California
Suspects sought in Smart vehicle flipping incidents
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Authorities in San Francisco on Tuesday were looking for suspects who flipped four Smart cars.
The small two-seat cars were flipped on their sides or roofs in an apparent vandalism spree Monday in two San Francisco neighborhoods.
Police said they didn’t know whether the incidents were a prank or another episode in escalating tensions among some residents who blame the tech industry for rising rents and cost of living.
“It’s hard to determine a motive without any suspects identified or in custody,” said Officer Gordon Shyy, a police spokesman who said the culprits would face felony vandalism charges.
The first car was found flipped on its roof around 1 a.m., and a second was spotted on its side a couple of blocks away about 10 minutes later in the city’s Bernal Heights neighborhood, said Shyy.
Police then discovered a third Smart car flipped on its trunk around 1:30 a.m. in the Portola neighborhood. A fourth car was found flipped on its side shortly after 9 a.m., also in Bernal Heights.
The lightweight cars all had shattered windows and some body damage, Shyy said, adding that police were looking for multiple people wearing black hooded sweatshirts who were in the area at the time of the destruction.
Washington
Death toll in slide disaster now set at 33
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — The death toll from the landslide that hit the Washington town of Oso rose to 33 on Monday, according to the Snohomish County medical examiner’s office, which said all but three have been identified.
The latest name added to the list is Billy L. Spillers, 30, of Arlington. Like the others, he died of multiple blunt force injuries in the March 22 slide that crushed the residential area along the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River about 55 miles northeast of Seattle.
His name had been on the list of missing.
The number of missing on Monday was 12, said Shari Ireton, spokeswoman for the Snohomish County sheriff’s office.
However, that figure does not necessarily correlate with the number of dead, said Kelly Stowe, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office. The missing list remains fluid as names are added and removed.
So far, more than 220 people have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, seeking individual assistance, FEMA spokesman David Mace said Monday as he announced the opening of three disaster recovery centers for slide victims.
As the search continues in the debris for bodies, the Army Corps of Engineers is working on a berm — a big rock and gravel barrier. That will enable crews to pump water over the berm and drain an area where search teams want to work, said Steve Thomsen, county public works director. Engineers hope to finish the berm in a week.
New York
Police: Teen set mattress fire out of boredom
NEW YORK (AP) — Police say a New York City teenager told detectives that boredom led him to set fire to a mattress in the hallway of his apartment building, which critically injured two officers.
Sixteen-year-old Marcell Dockery of Brooklyn was arrested Monday on charges of assault, arson and reckless endangerment. He was awaiting arraignment Tuesday. His lawyer’s name wasn’t immediately available.
The officers were responding to the fire Sunday afternoon when they were overcome by carbon monoxide and smoke. They were found unconscious in a 13th floor hallway.
Thirty-six-year-old Rosa Rodriguez remains in critical condition in Manhattan’s Weill Cornell Medical Center, and 38-year-old Dennis Guerra is in critical condition at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
Police say Dockery told detectives he tried to put out the fire and warn residents as the flames spread.
Washington
FDA: Honeys with sweeteners in them not honey
The Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to ensure that shoppers who buy honey are getting the real deal.
New guidance issued Tuesday would prevent food companies from adding sugar or other sweeteners to pure honey and still calling it “honey.”
The agency said enforcement action is possible against U.S. food businesses or importers if companies try to cut those sweeteners into real honey and do not label the product correctly. If those sweeteners are added, the label should read “blend of sugar and honey” or “blend of honey and corn syrup.”
The FDA regularly detains honey imports and tests them after finding drug residues and unlabeled added sweeteners.
Texas
Woman gripes to police about marijuana quality
LUFKIN, Texas (AP) — Police in East Texas have arrested a woman after she called them to complain about the quality of the marijuana she had purchased from a dealer.
Lufkin police Sgt. David Casper said Monday that an officer went to the home of 37-year-old Evelyn Hamilton to hear her complaint that the dealer refused to return her money after she objected that the drug was substandard.
Casper says she pulled the small amount of marijuana from her bra when the officer asked if she still had it.
She was arrested Friday on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Hamilton said Monday that she spent $40 on “seeds and residue.” She says she called police when she got no satisfaction from the dealer’s family.
Washington
Obama, VFW talk about Fort Hood, mental health
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama and the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars have discussed the shootings at Fort Hood and the challenges posed by veterans with emotional problems and post-traumatic stress.
Obama and VFW commander William A. Thien met at the White House on Monday. Topics included health care for veterans and the effect of budget cuts on the Veterans Affairs Department.
The White House said both men addressed mental health and suicide prevention for active soldiers and veterans.
Thien, in a statement, said the issue is, quote, “a national problem with no blanket solution.”
Officials said Spc. Ivan Lopez killed three people before killing himself at Fort Hood. Lopez was undergoing treatment for depression and anxiety while being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder.
