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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: 19 injured during prison roof collapse

From Wire Reports

DIBOLL, Texas – Authorities say the roof of a privately run East Texas prison has collapsed, temporarily trapping dozens of inmates and sending 19 injured inmates to hospitals.

One of those inmates was later airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston after the Saturday collapse at Diboll Correctional Center, about 100 miles northeast of Houston. Neither his identity nor his condition has been released.

In a statement, a prison spokesman said the other inmates suffered cuts and bruises when wallboard fell from the ceiling of a housing area at the prison about 11:30 a.m.

Spokesman Issa Arnita said 86 inmates were in the area when the ceiling material fell. He said officials are trying to determine the cause.

Officers reassigned after fatal NYC arrest

NEW YORK – A New York City police officer involved in the arrest of a man who died in custody after being placed in an apparent chokehold has been stripped of his gun and badge and placed on desk duty, police said Saturday.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo, an eight-year NYPD veteran, and an officer who has been with the force for four years were both taken off the street after the death Thursday of 43-year-old Eric Garner on Staten Island, police said.

The department would not identify the second officer but said he would retain his gun and badge while on desk duty. The reassignment is effective immediately and will remain in effect while Garner’s death is being investigated, police said.

Partial video of the encounter obtained by the New York Daily News shows the 6-foot-3, 350-pound Garner becoming irate and refusing to be handcuffed as officers tried to arrest him on suspicion of selling untaxed, loose cigarettes on a sidewalk.

The video then shows one of the officers placing Garner in what Police Commissioner William Bratton said Friday appeared to be a chokehold. The tactic, which can be fatal, is prohibited by departmental policy.

Court OKs stay in Utah gay marriage case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday granted Utah’s request for a stay in an appellate court ruling, allowing the state to avoid – at least for now – having to recognize about 1,300 same-sex marriages performed after its ban on such unions was struck down late last year.

In December, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled in a lawsuit that Utah’s ban was unconstitutional. Shelby did not put a stay in place, but Utah requested a stay from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, which she granted on Jan. 6. During that 17-day period, many same-sex couples wed.

Last month, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that stay, pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The couples who wed in that interim period would have been able to file for state benefits Monday morning had the Supreme Court not granted the stay. The stay was granted without dissent or opinion.

The Utah attorney general’s office said it was preparing an appeal to file later in the summer.

3 dead in Lake Placid plane crash

NORTH ELBA, N.Y. – A small plane crashed Saturday while attempting to land at an airport near Lake Placid, killing all three people on board.

State police said the plane, a single-engine Mooney M20 registered in West Virginia, burst into flames on impact around 10:40 a.m. Saturday.

Lake Placid Municipal Airport manager Steve Short said preliminary information showed the plane crashed after its first attempt at landing was thwarted by a plane approaching from the opposite direction.

Per protocol, both planes turned away from each other to circle and attempt the landing again, Short said. He said the pilot of the Mooney deployed the plane’s flaps but never retracted them before making the second approach, inhibiting its ability to fully circle and attempt another landing.

The plane lost power and crashed on a farm about two-thirds of a mile from the runway, he said.