Human Race

Matched

When Jonathan and Caitlin Woodlief got married last October, the prospect of a long life together was bleak. Jonathan, suffering from lupus, needed another kidney transplant after a kidney his mother gave him began deteriorating. Doctors warned him his chances of finding another perfect donor match were as likely as winning the lottery. A few months after their wedding, though, the couple was stunned to learn Caitlin was a perfect match. Earlier this summer the seminary graduates underwent surgery for the transplant and are recovering at home.

Apprehended

Authorities arrested on July 18 a 97-year-old suspected Nazi war criminal described as being "particularly sadistic" in his treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. Laszlo Csatary, who had lived under his real name in Hungary for many years, now faces war crime charges of "unlawful torture of human beings" stemming from his work as the police chief of an internment camp that deported Jews to death camps. In 1948 a Czechoslovakian court convicted Csatary in absentia and sentenced him to death for war crimes.

Denied

A Missouri judge ruled that the son of an illegal immigrant should remain in the custody of his adoptive parents who took him in after his biological mother's arrest on immigration charges in 2007. After her 2009 release from prison, Encarnacion Bail Romero sought to regain custody, arguing that parental rights were unfairly terminated. In 2011 the state Supreme Court ordered a new trial after agreeing that adoption laws weren't followed. The July ruling, which reaffirmed the original decision, allows Seth and Melinda Moser to move forward with again adopting Jamison, now 5.

Protected

An Arizona law set to take effect on Aug. 2 protects unborn children from abortion once 20 weeks have passed since a woman's last missed period. That's about 18 weeks after fertilization. That's the earliest deadline in any state, and abortion advocates have filed a federal lawsuit that claims the law is unconstitutional. Laws in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Oklahoma protect unborn children 20 weeks after fertilization.

Died

Motivational self-help speaker Stephen Covey, author of the 1989 best-selling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, died July 16 at age 79. In 1997 his Covey Leadership Center merged with Franklin Quest to become the Franklin Covey Company.

Died

Else Holmelund Minarik, the Denmark-born author who enchanted young readers with her Little Bear series, died July 12 at age 91. Minarik penned her first book about Little Bear after she became dissatisfied with the reading options for her first-grade students. Harper & Row first published Little Bear, with illustrations by the late Maurice Sendak, in 1957 as the inaugural title in the company's I Can Read! series.

Died

My Three Sons actor Don Grady, who played Robbie, the elder son of Fred MacMurray's widower character, died June 27 at age 68. The former Mouseketeer was also a musician and composer who created the theme song for Phil Donahue's talk show.