NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Virginia politics: A Tea Party group backed by billionaire conservatives plans to sit out the U.S. Senate race in Virginia. Americans for Prosperity has announced it won’t support hard-right Republican nominee Corey Stewart as he tries to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. The group is the main political operation funded by industrialists Charles and David Koch. President Trump has tweeted his support for Stewart. But the Senate GOP campaign committee also has said it won’t help him. Stewart has used attacks on immigrants to get attention and stand out among more conventional politicians.
2 Derailment: A freight train derailed and several train cars caught fire in southwestern Indiana, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes and businesses. The train derailed Sunday evening near a trailer park in Princeton, about 150 miles southwest of Indianapolis, the Gibson County Sheriff ’s Office said. No injuries were reported. An image posted on Twitter by state police showed the fire still burning Monday. Rail operator CSX said preliminary reports show a rail car leaked propane. The train had two locomotives, 89 loaded railcars and 9 empty railcars. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.
3 Singer slain: Troubled rapper-singer XXXTentacion was shot and killed Monday in Florida in what police called an apparent robbery attempt. Investigators don’t have a motive, and no arrests have been made. The 20-year-old rising star, whose real name was Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, was pronounced dead Monday evening at a Fort Lauderdale-area hospital, the Broward Sheriff ’s Office said. He was shot earlier outside a Deerfield Beach motorcycle dealership. The entertainer was a rising star and notched a No. 1 album in March with his sophomore effort “?’’
4 Deputy arrested: A deputy sheriff in Texas is accused of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl and threatening the child’s mother with deportation if she reported him. Jose Nunez, 47, was arrested Sunday on a warrant for aggravated sexual assault, pending formal charges, said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar. County jail and court records show Nunez is being held without bail. Salazar said the mother from Guatemala took her daughter to a fire station Saturday night when the child cried for help.
5 Ailing ex-governor: Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said Monday that he was diagnosed 3½ years ago with Parkinson’s, but said he believes that treatment has stopped the progression of the disease. Rendell, 74, made the announcement at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia as part of a public service message to urge people who suspect they have symptoms to get diagnosed and get treatment early. “It turns out I wasn’t indestructible, none of us are,” Rendell said. “But I can be helped. All of us can be.” Rendell, a Democrat, was Pennsylvania’s two-term governor from 2003 through 2010 after he served as mayor of Philadelphia.