Mo. teen’s parents unmoved by apology
WASHINGTON – The parents of Michael Brown said Saturday in an interview with The Associated Press they were unmoved by the apology of the Ferguson, Missouri, police chief gave weeks after their unarmed 18-year-old son was killed by a police officer.
Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, said, “yes,” when asked if Chief Tom Jackson should be fired, and his father, Michael Brown Sr., said rather than an apology, they would rather see Officer Darren Wilson arrested for the death of their son on Aug. 9.
“An apology would be when Darren Wilson has handcuffs, processed and charged with murder,” Brown Sr. said.
The young man, who was black, was fatally shot last month by Wilson, who is white.
Nation’s air travel system recovering
CHICAGO – The nation’s air travel system slowly began to recover Saturday after an alleged act of employee sabotage at a large regional air traffic control center brought Chicago’s two international airports to a halt.
At the height of the travel misery Friday, more than 2,000 flights in and out of O’Hare and Midway airports had been canceled, sending waves of travel disruption rippling across the country.
Authorities say a contract employee started a fire Friday morning in the basement telecommunications room of a control center in the Chicago suburb of Aurora and then attempted to commit suicide by slashing his throat. Brian Howard, 36, of Naperville, was charged with destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities, a felony. The FBI said Howard remains hospitalized and no court date has been scheduled.
As of late Saturday afternoon, total Chicago flight cancelations for the day stood at more than 780.
Traficant, ex-Ohio congressman, dies
CLEVELAND – James Traficant, the colorful Ohio politician whose conviction for taking bribes and kickbacks made him only the second person to be expelled from Congress since the Civil War, died Saturday. He was 73.
Traficant was seriously injured Tuesday after a vintage tractor flipped over on him as he tried to park it inside a barn on the family farm near Youngstown. He died four days later in a Youngstown hospital, said Dave Betras, chairman of Mahoning County Democratic Party.
The Democrat’s expulsion from Congress in 2002 came three months after a federal jury in Cleveland convicted him. Prosecutors said he used his office to extract bribes from businesspeople and coerced staffers to work on his farm and his house boat on the Potomac River in Washington. He also was charged with witness tampering, destroying evidence and filing false tax returns. He spent seven years in prison.
Associated Press
