Free

Actor Hoffman found dead with syringe in arm

NEW YORK (AP) -- Philip Seymour Hoffman, who won the Oscar for best actor in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in "Capote" and created a gallery of other vivid characters, many of them slovenly and slightly dissipated comic figures, was found dead Sunday in his Greenwich Village apartment with what law enforcement officials said was a syringe in his arm. He was 46. The two officials told The Associated Press that glassine envelopes containing what was believed to be heroin were also found with Hoffman. Those items are being tested.

Punxsutawney Phil's day coincides with Super Bowl

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) -- Groundhog Day coincides with the Super Bowl for the first time, but Punxsutawney Phil's peeps don't expect the big game to steal his early morning spotlight. Rather, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club expects about 20,000 revelers to gather around Gobbler's Knob when western Pennsylvania's world-famous rodent emerges from his lair just after dawn Sunday to "predict" the weather, said executive director Katie Donald.

Pa. man shot trying to retrieve girlfriend's purse

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A 24-year-old man was shot while trying to retrieve his girlfriend's stolen purse in North Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported (http://bit.ly/1fIG0Iy ) the man was in critical condition Friday and three men were being questioned in connection with the attack late Thursday. Police say the man and his girlfriend were walking from his home to his car when someone grabbed her purse and ran. The victim chased after the thief but was shot in the chest by a second man, police said. The paper says the men took $300 and then discarded the purse.

Sexual assault reported overnight

BLOOMSBURG -- A man approached a group of women walking along Glenn Avenue early Saturday morning, knocked one of them to the ground and sexually assaulted her, according to an alert issued by Bloomsburg University. It's the second such assault in the area around Geisinger-Bloomsburg Hospital in less than two months, the university said. The alleged assault happened around 1:22 a.m. on Glenn Avenue between Washington and Lincoln streets, the university said. The man, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, fled toward the hospital after the assault, police said.

10 Super Bowl Ads to watch out for

NEW YORK (AP) -- Actress Scarlett Johansson gives SodaStream some sex appeal in a controversial spot, Kia revives actor Laurence Fishburne's "Matrix" character Morpheus in its commercial. And cute puppies and kids abound in ads for Cheerios to Anheuser-Busch. Advertisers are planning to pull out the tools in their arsenal during Super Bowl time this Sunday, including celebrities, A-list rock bands and cinematic story lines.

Dead Puerto Rico boxer posed standing in the ring

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Even in death, Christopher Rivera Amaro almost looked ready to box, leaning against the corner of a simulated ring. Mourners who came to his wake in San Juan on Friday found him posed afoot, a yellow hood on his head, sunglasses glasses over his eyes and blue boxing gloves on his hands. Elsie Rodriguez, vice president of the Marin Funeral Home, said Rivera's family wanted to stress his boxing. The funeral home suggested posing him in a ring.

The intruder in the library was a cat

CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) -- Salmon did the trick. The initial suspicion was that a homeless person stayed in Clovis' public library past closing time and triggered the alarm system's motion detector. But according to the Clovis News Journal (ttp://bit.ly/1nvCCWR), a search by police and librarian Margaret Hinchee for more than an hour that night was fruitless. It happened the next few nights too. But then a custodian reported seeing a cat, and library staff spotted clues such as scratches in plant soil. A check of video footage confirmed there was a cat in the library.

The PE Sneak Peek: Jan. 31, 2014

Here's a look at the stories that are keeping our reporters busy Friday: * He killed a wounded bear on a Sunday, when hunting is illegal. Guilty or innocent? Find out what happened at today's hearing. * The non-profit Moose Exchange will live on, its leaders say. But what will become of the damaged building is still an open question. * More on the Moose: Temperatures hit 1,000 degrees as the Bloomsburg landmark burned Thursday, a fire chief says. Read about why this was a hard blaze to fight.

Moose warns of unauthorized fundraising

BLOOMSBURG -- The Moose Exchange wants people to know that the only authorized place for people to donate money to the non-profit that owns the building ravaged by fire yesterday is the donation button at www.mooseexchange.org, its director says. Since the fire, Director Oren Helbok says he's heard of fundraising efforts on Facebook and elsewhere, but the Moose is not involved in them, he said.

Arizona shelter takes in 36-pound feline

PHOENIX (AP) -- An Arizona animal shelter has a rather large cat on its hands. The Maricopa County Animal Care and Control recently received a 36-pound cat at one of its shelters in the Phoenix area. The cat named "Meatball" is temporarily staying in an office at the shelter because he's too large to fit into a standard kennel. The cat is not available for adoption. Instead, the shelter is trying to place him with a rescue organization that helps overweight cats. The shelter says Meatball is extremely friendly and says he can comfortably walk despite his weight.