Funerals begin for victims of mass shootings

Funerals were held Saturday for some of the victims of mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas.

Several funerals were set for victims in the attack in Dayton that killed nine people and left more than 30 injured. Burial services for 38year-old Saeed Saleh were held Saturday morning in Dayton, according to the Dayton Daily News. Mr. Saleh, who was originally from Eritrea and recently immigrated to the U.S., was remembered as a “humble and quiet person” by a spokesman for the family.

In El Paso, a requiem Mass was offered for 15-yearold Javier Amir Rodriguez. The high school sophomore was an avid soccer player and was remembered as a fun-loving teen during a Monday vigil at Horizon High School football stadium in El Paso. He was at the Walmart with his uncle when he was killed.

Burial was also scheduled for Jordan Anchondo, who died shielding her infant son from gunfire. Her 2-monthold son was treated for broken bones, but was orphaned after Jordan and her husband, Andre, were killed.

Investigators say a shooter opened fire in a Walmart store last Saturday, targeting Mexicans. The gunman killed 22 and injured about two dozen people. Less than 24 hours later, another shooter killed nine and injured at least 30 people in a popular Dayton nightlife area.

Research scuttled

HONOLULU— Asteroids, including those that might slam into Earth. Clouds of gas and dust on the verge of forming stars. Planets orbiting stars other than our own.

This is some of the research astronomers say they missed out on as a protest blocked the road to Hawaii’s tallest mountain, one of the world’s premier sites for studying the skies.

Astronomers said they will attempt to resume observations, but they have already lost four weeks of viewing — and in some cases, they won’t be able to make up the missed research. Protesters, meanwhile, say they should not be blamed for the shutdown.

Astronomers across 11 observatories on Mauna Kea canceled more than 2,000 hours of telescope viewing, work they estimate would have led to the publication of about 450 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

“Any one of them could have been spectacular, could have been Nobel Prize-winning science. We just now will never know,” said Jessica Dempsey, deputy director of the East Asian Observatory, which operates one of Mauna Kea’s telescopes.

Straight Pride rally

MODESTO, Calif. — A Northern California city denied a request to hold a socalled Straight Pride rally at a park.

Modesto city officials denied an application by the National Straight Pride Coalition for an Aug. 24 event at Graceada Park.

Organizer Don Grundmann had estimated 500 people would attend. The group says it supports heterosexuality, Christianity and white contributions to Western civilization.

Opponents argued the rally would promote hatred of LGBTQ people and minorities.

City spokesman Thomas Reeves says the permit request was denied over safety concerns, because the group lost its liability insurance and the parks department determined the event wasn’t consistent with park use.

However, Mr. Reeves says the city would allow the rally at a downtown plaza if the group proves it has insurance by Tuesday.