State briefs

State to issue stillbirth certificates

After years of effort by grieving parents, New York is beginning to issue "certificates of stillbirth." The certificates had long been tied up in debates over the legal definitions of a fetus and a child. But opposition by abortion rights groups ended when the name of the document was changed from "certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth." The measure took effect Wednesday.

Bodies in river IDd as brothers

State police say two bodies found in the Genesee River are those of brothers who jumped over a bridge barrier in the dark and fell 100 feet to their deaths. Troopers tell local media that David King, 54, and Michael King, 46, of Batavia were last seen Feb. 19 going over the barrier on the twin span carrying I-390 over the river in suburban Chili. They say the men apparently weren't aware of the 12-to-15-foot wide gap between the spans when they tried to get from one to the other to retrieve David King's car. Their brother had taken them to get the car after King hit a guardrail and Monroe County sheriff's deputies took him to a hospital.

Upstate man getsprison in fatal crash

A 30-year-old upstate New York man has been sentenced to from 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison for killing another motorist as he sped away from pursuing police. Albany County District Attorney David Soares says Jacob Hooper of Albany was driving a stolen SUV when he was spotted by city police who began chasing him on the evening of Oct. 30. The prosecutor says Hooper refused to stop and ran through a series of stop lights at speeds approaching 90 mph before police called off the chase. He later crashed into a car driven by 62-year-old David Concordia of Voorheesville, who died two days later at a hospital.