Northeast picks up after deadly storms
NEW YORK — Residents in several Northeastern states cleaned up Wednesday, a day after powerful storms pounded the region with torrential rain and marble-size hail, leaving at least four people dead and more than 200,000 homes and businesses without power.
Connecticut officials said two people in New Fairfield and Danbury were killed Tuesday in separate accidents when trees fell on their trucks, including a woman whose 3-year-old child escaped injury. In New York, falling trees in Newburgh claimed the lives of an 11-year-old girl in a parked car and a woman who was driving.
Several lightning strikes led to structure fires in New Jersey and Massachusetts.
And weather officials confirmed two tornadoes in New York’s Putnam County, an EF2 with peak winds of 110 mph and an EF1 with peak winds of 100 mph, and a third tornado in Newburgh in Orange County, an EF0 with peak winds of 85 mph.
Officials confirmed two tornadoes in Connecticut.
New York’s Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. reported 78 mph wind gusts on Tuesday and about 1,000 lightning strikes per hour.
Roads in many towns were impassable, and some schools canceled classes on Wednesday because of the damage. Airlines also canceled or delayed flights in and out of the region.
15-week abortion bill sails in Louisiana
BATON ROUGE — A bill to ban abortions after 15 weeks is expected to become law in Louisiana.
The state Senate on Wednesday voted 24-1 to approve a proposal to bar abortions after 15 weeks. If signed into law, it would only take effect if a federal court upholds a similar ban in Mississippi.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. John Milkovich, a Democrat, would impose a prison sentence of up to two years for someone who performs the procedure after 15 weeks, though state law allows for a person who “commits the crime of abortion” to get up to a decade in prison. A woman couldn’t be criminally charged for having the procedure.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said Wednesday that he intends to sign the 15-week abortion ban.
Mississippi enacted a 15-week abortion ban in March. It was immediately challenged by the state’s only abortion clinic, and a federal judge put the law on hold. That state now faces what’s expected to be a protracted legal battle.
Lawmakers have asked Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to file a legal brief in federal court to support Mississippi’s law.
Mom sought in girl’s stabbing arrested
TULSA — A mother was arrested in downtown Tulsa, accused of stabbing her 11-year-old daughter 50 to 70 times, striking her head with a pickax and setting their home on fire, then fleeing the scene with the youngest of her three daughters, police said.
Taheerah Ahmad, 39, arrested Tuesday, was being held without bail Wednesday and faces charges that include arson, child abuse and assault and battery with the intent to kill.
Authorities accuse her of attacking her 11-year-old daughter Monday night and fleeing with her 8-year-old daughter. The younger daughter, who authorities initially said was 7, was found safe with her mother. The 11-year-old girl remained in critical condition.
The 11-year-old had dozens of stab wounds in her torso along with puncture wounds in her legs, neck, hands and face, according to a police report. The report said Ahmad wanted to burn down the residence to “further ensure that [the 11-year-old] was dead.”
According to an arrest report, Ahmad told investigators she was upset with her children “because of the way they were reading and looking at her.”
Suit over fetal-tissue videos to proceed
SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. appeals court has refused to dismiss a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood over videos that a group says show employees of the organization illegally selling parts of aborted fetuses.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s ruling that allowed racketeering and other claims by Planned Parenthood against the Center for Medical Progress to proceed.
Planned Parenthood says the center surreptitiously accessed its conferences to gain meetings with its staff and create deceptively edited and false videos that were posted online.
Planned Parenthood has denied wrongdoing in connection with its fetal-tissue practices.