99

HOUSTON -- A Dallas judge sentenced a young mother to 99 years in prison Friday after she admitted to super-gluing her toddler's hands to a wall and beating the girl so severely she ended up in a coma, officials said. “We're very happy with the judge's decision,” Debbie Denmon, spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney's office, told The Times. Judge Larry Mitchell told the mother, Elizabeth Escalona, that his decision came down to the fact that "You savagely beat your child to the edge of death," according to the Dallas Morning News, which live-tweeted coverage of the sentencing.

Discount chain 99 Cents Only Stores Inc. is shopping on Rodeo Drive. The City of Commerce retailer, which has thrived in the economic downturn, announced that it was scouting real estate on the iconic street in Beverly Hills to open its flagship store, said Eric Schiffer, the company's chief executive. "We know many customers are driving from Beverly Hills to shop at 99, and they have been saying 'Please open a location in Beverly Hills,'" he said. Schiffer said the posh customers expected to shop at a new Rodeo Drive store are now driving to the 99 Cents store on Wilshire Boulevard near Beverly Hills.

This post has been updated. See note below for details. The 2012 presidential campaign seems to have generated fewer  politically motivated songs from the pop music community than we heard four years ago, but as election day draws nearer, the output is on the rise. Last week, Randy Newman released “I'm Dreaming” with his take on some unspoken issues at work in this year's election campaign, and now political rabble-rouser Tom Morello, Rise Against singer Tim McIlrath and System of a Down's Serj Tankian are sending out a new song, “We Are the 99%,” as a free download.

It's game on for the battle of the next-generation video game consoles. Nintendo Co. on Thursday kicked off the high-stakes competition by announcing that its highly anticipated Wii U video game console will hit stores Nov. 18 with a price tag starting at $299.99 for a basic package. A deluxe package, which will include the "Nintendo Land" game and more memory, will be sold for $349.99. At a news conference in New York, the Japanese video game giant also rolled out Nintendo TVii, a television-viewing experience on the Wii U's wireless tablet-sized touchscreen game controller.

On the eve of Apple's expected rollout of a new iPhone, Amazon has slashed by half the price of a Galaxy S III smartphone for new activations. The Seattle online retailer is selling the 16-gigabyte version of the phone for $99 for those who sign up for a two-year service contract with wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Amazon said the offer was for a "very limited time" but did not specify when it would expire. Amazon is also offering smaller discounts for those who already have an account with one of the carriers and want to upgrade to the Galaxy S III. Purchasers of the Sprint and Verizon versions of the phone can save $50 and AT&T buyers can save $20. Users can also get a discount if adding a family line, knocking the price down to $119 for the Sprint version and $139 for Verizon.

U.S. border authorities have awarded a $99.9-million contract to a New York-based company to develop a radar system to detect low-flying ultralight aircraft used to smuggle drugs from Mexico. The solo-piloted aircraft that resemble motorized hang gliders are difficult to detect with conventional radar technology and can carry payloads up to 250 pounds. The planes fly slowly above areas from San Diego to Arizona, dropping their loads of marijuana before escaping to Mexico. More than 700 incursions, at least two of which occurred over San Diego's Interstate 8, have been reported since the trend began in 2008.

LONDON - The U.S. never longed so much for Nigeria. The men's basketball team was closer to crashing than creating more Olympic records, finally sneaking past Lithuania for a 99-94 victory in a preliminary game Saturday at Olympic Park Basketball Arena. LeBron James had 20 points and took over down the stretch for the U.S., which looked completely unlike the group that set a slew of Olympic and team records in a 156-73 victory Thursday over Nigeria. PHOTOS: 2012 London Olympics, Day 8 There was actually tension in the arena for the first time at a U.S. game, fans chanting, "USA, USA" as their team trailed, 82-80, on Linas Kleiza's three-pointer with seven minutes left.

LONDON -- The U.S. never longed so much for Nigeria. The men's basketball team came closer to crashing than creating more Olympic records, finally pushing past Lithuania for a 99-94 victory in a preliminary game Saturday at Olympic Park basketball arena. LeBron James had 20 points and took over down the stretch for the U.S., which looked completely unlike the group that set a slew of Olympic and team records in a 156-73 victory Thursday over Nigeria. The U.S. wasn't nearly as dependable from three-point range Saturday, making 10 of 33 shots (30%)

LONDON -- The U.S. women's water polo team gave up three goals in the last three minutes Wednesday and settled for a 9-9 tie with Spain in a preliminary-round game at the Water Polo Arena at Olympic Park. The U.S. (1-0-1) got four goals from Kami Craig of San Luis Obispo and one each from Annika Dries, Courtney Mathewson, Melissa Seidemann, Brenda Villa and Maggie Steffens. The U.S. women, who won their opening game, 14-13, on Monday, scored four straight goals in the third and fourth quarters on Wednesday to take a 9-6 lead.

LONDON - The standard first-Olympics reverie and the way it blurs the fringes of things thwarts any attempt Kami Craig makes at detailing differences between 2008 and 2012. She'd love to offer a memory, a reference point. She just can't. Whatever happened in Beijing apparently stayed in Beijing. "I don't remember anything!" Craig said with a laugh. "Just eyes wide open, going out there knowing my role on the team and doing exactly that. " PHOTOS: London Olympics, Day 5 For the moment, the starting point is how she finished at the Water Polo Arena on Wednesday: Scoring four goals in the United States' 9-9 tie with Spain, matching her total from the silver-medal run in 2008 and giving her five overall so far in 2012, a world-class center in the middle of it all. Letting a three-goal, fourth-quarter lead slip was reason for angst.