5 missing in Alabama waters
DAUPHINISLAND, Ala. — Coast Guard crews searched for five people missing Sunday after recovering two bodies following a powerful weekend storm that capsized several sailboats competing in a regatta near Mobile Bay.
One body was discovered after Saturday’s storm and another Sunday morning. Authorities said crews used boats and planes to search the Alabama waters, including areas near Dauphin Island where anxious family members have gathered at a Coast Guard station awaiting updates.
More than 100 sailboats and as many as 200 people were participating in the 57th running of the Dauphin Island regatta in Mobile Bay when the storm hit Saturday.
Bush campaign trail
LASVEGAS—Former president George W. Bush plans to stay off the 2016 campaign trail as his younger brother prepares to mount a presidential bid, telling a group of Republican Jewish donors here that he does not want to fuel an anti-dynastic backlash.
At a closed-door dinner Saturday night before nearly 800 members of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the 43rd president noted that it could hurt former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush if he campaigned alongside another Bush who served in the White House.
The former president largely deflected questions about Hillary Rodham Clinton, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, except to say that she would be a formidable opponent for the eventual GOP nominee.
Colorado shooting trial
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Opening statements in the long-awaited James E. Holmes trial are scheduled to begin today, nearly three years after the 2012 massacre in a suburban Denver theater that killed 12 moviegoers and injured 70.
Mr. Holmes, 27, has been charged with 166 counts in the largest mass shooting on American soil.
A record 9,000 summonses were mailed out in an effort to build a jury of 24 — 12 jurors and 12 alternates — for the trial, which is expected to last until Labor Day and become a referendum on the death penalty and how society handles mental illness.
Jurors must decide whether Mr. Holmes is guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity. If he is found guilty, they must decide whether he will be put to death.
Safety flaws found
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Alaska commuter airline routinely failed to inform pilots of shifting weather conditions and other hazards leading up to a 2013 crash in western Alaska that killed four people, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday.
The Cessna 208B, a single-engine turboprop, had been heading from Bethel to Mountain Village in deteriorating winter weather and crashed about a mile southeast of St. Mary’s Airport in southwestern Alaska. The pilot and three passengers were killed, and six passengers survived with serious injuries.
Prior to the crash, Hageland Aviation Services Inc. had failed to follow its own risk assessment plan, and on the day the plane went down the flight coordinators on duty had not been trained properly in those