Arizona
Phoenix VA health system appoints interim director
PHOENIX – An interim director will take over the embattled Phoenix VA Health Care System on Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced.
Steve Young will oversee delivery of health care to an estimated 85,000 veterans and an operating budget of about $500 million.
The move comes as the Phoenix VA tries to restore its reputation while it is under investigation for possible patient deaths. In recent weeks, critics of the VA system have alleged administrators in Phoenix kept an off-the-books list to conceal long wait times as 40 veterans died waiting to get an appointment.
Director Sharon Helman and two other employees were placed on administrative leave.
New York
Sept. 11 remains returned to World Trade Center site
NEW YORK – The unidentified remains of those killed on Sept. 11 returned to the World Trade Center site in a solemn procession on a foggy Saturday morning.
The remains were accompanied by police and fire department vehicles with lights flashing but no sirens.
Construction workers paused as the motorcade passed, and about 10 firefighters stood in the cool breeze saluting the vehicles as they arrived. The remains will be transferred to a repository 70 feet underground in the same building as the National September 11 Memorial Museum.
The facility will be available for family visits but will be overseen by the medical examiner. Officials hope improvements in technology eventually will lead to the identification of the 7,930 fragmentary remains.
Virginia
Search continues for body in hot-air balloon crash
DOSWELL, Va. – A second body was recovered Saturday from the crash of a hot-air balloon carrying three people that had drifted into a power line and burst into flames in front of horrified spectators. The bodies were discovered just less than a mile apart.
More than 100 searchers were called in to scour the woods and fields of the central Virginia site of the crash for the third victim and any remnants of the balloon or its basket, state police said.
None of the victims has been identified by authorities.
Witnesses said they heard the anguished pleas of the passengers Friday night as the balloon touched the power line and erupted into flames.
Washington
Nintendo apologizes for lack of virtual equality
REDMOND, Wash. – Nintendo is apologizing and pledging to be more inclusive after being criticized for not recognizing same-sex relationships in English editions of a life-simulator video game. The publisher said while it was too late to change the current game, it was committed to building virtual equality into future versions.
Nintendo came under fire from fans and gay-rights organizations after refusing to add same-sex relationship options to the game “Tomodachi Life.”
The game originally was released in Japan last year and features a cast of Mii characters – Nintendo’s personalized avatars of real players – living on a virtual island. Gamers can do things like shop, play games, go on dates, get married and encounter celebrities like Christina Aguilera and Shaquille O’Neal. Already a hit in Japan, “Tomodachi Life” is set for release June 6 in North America and Europe.
Associated Press
