3 more deaths blamed on East Coast storm
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Three additional deaths in North Carolina are being blamed on the massive storm system that started in the Upper Midwest and brought soaking rains and heavy winds to the Mid-Atlantic.
Authorities say a volunteer firefighter died in Wilkes County on Thursday afternoon when he was electrocuted after responding to a fire when a tree fell on power lines.
In the same county, authorities say 77-year-old Maurice Kilby died when a tree fell on him in his yard. Officials say Kilby’s wife found him and called for help but he’d died by the time rescuers arrived.
Another woman in Orange County died when she was hit by a falling tree in downtown Chapel Hill.
‘Merry Christmas’ bill into law by Gov. Perry
AUSTIN, Texas – Surrounded by sleigh bell-ringing Santa Claus impersonators, Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday signed a law protecting Christmas and other holiday celebrations in Texas public schools from legal challenges – but also stressed that freedom of religion is not the same thing as freedom from religion.
It was a serious tone for an otherwise fun bill-signing and should bolster the governor’s Christian conservative credentials before he travels to Washington for the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference with the likes of tea party darlings and U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and fellow Texan Ted Cruz.
The bill removes legal risks of saying “Merry Christmas” in schools while also protecting traditional holiday symbols, such as a menorah or nativity scene, as long as more than one religion and a secular symbol are also reflected.
Officer shot in marathon showdown heads home
BOSTON – The transit police officer who survived a showdown with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects left the hospital Friday, nearly two months after the gun battle that severed one of his femoral arteries.
Officer Richard Donohue walked out of Boston’s Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital on crutches, emerging with his wife to the applause of more than a dozen Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officers.
The 33-year-old MBTA officer spent about a month recovering at Spaulding, and still has a bullet in his body. He’s been coping with nerve damage that can make it painful to walk, and will continue to do outpatient rehab.
Judge bans Fort Hood suspect’s defense
FORT HOOD, Texas – An Army psychiatrist will not be allowed to tell jurors that he gunned down Fort Hood soldiers to protect the lives of Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, a military judge ruled Friday.
Maj. Nidal Hasan’s “defense of others” strategy fails as a matter of law, Col. Tara Osborn said during a 45-minute hearing. That defense strategy means that a killing was necessary to prevent the immediate harm or death of others.
Osborn said no soldiers at the Texas Army post on Nov. 5, 2009, posed an immediate threat to anyone in Afghanistan. She said the legitimacy of the Afghanistan war is not an issue at Hasan’s trial, which has not started. She also ordered Hasan not present any evidence or arguments about his claims that deploying U.S. troops posed an immediate threat to Taliban fighters.
2nd victim dies after blast at chemical plant
GONZALES, La. – A second victim of an explosion at a south Louisiana chemical plant died Friday, while federal authorities opened an investigation to determine the cause of the deadly blast.
Scott Thrower, 47, of St. Amant, died at Baton Rouge General Hospital’s burn center, State Police Capt. Doug Cain said.
Another worker, Zachary Green, 29, of Hammond, died in Thursday’s explosion at the plant in Geismar owned by Tulsa, Okla.-based Williams Companies Inc. Dozens of others were injured.
Green was an operator at the plant and started working for Williams last October. His body was found by hazardous materials crews moving through the site after the blast.
The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
Associated Press
