In brief: Mother, child missing after flood
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A mother and child remained missing Friday, hours after they were swept into a flooded creek in eastern Kentucky, as torrential rains swamped portions of the state and forced emergency crews to make more than 160 rescues farther west in Louisville.
Kentucky State Police Trooper Robert Purdy said the two were stranded in their vehicle in high water about 9:30 a.m. on a rural highway in Lee County, near the Estill County line.
Local authorities could see them in the vehicle and attempted a water rescue, Purdy said. But about 11:30 a.m., the rushing water swept them away and rescue workers lost sight of them. A search was continuing late in the day.
As rain pushed through parts of the South and Midwest, severe thunderstorms were also blamed for the death of a woman who was camping with her family at Natural Bridge State Resort Park in eastern Kentucky and a second woman who went outside to look at the rising river.
Clinton team rents office in Brooklyn
Hillary Clinton’s team has signed a lease for office space in Brooklyn, a person familiar with the move said Friday, triggering a regulatory countdown clock toward a more formal acknowledgment of what’s already clear: She’s running for president.
Her campaign-in-waiting has committed to nearly 80,000 square feet at 1 Pierrepont Plaza on the western edge of Brooklyn Heights, half a mile south of the Brooklyn Bridge and near a dozen subway lines and just as many buses.
The building’s marketing materials describe it as offering “Modern Offices. Brooklyn Cool.”
The decision to situate Clinton’s campaign headquarters in the borough had been final for weeks, as was the selection of the building. But Clinton’s team held off on inking the deal, since it gives her 15 days under Federal Election Commission rules to launch either an exploratory committee or a full-fledged candidate committee. The source wouldn’t say exactly when the lease was signed or when staffers would start moving in.
Native Hawaiians oppose telescope
HONOLULU – Scientists hoping to see 13 billion light years away, giving them a look into the early years of the universe, are facing opposition from Native Hawaiian groups who say the construction site of a new telescope is on sacred land.
On Friday, a Native Hawaiian leader called on the state and the University of Hawaii to adopt a moratorium on construction after dozens of protesters were arrested the day before.
Peter Apo, a trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said he’s asking Gov. David Ige and University of Hawaii President David Lassner to bring people together during a 30-day moratorium to work out a long-term solution.
“You can’t even get to the discussion point until they stop construction,” he said.
Apo said the state should revisit how it manages the summit, which belonged to the monarchy until the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. The state holds former kingdom lands in trust for the Hawaiian people.
The dispute has pitted Native Hawaiians, who believe the telescope site is sacred because it is where their creation story begins, against scientists, who believe it’s an ideal location for one of the world’s largest telescopes because of its remote and sheltered position, nestled in the crater of a dormant volcano.