Michigan

Gold coin boosts red kettle campaign

A gold 1901 Liberty $20 dollar coin will be worth much more than that to the Salvation Army. The coin, shown at Abbott’s Coinex Corp. in Birmingham, was found in a Salvation Army red kettle at the Oakland Mall. John Abbott, a Birmingham coin dealer, paid $440 to the nonprofit group and will auction the coin off on Dec. 31 to help the Salvation Army meet its $195,000 goal for the season.

CHICAGO

Baby believed to be world’s smallest thrives

A baby who weighed less than a can of soda when she was born by Caesarean section three months ago is nearly ready to be released from the hospital. She is believed to be the smallest baby in the world ever to survive.

The little girl, named Rumaisa, weighed 8.6 ounces when she was delivered Sept. 19. That is 1.3 ounces smaller than the previous record holder, also born at Loyola University Medical Center in 1989, spokeswoman Sandra Martinez said Monday.

Doctors delivered Rumaisa and her twin sister when their mother was about 26 weeks pregnant. Normal gestation is 40 weeks. But the mother had developed high blood pressure that was affecting her health and Rumaisa’s.

Rumaisa now weighs 2 pounds, 10 ounces. Her twin, named Hiba, weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces at birth, and is now about 5 pounds.

Ohio

Former gang leader sentenced to life

The former leader of the Outlaws motorcycle gang was sentenced to life in prison Monday for heading a violent drug ring that sold cocaine, marijuana and LSD throughout the Midwest.

James “Frank” Wheeler, 62, was among 12 leading members of the Outlaws convicted on federal charges that include racketeering and conspiracy to distribute drugs. He is already serving 16 1/2 years in prison for other crimes in Florida.

Before his sentencing, Wheeler told the judge he was unhappy with his lawyers because he had questions that weren’t being answered.

“Other than that, I don’t have anything to say,” said Wheeler, who has a long graying beard and shoulder-length dark hair. “This is beyond me.”

Florida

96-year-old mayor may be nation’s oldest

In a community where everyone is over 55, it’s fitting that Mayor Dorothy Geeben’s age has made her a celebrity of sorts.

At 96, Geeben may be the nation’s oldest mayor. She’s so well-liked in her retirement community of nearly 1,000, Ocean Breeze Park, that no one is opposing her re-election this week, and her next two-year term will last through the end of 2006, or nine months past her 98th birthday.

No records officially confirm the distinction, but the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities have no reports of anyone older, either.

The closest might be a 92-year-old mayor in Pittsburg, Texas, said Sherry Appel, a spokeswoman for the NLC, which found at least 26 elected officials who are 85 or older.

SALT LAKE CITY

Suspect in kidnapping files for divorce

The woman accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart with her husband so the man could keep the girl as a second wife has filed for divorce, according to court documents.

Wanda Barzee, 59, has been at the Utah State Hospital since the beginning of the year after a judge ruled she was mentally incompetent to stand trial. She filed for divorce on Nov. 23 in Provo.

Barzee and her husband, Brian David Mitchell, are charged with kidnapping the then-14-year-old Smart from her bedroom in 2002. The girl was allegedly taken into the foothills near her home, sexually assaulted and kept as Mitchell’s second wife.

The couple has been in custody since Elizabeth was found with them along a suburban street in March 2003.

Mitchell, 51, is scheduled to attend a competency hearing next month that was ordered after he burst into song at a Dec. 3 hearing.