NEW YORK – A worker dismantling Shea Stadium, Chris McGonigle, gave a jar of dirt from the pitcher's mound to a woman who scattered her father's ashes there 12 years ago. McGonigle said he'd originally taken the dirt for himself, then realized it would mean more to Lisa Hasson and her son. Hasson called his unexpected kindness “the sweetest thing.”
PHILADELPHIA – City officials said they won't reach a goal of installing 250 anti-crime surveillance cameras by the end of October. The plan was announced at the end of former mayor John Street's administration and was embraced by his successor, Michael Nutter. A deputy mayor said only about a dozen cameras have been deployed so far, and the goal now is to have 70 operational by year's end.
SOUTH
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A bird strike forced a jetliner to turn back shortly after takeoff from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Spirit Airlines flight 436 was en route to Chicago's O'Hare Airport Monday morning when the pilot reported a bird hit the plane's left engine. None of the 115 passengers and four crew members on board were injured.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Eight people convicted of gambling-related crimes have been banned from West Virginia's three racetrack casinos. Three are former racetrack employees who stole or tried to steal from their employers or customers, while the others are patrons caught cheating at table games, State Police said. People placed on the exclusion list can petition the Lottery Commission to be removed from it.
MIDWEST
PONTIAC, Mich. – Ten to 25 years were added to Anthony LaCalamita III's life sentence after a judge found him guilty of trying to stab a deputy with a sharpened toothbrush. A jury had convicted LaCalamita in a 2007 workplace shooting that left a receptionist dead and two others wounded. The latest charge stemmed from an incident in February at the Oakland County Jail.
MINNEAPOLIS – The Secretary of State's office said 90 percent of eligible adults in Minnesota – or 3.15 million people – are now registered to vote. It said that's the highest percentage of any state. The secretary of state's office will accept registration forms until October 14. After that, voters can register at the polls on Election Day, Nov. 4.
WEST
LAS VEGAS – The owners of the Plaza Hotel in New York won a court fight to use the Plaza name for a casino-resort planned on the Las Vegas Strip. El-Ad Group, developer of the planned multibillion dollar resort, said they expect to break ground in spring 2010 and open in 2012. El-Ad Group was sued by Tamares Las Vegas Properties LLC, which owns the Plaza Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas.
KALAMA, Wash. – Columbia River ports have made an offer to buy Howard Island to help mitigate ecological damage caused by dredging the river's ship channel. The Port of Kalama said the 168-acre, unoccupied island now owned by a Portland resident is projected to cost $850,000. The $150 million dredging project is expected to be completed next year, clearing a 43-feet-deep channel to Portland.
