MAYPORT, Fla. – A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed in the Pacific Ocean off Colombia with three aboard on Tuesday, and the Colombian navy joined a search for the missing crew members, U.S. and Colombian officials said.
The SH-60B Seahawk helicopter was within sight of the frigate USS DeWert when it went down, said Bill Austin, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Station at Mayport, where the troops were based.
The crew members were assigned to the Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 48 based in Mayport, the U.S. Navy said in a statement, but did not say what they were doing in the area.
Navy aircraft often fly counterdrug missions off ships in the area.
D.C.: Tribal donations returned
The top Democrat on the Senate committee investigating Jack Abramoff’s Indian lobbying is returning $67,000 in donations in response to Associated Press reports that he collected tribal money around the time he took actions favorable to those of Abramoff clients. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said Tuesday that while he never met Abramoff and didn’t take any actions at the lobbyist’s behest, he nonetheless wants to return the money to avoid any appearance that tribal money was directed to him by the controversial lobbyist.
House votes for meth cleanup bill
The House voted Tuesday to help clean up the toxic after-effects from the drug methamphetamine, so that old meth labs broken up by the police don’t become health hazards for unsuspecting families. Lawmakers agreed to launch research to identify the health dangers posed by makeshift meth labs in homes and apartments and issue guidelines to states for the proper disposal and cleanup of such sites.
House GOP drops mining provision
House Republicans have dropped a provision in budget legislation that would have allowed the sale of public lands for mining. Western senators had criticized the provision, which would have overturned an 11-year-old congressional ban that prevents mineral companies from “patenting,” or buying, public land at cheap prices if the land contains mineral deposits.
‘Cell phone bandit’ pleads guilty
A young woman dubbed the “cell phone bandit” pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that could put her behind bars for the rest of her life. Candice R. Martinez, 19, stood before a U.S. District Court judge in suburban Alexandria, Va., and entered guilty pleas to charges of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Under a plea deal, the U.S. attorney dropped four counts of bank robbery. Sentencing was set for March 3. Martinez admitted conspiring with her boyfriend, Dave Williams, to rob four northern Virginia Wachovia Bank branches. In one of the robberies, a surveillance video captured her talking on her cell phone while at the teller’s cage.
Connecticut: Body on actor’s land
Scott Deojay, 36, was charged with kidnapping Tuesday night in connection with the death of Judith Nilan, 44, whose body was found on property owned by Caroll Spinney, the performer who plays Big Bird on “Sesame Street,” state police said. Spinney had no involvement in the woman’s death, said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a state police spokesman.
N.J.: Three die in apartment blast
An explosion and fire ripped through a Bergenfield apartment complex Tuesday morning after construction workers hit a gas line, authorities said. Three people were killed and five were injured. Police Chief Thomas Lucas said three residents had not been accounted for but may have left the building before the blast.
California: Mars rover arm fixed
Two weeks after Mars rover Opportunity’s robotic arm failed to extend, engineers in Pasadena this week traced the problem to a stalled motor and fixed it, NASA said.
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