9 killed in tour bus crash along Oregon highway

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — A tour bus careened through a guardrail along an icy Oregon highway and 100 feet down a steep embankment Sunday, killing nine people and injuring more than 20 others, authorities said.

The charter bus carrying about 40 people lost control around 10:30 a.m. on snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84 in a rural area of eastern Oregon, according to the Oregon State Police. The bus crashed near the start of a 7-mile section of road that winds down a hill.

The bus came to rest at the bottom of a snowy slope and landed upright, with little or no debris visible around the crash site.

More than a dozen rescue workers descended the hill and used ropes to help retrieve people from the wreckage in freezing weather. The bus driver was among the survivors, but had not yet spoken to police because of the severity of the injuries the driver had suffered.

Lt. Gregg Hastings said the bus crashed along the west end of the Blue Mountains, and west of an area called Deadman Pass. The area is so dangerous the state transportation department published specific warnings for truck drivers, advising it had "some of the most changeable and severe weather conditions in the Northwest" and can lead to slick conditions and poor visibility.

St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton treated 26 people from the accident, said hospital spokesman Larry Blanc. Five of those treated at St. Anthony were transported to other facilities.

The East Oregonian said it spoke with two South Korean passengers, ages 16 and 17. Both said through a translator that they were seated near the rear of the bus when it swerved a few times, hit the guardrail and flipped. They described breaking glass and seeing passengers pinned by their seats as the bus slid down the hill. Both said that they feared for their lives.
The paper said that the teens, one of whom injured a knee and the other suffered a broken collarbone, were staying at a hotel arranged by the Red Cross.
I-84 is a major east-west highway through Oregon that follows the Columbia River Gorge.
Umatilla County Emergency Manager Jack Remillard said the bus was owned by Mi Joo travel in Vancouver, B.C., and state police said the bus was en route from Las Vegas to Vancouver.
A woman who answered the phone at a listing for the company confirmed with The Associated Press that it owned the bus and said it was on a tour of the Western U.S. She declined to give her name.
A bus safety website run by the U.S. Department of Transportation said Mi Joo Tour & Travel has six buses, none of which have been involved in any accidents in at least the past two years.
The bus crash was the second fatal accident on the same highway in Oregon on Sunday. A 69-year-old man died in a rollover accident about 30 miles west of the area where the bus crashed.
A spokesman for the American Bus Association said buses carry more than 700 million passengers a year in the United States.
"The industry as a whole is a very safe industry," said Dan Ronan of the Washington, D.C.,-based group. "There are only a handful of accidents every year. Comparatively speaking, we're the safest form of surface transportation."

The bus crash comes more than two months after another chartered tour bus in October veered off a highway in northern Arizona, killing the driver and injuring dozens of passengers who were mostly tourists from Asia and Europe. Authorities say the driver likely had a medical episode.

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Woman charged with murder in NY subway shove death

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway platform into the path of a train because she has hated Muslims since Sept. 11 and thought he was one was charged Saturday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said.

Erika Menendez was charged in the death of Sunando Sen, who was crushed by a 7 train in Queens on Thursday night, the second time this month a commuter has died in such a nightmarish fashion.

Menendez, 31, was awaiting arraignment on the charge Saturday evening, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. She could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted. She was in custody and couldn't be reached for comment, and it was unclear if she had an attorney.

Menendez, who was arrested after a tip by a passer-by who saw her on a street and thought she looked like the woman in a surveillance video released by police, admitted shoving Sen, who was pushed from behind, authorities said.

"I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I've been beating them up," Menendez told police, according to the district attorney's office.

Sen was from India, but police said it was unclear if he was Muslim, Hindu or of some other faith. The 46-year-old lived in Queens and ran a printing shop. He was shoved from an elevated platform on the 7 train line, which connects Manhattan and Queens. Witnesses said a muttering woman rose from her seat on a platform bench and pushed him on the tracks as a train entered the station and then ran off.

The two had never met before, authorities said, and witnesses told police they hadn't interacted on the platform.

Police released a sketch and security camera video showing a woman running from the station where Sen was killed.
Menendez was arrested by police earlier Saturday after a passer-by on a Brooklyn street spotted her and called 911. Police responded, confirmed her identity and took her into custody, where she made statements implicating herself in the crime, police spokesman Paul Browne said.

The district attorney said such hateful remarks about Muslims and Hindus could not be tolerated.

"The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter's worst nightmare," he said.
On Dec. 3, another man was pushed to his death in a Times Square subway station. A photo of the man clinging to the edge of the platform a split second before he was struck by a train was published on the front page of the New York Post, causing an uproar about whether the photographer, who was catching a train, or anyone else should have tried to help him.
A homeless man was arrested and charged with murder in that case. He claimed he acted in self-defense and is awaiting trial.

It's unclear whether anyone tried — or could have tried — to help Sen on Thursday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday urged residents to keep Sen's death in perspective as he touted new historic lows in the city's annual homicide and shooting totals.
"It's a very tragic case, but what we want to focus on today is the overall safety in New York," Bloomberg told reporters following a police academy graduation.

But commuters still expressed concern over subway safety and shock about the arrest of Menendez on a hate crime charge.

"For someone to do something like that ... that's not the way we are made," said David Green, who was waiting for a train in Manhattan. "She needs help."
Green said he caught himself leaning over the subway platform's edge and realized maybe he shouldn't do that.
"It does make you more conscious," he said of the deaths.

Such subway deaths are rare, but other high-profile cases include the 1999 fatal shoving of aspiring screenwriter Kendra Webdale by a former psychiatric patient. That case led to a state law allowing for more supervision of mentally ill people living outside institutions.

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gangnam style The death of real music

Please watch this video one more time and tell me why it´s so great. Remember long ago when other countries looked up to America,partly because of it´s high standard for music,acting,arts,and just taking pride in everything we do? I get having fun,but if people don´t start to realize what a mockery this garbage is and start hitting the rewind button on not all but some of the ways things used to be,it will only get worse.

Really? Is the future honestly going to be one big Stephen King movie? A bunch of clowns walking around claiming self expression. Is there something wrong with just singing? Does it all have to be a huge gimmick?

Everyone has the right to be who they want and that´s great for them,but at what point do when call them out and say,stop acting like some rebel wanting to fight the powers that be while sitting in you multimillion dollar Hollywood Mansions.

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When the president met Spider-Man

President Barack Obama gets photographed, well, a lot. So it's a good thing he knows how to have some fun in front of the camera.

In a recently released photo that quickly went viral, the leader of the free world (and recent Time magazine Person of the Year) stands in the White House, pretending to be nabbed by a pint-sized Spider-Man. The photo, which was shared on Obama's Facebook page, quickly racked up over half a million "likes." The young web-slinger is believed to be the son of a White House staff member. It's unknown when photographer Pete Souza snapped the shot, but we're guessing it was sometime around Halloween.

We put together a slideshow featuring some more of Obama's humorous poses. From messing with Trip Director Marvin Nicholson as he weighs himself to doing his best "not impressed" impression alongside Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney to dealing with the aftermath of spilled yogurt, the photos show Obama as a guy who isn't afraid to look a little silly.

And whether you voted for him or not, you have to admit the picture of the president stacking LEGOs with a little girl is pretty awesome.

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Obama set January deadline for gun proposals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Spurred by a horrific elementary school shooting, President Barack Obama tasked his administration Wednesday with creating concrete proposals to reduce gun violence that has plagued the country.

"This time, the words need to lead to action," said Obama, who set a January deadline for the recommendations. He vowed to push for their implementation without delay.

The president, who exerted little political capital on gun control during his first term, also pressed Congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. He also called for stricter background checks for people who seek to purchase weapons and limited high capacity clips.

"The fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing," Obama said. "The fact that we can't prevent every act of violence doesn't mean we can't steadily reduce the violence."

Obama's announcement Wednesday underscores the urgency the White House sees in formulating a response to the shooting in Newtown, Conn. Twenty children and six adults were killed when a man carrying a military-style rifle stormed an elementary school.

The massacre has prompted several congressional gun rights supporters to consider new legislation to control firearms, and there is some concern that their willingness to engage could fade as the shock and sorrow over the Newtown shooting eases.

Obama said Wednesday it was "encouraging" to see people of different backgrounds and political affiliations coming to an understanding that the country has an obligation to prevent such violence.

Appealing to gun owners, Obama said he believes in the Second Amendment and the country's strong tradition of gun ownership. And he said "the vast majority of gun owners in America are responsible."

The president tasked Vice President Joe Biden with leading the administration-wide effort to create new gun control policies. Obama also wants his team to consider ways to improve mental health resources and address ways to create a culture that doesn't promote violence.

The departments of Justice, Education, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security will all be part of the process.

Biden's prominent role in the process could be an asset for the White House in getting gun legislation through Congress. The vice president spent decades in the Senate and has been called on by Obama before to use his long-standing relationships with lawmakers to build support for White House measures.

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Dancing Cop Tony Lepore Directs Traffic, Gets His Groove On

Officer Tony Lepore is a holiday tradition in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. The police veteran comes out of retirement every year for one reason and one reason only: To direct traffic. While dancing.

"He is a Rhode Island landmark, more or less. He's an icon, he's like a little mini celebrity," Michelle Peterson, an emergency medical technician who lives in Warwick, Rhode Island, told The Associated Press. "It feels good to see him out here; it definitely brings the holiday spirit." Karen DeAngelis, of Pawtucket, who got off the bus she was riding to see Lepore perform, says she would make the trip to Providence every year to see him if she could. "I'm not able to, and I just so happened to be here today. He's that good and he's that entertaining, and he really cheers people up." We have to admit, we'd risk a jaywalking ticket to get a closer look. 

 

 

 

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Thieves Steal $2M Worth of Wii Consoles

Police in SeaTac, Wash., are asking for help in tracking down thieves who they said stole $2 million worth of Nintendo Wii gaming consoles.

The thieves managed to get away with 7,000 portable Wii gaming consoles after raiding a warehouse at SeaTac's Seattle Air Cargo.

"I've been a cop for 28 years, and I've never seen anything like this," said Sgt. Cindy West. "This has come straight out of the movies."

West explains the thieves drove two large diesel trucks into a Nintendo distribution site inside Seattle Air Cargo on Saturday evening around 9 o'clock. The thieves worked together to snatch up thousands of consoles by operating forklifts within the warehouse. Afterward, they loaded the Wiis into two 53-foot semi-truck trailers waiting outside the center along with another large box-truck van.

By noon on Sunday, employees inside the business noticed empty Nintendo pallets on the warehouse floor and missing trucks.

Police have no information on the thieves and say it's unclear just how many were inside the warehouse during the time of the heist.

"If we don't get any tips ahead of time, it will be the selling of these consoles that will lead to their capture," said West. "It's gonna be pretty hard to hide 7,000 Wii game consoles."

Nintendo Wii gaming consoles retail for about $300. Check out our Wii U review here.

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