■UNITED STATES
Charities fight for fortune
Leona Helmsley’s dog, Trouble, may be living quietly enough in Florida, but back in New York there’s a lot of barking about the way the late hotel queen’s millions are being given away. Three animal welfare groups filed court papers on Monday accusing Helmsley’s trustees of a “scheme to deprive dog welfare charities” of their share of her fortune. The groups say Helmsley, who died in 2007, primarily intended to give her fortune to dog causes. They say a judge’s February decision giving the trustees sole authority to decide what to do with her fortune should be thrown out. The trustees say Helmsley did not intend for the charitable trust to focus on dogs. Helmsley’s will named her dog as a beneficiary. The Maltese is living in Florida on a US$2 million trust fund.
■UNITED STATES
Bear killed animal feeder
An autopsy has confirmed that a bear killed a 74-year-old southwestern Colorado woman known for leaving food outside her home, despite wildlife officers’ repeated warnings not to. The body of Donna Munson of Ouray County had been partially eaten by a bear or bears when it was found outside her home on Friday. State Division of Wildlife officials didn’t immediately know if Munson was killed by the bears or if she was already dead when the animals fed on her. Ouray County Sheriff Dominic Mattivi said on Monday an autopsy showed Munson was killed in the bear attack.
■UNITED STATES
Man accused of biting guard
A former UN employee who was upset about being passed over for a job has been accused of biting a security guard outside his boss’ office. Nicola Baroncini appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday to face an assault charge. The Italian turned down a plea bargain and is due back in court on Oct. 28. Baroncini was working for the UN Development Program on June 22, when he claimed he lost out on a job because a UN envoy to Congo lobbied for his daughter to get it. Baroncini went to a superior’s office to complain. He says he was pepper-sprayed and assaulted by UN security.
■UNITED STATES
NASA promotes space taxis
NASA plans to use US$50 million of federal economic stimulus funds to seed development of commercial passenger transportation service to space, agency officials said on Monday. Aspiring spaceship operators will have 45 days to submit proposals, which will be competitively evaluated. Awards for the Commercial Crew Development program are expected to be announced before the end of September. The US is retiring its fleet of space shuttles next year after seven more missions to complete construction of the US$100 billion International Space Station. After that, the US plans to buy rides for astronauts to and from the station from Russia, one of the 16 nations involved in the station program.
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