Times Leader
First Posted:
MONTGOMERY, Ala.
Police crack down
on dog fighting
An investigation into organized dog fighting and gambling in the Southeast resulted in 12 arrests and the seizure of 367 pit bulls in one of the nation’s largest crackdowns on the bloody exhibitions.
Federal, state and local officials announced the arrests Monday. They stemmed from raids Friday on homes in Alabama and Georgia and the seizure of more than $500,000 in cash that investigators believe was tied to illegal gambling on dog fights.
Court-appointed attorneys for some of the defendants said they plan to plead not guilty at an arraignment Wednesday.
SILVER SPRING, MD.
Mystery shipwreck
finally identified
The hulking wreck has been a regular destination for divers but a riddle to historians: What ship came to rest in 85 feet of water 10 miles off New Jersey’s coastline? Now, federal officials have an answer.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday that it has confirmed that the ship is the Robert J. Walker, an iron-hulled steamer doing mapping work for the U.S. Coast Survey that sank on June 21, 1860, after a violent collision with a 250-ton schooner.
Twenty sailors aboard the Walker died. The wreck was discovered by fishermen in the 1970s but its identity was a mystery until June.
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa.
Young lung recipient
returns home
A Pennsylvania girl whose need for new lungs sparked a national debate on how transplant recipients are prioritized was released from the hospital Tuesday.
Sarah Murnaghan, who turned 11 on Aug. 7, was discharged from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and later carried into her family’s Newtown Square home, where the entrance was festooned with balloons and a big sign saying “Welcome Home, Sarah!”
Sarah received two sets of lungs this summer as she struggles with the effects of end-stage cystic fibrosis.
Man pleads guilty
to disinterring dad
A man accused of stealing his father’s body from a Detroit cemetery with the hope of bringing him back to life has pleaded guilty in exchange for avoiding prison.
Vincent Bright pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of disinterring a body. Defense lawyer Gerald Karafa says Bright will get probation.
Police say the then-48-year-old stole the body of 93-year-old Clarence Bright from Gethsemane Cemetery on Jan. 14 and stored it in a home freezer, hoping for a resurrection.
