SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.

Board approves parole for follower of Manson

A California board has approved parole for former Charles Manson follower Bruce Davis, but Gov. Jerry Brown – who vetoed parole for Davis just last year – can stop his release.

Davis, 71, has been in prison since 1972 for the killings of two men. He was granted parole in 2012, but Brown rejected it last March, saying he wanted Davis to reveal more details about the killings.

LONE TREE, Colo.

Man apprehended after car chase with carjackings

A dramatic car chase that crisscrossed the Denver area during the Wednesday morning commute started when a man stole an SUV with a 4-year-old boy inside and ended after he carjacked two other vehicles and struck a state trooper.

Ryan Stone, a 28-year-old wanted in a drug case, covered about 75 miles before he caused a multi-vehicle crash at an intersection in Lone Tree, south of Denver. He then ran across a parking lot before appearing to give up, lying face-down in the snow as officers pinned him to the ground.

Police say the boy, Allan Chavarria-Rodriguez, was found unharmed after Stone abandoned the SUV. The boy told the Longmont Times-Call that the roughly hour-long ride was fast, and he cried but didn’t speak to Stone as he drove.

Also during the chase, Stone struck a state trooper who was putting down stop sticks in a failed effort to capture him, authorities said. The trooper, Bellamann Hee was hospitalized in serious condition.

TEL AVIV

Israel retaliates against rocket and mortar barrage

Israel retaliated with artillery fire against a massive barrage of rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza at its southern communities Wednesday.

The radical Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, saying it fired dozens of missiles to avenge the killing of three of its fighters in the south of the strip in an Israeli airstrike the previous day, as they were launching mortar shells at Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli military confirmed at least 30 landings, eight of which struck populated areas and three of which were downed by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.

JERUSALEM

Israel’s parliament votes to draft ultra-Orthodox men

Israel’s parliament on Wednesday voted to begin drafting large numbers of ultra-Orthodox men into the military, moving to end a contentious system that enraged many secular Israelis by allowing young seminary students to evade army service.

– From news service reports