the scene. State police say 20-year-old James Rosenberg injured no one on Thursday. Authorities say Rosenberg rammed a pickup into a garage door, then drove the semi through the door and hit a car. That vehicle hit a stove that crashed through a wall into the living room. Police say Rosenberg then drove the semi into a camper before trying to run down two officers called to the scene. Rosenberg is charged with assault, reckless endangerment and terroristic threats.
■UNITED STATES
Trash talk heard on kid’s toy
A West Virginia mother is seeking the recall of a popular walkie-talkie — a form of two-way radio — after her three-year-old’s toy apparently intercepted a profanity-laced conversation between truckers about drugs and strip clubs. Deborah Pancaro, 34, said she contacted manufacturer Fisher-Price after she heard a conversation in which a man said “We should go smoke some weed,” after talking about being in a strip bar, Pancaro said on Thursday. The walkie-talkie is supposed to have a range of about 6m, but Pancaro said she heard one of the voices say he was driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, about 442km north of Huntington.
■UNITED STATES
Mailman advocates kilts
A 183cm-tall, 113kg letter carrier is campaigning for the right to take off his pants. Dean Peterson wants the US Postal Service to add kilts as a uniform option for men. The idea was soundly defeated last month at a convention of his union, the 220,000-member National Letter Carriers’ Association, so Peterson knows convincing management will be an uphill struggle, but at least he’ll be comfortable in his kilt, or Male Unbifurcated Garment. With his build, Peterson said, his thighs fill slacks to capacity, causing chafing and scarring. Peterson, 48, began wearing kilts a couple years ago when his wife brought one back from a trip to Scotland.
■UNITED STATES
Research monkeys overheat
A drug research company says a roomful of research monkeys quarantined at its lab were accidentally killed in May due to overheating. Officials for Massachusetts-based Charles River Laboratories issued a statement on Thursday confirming that 32 longtail macaques died at its Sparks lab. The company blames a series of human error in the operation of climate control in one room at the quarantine facility. It says the May 28 incident affected no other primates and that at no point was the public ever in danger.
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