MAN GETS 30 DAYS IN JAIL FOR ATTACK ON SEN. RAND
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s neighbor was sentenced Friday to 30 days in prison for tackling the lawmaker while he was out doing yard work at his Kentucky home.
Paul, who suffered broken ribs, had hoped for a harsher penalty. He said in a statement that the 21 months in prison sought by prosecutors “would have been the appropriate punishment.”
Rene Boucher, 60, pleaded guilty in March to assaulting a member of Congress in the Nov. 3 attack. Boucher said he was triggered by Paul repeatedly stacking debris near their property line in Bowling Green and “lost his temper.”
Two injured when roller coaster derails.
FLA.» A roller ORLANDO, coaster that derailed in Florida had been put out of service by state inspectors twice in the past year and a half because of problems with the ride.
Two riders fell 34 feet when their car derailed Thursday night and was left dangling from the track. Firefighters used ladders to pull eight others to safety high above the Daytona Beach Boardwalk.
“The front car which was holding four passengers completely came off the tracks,” said Daytona Beach Fire spokeswoman Sasha Staton. The two riders who fell from the Sand Blaster ride suffered traumatic injuries, she said.
Fighting intensifies outside Yemen’s Hodeida airport.
» A Saudiled SANAA, YEMEN coalition and Yemeni fighters backing the country’s government were on the verge of seizing control of the airport of a vital rebelheld port as fighting intensified Friday, with pro-government forces within meters (yards) of the airport gates.
The death toll climbed to at least 280 on the third day of the campaign aimed at driving out the Iranianbacked Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, from the Red Sea port of Hodeida that is the main entry point for food and aid supplies in a country teetering on the brink of famine.
The Saudi-Emirati coalition bombed Houthi positions while rebels said in a statement that they fired a ballistic missile at progovernment forces, but gave no report of causalities.
NIH ends alcohol study, citing funding, credibility problems.
» The U.S. WASHINGTON government is shutting down a study that was supposed to show if a single drink a day could prevent heart attacks, saying ethical problems with how the research was planned and funded undermine its credibility.
The National Institutes of Health used money from the alcohol industry to help pay for a study that ultimately was expected to cost $100 million. It’s legal for NIH to use industry money in addition to taxpayer dollars for research, as long as certain rules are followed.
— Denver Post wire services