National news
Driver crashes SUV into airport terminal
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A man drove his sport utility vehicle into a crowded airport terminal building Sunday, slamming into a ticket counter and smashing through a wall before coming to a stop, officials said.
Two sheriff’s deputies and a federal air marshal at Fort Lauderdale- Hollywood International Airport tackled the driver as he tried to escape and took him into custody, a spokesman for the Broward County sheriff said.
The driver, Alex Vila, 33, of Williamston, Mich., was treated at a hospital for minor scrapes and was being questioned. No one else was hurt. No one was at the Southeast Airlines counter at the time, a Southeast official said.
Man cuts the mustard by eating 53 1/2 hot dogs
New York For the fourth straight year, Takeru Kobayashi chewed up the competition at the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating competition Sunday.
Kobayashi, 25, of Nagano, Japan, gulped down 53 1/2 wieners in 12 minutes and shattered his 2002 world record by three dogs.
Since 1996, the Japanese have dominated the competition. Only one American, New Jersey’s Steve Keiner in 1999, has captured the Mustard Belt at the July 4 event.
Giraffe, ostrich drown at zoo exhibit sinkhole
Monroe, La. A giraffe and an ostrich drowned in a 15-foot sinkhole that developed after a water main burst in their shared zoo exhibit, officials said.
The animals at Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo in northern Louisiana died Friday night or Saturday morning in the zoo’s African veldt exhibit, officials said. Zoo officials buried them there Saturday.
An official said the 17-foot, 3,000-pound giraffe probably was getting a drink, then tumbled headfirst into the sinkhole when it collapsed under his weight. The ostrich likely was standing beside the giraffe.
LAPD chief apologizes over ‘nitwit’ comments
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton apologized for calling a local black activist a “nitwit” and other comments he made following last month’s beating of a suspected car thief.
TV news helicopters videotaped an LAPD officer striking 36-year-old Stanley Miller with a flashlight 11 times after Miller appeared to surrender.
Since the June 23 incident, Bratton has called a local black activist a “nitwit” and had a testy exchange with his predecessor, City Councilman Bernard Parks, who questioned his sensitivity to minorities. Parks noted Bratton’s past references to gang members as “thugs” and “terrorists.”
Kerry celebrates July 4 along with possible V.P.
Cascade, Iowa Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry celebrated Sunday’s Fourth of July holiday with Gov. Tom Vilsack, one of the men who could become his vice presidential running mate – but neither one said a word about the process.
“It’s a great day, July 4,” Kerry said, dodging one of many questions from reporters about whether he would ask the Iowa governor to be his running mate.
Asked whether he had reached a decision, Kerry said: “I made a decision – to get a drink and eat some lunch.”
Vilsack also ignored shouted questions when he and his wife, Christie, marched with Kerry in a holiday parade in this eastern Iowa town on the final day of the Massachusetts senator’s three-day campaign bus tour of the heartland.
Hatch sees backing for more liberal stem work
Washington Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican supporter of embryonic stem cell research, said Sunday there is wide support in the Senate to ease the Bush administration’s restrictive policy.
Hatch said supporters have more than the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster, but he’s unsure whether Congress would act “in this hot political atmosphere.”
The Utah senator predicted on CNN’s “Late Edition” that the administration and supporters of the research would reach a compromise that would include moral and ethical standards set by the National Institutes of Health.
Severe weather storms into Kansas, Missouri
Oswego, Kan. Violent thunderstorms battered southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri on Sunday with strong winds, hail and heavy rains that damaged homes and caused widespread power outages.
No injuries were reported from the morning storms. The town of Oswego, just north of the Oklahoma state line and west of the Missouri state line, had no electrical service Sunday.
Utility crews did not expected to restore power until today or Tuesday in the town of 2,000 people, about 23 miles southwest of Pittsburg.
The town’s Fourth of July celebration was not scheduled until tonight.
Widespread damage also was reported in Cherokee County, Kan., where one home was destroyed, numerous houses lost roofs and fallen trees blocked roads.
Across the state line in Missouri, wind damage and minor flooding were reported.