National Round Up

New York: 11 are rescued from sinking boat near western NY
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say 11 people were rescued from a sinking boat that was nearly half-filled with water on the Canadian side of the Niagara River.

Lt. Carolyn Moberley (MOH’-ber-lee) of the U.S. Coast Guard says the 40-foot yacht struck rocks Sunday night about a mile from Peace Bridge, just north of where Lake Erie enters the river near Buffalo, N.Y.

No injuries were reported. All 11 people boarded Buffalo police and Coast Guard watercraft and were taken to a Buffalo dock.

Moberley says the boat remains tied to a buoy in the river and will be towed to shore later Monday.

Washington, D.C.: Sun storms may bring northern lights south
WASHINGTON (AP) — The sun may be about to put on a colorful light show.

That’s because of two minor solar storms that flared on Sunday and are shooting tons of plasma directly at Earth.

Scientists said residents of northern regions — from Maine to Michigan and anywhere farther north around the globe — may see unusual northern lights.

Usually only regions closer to the Arctic can see the aurora of rippling reds and greens, but solar storms pull them south.

The federal Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo., said the plasma will likely arrive late Tuesday night or early Wednesday. The storms are not much of a threat to satellites or power grids.

Until recently, the sun was in a phase with few storms.

Connecticut: Company: At least 3 shot at Conn. beer distributor
MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) — Authorities say some people were seriously injured when a warehouse worker who had been called in to resign opened fire at a beer distributor in Connecticut.

A company executive says at least three people were shot Tuesday morning in Manchester, about 10 miles east of Hartford. Manchester police Lt. Joe San Antonio would not confirm whether anyone was killed, how many people were shot or what happened to the gunman.

The executive, Brett Hollander of Hartford Distributors, says the company is “just trying to figure out who’s shot, who’s not accounted for.” He says 50 to 70 people were inside during a shift change and that a fire at the warehouse was out.

Hollander says he did not know the shooter well and didn’t know how long he had worked at the company.

New Mexico: Feds to review status of troubled Mexican gray wolf
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it will review the status of the troubled Mexican gray wolf to determine if it should be listed as an endangered species separate from other North American gray wolves.

A court settlement required the agency to issue a finding by the end of July on two petitions that sought a separate listing. The decision was made public Tuesday.
Conservationists have argued that a separate listing is biologically warranted, legally required and would result in stronger protections for the animal.

A subspecies of the gray wolf, the Mexican wolf was exterminated in the wild by the 1930s. Reintroduction began in 1998 along the Arizona-New Mexico border, but the effort has been plagued by illegal shootings and the concerns of ranchers and environmentalists.

Indianapolis: 2 killed, 6 hurt in Indianapolis birthday shooting
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A masked man armed with an assault-style rifle fired dozens of shots at a birthday party at a home in western Indianapolis early Tuesday, killing two people and wounding six before fleeing, police said.

Around 30 people were attending the birthday barbecue when the shooting happened shortly after midnight, Indianapolis police Lt. Jeff Duhamell said. A motive was not immediately known.

A man and a woman died at the scene and six people were taken to the hospital in stable condition, including one partygoer who had been shot in the neck and another who was shot in the back, Duhamell said.

“We’re talking at least 25-30 rounds from a high-powered rifle, so although eight people were shot, it could’ve been a lot worse,” he said.

He did not have details of the firearm used in the attack except that it was an assault-style rifle, “an AK or SKS.”

Duhamell said the gunman had been wearing a ski mask, and that he fired from the street and then a car before fleeing. It wasn’t clear if a getaway driver was also involved.

The shooting left shell casings scattered across 32nd Street in a neighborhood between Interstate 65 and the White River.

Duhamell said it was possible some shots were fired toward the gunman.

“We’re still checking with our forensics people and trying to find out exactly what happened,” he said. “We do know that multiple rounds were being fired from the roadway toward the house.”

Mayor Greg Ballard said he was disgusted by the shooting and that it marred what had mostly been a peaceful summer in the city.

“It is a tragic shooting obviously with people just having fun,” he said. “It makes me very angry when people do this and ruin the peace of our city.”

Duhamell said police officers had been investigating reports late Monday of a man carrying an assault rifle in the neighborhood, but had found no one. He said it wasn’t immediately clear if there was a connection with the shooting early Tuesday.

Ohio: Teenage Christian convert rejects family reunion
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio judge will hear arguments from a Christian convert who says a reunion with her Muslim parents is impossible before her 18th birthday next week.

At a hearing Tuesday, Rifqa Bary (RIHF’-kuh BAYR’-ee) also is expected to ask a juvenile court judge in Columbus for special immigration status to let her stay in the country.

The teenager is an undocumented immigrant from Sri Lanka who has said she needs the status to continue medical treatment for uterine cancer.

But Bary’s parents allege the girl considers herself healed and is refusing chemotherapy after visiting a faith healer last month.

Bary fled Ohio alleging she could be hurt or killed for her religious conversion. Her parents deny she would have been harmed.