NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
Deadly fire: A mother and four children were killed early Saturday when flames swept through their home in the small Massachusetts town of Warwick, officials said. Two other members of the family escaped the fire, which broke out around 12:45 a.m. The names of the victims were not immediately released. Fire chief Ron Gates said the house was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. A preliminary review indicated the fire may have started in a wood stove in the kitchen. The town has no fire hydrants, and firefighters had to draw water about a half mile from the scene.
Airport guns: U.S. airports have been breaking records for the number of passengers in the past few years. Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration has been breaking records for the number of guns that security officers find on passengers and in their carry-on luggage. Last year, TSA agents seized 3,391 guns, a 28 percent increase from 2015. On Feb. 23, agents at various airports found 21 guns in a single day, breaking the previous one-day high of 18 firearms found on June 4, 2014. TSA officials won’t speculate about whether the record-setting pace of firearm seizures is the result of more passengers traveling by air, improved screening methods or both.
Terror arrest: A man from Commack, N.Y., repeatedly traveled to the Middle East to try to join the Islamic State or another extremist group in Syria and later told authorities he’d been prepared to strap on a bomb to sacrifice himself for jihad, prosecutors said Saturday. Elvis Redzepagic, 26, a U.S. citizen, was being held without bail after appearing in a Brooklyn federal court Saturday. He’s charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Recovering governor: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to return to the governor’s residence Sunday after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Spokesman Linden Zakula said Saturday that the governor’s surgery was a success and doctors found no sign that the cancer had spread beyond the prostate. The 70-yearold Democratic governor had surgery Thursday.
Tortoise protection: Federal authorities have approved a plan to move nearly 1,500 desert tortoises from a Southern California Marine base. The Navy and the Bureau of Land Management have signed off on the proposal. The Marine Corps wants to remove the tortoises from about 88,000 acres of land at the Twentynine Palms base in San Bernardino County so it can use the area for training. Exercises with tanks and live ammunition are scheduled to begin in August. The removal could begin at the end of this month or in April after the reptiles emerge from their underground winter hibernation. The tortoises will be flown by helicopter to federal land near Barstow. Critics say the move will devastate the threatened species.