Pet lovers tussle in bid for tiny dogs

A frenzy of tiny-dog lovers has descended on an animal shelter that rescued hundreds of Chihuahuas from a filthy rural Arizona home, with some potential owners getting into shoving matches.

The nearly 800 small dogs, mostly Chihuahuas, and 36 parrots were found in a large mobile home northwest of Tucson last week. All that were old enough and healthy enough to leave the shelter were adopted by Monday, authorities said.

When news spread Thursday of the dog rescue, hundreds of people packed into the Humane Society of Southern Arizona in hopes of adopting the dogs, spokeswoman Jenny Rose said.

Tempers flared, and a few people got into shoving matches, Rose said. Sheriff's deputies cleared everyone out, and the shelter closed.

The next day, 500 people lined up to get the dogs, which included terriers, Pomeranians, Chinese cresteds and Lhasa apsos. The shelter passed out numbers and had people come back in groups of 100 each day.

San Francisco

Ship's pilot charged in last fall's oil spill

The pilot of the cargo ship that sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in November and spilled 58,000 gallons of fuel oil was charged Monday with criminal negligence and violating two federal environmental laws, authorities said.

Capt. John J. Cota, 60, was charged in federal court in San Francisco with one count each of violating the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, both misdemeanors, federal authorities said.

In December, Cota gave up his operating license, Coast Guard officials said. He had been employed as a pilot in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1981.

If convicted, Cota, 60, faces up to 18 months in jail and a $115,000 fine.

Atlanta

Recent rainfall eases drought

It's raining again in the Southeast. Much of the drought-parched region has been deluged recently by winter downpours, including weekend storms that battered the downtown business district and a swath of north Georgia.

The drought has eased across most of the region, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor and the National Weather Service.

Lake Purdy, the main drinking-water supply for Birmingham, Ala., is at normal levels for the first time in almost a year. From Jan. 1 through Sunday, Birmingham received 12.09 inches of rain, just below the average of 12.78.

Boulder, Colo.

Man fatally shot in hospital standoff

A man in a wheelchair at a hospital who claimed that his oxygen tank had a detonator was fatally shot by police after a four-hour standoff Monday.

Terrance Baughman, 32, was shot in the chest and died about seven hours later after undergoing surgery, said Boulder Community Hospital spokesman Rich Sheehan.

It wasn't clear why Baughman was at the hospital in the first place. He had once been a patient there.

Baughman got out of the wheelchair during the standoff, leading officers to fire, police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said.

Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Giant robot fitted with tools, "eyes"

Spacewalking astronauts stepped outside Monday night and gave the space station's new robot some eyes and a set of tools.

It was the third spacewalk of shuttle Endeavour's visit to the station, each one aimed at putting together Dextre, the giant robot.

The last time astronauts floated out, Dextre got arms. This time, the robot got a tool belt and two cameras that will serve as waist-level eyes.

Seattle Times news services