New York City

Cruise cut short after hundreds get virus

A cruise across the North Atlantic was cut short Tuesday after more than 300 passengers and crew members became sick with a highly contagious stomach virus that caused vomiting and diarrhea.

Only two passengers remained ill when the Regal Princess docked in New York City one day earlier than scheduled, said Steve Nielsen, vice president of Caribbean and Atlantic operations for Princess Cruises. They were expected to be well enough to leave the ship today.

It was the latest in a line of cruise ships in the past year to be infected with a norovirus, which are spread through food and water and close contact with infected people.

Florida

Teen’s life sentence debated in court

Appeals court judges hearing the case of Lionel Tate, the teen whose lawyers said he was imitating pro wrestling moves when he killed a 6-year-old girl, questioned Tuesday whether some children might be too young to be locked away for life with no chance of parole.

Tate, who was 12 when he killed Tiffany Eunick, was too immature to understand what was at stake when he was sentenced to life without parole, attorney Richard Rosenbaum argued before the state 4th District Court of Appeal.

Assistant Atty. Gen. Debra Rescigno did not answer what age would provide a reasonable cutoff for a murder conviction.

She said Tate’s life sentence was deserved because he horrifically beat the girl for more than five minutes, strangling her, jumping and stomping on her and slamming her into a metal pole.

Michigan

Worker, guest shot at Holiday Inn

A hotel worker was shot to death and a guest wounded early Tuesday in an apparent robbery at the hotel, police and hotel officials said.

The two were found about 1:30 a.m. at the Troy Holiday Inn in this Detroit suburb. They were identified only as a 35-year-old hotel employee from Wayne County and a 28-year-old guest from Cedar Park, Texas.

Police would give few details, but a statement from Intercontinental Hotels Group, which owns the Holiday Inn brand, and Trans Inns, which owns the property, said the employee died and the hotel guest was injured.

One death was reported to the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Miami

Hurricane expected to miss United States

Hurricane Fabian forged across the Atlantic Ocean with powerful wind Tuesday on a curving course expected to take it north of the northeastern Caribbean islands.

Forecasters expected the storm to turn more to the northwest by today.

“That would make it a bit less likely to hit Florida,” said Jack Beven, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. “We do anticipate that the hurricane will turn away and miss the U.S.”

Fabian, packing wind of 140 mph, poses the largest threat to Bermuda, Beven said.