NEWS OF THE DAY
Backcountry bus: An abandoned bus in the Alaska backcountry near Healy, popularized by the book “Into the Wild” and movie of the same name, was removed Thursday for public safety, said Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige. The bus has long attracted adventurers to an area without cell phone service and marked by unpredictable weather and attimes swollen rivers. Some have had to be rescued or have died. Christopher McCandless, the subject of the book, died there in 1992. Feige said the bus will be kept in a secure location while her department weighs various options for what to do with it.
Homeless killings: A man was arrested Friday in connection with the killings of three homeless people in Atlanta, according to police. David Lee, 29, is suspected of fatally shooting the three between June 1 and June 15, according to a statement from police spokesman Steve Avery. A woman was found shot to death inside a tent near a downtown Atlanta intersection Monday morning. Three days earlier, the body of a man was found fatally shot under an Interstate 20 overpass, and another man was found shot to death June 1 under an overpass where he occasionally slept. Police identified the victims as Timothy Smith, Curtis Cockrell and Maxine McDonald.
Deadly crash: Six people were killed and one was seriously injured in a fiery headon crash on a northeastern Kansas highway, authorities said. The Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office said the crash happened Thursday evening when a Ford Fusion and another vehicle collided on U.S. 40 southwest of Lawrence. Both vehicles were on fire when deputies arrived. The Fusion was completely burned and six people inside died, sheriff ’s office spokeswoman Jenn Hethcoat said. The driver of the other vehicle was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Transgender rights: The Trump administration Friday moved forward with a rule that rolls back health care protections for transgender people, even as the Supreme Court this week barred sex discrimination against LGBT individuals on the job. The rule from the Department of Health and Human Services was published in the Federal Register with an effective date of Aug. 18. That will trigger a barrage of lawsuits. The Trump rule would overturn Obamaera sex discrimination protections for transgender people in health care. HHS rejects charges that it is opening the way for discrimination. But gay rights and women’s groups say their arguments against the health care rule have been strengthened by the Supreme Court.
Statue removed: Crews in Santa Fe, N.M., on Thursday removed a statue of a Spanish territorial governor from a city park, and two other markers are slated to come down as monuments to historical figures are dismantled across the country. The statue of Don Diego de Vargas was taken down ahead of a rally organized by indigenous advocates. They have long criticized some of the markers and other references to the Spanish conquistadors who settled the area and to U.S. government forces who later oppressed Native American tribes.
Chronicle News Services