Nation and world news in brief for October 22
Man accused of threatening Pennsylvania party employee over poll watchers
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A Pennsylvania man was charged with threatening to kill an employee of a state political party who had been recruiting people to monitor polls for the Nov. 5 U.S. election, according to court documents made public on Monday.
John Courtney Pollard, 62, of Philadelphia, is accused of sending threatening messages to the unidentified party employee, including vowing to “SKIN YOU ALIVE,” according to an indictment filed by federal prosecutors in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Pollard was arrested on Monday and charged with one count of transmitting interstate threats. He has not yet entered a plea and it was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
Multiple deaths after helicopter crashes into Houston radio tower
(NYT) — A helicopter crashed into a radio tower in Houston on Sunday night, falling to the ground in a fireball and killing people on board, including a child, officials said.
The Houston Fire Department said the accident happened in the city’s Greater East End neighborhood at 7:54 p.m. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show the aftermath.
Four people were aboard the helicopter when it struck the tower or a cable connected to it, J. Noe Diaz, Houston’s chief of police, said at a news conference. There were no casualties on the ground, but there were “multiple fatalities” reported on board and a child was among the victims, he added.
It was not immediately clear how many of the four people aboard the helicopter, a private aircraft, had died. Officials said they did not know the age of the child.
Suspects allegedly spray manure inside Trump store in Connecticut
VERNON, Conn. (TNS) — Police are investigating a vandalism reported at a store in Vernon that sells Donald Trump merchandise.
The incident was reported to police Monday just before 3 a.m. at the “New England for Trump” store on Talcottville Road, according to Lt. Robert Marra of the Vernon Police Department.
According to representatives from the store, someone “sprayed manure” all over merchandise at the store. They also wrote a number of things on the outside of the building like “nazi” and “fascist.”
Marra said the investigation into the vandalism is active.
Most of Havana back online as Cuba works to revive power grid
HAVANA (Reuters) — Cuba’s power-grid operator said it had restored electricity to most of the capital Havana on Monday even as Tropical Storm Oscar lashed the island’s eastern end, downing trees and power lines.
Strong winds raked the region as the storm stalled over land, uprooting banana plants and tearing roofs off homes, according to footage from state-run television. More than 10 inches (254 mm) of rain fell in spots, causing landslides and flash floods and cutting off outlying areas.
Most of Cuba’s eastern tip remained without power and communications in the latest of multiple grid collapses during the past four days.
Central Park 5 sue Trump for defamation over debate comments
(NYT) — Five Black and Latino men who were wrongly convicted as teenagers and later exonerated in the rape and assault of a jogger in Central Park sued former President Donald Trump in federal court Monday, saying he defamed them during a nationally televised debate.
The men, Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson and Antron McCray, became known as the Central Park Five after the 1989 attack, in a case that drew international attention and inflamed racial tensions in New York City. Collectively, the men spent decades in prison before being cleared by DNA evidence and another man’s confession.
During the presidential debate in September between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Harris noted that Trump, who was then a prominent real estate developer, took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times calling for the death penalty in the case.
She said it demonstrated the way that Trump had long “attempted to use race to divide the American people.”
In response, Trump falsely said the men had pleaded guilty to the crime and that someone had been killed during the attack.
Liam Payne had ‘pink cocaine,’ other drugs in system when he died, report says
(TNS) — Former One Direction star Liam Payne had multiple substances in his bloodstream when he died, including a combination nicknamed “pink cocaine,” according to a toxicology report.
Payne, 31, had cocaine, benzodiazepine, crack and “pink cocaine,” a cocktail of multiple recreational drugs, in his system, ABC News reported.
Officials had said last week that Payne had taken “Cristal,” which can cause hallucinations, aggression and erratic behavior. Investigators believe a hotel worker may have procured the drugs for Payne.
A bottle of liquor, drug paraphernalia and anti-anxiety medication were also found in his hotel room.
Payne died Oct. 16 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after falling from a hotel balcony. Local officials said he jumped, but the circumstances behind the incident remain under investigation.
