National Roundup ...

OHIO
NTSB: Pilot, wing walker practiced before fatal crash

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A wing walker and aerobatic pilot killed in a fiery crash at an Ohio air show practiced their performance the previous day and reported no mechanical problems with the plane, according to preliminary report released Thursday by federal investigators.

Thousands of horrified spectators witnessed the June 22 crash and explosion at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton. The plane was turned upside-down and positioned to cross in front of the crowd when the nose pitched slightly and the aircraft abruptly rolled and struck ground, according to the accident report from the National
Transportation Safety Board.

The crash, captured on video and in photos by, left a debris field 145 feet long, according the report.

The preliminary report does not address the cause of the crash. The safety board is expected to take months to issue a final report.

The preliminary report was based on information including spectators’ videos and photos and initial statements collected by federal investigators. Those statements
indicated no mechanical malfunctions were reported after the June 21 practice session by the pilot and the wing walker, the report said.

Federal Aviation Administration records showed clean safety records for the 64-year-old pilot, Charlie Schwenker of Oakton, Va., and 44-year-old performer Jane Wicker, of Bristow, Va.


CONNECTICUT
Ex-NYC TV anchor pleads guilty in threats to wife

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Former New York TV news anchor Rob Morrison has pleaded guilty to threatening and breach of peace charges stemming from accusations he choked his wife in their Connecticut home in February.

Morrison’s lawyer, Robert Skovgaard, told The Advocate of Stamford that his client’s pleas in Stamford Superior Court could clear the charges from his record if he completes two family violence programs. Skovgaard said his client does not want to prolong the case.

Morrison resigned from his anchor job at WCBS-TV soon after he was charged. He is married to Ashley Morrison, also a TV reporter. The incident happened at their Darien home.

Morrison will not be prosecuted by the state on a strangulation charge if he completes the programs, said Skovgaard, who did not immediately return a call on Thursday. A spokesman for state prosecutors did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Skovgaard said Judge Gary White proposed an offer that will end the criminal court case if Morrison, 45, completes the 26-week Explore program for those involved in family violence and the Family Violence Education program.


MASSACHUSETTS
Boy, 8, gets help for dad trapped in car after crash


FITCHBURG, Mass. (AP) — An 8-year-old Massachusetts boy is being credited with helping saving his father after their car crashed through a guardrail and landed upside down on a sandbar in the middle of a river.

Authorities say Eugenio Garcia of Fitchburg was trapped in the vehicle in the Nashua River after the crash, which occurred at about 3 a.m. Thursday.

But his son, 8-year-old Joshua, wriggled out the wreckage, waded through the rushing water, scaled an embankment, then walked more than half a mile home to alert his
mother, who called 911.

Garcia was rescued at about 3:30 a.m., then treated for minor injuries and released from a hospital.

Fire officials say if the car had landed in the water, both father and son likely would have died.

The crash remains under investigation.


NEW YORK
Cops seek man who rappelled down  NY bridge


NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police are hunting for a daredevil who rappelled down the side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Police say witnesses reported a man climbing down the bridge around 9 a.m. Thursday on the mesh installed as part of ongoing construction. He couldn’t make it down from there and used some type of hose to descend the Brooklyn side and drop onto a building where he vanished.

Investigators swept the bridge and roadways and found no sign of the man and no sign of danger.

Police believe the man was pulling off a stunt and do not suspect terrorism. They are looking for the suspect.


PENNSYLVANIA
‘Dark Knight Returns’ No. 2 goes to auction


PHILADELPHIA (AP) — It is the comic book cover that captured the grim visage of an older, wiser — and meaner — Batman.

Now, the 1986 pen and ink creation — drawn by writer/artist Frank Miller — that is the cover to “The Dark Knight Returns” No. 2 will be sold next month in Dallas by Heritage Auctions.

It’s the first cover from DC Comics’ 1986 four-issue “Dark Knight” miniseries to be sold and is expected to go for more than $500,000.

Miller’s story “radically altered the direction of comics,” said Todd Hignite, Heritage’s vice president.

“For fans of modern comics, this drawing is where everything really begins,” he said. “This moment defines Miller’s Dark Knight, and the modern day perception of Batman, like no other drawing.”

The only cover Hignite says might come close is the next in the series — with Batman and Robin — that was auctioned two years ago for nearly $450,000.


OREGON
Plan would make tuition free at state colleges

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — On college campuses across the United States, the eternal optimism of youth has been throttled out by a fear of crushing student debt. That’s certainly the case in Oregon, where the cost of tuition has soared as public funding for higher education has declined.

But the state Legislature this week approved an idea that might ease the economic dread for future philosophy and art history majors. The concept — called Pay It Forward — calls for students to attend public universities tuition free and loan free. In exchange, students would have 3 percent deducted from their post-graduation paychecks for about a quarter-century. The money would go into a fund to pay for future students.

The bill, which passed unanimously and is expected to be signed this month by Gov. John Kitzhaber, directs the state’s Higher Education Coordination Commission to develop a Pay It Forward pilot project for consideration by the 2015 Legislature. One question that must be resolved is how to fund the program’s start-up costs, estimated at $9 billion, since the initial students who attend tuition-free would be years away from entering the labor force.


OHIO
Sewer collapse blamed for northwest Ohio sinkhole


TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A spokeswoman for a northwest Ohio city says the collapse of brick sewers beneath a road caused the sinkhole that swallowed a moving car.

The 60-year-old driver says she was running errands and headed to her home Wednesday in Toledo when the pavement gave way and her car fell into a hole estimated to be at least 10 feet deep. Pamela Knox tells The Blade newspaper she feared she would die as water from a broken pipe poured into the back seat of her car.

She was briefly trapped but climbed out using a ladder with help from a firefighter. She was shaken and checked at a hospital but wasn’t seriously hurt.

Knox, an elementary school principal, says she’ll likely avoid the scene of the sinkhole for a while.