Damage assessment of prison riot begins
BURGIN, Ky. (AP) — Officials said Sunday that investigators and insurance adjusters have started probing what's left of a Kentucky prison in the wake of a fiery riot that injured 16 people and forced 700 inmates to be relocated.
The damage assessment could take several days and a probe into what prompted Friday night's melee would likely start later in the week, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet spokeswoman Jennifer Brislin said.
"This is not a quick thing," Brislin said. "They continue to assess the entire situation."
Death Valley crash kills 2 French teens
FURNACE CREEK, Calif. (AP) — Two French teenagers were killed and five other French nationals were injured when the driver of their van fell asleep, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and roll over, the California Highway Patrol said Sunday.
The accident occurred Saturday morning on State Route 190 in California's Death Valley National Park, about 100 miles west of Las Vegas, according to patrol Capt. Tim Lepper.
The French consul in Los Angeles, David Martinon, said the group was traveling from Las Vegas to California's Death Valley National Park.
20-year observance of Brooklyn attack
NEW YORK (AP) — In 1989, after a white mob attacked and killed a black teenager in Brooklyn, the Rev. Al Sharpton led black demonstrators down streets where angry whites confronted them, yelling obscenities and throwing bricks and watermelons their way.
On Sunday, exactly 20 years later, Sharpton joined the slain teenager's family and friends at the Brooklyn cemetery where Yusuf Hawkins is now buried.
Sharpton led the procession of about 40 people, on a gently winding dirt road, past hundreds of crypts and tombstones until they arrived at Hawkins' grave, under the shade of a tall tree.
Discovery cleared for liftoff Tuesday
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA has cleared space shuttle Discovery for liftoff Tuesday, and the weather looks promising as long as thunderstorms stay away during fueling.
After meeting Sunday afternoon, managers decided Discovery is in good shape to fly to the international space station. A power controller issue — one had to be replaced a week ago in the shuttle — did not stand in the way of the launch.
The chairman of the mission management team, Mike Moses, said there is no way of knowing with certainty whether the new power controller in Discovery might break like the old one did. To minimize the risk of a power failure, some equipment will be left on longer than usual.
Cars hit plane after emergency landing
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a small airplane was struck by three vehicles just after it made an emergency landing on a California freeway.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says the Piper PA-24 Comanche with two people on board was bound for Santa Barbara Airport Sunday when the pilot told air traffic controllers he had no fuel remaining and landed on the southbound side of U.S. Highway 101, about one mile northeast of the airport.