Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Ex-Marine could be off hook in cow killing GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., June 4 (UPI) -- Michigan prosecutors have offered a young ex-Marine a deal -- admit killing a pregnant cow and say his mother put him up to it and the charges will be dropped. Advertisement Dustin Bender, 23, appeared in Kent County District Court Wednesday when he waived a probable cause hearing, leaving the matter open, The Grand Rapids Press reported. Prosecutors say Bender's mother Catherine, 39, wanted to kill the cow belonging to Geri and Thomas Young to intimidate Thomas Young from testifying against her live-in boyfriend. Timothy Young, Thomas's brother, faces a criminal sexual conduct charge. Thomas Young, who was in court Tuesday for a hearing, said he believes Catherine Bender pushed for the cow's death, even if it was her son who actually pulled the trigger. He said he does not believe Dustin Bender and other young people involved should be punished and that Dustin's honorable service in Iraq in the Marines should be held in his favor. Advertisement "We were all 19, and we all did dumb things," he said. Dustin Bender and his mother face related charges in Ottawa County, where prosecutors have not yet signed on to any deal. Advocates say UFO landing proved ANGEL FIRE, N.M., June 4 (UPI) -- Believers in visits to Earth by alien spacecraft say they have hard evidence of landings in a pasture in a sparsely populated area in northern New Mexico. The Alliance Studying Paranormal Experiences, based in the small village of Angel Fire, claims the region has received multiple visits, the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle reports. Alliance President Janet Sailor calls the area a "UFO hot spot." The latest reported discovery was last year when Judy Piper, an Angel Fire accountant, discovered circles on land she owns in the Moreno Valley outside of town. She reported the find to Sailor, and last weekend, Dee Gragg, a New Mexico State University professor and assistant director of the state chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, came to Angel Fire to discuss the circles. Gragg said the important question is what kind of craft landed in the valley. He regards the question of whether there was a landing as answered. Advertisement At a meeting Saturday, he showed slides of the circles. Gragg described them as most likely the footprints of several small ships, either unmanned probes or carriers of small aliens. Classes delayed by school bus vandalism YORKVILLE, Ill., June 4 (UPI) -- Police in Yorkville, Ill., said classes were delayed Thursday after vandals deflated tires on about 70 school buses. Yorkville Police Detective Sgt. Larry Hilt said the vandals pulled the stem out of one tire each for about 70 Yorkville Community Unit School District 115 school buses overnight and deflated two tires on three or four buses, the Chicago Tribune reported. Investigators said there were no overnight guards at the bus lot and the vandalism was discovered when drivers showed up for work at 5:30 a.m. Asif Dada, a school district business manager, said several tire companies were called in to inflate or replace the tires. Dada said all classes in the district were delayed by 1-2 hours. Hilt said police had not made any arrests. Lawsuit: Woman fired for being too pretty NEW YORK, June 4 (UPI) -- A New York woman's lawsuit against Citigroup says she was fired because bosses deemed her feminine beauty to be a distraction for male colleagues. Advertisement Debrahlee Lorenzana, 33, said in her city Supreme Court lawsuit that she was ordered not to wear turtlenecks, pencil skirts, fitted suits or heels in the workplace because the tight clothing made her body "too distracting" for male coworkers, the New York Daily News reported. "Never did I ever show cleavage," Lorenzana said. "I like fashion, but I always dressed professionally. "I can't help it that I have curves," she said. "And I'm not going to go eat and gain 50 or 100 pounds because my job wants me to be the same size as everyone else." The woman's attorney, Jack Tuckner of Tuckner Sipser Weinstock & Sipser, said bosses at Citi's Rockefeller Center branch moved Lorenzana to a secluded part of the office as retaliation for her sexual harassment complaints and fired her one month later. "All it came down to was, 'We don't want to deal with you, because you're just too good looking,'" Tuckner said. Citigroup released a statement describing the lawsuit as "without merit." "Citi is committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and providing a respectful environment in the workplace," the statement said.
