A Second World Warâ??era military plane crashed into a group of spectators at the Reno National Championship Air Races in Nevada, killing 10 people, including Jimmy Leeward, 74, who became the twentieth pilot to die at the event since it began 47 years ago. “It looked like just someone sprinkled Legos in every direction,” said one witness. National Transportation Safety Board investigators refused to speculate on what brought down the plane, which was built in 1944 and had previously crashed in 1970. “Our job is to identify what caused this accident,” said NTSB member Mark Rosekind, “so we can make safety recommendations so it doesnâ??t happen again.” The day after the Reno incident, a military plane crashed at a West Virginia air show, killing the pilot.Reno Gazette-JournalAssociated PressAP via Boston GlobeAP via CBSPresident Barack Obama proposed a $3 trillion deficit-reduction plan that included the “Buffett Rule,” which would increase taxes for the 0.3 percent of Americans who earn more than $1 million a year. Republicans contended that such an increase would discourage investment in new businesses and further stall job growth. “Class warfare may make for really good politics,” said Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), “but it makes for rotten economics.” “This is not class warfare,” said Obama. “Itâ??s math.”New York TimesNew York TimesThe Census Bureau announced that more Americans lived in poverty in 2010 than in any year since record-keeping began.Business WeekBob Turner, the creator of “The Jerry Springer Show,” won the House seat vacated by Anthony Weiner and became the first Republican elected in New Yorkâ??s Ninth Congressional District since 1920. “We have lit one candle today,” said Turner. “Itâ??s going to be a bonfire pretty soon.”Los Angeles TimesNew York TimesOfficials at a New Hampshire middle school confiscated an autistic studentâ??s American flag, citing safety concerns.Foster’s Daily Democrat
Rebel forces in Libya failed to capture Bani Walid, one of Muammar Qaddafiâ??s strongholds, and security forces in Yemen killed nearly 50 demonstrators in two days. “We were walking and chanting, â??Peaceful, peaceful,â??” said one protester. “They opened fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.”ReutersAssociated PressLos Angeles TimesIran banned the television broadcast of love-triangle storylines and shirtless men, and Australia added to its passports the option to classify oneâ??s gender as indeterminate.ReutersSF ChronicleWith his final meal of fried chicken, fried fish, french fries, salad, apples, and jalapeño peppers already consumed, Texas death-row inmate Duane Buck was granted a stay of execution so the U.S. Supreme Court could investigate whether racism played a role in his sentencing. “Godâ??s mercy triumphs over judgment,” Buck said, “and I feel good.”CNNSix men from the Old Order Swartzentruber Amish were jailed in Kentucky for refusing to affix orange safety triangles to their buggies, and a Jewish professor at York University in Toronto who said in a lecture that the assertion “all Jews should be sterilized” constitutes an unacceptable opinion was accused of anti-Semitism by a student. “The words, â??Jews should be sterilizedâ?? still came out of his mouth,” said the student, “so regardless of the context I still think thatâ??s pretty serious.”CNNToronto StarResearchers determined that watching “SpongeBob SquarePants” diminishes the attention spans of four-year-olds, that fatherhood reduces testosterone levels, and that overconfidence leads to success.New York TimesSalt Lake TribuneInt’l Business TimesThe Swiss bank UBS revealed that an employee in London lost $2.3 billion of the companyâ??s money over three months through unauthorized trades.CNNIn Denmark, the worldâ??s largest sperm bank stopped accepting donations from redheads due to insufficient demand in all countries except Ireland; there, said Cryos director Ole Schou, redhead semen sold “like hot cakes.”Telegraph
Richard Hamilton, the Pop Art pioneer and White Album cover designer, died, as did Kara Kennedy, Edwardâ??s eldest child.New York TimesNew York TimesIowa police detained a statue of a man in a hot-dog suit, and in California a teenager surrendered after attempting to rob a San Diego 7-Eleven while wearing a Gumby costume.The Daily NonpareilReutersA drunk Swedish elk hid a swing set in a tree, Malaysian wildlife officials quarantined Shirley the orangutan in order to help her quit smoking, and black-tar heroin users contracted botulism in Seattle.The LocalThe SunLos Angeles TimesDenver police revealed that they had indicted two men who had gone for a night on the town with the corpse of a friend, charging drinks and food to his debit card, and withdrawing $400 of his money from an ATM at a strip club.Denver PostTwo teenage lesbian lovers arrested for burglarizing 29 Pennsylvania homes claimed theyâ??d encountered a lion at a thirtieth. “If we find a lion,” said police superintendent Michael Chitwood, “it will be a bigger story.”Philadelphia InquirerAn 83-year-old Arkansas woman was the victim of unsolicited toe-sucking, while a second woman whom the assailant approached described him as having “messed-up toes.”ReutersA British man whoâ??d accidentally sawed off his left thumb had his left big toe attached in its place. “He might need additional surgery,” said the overseeing doctor, “to make it look more like a thumb.”BBC
