WASHINGTON – The outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach was blamed for another five cases of illness Saturday, raising the number of people sickened to 171, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The number of states affected held steady at 25. So far, 92 people have been hospitalized, including a Wisconsin woman who died. Two other deaths have been reported in suspected cases – a child in Idaho and an elderly woman in Maryland – but those cases are still being investigated.
Alabama: Air show crash kills three
A small plane crashed into an airport fence Saturday during the Wings &Wheels air show, killing the pilot, a father and his 11-year-old son. The single-engine Beech Bonanza was giving rides during the show and crashed during takeoff at the Shelby County Airport, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said. The plane had apparently just barely gotten airborne and went down off the end of the runway, a Birmingham Aero Club official said. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
New Jersey: Gay priest loses vote
Avoiding further controversy in the worldwide Anglican family, the Episcopal Diocese of Newark on Saturday chose a Massachusetts priest as their new bishop, rather than an openly gay candidate on the ballot. The Rev. Mark Beckwith, 54, won on the third ballot, taking 253, or about 53 percent, of the 477 ballots cast by clergy and lay representatives. Canon Michael Barlowe, 51, an openly gay priest from California, only had one vote, cast by a lay person, in the final round. Even in the first round, he had only 40 votes, 16 from clergy and 24 from lay people.
New York: Prison term for priest
An apologetic Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to prison for stealing more than $800,000 from his parish to finance vacations, country clubs and fancy clothes. “I am truly, truly sorry for what has taken place,” Monsignor John Woolsey, 68, said Friday before a judge sentenced him to one to four years in prison. “I used money to which I had no right. I am deeply, deeply sorry for my conduct.” Woolsey, who was pastor of the Church of Saint John the Martyr, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in May in return for the sentence.
Pennsylvania: Guards kill inmate
An inmate at the Cambria County prison was fatally shot by guards during a hostage-taking attempt, state police said Saturday. Torone Dixon, 25, was shot Friday night by the Cambria County prison’s emergency response team when he tried to use a homemade knife on a guard he had taken hostage, prison officials said. Dixon was pronounced dead later at a hospital. He was scheduled to be tried in January on homicide charges stemming from an April 27 slaying, officials said.
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