Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Collins’ Alamo artifacts on display
Artifacts collected by Phil Collins went on display Tuesday at the Alamo after the legendary musician donated the items to the state of Texas.
The “Phil Collins Collection Preview” includes a brass cannon used by the Mexican Army during the Battle of the Alamo and the original battle orders that called for the attack on the Alamo.
Collins donated his collection of more than 200 artifacts to the Texas General Land Office in 2014.
“We are beyond excited to finally share some of the amazing artifacts Mr. Collins so generously donated,” said Kristi Miller Nichols, the Alamo’s director of archaeology, collections and historical research at the Alamo. “The public has been very interested in seeing the Collins Collection. It has been an honor to care for and preserve these artifacts over the years.”
T.I., Tiny deny allegations:
A lawyer for a number of women who allege rapper T.I. and wife Tiny drugged and sexually abused them is calling for investigations of the Atlanta couple in Georgia and California.
Attorney Tyrone A. Blackburn said in a release Sunday that he had been contacted by more than 30 “women, survivors and witnesses” who had allegations of “forced drugging, kidnapping, rape and intimidation” against the couple, whose real names are Clifford Harris and Tameka Harris.
On behalf of Sabrina Peterson, Blackburn filed a defamation case Monday in LA County Superior Court against Tiny, T.I. and hairstylist Shekinah Anderson, one of Tiny’s best friends. Peterson is the woman who first leveled accusations against T.I. via Instagram in January.
Attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement Monday on behalf of the Harrises that they “deny in the strongest possible terms these unsubstantiated and baseless allegations.”
On Monday, The New York Times published an article that included further details of accusations against the couple, who appeared for six seasons on the VH1 reality show “T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle.”
Reggae luminary Wailer dies:
Bunny Wailer, 73, a reggae luminary who was the last surviving member of the legendary group The Wailers, died on Tuesday in his native Jamaica, according to his manager. His cause of death was not immediately clear.
Wailer, a baritone singer whose birth name is Neville Livingston, formed The Wailers in 1963 with late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. They catapulted to international fame with the album, “Catch a Fire.” The Wailers and other Rasta musicians popularized Rastafarian culture starting in the ’70s.
Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, paid tribute to Wailer in a series of tweets. “This is a great loss for Jamaica and for Reggae, undoubtedly Bunny Wailer will always be remembered for his sterling contribution to the music industry and Jamaica’s culture,” he wrote.
March 3 birthdays:
Singer Mike Pender is 80. Director George Miller is 76. Actor Hattie Winston is 76. Singer Jennifer Warnes is 74. Actor Tim Kazurinsky is 71. Actor Robert Gossett is 67. Actor Miranda Richardson is 63. Actor Laura Harring is 57. Actor Julie Bowen is 51. Actor Jessica Biel is 39. Singer Camila Cabello is 24.
El CENTRO, Calif. — A semitruck on Tuesday crashed into an SUV carrying 25 people on a Southern California highway, killing 13 and leaving others injured, authorities said.
California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said 12 people died at the scene, which is about 11 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, and another died after arriving at the hospital. Hospital officials earlier reported there were 15 killed and more people in the SUV.
Highway Patrol said it’s not clear what caused the crash between the SUV and a tractor-trailer full of gravel on a highway through fields in the agricultural southeastern corner of California, about 100 miles east of San Diego.
It’s unclear if the SUV had stopped at a stop sign before crossing into the path of the semitruck around 6:15 a.m., Watson said. The truck struck the left side of the SUV, which appeared to have been pushed off the road.
“Obviously, that vehicle’s not meant for that many people,” Watson said. “It’s unfortunate that that many people were put into that vehicle because there’s not enough safety constraints to safely keep those people in that vehicle.”
He said numerous people were ejected. The SUV was a Ford Expedition that would typically seat eight or nine people legally.
Macario Mora, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection in Yuma and El Centro, said the Border Patrol was helping other law enforcement with the crash. He said the immigration status of those in the SUV was unknown and being investigated.
“It was an unusual number of people in an SUV, but we don’t know who they were,” Mora said, adding that they could have been farmworkers.
Bergdahl appeals: A former U.S. Army soldier who was court-martialed after he left his post in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban is asking a federal judge to overturn his military conviction, saying his trial was unduly influenced when former President Donald Trump repeatedly made disparaging comments about him and called for his execution.
Bowe Bergdahl filed the complaint in federal court in Washington, D.C., last month, asking a judge to overturn his court-martial conviction. Bergdahl says Trump’s statements and actions by the late U.S. Sen. John McCain and his military judge violated his Fifth Amendment right to a fair trial.
“The scandalous meddling in a specific case by leaders of the political branches — one of whom was Commander in Chief of the armed forces — would never be tolerated if the proceeding had been a criminal prosecution in this or any other federal district court and should not be tolerated in a court-martial,” Bergdahl’s attorneys wrote in the court filing.
Bergdahl was charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy after the then-23-year-old from Hailey, Idaho, left his post in Afghanistan in 2009. The soldier maintained he was trying to get outside his post so he could report what he saw as poor leadership within his unit, but he was abducted by the Taliban and held captive for nearly five years.
Other U.S. troops took part in a lengthy search for Bergdahl, and several sustained serious wounds during the search efforts. Bergdahl was ultimately returned as part of a prisoner swap negotiated by then-President Barack Obama in 2014.
Voting restrictions: The U.S. Supreme Court appeared ready Tuesday to uphold voting restrictions in Arizona in a key case that could make it harder to challenge a raft of other voting measures Republicans have proposed following last year’s elections.
All six conservative justices, appointed by Republican presidents, suggested they would throw out an appellate ruling that struck down the restrictions as racially discriminatory under the landmark Voting Rights Act. The three liberal members of the court, appointed by Democrats, were more sympathetic to the challengers.
Less clear is what standard the court might set for how to prove discrimination under the law.
The outcome could make it harder to use the Voting Rights Act to sue over legislation that creates obstacles to voting in the name of election security.
Congressman accused:
An independent ethics body says there is “substantial reason to believe” that Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo of Mississippi abused his office by misspending campaign funds, doing favors for his brother and enlisting staff for political and personal errands.
The allegations against the congressman were included in a 47-page report by the Office of Congressional Ethics that was made public Monday.
The House Committee on Ethics, which reviews reports from the OCE and decides whether to take action against lawmakers, is reviewing the matter.
A Palazzo spokeswoman, Colleen Kennedy, said the congressman “welcomes the opportunity to work through this process” and said the investigation stemmed from “false allegations made by a primary opponent.”
Media workers shot dead:
Three women who worked for a local radio and TV station in eastern Afghanistan were gunned down Tuesday in separate attacks, the news editor of the privately owned station said.
Shokrullah Pasoon, of Enikass Radio and TV in Jalalabad, said one of the women, Mursal Wahidi, was walking home when gunmen opened fire, according to witnesses.
The other two, whom Pasoon identified only as Shahnaz and Sadia, were shot and killed in a separate incident, also walking home from work.
Pope to visit Iraq: The Vatican is defending Pope Francis’ decision to go ahead with his trip to Iraq this weekend despite rising coronavirus infections there, saying Tuesday all health care precautions have been taken and that the trip is an “act of love for this land, for its people, and for its Christians.”
Francis is due to visit Iraq from Friday to Monday in his first foreign trip since the pandemic erupted last year. Planning for the trip went into high gear after infections fell, but cases have spiked in the past month and infectious disease experts say a papal trip to a country with a fragile health care system simply is not a good idea.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni noted that Iraq has a predominantly young population, that the current daily caseload was small compared with the overall population. He said all papal events would follow Iraqi health protocols that include limited participation, social distancing, mask mandates and other measures.