North Carolina
Maya Angelou honored at memorial service
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – First lady Michelle Obama lauded poet, orator and sage Maya Angelou as the first person who let her know she could be a strong and smart black woman, joining other famous admirers and friends in a private memorial service Saturday that was filled with tears, laughter, poetry and gospel singing.
Former President Bill Clinton said Angelou, one of the most famous black writers of the 20th century, was a woman who seemed to have lived five lifetimes in one. Others said the poet, who rose from poverty and segregation, gave strength to millions of women to live their lives in modern America.
Family, friends and admirers led by the first lady, Clinton and Oprah Winfrey paid tribute to Angelou at Wake Forest University in North Carolina where the writer had taught for more than 30 years. Angelou died May 28 at age 86 after a life with important roles in civil rights and the arts.
New Jersey
6-car pileup critically injures comic Tracy Morgan
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan was critically injured Saturday after a tractor-trailer rammed into his chauffeured limousine bus, setting off a chain-reaction crash that left one member of his entourage dead and two others seriously hurt, authorities said.
The former “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” cast member was returning from a stand-up comedy show in Delaware when his Mercedes limo bus carrying seven people overturned on the New Jersey Turnpike near Cranbury Township at about 1 a.m., state police Sgt. 1st Class Greg Williams said.
Morgan ws in the intensive care unit at the hospital Saturday.
Washington, D.C.
Capitol evacuated briefly after airspace violation
WASHINGTON – U.S. Capitol Police say the Capitol and surrounding office buildings were briefly evacuated after a small airplane entered restricted airspace over Washington.
The evacuation was ordered about 1:30 p.m. Saturday. A Capitol Police spokeswoman says the pilot of the aircraft did not immediately communicate after it flew into restricted space, and that’s what led to the evacuation.
The alert was lifted about 2 p.m. after the pilot began communicating, and visitors and staff members were allowed back into the buildings.
U.S. reassembles officials for Iran nuke-program talks
WASHINGTON – The U.S. is reassembling key members of the diplomatic team that held secret negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, leading to a breakthrough agreement, and sending them to Geneva for direct talks with representatives from Tehran in hopes of making progress toward a comprehensive final deal.
The interim deal reached in November by Iran and six world powers – the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – limited Iran’s uranium enrichment program.
Associated Press
