Briefly

Armed thief makes off with Salvation Army Red Kettle

Allentown, Pa. A gun-wielding robber swiped a red Salvation Army kettle from a collector in front of a supermarket, police said.

Volunteer Jerlene Howard said she was ringing her bell to solicit donations from shoppers Friday night when a man wearing a scarf over his face got out of a car and demanded the kettle. He “had a gun and he told me not to say anything,” she said.

The man then got back into the car, which was driven by an accomplice, police said. Howard was not injured.

Howard said her kettle was “kind of heavy,” but she didn’t know how much money was inside. She has collected up to $135 a day in the past.

The Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle drive helps buy food for the homeless and toys for poor children.

Dad calls cops on drunken daughter, who leads them to his guns, drugs

Newark, N.J. A father’s attempt to teach his daughter a lesson about drinking backfired when the teen led police to a stash of drugs and weapons inside their home.

Kevin Winston, 46, called police at 2:45 a.m. Friday after his 16-year-old daughter came home drunk and unruly. When police arrived, however, the girl told them she feared for her safety because her father stored drugs and weapons in the home.

The girl led officers to a crawl space above the ceiling where they found four semiautomatic guns and more than 600 vials of cocaine.

Winston was charged with numerous weapons and drug charges. His five daughters were placed in the custody of a relative.

This year’s Rose Queen gets lighter, but much more expensive crown

Pasadena, Calif. Nearly a century of her predecessors wore rhinestones, but the next Rose Queen will don a crown of real diamonds and pearls valued at $100,000.

Jeweler Mikimoto designed the crown that Rose Queen Ashley Moreno will wear in the annual Rose Parade on New Year’s morning. The jeweler has also designed six matching tiaras for the “princesses.”

Moreno said the new crown “took a bit of getting used to” because its height demands straight posture and a level head. The tiara weighs about a pound and features overlapping lines and heart-shaped loops studded with pearls and diamonds.

The old sterling and cubic zirconia crown weighed five pounds, forcing some former queens to perform neck-strengthening exercises and take aspirin before the parade.

Kentucky automated phone survey keeps going and going and going…

Lexington, Ky.

An automated phone survey on disaster preparedness turned into its own mini-disaster.

The survey was designed to run from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. Instead, a malfunction Monday night caused the computerized calling program to dial numbers until 4 or 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Patricia Dugger, who heads the city’s emergency management division, apologized for the error but noted most residents haven’t complained — they just said they were too sleepy to do the survey.

Avtec, a Minneapolis-based firm that developed the calling system, is trying to determine what went awry.

Boston zoo visitors going ape over newest addition to simian family

Boston With shutters clicking and cameras rolling, dozens of people crowded into the Franklin Park Zoo’s indoor “tropical forest” on Saturday for the debut of its newest celebrity resident: a tiny 3-day-old western lowland gorilla.

Children with faces and hands pressed to the glass of the steamy enclosure gasped and oohed as Kiki the gorilla ambled from her nighttime quarters with her 4-pound baby tucked under her arm. Photographers leaned over the railings like paparazzi.

Kiki sauntered between areas of the enclosure, the baby held in her arms or hanging from her chest, as the crowds rushed from window to window to follow her movements. She eventually settled into a bed of straw, nibbling carrots, before laying down for a nap with the baby cradled in her arm.

The baby doesn’t have a name yet because its gender won’t be known for several months, until zoo officials can physically examine it without upsetting Kiki, said John Linehan, the zoo’s president and CEO.

“Kiki has just hugged onto this baby since it was born. Since the moment we saw it, we haven’t seen her put it down. She’s protective of it, she holds it close, sometimes she stays away from us. She just seems to be reveling in motherhood,” Linehan said.

Police bust illegal gambling club frequented mostly by senior citizens

Brockton, Mass. Police have shut down what they said was an illegal gambling club, an establishment frequented mostly by senior citizens looking for a place to try their luck on video poker and card games.

The club, located in a Main Street professional building just steps away from a day-care center, was in operation for at least three years, authorities said.

The alleged ringleader, Charles J. Matta, 65, was charged with several gambling-related counts. He said the club’s clientele included mainly bored old-timers.

“We’re a bunch of old people looking for something to do,” he said from his subsidized high-rise apartment. “You got people sitting around all day waiting to die.”

Matta was arrested Monday when he arrived at the club, called the New England Salesmen’s Association.

A second man, Roy P. Marian, 57, was charged with gaming and unlawful selling or keeping alcohol for sale. Two women who were hostesses also will be charged.

Police used an undercover officer to gather evidence. Seized were seven video poker machines, playing cards and poker chips, and records listing names and amounts owed or paid out, Lt. William Conlon said.

Ex-Hooters waitress wins lawsuit over peepholes in dressing room

Chicago A former waitress at Hooters, the restaurant chain known for scantily clad servers, was awarded $275,000 in a lawsuit over peepholes in a dressing room.

Joanna Ciesielski, 26, also alleged she had been sexually harassed by managers who touched her inappropriately and asked her out on dates.

“My mom and dad always told me, ‘The truth will set you free,’ ” Ciesielski said after the verdict Tuesday night. “It’s totally true.”

Hooters attorneys asked the judge to throw out the award: $25,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress and $250,000 in punitive damages.

“We’re disappointed with the verdict. We believe it will be overturned,” said Barry Hartstein, an attorney for the company.

During the trial, Ciesielski, who worked at the restaurant while attending college, testified she heard laughter as she undressed alone in a changing room at the restaurant near O’Hare International Airport in 2001. The adjoining room was a break room for employees.