News capsules

Terminally ill dog saves owner's life

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man's decision not to end his terminally ill bulldog's life has ended up saving his own.

Scott Seymour said his dog, Brittney, awakened him with her barking early Saturday in time for both of them to escape from his burning house in Grand Rapids.

The fire came two weeks after a veterinarian discovered the 9-year-old American bulldog had several cancerous tumors.

The vet said the dog might not survive surgery, and Seymour ruled out chemotherapy, believing it would be too hard on Brittney.

Seymour said he could have had Brittney put down, but instead decided to give her medication to blunt her pain until death comes naturally, probably within a few weeks.

Woman charged in throwing baby, seat

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police have charged a woman who they say used a child car seat with a 2-month-old infant inside to hit a Wal-Mart employee.

Detective Monique Martin said in a news release Monday that Camilla Fields of Memphis, Tenn., was charged with felony child abuse and neglect and assault. Police did not know if she had an attorney.

A police report from the Wednesday incident says Fields was carrying the car seat when she was confronted by a security guard about shoplifting.

Police say Fields threw the seat and ran away, causing the baby to land face down on the pavement. A paramedic treated the baby until the child regained consciousness.

The child's mother, Stacey Cleaves, was also charged with false reporting and child neglect.

Small bomb breaks windows in N.Y.

NEW YORK (AP) — An early morning explosion, caused by a small bomb and reminiscent of other mysterious blasts around the city in the last few years, destroyed a sidewalk bench and shattered windows in a Starbucks coffee shop.

No one was injured in the blast, which happened around 3:30 a.m. Monday on Manhattan's Upper East Side near the Guggenheim museum.

Investigators were looking into the similarities between the explosion and three others in the last four years, police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.