NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
➊ Drone crash: A man was arrested for allegedly operating a drone that crashed into a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter and forced an emergency landing, the U. S. attorney’s office said. The complaint against Andrew Rene Hernandez, 22, states the helicopter was approaching a burglary scene Sept. 18 when the pilot saw the drone and tried to evade it. The helicopter’s nose, antenna and bottom cowlings were damaged. The complaint states that if the drone had struck the main rotor it could have brought down the helicopter. The drone’s camera and memory card led to identification of Hernandez, authorities said.
➋ Planned Parenthood: The federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled Monday that Texas and Louisiana can cut off funding to Planned Parenthood clinics, reversing earlier decisions stemming from legal battles over abortion. Opponents of legal abortion have long sought to deny federal Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood because some affiliated clinics perform abortions. Advocates for women’s health have argued the move also would deny needy women vital nonabortion health services. The decision by the full 5th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier ruling by a threejudge appellate panel that blocked Texas from enforcing its ban. It also reversed a ruling blocking Louisiana from banning Planned Parenthood funding.
➌ Deadly shooting: A young woman has died and six other people were wounded in a shooting at an apartment building in Brooklyn that followed an earlier shooting near a Sweet 16 birthday party, police said. The first shooting happened Sunday night and left a 17yearold boy wounded in the leg. The second shooting took place hours later and police say it may have been in retaliation for the first shooting. A 20yearold woman was killed. No arrests were immediately reported.
➍ Missing trawler: The Coast Guard searched for the fourmember crew of a Maine fishing boat that sank off Massachusetts early Monday. The 82foot Emmy Rose went down about 20 miles northeast of Provincetown, Mass. The Coast Guard received an emergency alert around 1: 30 a. m., said Petty Officer Ryan Noel. The crew did not issue a distress call, he said, and the Coast Guard was alerted when the vessel’s emergency beacon made contact with the water and sent out its signal. The Emmy Rose is based in Portland. The vessel owner reported there were four people aboard, and the vessel’s satellite phone went unanswered. The first Coast Guard crews on the scene discovered debris and an empty life raft.
➎ Panda cub: More than three months after his birth, the National Zoo’s new panda cub finally has a name. Officials at the Smithsonian, which runs the zoo, announced Monday that the cub born on August 21 would be named Xiao Qi Ji, which is Mandarin Chinese for “little miracle.” The choice was the result of a an online poll that drew nearly 135,000 votes for several Mandarin Chinese names. In a nod to Chinese tradition, the name was not chosen until 100 days after the birth. Panda fans can view the cub with the zoo’s popular online pandacam.