NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Helicopter crash: Three people died in the crash of a medical helicopter in northern Wisconsin, authorities said Friday. The crash involved an Ascension Wisconsin Spirit helicopter. All three were flight crew members. The helicopter was reported missing late Thursday. The wreckage was found near Hazelhurst, about 150 miles northwest of Green Bay. A witness who drove search crews to the scene said the chopper went down in a heavily wooded area with high ridges. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
2 School plot: A Vermont teenager accused of plotting a shooting attack against his former high school in Fair Haven was released Friday into the custody of his father. Jack Sawyer, 18, was released after posting $10,000 bail. The state’s defender general said he was being placed in a treatment facility. Sawyer was arrested the day after the Feb. 14 Parkland, Fla., shootings that killed 17 people after a friend reported him to authorities. He was charged in a plot prosecutors say was outlined in his diary. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal threatening and carrying a dangerous weapon.
3 Bush health: A family spokesman says former President George H.W. Bush will remain hospitalized through the weekend as he recovers from an infection that required his hospitalization a day after his wife’s funeral. Bush was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital last Sunday. Family spokesman Jim McGrath said Friday that the 93-year-old “is in excellent spirits.” Bush was hospitalized after attending the funeral of his wife, Barbara, who died on April 17.
4 Crime boss: Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, a notorious Philadelphia mob boss, on Friday pleaded guilty to an illegal gambling charge. Merlino entered the plea as part of deal allowing him to avoid a retrial in the New York City racketeering case. The government had accused Merlino of profiting from gambling and health insurance schemes. A trial ended with a hung jury in February. Merlino once controlled a Philadelphia crime family that was decimated by a bloody civil war in the 1980s and 1990s. He’s insisted he retired from the mob after serving a lengthy prison term. Sentencing is set for Sept. 13.
5 Chaplain fired: Speaker Paul Ryan fired the House chaplain over complaints that he didn’t do a very good job — not because of pressure over the Rev. Patrick Conroy’s political leanings, said Republicans leaving a caucus meeting Friday. Democrats and Conroy himself argue the GOP was riled by a prayer Conroy offered last fall, when he called for fairness in tax cuts. Conroy told the New York Times that Ryan warned him to “stay out of politics.”
6 Trump case: A Los Angeles federal judge on Friday delayed a lawsuit by porn actress Stormy Daniels against President Trump and his personal attorney. U.S. District Judge S. James Otero also set a hearing for July 27. Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, asked to delay the matter after FBI agents raided his home and office earlier this month. The FBI was seeking records about a nondisclosure agreement Daniels signed before the 2016 presidential election. Cohen argues his right against self-incrimination may be jeopardized if the proceedings weren’t delayed.