News briefs

Park manager pocketed parking fees

VENTURA “”mdash; A former Seaside Park manager charged with
skimming $4,900 in parking fees at the Ventura County Fairgrounds
pleaded guilty to grand theft.

Richard Alan Tucker, 52, pleaded guilty to the single felony
count this week, and could face three years in prison when
he’s sentenced Nov. 18. But Deputy District Attorney Marc
Leventhal said he will likely get up to a year in jail and
probation.

Tucker’s plea came nearly two months after prosecutors
charged him with stealing the money and covering it up with false
reports.

Marine mammals can’t stop Navy with
lawsuits

SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; A federal appeals court decided Wednesday
that marine mammals have no standing to sue to stop the U.S. Navy
from using sonar.

In upholding a lower court decision, a three-judge panel of the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the
world’s cetaceans ““ whales, porpoises and dolphins
““ have no standing under the Endangered Species Act, the
Marine Mammal Protection Act or the National Environmental Policy
Act.

If lawmakers “intended to take the extraordinary step of
authorizing animals as well as people and legal entities to sue,
they could, and should, have said so plainly,” said Judge
William A. Fletcher, writing for the panel.

First transplant through Internet match
successful

DENVER, Colo. “”mdash; Setting aside ethical concerns, surgeons
completed a kidney transplant Wednesday in what is believed to be
the first operation where the donor and recipient met through a
commercial Web site.

The donor and recipient were doing well after the four-hour
surgery, Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center spokeswoman
Stephanie Lewis said.

Ethicists said they still have serious concerns about
MatchingDonors.com and other organ donations between strangers.

Compiled from Bruin wire services.

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