Candymaker Sued Over Injury

MOUNT VERNON - A Skagit County couple have sued an Ohio candymaker and a convenience-store chain, contending their young son was hurt by a pointy sucker that punctured his throat.

Tisha and Edward Newman's lawsuit, filed last week, seeks an unspecified amount of money from Spangler Candy of Bryan, Ohio, and Southland Corp., the Dallas-based parent company for 7-Eleven stores.

The Newmans contend their son, Nicholas, now 7, "suffered several personal injuries when the Astro Pop punctured his throat, palate and tonsil" in April 1996. An Astro Pop is a striped, cone-shape sucker about 6 inches long on a cardboard stick.

The lawsuit does not mention the circumstances that led to the boy's injuries.