The Nation in Brief

This Monday photo provided by the Morton County sheriff’s office shows the wreckage of a twin-engine Bismarck Air Medical aircraft that crashed late Sunday, about 20 miles northwest of Bismarck, N.D., killing all three on board.
This Monday photo provided by the Morton County sheriff’s office shows the wreckage of a twin-engine Bismarck Air Medical aircraft that crashed late Sunday, about 20 miles northwest of Bismarck, N.D., killing all three on board.

Pilot, 2 crew die in air ambulance crash

BISMARCK, N.D. -- An air ambulance on its way to pick up a patient crashed shortly after taking off in North Dakota, killing all three people on board as military officials involved in the response said the plane may have broken up in midair.

The twin-engine Bismarck Air Medical airplane took off about 10:30 p.m. Sunday and crashed shortly after in a field about 20 miles northwest of Bismarck. Air traffic control officials lost contact with the plane about 11 p.m., county spokesman Maxine Herr said.

CHI St. Alexius Health and Bismarck Air Medical said in a joint statement that the pilot, a paramedic and a registered nurse had been heading to Williston to pick up a patient. The statement did not provide their names.

The Morton County sheriff's office, Civil Air Patrol and Air Force Rescue Coordination Center based at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida located the crash scene early Monday, Herr said.

An analysis by the Air Force team indicated the plane, a Cessna 441 turboprop, might have broken up at about 14,000 feet, and "that corresponded with what they found on the ground," said Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. Sean Johnson.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were investigating.

Perry PAC paid wife's travel expenses

Energy Secretary Rick Perry has used tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash left over from his days as Texas governor to pay for his wife, Anita, to accompany him on his official travels around the world.

Perry's political action committee has paid for Anita Perry's trips to Paris, Vienna, Rome, and Cape Town, according to financial disclosure forms posted online by the Texas Ethics Commission.

Anita Perry, a nurse by training, has engaged in official government activities while her husband took part in the Africa Oil Week conference in Cape Town in October 2017 and a ministerial meeting for the Group of Seven in Rome in April 2017, according to the filings.

In all, at least $60,000 in funds from the committee, Texans for Rick Perry, has been used to pay for Anita Perry's air travel, according to the San Antonio Express-News, which earlier reported on the financing.

Shaylyn Hynes, an Energy Department spokesman, said the agency follows all federal travel regulations and that all of Anita Perry's travels are reviewed and cleared by department ethics officials.

While using campaign funds to pay for the trips is legal under Texas law, one advocate called the practice unethical.

"The laws are little bit permissive down here," said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, an Austin-based group that tracks money in state politics. "We don't think it's appropriate."

Oklahoma pot agency pulls back data

TULSA -- The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority has removed the addresses of growers and processors from its online commercial license database after industry advocates expressed concern that the information would make them targets of crime.

The authority had published the addresses of dispensaries, growers and processors on its website Oct. 31 in response to multiple Open Records Act requests. Oklahomans for Health was one of the advocacy groups upset over the decision, because licensees hadn't previously been notified, the Tulsa World reported.

"Because of the value of the product, it makes them very accessible to theft and security risks," said Chip Paul, a board member of Oklahomans for Health.

Authority spokesman Melissa Miller said the license application indicates that applicants must be aware their information may be published online.

"It's really just a public record," she said. "We had numerous records requests for this information. It's not uncommon for us as an agency to release or publicize other licensees."

The address information can still be acquired through a public records request, Miller said.

Ex-beau blamed in Good Samaritan con

TRENTON, N.J. -- A woman charged with scamming GoFundMe donors out of more than $400,000 with a fake story about a homeless veteran was duped by her former boyfriend and genuinely thought she was helping the man, her attorney said Monday.

James Gerrow told ABC's Good Morning America that Mark D'Amico was "calling the shots" in the alleged scheme that resulted in criminal charges last week against his client, Katelyn McClure, as well as D'Amico and homeless Marine Johnny Bobbitt.

The criminal complaint alleges the three concocted a feel-good story about the couple reaching out to help Bobbitt after he gave McClure his last $20 when her car ran out of gas in Philadelphia last year. Then McClure and D'Amico allegedly spent all the money on luxury items and casino trips.

"People have to understand that this was an abusive relationship. Mr. D'Amico was the one behind this and he was the one calling all the shots," Gerrow said. "She didn't understand or appreciate that this may very well be a crime."

An attorney who was representing the couple last week declined to comment on Gerrow's allegations.

-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

photo

AP/Star Tribune/RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER

Police stand near the scene of a tent fire at “Tent City” on Monday in Minneapolis. Several tents caught fire at the homeless encampment.

A Section on 11/20/2018

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