NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Bus crash: A church van being chased by police crashed into a New Jersey Transit commuter bus on Friday, injuring at least 10 people, authorities said. Two suspects in the van were pursued following several robberies in Newark. They were taken into custody. The NJ Transit bus was headed to Newark Penn Station when it was struck early Friday. Police said the driver and nine passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
2 Heat wave: The National Weather Service posted heat advisories and warnings Friday from Texas eastward to parts of Alabama. Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi and west Tennessee were all under heat advisories or warnings. Forecasters said scorching temperatures would combine with high humidity, posing a health risk. They warned that children, older people, those without air conditioning and outdoor workers were particularly at risk.
3 Hawaii shootout: A man suspected of fatally shooting a Hawaii police officer was killed during a shootout with officers Friday after a three-day search across the Big Island, authorities said. Justin Waiki was killed and an officer was injured in the shootout and hospitalized, Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe said. Police spokesman Alan Richmond said a woman who was with Waiki was also shot and wounded.
4 Phony bomb threat: An Ohio man who called in a bomb threat to an airport so he wouldn’t miss his flight has been sentenced to four months in prison. Dana Carter, 40, of Dayton, was sentenced Thursday for his calls to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in October. Court records show he made a series of calls saying there was a bomb on a flight bound for Dallas. The flight ended up being canceled due to the threat, and Carter was placed on another flight that left less than two hours later. Carter was ordered to pay about $7,700 in restitution to United Airlines.
5 GOP convention: The Republican Party will host its 2020 presidential nominating convention in Charlotte, N.C. The Republican National Committee finalized its choice on Friday, picking an East Coast swing state over Las Vegas, the only other finalist. The pick ensures that tens of thousands of political activists, protesters and journalists will crowd into Charlotte in the summer of 2020. The same city hosted the Democratic national convention in 2012.
6 Algae blooms: The California Department of Water Resources is urging people to avoid contact with the water at San Luis Reservoir in Merced County due to a bloom of cyanobacteria, commonly called bluegreen algae. The department announced the bloom has been elevated from “caution” to a “warning” level, which means water-contact recreation is not considered safe. Boating continues to be allowed. In northern Los Angeles County, an algal bloom at popular Pyramid Lake was raised to the “danger” level a week ago. Beaches were closed and people were urged to avoid eating fish from the lake.
Chronicle News Services