LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I spent quite a bit of time poking around
in here this morning, just looking at the engineering and the layout, and I’m very pleased.”
Donald Pettit,
NASA astronaut, from inside the docked Dragon capsule Article, 5ATributes mark site of boy’s 1979 death
NEW YORK - Well-wishers left flowers, candles and dolls outside the New York City building where police say 6-year-old Etan Patz was strangled in 1979.
The boy’s disappearance from his Manhattan neighborhood was a mystery for 33 years, until a confession last week by a New Jersey man who claimed to have lured the boy into the basement of a convenience store and killed him as he waited for his school bus.
Pedro Hernandez was arraigned on a murder charge Friday. His lawyer said Hernandez, who was 18 when Etan vanished, is schizophrenic and has a history of hallucinations.
Hernandez’s sister, Lucy Suarez, said her brother long ago told relatives he had hurt a child, but he was never specific about what happened.
Another sister, Norma Hernandez, said she learned at some point that her brother had confessed to a church prayer group in the 1980s that he had killed a boy.
Office gunman found to have 3 wounds
VALPARAISO, Ind. - A Texas man who took captives in a northwest Indiana realty office and held police at bay for several hours suffered three gunshot wounds before dying, likely from two different weapons, a coroner said Saturday.
Roy Ferguson, 48, of Fulshear, Texas, died at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said. That was two hours after the end of the nearly seven-hour standoff at Prudential Executive Group Real Estate office in Valparaiso, about 40 miles southeast of Chicago.
“The likelihood of all three gunshot wounds coming from the same weapon is not good,” Harris said. He said that wouldn’t be confirmed until an autopsy is performed. It had not yet been scheduled because of Memorial Day weekend.
Valparaiso Police Chief Michael Brickner said Friday night that officers believed Ferguson shot himself twice in the head before SWAT members broke windows and stormed inside less than two hours after the last two captives had been released unharmed.
Valparaiso Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Grennes said Saturday that Ferguson had only one firearm - a handgun.
Asked Saturday whether police had shot Ferguson, Grennes said: “It’s under investigation.”Storms expected to drench coastline
SAVANNAH, Ga. - A cluster of thunderstorms stalled off the U.S. coast Saturday was expected to make for a sloppy, rainy Memorial Day on beaches and in tourist towns from Florida to South Carolina.
Tropical-storm warnings were in effect for the entire Georgia coastline, as well as parts of Florida and South Carolina.
Beryl was still considered a “subtropical storm” Saturday afternoon, but tropical-storm conditions - meaning maximum sustained winds of 45 mph - were expected to reach the coast as early as Saturday night. Some coastal flooding and high tides were forecast.
Late Saturday afternoon, Beryl was centered about 220 miles east-southeast of Charleston, S.C. It was moving southwest at 6 mph.
Wisconsin ballot photos draw warning
MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin elections officials were reminding voters over the weekend that posting photos of completed ballots on Facebook or Twitter is illegal after high-ranking members of both political parties did just that.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate and St. Croix County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Garza said Friday that they’re removing photographs of their absentee ballots after finding out the postings violated state law.
The law bars voters from showing their completed ballots to anyone. The intent is to prevent people from selling their votes and then showing their ballots as proof they voted as requested.
The violation is a Class I felony, punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. But state elections officials said they aren’t aware of anyone ever being prosecuted for posting such photos online.
Voters are casting ballots ahead of Wisconsin’s recall elections targeting Republican Gov. Scott Walker and several other elected Republicans.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 05/27/2012