Virginia
Up to 60 people injured after car drives into parade
DAMASCUS, Va. – About 50 to 60 people were injured Saturday when a driver described by witnesses as an elderly man drove his car into a group of hikers marching in a parade in a small Virginia mountain town.
It happened around 2:10 p.m. during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol.
Washington County director of emergency management Pokey Harris said no fatalities had been reported.
The injuries ranged from critical to superficial, he said. Three of the victims were flown by helicopters to regional hospitals. Another 12 to 15 were taken by ambulance. The rest were treated at the scene.
New Jersey
Landing-gear issue leads to plane’s belly landing
NEWARK, N.J. – An airline official says a US Airways Express flight with 34 people aboard was forced to make a belly landing at Newark International Airport after experiencing landing-gear trouble. No injuries were reported.
US Airways spokesman Davien Anderson said a turboprop plane that left Philadelphia shortly before 11 p.m. Friday landed safely at Newark with its landing gear retracted at about 1 a.m. Saturday.
He said the plane circled Newark in a holding pattern while working to get the gear down. After several failed attempts, the plane landed on its belly.
New York
Hofstra student killed by police officer’s bullet
NEW YORK – Authorities say a police officer’s bullet killed a New York college student during the response to a home invasion at an off-campus home.
Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said Saturday night that Andrea Rebello was killed by a police officer as she was being held in a headlock by a masked intruder.
Azzata says the police officer opened fire as Dalton Smith made a motion to fire at the officers early Saturday morning.
Azzata says the officer fired eight shots, hitting Smith seven times and Rebello once in the head, killing her.
Tennessee
First lady to graduates: Live your dreams
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – First lady Michelle Obama has some advice for some Tennessee high school graduates: strike your own path in college and life and work to overcome inevitable failures with determination and grit.
Mrs. Obama spoke Saturday for 22 minutes to the Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School in Nashville in her only high school graduation speech this year.
The first lady told the 170 graduates that she spent too much of her own time in college focusing on academic achievements.
Massachusetts
Boston police, city to review bombings response
LOWELL, Mass. – Boston’s police department and mayor’s office will conduct twin reviews of the response to last month’s bombing of the Boston Marathon, police commissioner Ed Davis said Saturday.
Davis said the aim of the reviews is to learn from the experience and prepare for the future.
“We are very anxious to get those reviews underway and learn lessons from anything that might pop up as an issue of concern,” Davis said. “I expect that this whole year will be a time of review and reflection on what happened.”
Associated press
