Third artificial heart recipient doing well

HOUSTON -- The third recipient of a self-contained mechanical heart was alert and responsive at a hospital Friday, two days after surgery, and could try to walk next week, doctors said.

"Certainly this man would have never left the hospital alive without this effort," said Dr. O.H. Frazier, chief of cardiopulmonary transplantation at the Texas Heart Institute.

The man, whose identity is being withheld, received the AbioCor device Wednesday.

The heart is intended for patients with end-stage heart failure who have more than a 70 percent chance of dying within a month. The patient's cardiologist, Dr. Reynolds Delgado, said that before the surgery the man "couldn't even complete a sentence without gasping for air."

O.J.'s children won't be called in road-rage trial

MIAMI -- O.J. Simpson's two younger children will not be called as prosecution witnesses in their father's road-rage trial but will be asked to give testimony in advance, the prosecutor said Friday.

Depositions of the children, Sydney, 15, and Justin, 12, will be taken before Simpson's trial begins Oct. 9, Assistant State Attorney Abbe Rifkin said at a pretrial hearing. A deposition is sworn testimony taken before a trial. It sometimes can be presented at trial.

The prosecution did not say why the children's testimony was being taken beforehand.

The children were in his SUV on Dec. 4 when he allegedly grabbed motorist Jeffrey Pattinson's glasses. He faces felony auto burglary and misdemeanor battery charges.

Cincinnati ends curfew after unrest proves mild

CINCINNATI -- After a night of relative calm, the mayor ended a two-night citywide curfew Friday morning and urged residents to "Go out and go to dinner. ... Go have fun."

Mayor Charlie Luken imposed the curfew Wednesday to help keep peace after a judge cleared a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man.

There were at least eight reports of gunfire and several car and trash bin fires were set Thursday and Friday, but no injuries were reported. Police charged 35 adults and three juveniles with violating the 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

"We believe the situation is controlled and citizens are respecting the law," Luken said.

The unrest happened in Over-the-Rhine, the same neighborhood which saw three days of riots when policeman Stephen Roach shot Timothy Thomas on April 7. The 19-year-old Thomas, who had tried to flee, was wanted on 14 misdemeanor warrants, including driving without a license and previously fleeing police.

A judge Wednesday acquitted Roach, 27, of misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and obstructing official business.

More homes near Yellowstone evacuated

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Five homes were evacuated before dawn Friday as firefighters tried to stop a wildfire that has scorched 4,000 acres about 60 miles northwest of Yellowstone National Park.

Families living in the foothills south of Bozeman were awakened at 2 a.m. and told to evacuate as gusting winds blew flames to within a quarter-mile of some homes.

Ash and blackened pine needles blew into the streets of Bozeman and a smoke plume was visible 40 miles away in Livingston.

The fire started early Wednesday and may have been human-caused, officials said. It spread quickly as it burned in heavy timber and moved to the north and east.

Almost 300 firefighters have been deployed along with four helicopters and four air tankers.

-- From wire reports