Green Beret dies in Afghanistan combat
FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- A decorated Special Forces company sergeant major has died during combat in Afghanistan, U.S. military officials said Sunday.
James G. "Ryan" Sartor, 40, was killed Saturday during combat operations in Faryab province, according to Lt. Col. Loren Bymer, spokesman for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
Sartor was from Teague, Texas, and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group in Fort Carson, Colo.
He joined the Army in 2001 as an infantryman and had deployed numerous times to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a statement from Bymer. Sartor had received more than two dozen awards and decorations and will posthumously receive a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
"We're incredibly saddened to learn of Sgt. Maj. James 'Ryan' Sartor's passing in Afghanistan. Ryan was a beloved warrior who epitomized the quiet professional," Col. Brian R. Rauen, commander of the 10th Special Forces Group, said in a statement. "He led his Soldiers from the front and his presence will be terribly missed."
A statement from the Department of Defense said Sartor was injured by enemy small-arms fire.
737 Max further sidelined by U.S. airline
WASHINGTON -- American Airlines said Sunday that it will keep the Boeing 737 Max plane off its schedule until Nov. 3, which is two months longer than it had planned.
In a statement, American said the action will result in the cancellation of about 115 flights per day. It said it "remains confident" that the Boeing plane will be recertified this year. But some airline executives are growing doubtful about that timetable.
United Airlines announced Friday that it was extending its cancellations until Nov. 3, a month longer than it had planned.
United has 14 Max jets while American has 24 of them. Southwest Airlines, which has 34 Max jets -- more than any other carrier -- is canceling about 150 flights per day.
The plane was grounded in March following two deadly crashes.
The announcement Sunday marked the fifth time that American Airlines has pushed back the expected time that the Max would resume flying.
"American Airlines remains confident that impending software updates to the Boeing 737 Max, along with the new training elements Boeing is developing in coordination with our union partners, will lead to recertification of the aircraft this year," the airline said.
Patient died under dogpile, report says
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A patient at a state mental hospital in South Carolina died earlier this year after being at the bottom of a dogpile of several employees -- something specifically prohibited in their training.
Three of the 13 employees involved in the death of 35-year-old William Avant in January had not been through training on physically restraining patients, according to The State newspaper. His death hadn't been reported before Sunday.
The State Law Enforcement Division investigated Avant's death but did not press charges.
The newspaper reported that agents and the Department of Mental Health refused to release records. They cited patient privacy laws even though Avant died in the government's care.
Avant's family declined to talk to the newspaper through their attorney.
Avant had been under the Department of Mental Health's care for a dozen years. He had Klinefelter syndrome -- a rare chromosomal disorder linked with anxiety, depression, learning disabilities and behavioral problems, such as impulsivity, according to medical records obtained by the newspaper.
The incident that led to Avant's death started Jan. 22 with him repeatedly kicking a glass window. Employees were talking to Avant but then tackled him as he tried to push his way into a room where medicines were stored, according to video of the incident.
Police tie drunken driver to fatal crash
DURANT, Okla. -- Authorities say a drunken driver who was on probation for a previous DUI conviction forced another vehicle into oncoming traffic on an Oklahoma highway, causing a head-on collision that killed two people and injured four others.
The suspected road-rage attack happened about 5 p.m. Saturday west of Durant, which is about 120 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.
Authorities identified the driver as 52-year-old Ralph F. McEnnerney of Kingston.
Patrol spokeswoman Sarah Stewart said McEnnerney left the scene of the collision but was later arrested and booked into the Bryan County jail on two counts of second-degree murder, leaving the scene of a fatal collision and felony DUI.
Court records indicate that McEnnerney pleaded guilty in May to DUI, resisting an officer and other charges in Marshall County. He received a one-year suspended prison sentence and a $500 fine, and he was placed on unsupervised probation.
Stewart said McEnnerney was driving eastbound on U.S. 70 when he "for some reason" began to drive recklessly next to another vehicle. McEnnerney is accused of striking the passenger side of that vehicle, causing it to veer into oncoming traffic and to hit the other vehicle.
Authorities identified the two people who were killed as Randy Kinyon, 47, of Henderson, Texas, and Shelley Lynn Mayo, 46, of Caddo, Okla.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 07/15/2019