Texas

Teen’s heroin overdose lands mom in prison

A woman who used heroin with her teenage daughter was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the girl’s overdose death.

Debra Gatlin Clair, 49, Fort Worth, was convicted last week of manslaughter in the death of 15-year-old Tiffany at Clair’s apartment in 2001. Clair was sentenced on Thursday.

The death came about a week after Tiffany was released from a mental hospital, where she had been treated because of a drug habit and a suicide attempt.

NEW YORK City

Sailor admits shoving shipmate out window

A Navy petty officer pleaded guilty Friday to manslaughter in the death of a female shipmate he shoved out a Times Square hotel window last fall.

Brian Cooley, 29, admitted that he pushed Seaman Lisa Tedstone, 30, out a sixth-floor window at the Milford Plaza Hotel on Oct. 5, 2002.

Police have said Cooley was annoyed that Tedstone refused to sleep in his bed.

Cooley will receive a 12-year prison term when he is sentenced Sept. 23. He initially was charged with second-degree murder and faced as much as 25 years to life if convicted.

WISCONSIN

Lawsuit: Fruit products are deceptively labeled

Smucker’s “Simply 100 Percent Fruit” spreads are not that at all, according to a lawsuit that contends the jelly maker engaged in deceptive business tactics.

The lawsuit filed Thursday by Wisconsin resident Neal Loeb claims J.M. Smucker Co. unjustly profited because the “100 percent” spreads were priced higher than comparable Smucker’s products.

The strawberry spread is only 30 percent actual strawberries, according to the analysis by the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest quoted in the suit.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Many basic tax forms not available in Spanish

The IRS has not translated many basic tax forms and instructions into Spanish, as the nation’s Hispanic population has grown to become the largest minority.

A recent survey by the Treasury Department’s inspector general showed the Internal Revenue Service has translated just 28 percent of the forms and instructions identified as most important by organizations that work with Spanish-speaking taxpayers.

The Treasury Department gave the IRS high marks for making Spanish translators available to taxpayers who call and visit tax centers.