KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Severe thunderstorms raked parts of the Midwest on Saturday, killing a motorcyclist, spawning at least two tornadoes that damaged several homes. Lightning struck a group of motorcylcists on U.S. 24 between Perry and Granville in northeastern Kansas, killing a 45-year-old Lawrence man, officials said. Tornadoes touched down in southern Leavenworth County, Mo., northwest of Linwood, and in Butler County, Kan. Power lines were downed and several homes and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed around Reno township near Interstate 70, officials said.
Florida: Two deputies killed
Two sheriff’s deputies were fatally shot at a shooting range by a suspect who was later killed by deputies after he fled across the county line, authorities said. It happened around 1 p.m. Saturday when the two Okaloosa County deputies went to Shoal River Sporting Clays and Shooting Center in response to a domestic violence call, sheriff’s officials said. Deputies Burt Lopez and Deputy Warren “Skip” York were pronounced dead after being airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, about 45 miles away, the sheriff’s office said.
Massachusetts: Plane diverted
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Tel Aviv, Israel, has been diverted to Boston after an unruly passenger rushed the cockpit. A spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, said the 22-year-old Israeli man ran toward the cockpit and pounded on the door. He said passengers and crew helped to subdue the man. The passengers were being held in Boston as investigators interview them and check luggage.
Utah: Fire plane crashes
A converted military plane crashed Saturday in heavy fog in the mountains that frame the Salt Lake valley, killing three members of a private firefighting company, authorities said. The Tooele County sheriff said the twin-propeller P2V Neptune was en route from Missoula, Mont., to Alamogordo, N.M., when it failed to clear a pass in the Oquirrh Mountains. The crew members for Missoula-based Neptune Aviation were bound for southern New Mexico to help fight a wildfire, a New Mexico Forestry Division spokesman said.
North Dakota: Aid to tribes
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said $500 million in federal stimulus money will go to American Indian tribes across the U.S. for schools, housing, infrastructure improvements and job programs on reservations. Salazar made the announcement Saturday at the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck. Salazar said reservations face serious challenges and President Barack Obama wants to help American Indians “have a new beginning.”
Mexico: Police chief killed
Gunmen on Saturday killed the police chief of a town across the border from Texas — less than three weeks after he took over the local force with the aim of purging alleged corruption. Six police officers are being questioned in the attack. Assailants wielding Kalashnikov and AR-15 rifles opened fire on retired Mexican army Col. Arturo Navarro as he drove home in Piedras Negras, across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas, investigators said. Navarro took over as police chief on April 7 and soon after, fired three high-ranking officers as part of a departmental purge.
Iran: Hunger strike begins
An American journalist convicted by Iran of spying for the U.S. has gone on a hunger strike to protest her eight-year prison sentence, her father said Saturday. Reza Saberi said his daughter, Roxana, 31, began her hunger strike in Evin Prison in Tehran on Tuesday. She was sentenced after a one-day trial found her guilty of using her role as a reporter to spy for U.S. intelligence services. “She might drink, but she doesn’t eat anything. She told me she will continue this strike until she gets her freedom,” he said.
Czech Republic: Duke freed
Czech authorities have released former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke from detention and ordered him to leave the country. Police said Duke must leave the Czech Republic by midnight Saturday after he was detained on suspicion of denying the Holocaust. Duke was in Prague on an invitation from a neo-Nazi group to promote the Czech translation of his book “My Awakening.” Police took him into custody Friday on suspicion of denying the Holocaust, which is a crime in the Czech Republic.
From Herald news services
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