In brief: Snowstorm a cold-hearted blow to New England
BOSTON – A Valentine’s Day storm brought snow and dangerously high winds to New England for the fourth time in less than a month, the latest blow to a region that has already seen more than 6 feet of snow in some areas.
A blizzard warning was in effect for coastal areas from Connecticut to Maine through Monday morning, promising 8 to 14 inches in southern New England and up to 2 feet in Maine. A bone-chilling blast of cold will follow, with lows of minus 10 degrees forecast in some areas tonight.
National Weather Service meteorologist William Babcock said road conditions will be dangerous as steady, widespread winds whip the relatively dry snow around.
“On Sunday, the best thing people can do is stay home, stay indoors,” he said Saturday.
The bad weather spanned several states – winter storm warnings extended west into Michigan and Ohio, where whiteout conditions led to a pileup on the Ohio Turnpike that killed at least two people. Another crash involving several semitrucks was reported on Interstate 70 just west of Columbus, and a storm-related crash on the New York Thruway south of Buffalo killed one person.
Premature infant gets heart transplant
PHOENIX – Born nearly seven weeks early, Baby Oliver became one of the youngest heart transplant recipients at Phoenix Children’s Hospital last month.
He will need to be hospitalized a few more weeks. But doctors say Oliver, who was due this Friday, has been doing remarkably well post-transplant.
Oliver was born Jan. 5 with a heart the size of a 5-year-old child’s with a large left ventricle, his mother Caylyn Otto said. Dr. John Nigro, the pediatric cardio surgeon who performed the transplant, said the heart was affecting the infant’s lung and kidney development.
Though Oliver was not yet at the ideal age when a donor heart became available, surgeons decided to have him go through the 10-hour procedure.
Kidnap suspect bolts at airport, caught
DALLAS – A kidnapping suspect accused of threatening the judge overseeing his case faces new assault charges after he attacked a deputy during a failed escape attempt at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, authorities said Saturday.
Brent Taff, 37, was being escorted from Utah to Oklahoma to face assault charges for verbal threats against the judge, when he made his bid for freedom during a layover Friday in Dallas, Tulsa County Sheriff’s Maj. Shannon Clark said. Taff told his deputy escorts that he needed to use the restroom and then attacked the one who took him inside, Clark said.
The deputy’s head was injured in the struggle, but he managed to shoot Taff in the hand before the other deputy and airport staff captured Taff as he tried to flee, Clark said.
Taff initially was accused in Oklahoma of stalking, kidnapping and domestic assault as well as violation of protective orders. Taff, of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, was free on bond when he was arrested in Utah and accused of making threatening statements against his ex-wife, a prosecutor and the judge overseeing his case. He faces new charges of assault on a public servant and escape causing bodily injury, according to Dallas County jail records.