Briefly

California man dies from West Nile infection

Redlands, Calif. A 75-year-old man died from the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, becoming California’s second fatality linked to the illness, officials said Sunday.

Morris Sternberg was admitted to a hospital July 18 and died Saturday “as a result of complications from the virus,” San Bernardino County Deputy Coroner Randy Emon said.

Sternberg’s previous medical history was unknown, health officials said.

West Nile has sickened more than 260 people across the nation this year, and resulted in six deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus has infected more than 50 Californians. In June, a 57-year-old man became the first person in the state to die from the illness.

Heavy rain delays flights in Philadelphia

Darby, Pa. Torrential rain delayed flights at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday and caused flash flooding that forced some residents to flee their apartments and blocked commuter trains and roads.

No serious injuries were reported as the sudden downpours moved across southeastern Pennsylvania.

In the flood-prone Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby, more than 10 feet of water filled the basement and part of the first floor of four apartment buildings, said Mayor Paula Brown. A supermarket in the area was flooded, as were a number of other businesses, and cars were left flipped over or on their sides by the floodwaters.

Norma Hutchinson said some of her family members were taken away by boat.

“The first thing I did was call the landlord and let him know what’s going on,” Hutchinson said. “He wanted to rescue us, but I said, ‘No, you can’t; you need a boat.”’

On one road, residents said the flooding happened so quickly they had trouble believing their eyes.

“All of the sudden a manhole cover shoots up out of the ground in front of my home, and water was just shooting out,” said Keith Dutton. Almost immediately, the streets were flooded with three feet of water, he said.

Airlines at Philadelphia International Airport experienced weather-related delays of about an hour, airport spokesman Mark Pesce said.

Flooding also closed a subway line in Philadelphia and regional railways, and it blocked parts of the expressway running through the city.

Four inches of rain was reported at Birdsboro in Berks County, and about 1.6 inches fell in Philadelphia, according to the National Weather Service. Some parts of central Pennsylvania also reported up to 4 inches of rain overnight, with minor flooding.

First major storm of season heads for S.C.

Columbia, S.C. The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season developed off the South Carolina coast Sunday as forecasters predicted Tropical Storm Alex would make landfall in North Carolina.

Alex’s center was about 90 miles south-southeast of Charleston, S.C., at 11 p.m. EDT. Winds were blowing up to 40 mph, forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center extended the tropical storm warning from Cape Hatteras, N.C., to the South Santee River, north of Charleston.

A tropical storm watch was extended from Cape Hatteras to Oregon Inlet, N.C., and remained in effect from the South Santee River to Edisto Beach.

Alex started as a tropical depression Saturday. It churned toward South Carolina on Sunday at about 7 mph before becoming stationary and gathering strength, forecasters said.

Although the storm was close to shore and conditions were expected to worsen, Alex had little impact Sunday: Winds in Charleston and Myrtle Beach rarely gusted above 15 mph, and Myrtle Beach had only .08 inches of rain.

“About all it is here is breezy,” said Dan St. Jean, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Charleston office.

Chicken chaser gives up his job

Key West, Fla. The man hired to rid this resort city of its prolific and unabashed chickens quit his post, saying city leaders were not committed to the cause.

In January, Key West officials agreed to pay Armando Parra Sr. $20 for each nuisance chicken he caught until Sept. 30. His limit was 900 birds.

Parra, a barber and self-taught bird catcher, had rounded up 542 chickens, a quarter of the estimated population roaming about in the city. But, on July 23, Parra turned in his city-issued traps and said he was going freelance.

“I just thought it was a better idea if I went out on my own,” he said.

Parra said the city issued “chicken lists” telling him which poultry to capture. He said the birds’ wanderings made his job impossible.

“You either catch them or you don’t,” Parra said. “This thing about getting designated chickens in designated areas, that’s impossible.”

Many residents consider the birds a nuisance, but others stomped on Parra’s traps and taunted him on his rounds. A chicken rotisserie was left in one cage.

Parra, 64, said his nerves were frayed. He left town for 11 days because he “couldn’t take it anymore.”

Couple booted from flight; dispute over T-shirt

Miami A couple returning home from a Costa Rican vacation was ejected from an American Airlines flight because the man was wearing a T-shirt depicting a bare breast.

Oscar Arela and his girlfriend were removed from Flight 952 on Saturday after he refused to change the shirt or turn it inside out at Miami International Airport.

The couple, who were making a connecting flight, said nobody on their earlier flight objected to the shirt and claimed the airline violated their constitutional right to free speech.

“It’s a picture of a man and woman, and the woman’s breast is showing,” said his girlfriend, Tala Tow. “The flight attendant basically walked up to us and yelled, ‘You have to take off that shirt right now.’ “

American spokesman Tim Wagner said Sunday that crew members acted properly, and he said the shirt was more graphic than the couple described. The airline gave them a refund, he said.

Wagner noted on American’s Web site the policy clearly states that someone who is “clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers” can be removed from a flight.