Robbery Prozac 27/07/1996 California Woman, a 71 Year Old Grandmother, Robs Gas Station
 
 Summary:<br><br><div><font face="arial" size="2">Paragraphs 1 &amp; 2 read: &quot;<strong>A 71-year-old grandmother who tried to rob a gas station at gunpoint to </strong>pay off a tax bill pleaded no contest to attempted robbery in a plea bargain Friday and apologized to the attendant she held up.&quot; <br /><br />&quot;In return, prosecutors dropped a weapons charge against Mary Blanco, <strong>who said she was suffering from an allergic reaction to the anti-depressant drug Prozac. </strong>She could face a year in prison or three years&#39; probation.&quot;<br />________________________________________________________________________________<br /><br /><br />NEWS / NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL <br /><strong>Gun-wielding grannie repents <br /></strong>Rocky Mountain News wire services <br />406 words<br />27 July 1996<br />Rocky Mountain News<br />FINAL<br />47a<br />English<br /><br />LOS ANGELES - A 71-year-old grandmother who tried to rob a gas station at gunpoint to pay off a tax bill pleaded no contest to attempted robbery in a plea bargain Friday and apologized to the attendant she held up. <br /><br />In return, prosecutors dropped a weapons charge against Mary Blanco, who said she was suffering from an allergic reaction to the anti-depressant drug <strong>Prozac</strong>. She could face a year in prison or three years&#39; probation. <br /><br />Bomb scare forces evacuation <br /><br />COLUMBUS, Ohio - A package marked ``bomb&#39;&#39; - found in an elevator shaft - forced the evacuation of the downtown federal building and a surrounding block Friday before officials found that the parcel contained only a kitchen countertop sample. <br /><br />Whitewater jury takes time off <br /><br />LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A federal court jury reached no verdict Friday in the Whitewater trial of two Arkansas bankers and was excused for the weekend. <br /><br />Smuggling suspects sought <br /><br />SAN MARCOS, Texas - An Austin man accused of helping smuggle 40 illegal immigrants in a suffocating cargo-trailer ride from Laredo has been arrested, and two other men are being sought. <br /><br />Because two of the passengers died of heat stroke, <strong>murder</strong> warrants have been issued against the three. Alberto Cordero, 35, was arrested at his Austin home. <br /><br />Hay fever medicine wins OK <br /><br />NEW YORK - Hay fever sufferers who abandoned the popular antihistamine Seldane because of potentially deadly side effects soon will be able to buy a new, safer version. <br /><br />The Food and Drug Administration approved the new version, to be called Allegra, on Friday. The decision could shake up the highly competitive, $1 billion market for allergy drugs. <br /><br />Troubled principal found dead <br /><br />NORTH CONWAY, N.H. - A well-liked high school principal who had told students and residents in Portsmouth, N.H., about his struggle with alcoholism, apparently leaped to his death from a New Hampshire landmark after a local newspaper reported his arrest for drunken driving. <br /><br />The body of David Matthews, who resigned Monday as principal of Portsmouth Senior High School, was found Wednesday morning at the base of Cathedral Ledge in North Conway. A car registered to Matthews was found in a lot atop the 500-foot ledge. <br /><br />New Mexico casinos get reprieve <br /><br />SANTA FE - A federal judge has ruled that casinos on New Mexico Indian reservations can remain open while an appeals court considers whether they are legal. <br /><br />NATIONAL NEWS BRIEFING<br /></font></div> 
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