TRUMP CLEARS WAY FOR HELLER
VEGAS» President Donald LAS
Trump cleared a primary election path for one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans running for re-election this year by persuading U.S. Sen. Dean Heller’s Republican opponent to drop out of the race and instead run for a House seat.
Republican Danny Tarkanian of Las Vegas, who has frequently criticized Heller for failing to be a strong supporter of Trump’s agenda, announced Friday morning that at the president’s request, he decided to leave the Senate race against Heller. Instead, he filed to run Friday for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, an office he unsuccessfully sought in 2016.
Six soldiers injured in avalanche.
VT.» Six U.S. JERICHO, soldiers injured in an avalanche in a steep gully in Vermont during a training exercise were part of an advanced group conducting a safety appraisal of the slope and setting up a ropes course, Vermont National Guard officials said Friday.
Two soldiers remained hospitalized Friday in good and fair conditions while they recover from injuries suffered in the Wednesday avalanche. Guard officials would not describe the nature of the injuries or release their names.
Homeless family found dead in van.
GARDEN GROVE,
A homeless family of four was found dead inside a parked van that had its windows covered with blankets and a sunshade at a Southern California strip mall in what authorities suspect was a tragic case of carbon monoxide poisoning, police said Friday.
Garden Grove police Lt. Carl Whitney said a man, a woman and their two young children were found inside the white Honda van outside a CVS store late Thursday after a woman reported a foul odor coming from the vehicle.
“They were in pajamas and sleeping gear, and it looks like they were all asleep inside the van,” Whitney said.
Disbelieved couple awarded $2.5M.
CALIF.» A couple VALLEJO, reached a $2.5 million settlement with a northern California city and its police department after investigators dismissed the woman’s elaborate and bizarre kidnapping as a hoax.
Police in the city of Vallejo initially discounted a report by Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, that a masked intruder drugged them in their home and then kidnapped her in 2015.
The assailant sexually assaulted Huskins and released her two days later outside her family’s home in Southern California.
Police realized the couple were telling the truth after a disbarred Harvard Universitytrained attorney, Matthew Muller, was implicated in another crime and tied to the abduction. He pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and is serving a 40-year prison term.
Beaten man acquitted of assault.
CHARLOTTESVILLE,
VA.» A black man who was severely beaten the day of a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and then charged with misdemeanor assault in the same incident was found not guilty Friday.
A Charlottesville judge acquitted 20-year-old DeAndre Harris, saying it was clear Harris didn’t intend to harm the leader of a Southern nationalist group who made a complaint against him.
2 Israeli soldiers killed by vehicle.
A Palestinian killed two Israeli soldiers and badly wounded two others when he rammed his vehicle into them in the West Bank on Friday, the military said.
The Palestinian intentionally ran over soldiers on duty securing routes near the settlement of Mevo Dotan, close to the Palestinian city of Jenin, it said.