LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“You were sometimes blamed for the misdeeds of a few. You came home and were sometimes denigrated when you should have been celebrated. It was a national shame, a disgrace that should have never happened.”
President Barack Obama, honoring Vietnam War veterans at a Memorial Day speech in Washington Article, 1A
Man takes over crane on campus
UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas - Police tried Monday to coax a man from a crane cab on the Southern Methodist University campus after he told officers he was armed and threatened to shoot anyone who approached him.
The crane towers about 150 feet over the campus in University Park, a posh north Dallas enclave.
Special tactics officers from the Dallas Police Department were working with SMU campus police to manage the scene and try to talk the man down from the crane.
No injuries had been reported.
Dallas police Sr. Cpl. Melinda Gutierrez said campus police “did call us about a person who had climbed up into the crane who was possibly armed with a handgun.
At this time, we are not confirming that he does have a handgun.”
The person on the crane had a radio, Gutierrez said, but she did not know if the person was communicating with police on the ground.
The situation was first reported about 11:30 a.m. Monday.
SMU spokesman Brad Cheves said the campus is closed for the Memorial Day holiday.
Ailing Georgia woman regains voice
AUGUSTA, Ga. - The father of a young Georgia woman battling a flesh-eating disease said his daughter has spoken for the first time since she was taken to an Augusta hospital weeks ago for treatment.
Andy Copeland said Monday that he was in church Sunday morning and missed his daughter Aimee’s first words. But his other daughter, Paige, told him Aimee said, “Hello. Whoa. Wow, my mind is blown.”
Writing on his Facebook page, Andy Copeland said: “Our baby can talk.”
Twenty-four-year-old Aimee Copeland developed necrotizing fasciitis after cutting her leg in a May 1 fall from a homemade zip line over a west Georgia river. Her left leg, other foot and both hands have been amputated.
She began breathing on her own last week.
Lighter winds assist N.M. fire crews
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Crews battling a wildfire in southwestern New Mexico's Gila National Forest began burnout operations Monday aimed at halting the blaze from creeping into two small towns.
After growing to more than 190 square miles and becoming one of the largest fires in New Mexico history, lighter winds helped firefighters start control measures along the mountainous forest lands.
Last week, strong winds forced crews to the sidelines as the fire rapidly spread in an isolated region of southwestern New Mexico, destroying a dozen homes and several in the community of Willow Creek, which remains under evacuation. No other communities were threatened.
On Sunday, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez authorized the deployment of 15 National Guard soldiers to help secure areas around the fire.
Meanwhile in Arizona, officials said a wildfire that had prompted the evacuation of the historic northern Arizona mining town of Crown King is 50 percent contained.
Homes hit heavily in Michigan blaze
NEWBERRY, Mich. - Homes and cabins make up a third of the nearly 100 structures destroyed by a wildfire burning across more than 30 square miles of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, officials said Monday.
The lost property includes Pike Lake Resort near Pike Lake in Luce County.
“I was still hoping that they would stop it,” owner Diane Ricketts said of the fire. “With my husband gone, I’m not going to rebuild. We’re just going to go on and take it day by day and see what’s going to happen.”
The Duck Lake Fire began with a lightning strike last week and burned more than 22,000 acres, or 34 square miles, but was 51 percent contained by Monday, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The department said 95 structures have been destroyed, including 34 homes or cabins. No injuries have been reported.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 05/29/2012