Race tension is high on Missouri campus
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Student protests over racial incidents on the University of Missouri campus escalated over the weekend when at least 30 black football players announced they will not participate in team activities until the school’s president is removed.
President Tim Wolfe gave no indication he has any intention of stepping down, but agreed in a statement Sunday that “change is needed” and said the university is working to draw up a plan by April to promote diversity and tolerance.
For months, black student groups have complained of racial slurs and other slights on the overwhelmingly white, 35,000-student campus. Their frustrations flared during the homecoming parade Oct. 10 when black protesters blocked Wolfe’s car and he would not get out and talk to them. They were removed by police.
4 killed, 12 others injured in fiery Maryland crash
HYATTSVILLE, Md. – Four people including a child have died and 12 others have been injured after a van caught fire in a crash with a pickup truck in a Maryland suburb of the nation’s capital on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
Marc Bashoor, chief of the Prince George’s County Fire Department, said via Twitter that three adults and one child were confirmed as fatalities. He said the accident occurred late Sunday afternoon on a road in Hyattsville just northeast of Washington, D.C.
Fire department Spokesman Mark Brady said on television that 12 others, including seven adults and five children, were injured. He added that some of the injuries appeared life-threatening. He cautioned that the numbers could change as the investigation continues.
Brady said the crash was one of the worst scenes he has worked in a 40-year career. And he cautioned that the investigation remains in its early stages.
Average gas prices go up a penny over past 2 weeks
CAMARILLO, Calif. – The average price of gasoline rose a penny over the past two weeks, to $2.25 a gallon.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg reports Sunday that the slight increase comes after prices previously fell 63 cents over 19 weeks. Lundberg says the end of the price decline comes as crude costs jumped a bit.
The current price is 70 cents per gallon under its year-ago point. In the Lower 48 states, the highest average price of regular gasoline was $2.88 per gallon in Los Angeles. The lowest was $1.90 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The U.S. average diesel price is $2.55 per gallon, down about two cents from two weeks ago.
United Nations leaders warn of ‘Brexit’ from EU
LONDON – Britain’s foreign secretary says the European Union must implement fundamental reform or British people would vote to leave the bloc in an upcoming referendum.
Philip Hammond told the BBC “the British people will not be fobbed off with a set of cosmetic alterations to the way the EU works” and “substantive legally binding change” is required for Britons to vote to stay in.
He was speaking before a major speech by Prime Minister David Cameron setting out arguments for EU reform.
Associated Press
