Snow, ice move on after Midwest mess
A plane carrying 129 people skidded Saturday from a slick Chicago runway and a plow driver was killed when his truck rolled over outside Kansas City after a winter storm covered many parts of the Midwest in snow and ice.
No injuries were reported on the United Airlines flight at O'Hare International Airport as it arrived Saturday morning from Phoenix, Chicago Fire Department officials said. The storm that dumped 10 inches of snow on some areas in the Midwest prompted the cancellation of nearly 1,000 flights at Chicago's airports.
Stephen Windler, 25, a snowplow driver with Kansas' transportation department, died about 6 a.m. Saturday on U.S. 69, according to the Wichita Eagle. A police report said his truck "traveled to the right, traversing the shoulder and drove into the grass" before it rolled over. Windler was thrown from the vehicle, which landed on top of him.
The storm moved Saturday toward the Northeast and New England. It carried snow, ice and strong winds, followed by deep cold. The highest snowfall totals were expected in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, which could get up to 18 inches.
Video shows boys jeering Indian elder
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A diocese in Kentucky has apologized after videos surfaced showing students from a boys Catholic high school mocking American Indians outside the Lincoln Memorial after a rally in Washington.
The Indigenous Peoples March in Washington on Friday coincided with the March for Life, which drew thousands of anti-abortion protesters, including a group from Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills.
Videos circulating online show a boy staring at and standing extremely close to Nathan Phillips as the older man sings and beats a drum.
Other students, some wearing Covington clothing and many wearing red "Make America Great Again" hats and sweatshirts, surrounded them, laughing and jeering.
In a joint statement to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School apologized to Phillips. Officials said they are investigating and will take "appropriate action, up to and including expulsion."
"We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips," the statement read. "This behavior is opposed to the Church's teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person."
According to the Indian Country Today website, Phillips is an Omaha tribe elder and Vietnam veteran who holds an annual ceremony honoring American Indian veterans at Arlington National Cemetery.
Deserter in U.S. fears Venezuela torture
Relatives of a Venezuelan army officer who deserted because of his opposition to Nicolas Maduro's regime and is being detained at a U.S. immigration center say they fear he will be jailed and tortured if he's deported.
Lt. Argenis Gabriel Figueroa Rodriguez, 25, asked for a seven-day leave of absence in September, and then headed to Orlando, Fla., where his two sisters live.
When his plane landed in Texas he was questioned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He first said he was visiting but then admitted that he intended to ask for political asylum, said one of the sisters, Airam Figueroa.
He has been held in four immigration detention centers and is now at a facility in Texas. Two officials there tried to get him to sign a voluntary deportation order, but he refused.
"I am afraid he will be deported, and his life will be in danger because he deserted. I fear that if he's sent to Venezuela, he will be persecuted, arrested and tortured when he arrives," said Airam Figueroa, Rodriguez's sister.
The Maduro regime ordered Rodriguez's arrest Oct. 29, accusing him of desertion and treason, crimes punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Family says abused woman not in coma
PHOENIX -- A lawyer for the family of an incapacitated Arizona woman who gave birth in a long-term care facility said she is not in a coma as previously reported.
The Arizona Republic reported Friday that attorney John Micheaels said the 29-year-old woman has "significant intellectual disabilities" and does not speak but has some ability to move, responds to sounds and is able to make facial gestures.
Phoenix police have said the woman was the victim of a sexual assault and have disclosed little other information.
"The important thing here is that contrary to what's been reported, she is a person, albeit with significant intellectual disabilities. She has feelings and is capable of responding to people she is familiar with, especially family," Micheaels told the newspaper.
The woman gave birth to a boy on Dec. 29 as staff members at Hacienda HealthCare frantically called 911 for assistance, telling an operator that they had not known she was pregnant.
Police investigators have been collecting DNA samples from employees at the facility and any other men who could have had contact with the woman. State regulatory officials also are investigating.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 01/20/2019