AP

13 - 12:51am

Charlie Brown actor sentenced for stalking

Charlie Brown actor sentenced for stalking SAN DIEGO — The man who was the original voice of Charlie Brown in “Peanuts” television specials was sentenced Wednesday to a year in jail for threatening his former girlfriend and stalking her plastic surgeon, then immediately released to a residential drug treatment center. A judge warned Peter Robbins he could be sent to prison for nearly four years if he violates the terms of his probation.

Scratch-and-sniff cards prompt natural gas scare 05/09/13 - 12:19am

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Those scratch-and-sniff cards the energy company sends to customers to teach them to recognize the artificial smell added to natural gas? Turns out they work pretty well. Energy West General Manager Nick Bohr told the Great Falls Tribune that workers recently discarded several boxes of expired scratch-and-sniff cards in Great Falls. But when the garbage truck picked them up and compressed the load, Bohr said “it was the same as if they had scratched them.”

Ammonium nitrate was explosive in West plant blast 05/07/13 - 12:14am

AUSTIN (AP) — A store of ammonium nitrate is what exploded April 17 at a Central Texas plant, killing 14 people, injuring hundreds and devastating an adjoining town. The finding was expected, and officials had said they were focusing their investigation on the explosive chemical used in many fertilizers, said Rachel Moreno, spokeswoman for the Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office. A spot where the ammonium nitrate was stored is now a 90-foot-wide crater, Moreno said Monday.

Scott Feldman leads Cubs over Rangers 9-2 05/07/13 - 12:35am

Feldman allows two hits, strikes out three and walks one

CHICAGO — Scott Feldman threw seven scoreless innings against his former team before leaving with a cramp in his pitching hand, and the Chicago Cubs came within three outs of their first shutout since August in a 9-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday night. Feldman (3-3) allowed two hits, struck out three and walked one, and also hit an RBI single in the fifth for a 2-0 lead.

Title insurance rate quietly increased in Texas 05/06/13 - 12:53am

Title insurance rate quietly increased

Title insurance rate quietly increased AUSTIN — Texans started paying more for title insurance last week because of a price hike quietly approved in March by the state insurance commissioner. The 3.8 percent increase is the first in 22 years and will generate an estimated $53 million more per year for Texas title companies and their underwriters, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Data submitted by the industry and the loss of business it suffered during the housing downturn justified the increase, said Aaron Day, Texas Land Title Association lobbyist.

Derby's Nehro dies 05/06/13 - 12:39am

LOUISVILLE — Zayat Stables says that Nehro, runner-up to Animal Kingdom in the 2011 Kentucky Derby, has died of colic. On its website, the stable announced that Nehro had been training with Steve Asmussen at Churchill Downs when he was found to be uncomfortable in his stall early Saturday. The 5-year-old “spiraled badly” and died on the way to a clinic. Owner Ahmed Zayat said Nehro “was my favorite horse. ... He cannot be replaced and I’m devastated.”

David Morris Kern, creator of toothache medicine 'Orajel,' dies at 103 05/06/13 - 12:35am

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — The creator of Orajel, a medicine aimed at fighting toothaches that was later also used for mouth sores, has died, family members said Sunday. David Morris Kern was 103. Allan Kern, his son, said his father died Friday at a group home in Paradise Valley, Ariz. Born in 1909 in Manhattan and raised in Brooklyn, Kern graduated from the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy and worked as a pharmacist before becoming a salesman for Norwich and Warner Pharmaceuticals.

FEMA offers transitional shelter to West residents 05/06/13 - 12:31am

AUSTIN (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has activated a plan to provide transitional shelter for residents of West whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged by last month’s fertilizer plant explosion. The plan allows affected residents to stay in motels for a limited amount of time at FEMA’s expense. Those eligible are being notified by phone, and calls are already in progress, the agency said in a news release Sunday. The initial period of assistance will last through May 18.

Hamlin starts at Talladega, climbs out at caution 05/06/13 - 12:22am

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — The goal at Talladega Superspeedway was to get Denny Hamlin a chance to turn some laps and collect some points. He accomplished one of his two goals Sunday. Hamlin successfully returned from a compression fracture in a vertebra in his lower back by turning 23 laps Sunday before getting out of his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for replacement driver Brian Vickers. The swap was made during the first caution, with Hamlin climbing out through a roof hatch and Vickers sliding in through the window quickly enough to keep the No. 11 on the lead lap.

NBA playoffs roundup: Thunder edge Grizzlies 93-91 05/06/13 - 12:21am

OKLAHOMA CITY — Down by one in the final minute, the Oklahoma City’s Derek Fisher turned a tough situation for the Thunder into the worst-case scenario for the Grizzlies. Fisher poked the ball away from Memphis’ Mike Conley, springing three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant into the open court with a chance to put the Thunder on top. Durant pulled up and connected on a jumper with 11.1 seconds left for the last of his 35 points, lifting the Thunder to a 93-91 victory over the Grizzlies on Sunday in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.