Wisconsin
Suspect arrested after bodies are found in suitcase
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) — Detectives wearing hazmat suits removed bags of evidence and a refrigerator from the suburban Milwaukee apartment of a man arrested in connection with two suitcases found stuffed with the remains of two women.
Prosecutors have not charged the 52-year-old security officer. Investigators searched his West Allis home Wednesday.
Highway workers discovered the suitcases June 5 on a rural highway in the Town of Geneva, about 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee.
Police have identified one of the women found in the suitcases as 37-year-old Laura Simonson who was reported missing in November. Her father, Richard Wierson, tells the Journal Sentinel that the Farmington, Minnesota woman struggled with mental illness and that he has cared for her seven children since 2010.
Utah
Ukrainian man in 2012 flight fight gets probation
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Ukrainian truck driver accused of screaming in Russian that a plane wing had caught fire before tussling with passengers aboard a 2012 flight is set to serve two years’ probation and pay thousands of dollars in damages under a federal judge’s order.
U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby on Wednesday sentenced Anatoliy Baranovich, 47, of Portland, Oregon, to pay $57,000 to Delta Air Lines Inc. for damaging a plane door when he tried to yank it open on the flight from Boston to Salt Lake City.
He told authorities he had been drinking heavily for 50 days before causing the melee.
Baranovich, wearing a white-collared shirt unbuttoned at the neck and close-cropped hair, agreed to undergo court-administered drug testing and to avoid going to bars during the two-year period. He spoke with help from a translator.
“I want to apologize to everyone,” he said. “I’m a good man, so I didn’t do anything mean to any person. I just regret so much that it happened.”
Defense attorney Ron Yengich said Baranovich is a good father and husband, and the behavior isn’t typical of his client. Before Wednesday, Yengich said, Baranovich served eight months in the Davis County jail while the trial was pending.
“The big issue here has been the alcohol,” Yengich said. “He no longer drinks.”
Baranovich in March pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew. Conviction on that charge could have meant up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The judge dropped three other charges against him. They are damaging an aircraft, trying to bribe federal agents and resisting arrest.
Kansas
Glitch delays the world’s tallest water slide intro
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Problems with a conveyor system designed to haul rafts to the top of the world’s tallest water slide have forced officials to cancel two scheduled media sneak preview days and could delay the ride’s official opening for the third time.
National and local media members were scheduled to take rides Thursday and Friday on the 17-story, 168-foot-tall Verruckt water slide, but Schlitterbahn Waterpark spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said glitches last weekend with the conveyor hadn’t been resolved in time for that to happen.
There’s a chance the Kansas City, Kansas, attraction will be ready for operation on Sunday — more than a month after it had been slated to open May 23 — as long as the issues have been ironed out, she said.
Verruckt, which means “insane” in German, was certified as the world’s tallest water slide in April by Guinness World Records. The slide sends riders on four-person rafts plummeting at 60 to 70 mph.
The ride’s official opening date was moved from the May date to June 5 to allow for more testing, then pushed back again to June 29. Prosapio said park officials would not hesitate to delay operation for however long it takes to make sure the slide is safe.
Sunday’s opening would coincide with a one-hour special on the Travel Channel titled “Xtreme Waterparks” documenting the designing and building of Verruckt. A promotional video for the show includes footage of two men riding a raft down a half-size test model of the slide and going slightly airborne as it crests the top of the first big hill.
California
Crews fight blaze at Stanford U’s accelerator lab
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Fire teams battled a smoky blaze at the linear accelerator lab at Stanford University, bringing it under control without causing injuries. Authorities said the blaze didn’t pose a threat to the public.
The report came into the Menlo Park Fire Department shortly before 10 p.m. PDT Wednesday from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, with focuses on experimental and theoretical research in advanced physics.
Callers reported heavy black smoke coming from the two-mile long accelerator structure, which runs beneath Interstate Highway 280 in the San Francisco area. Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said traffic was affected by the smoke.
Fire crews from several area departments responded to the blaze as teams worked to shut down the affected area of the accelerator, Schapelhouman said in a news release.
“Once that was done, firefighters used 7 large mobile carbon dioxide extinguishing carts, stored on-site, to suppress the fire, “ he said.
The blaze was brought under control about 10:30 p.m., about 45 minutes after it was reported.
Massachusetts
‘Medical issues’ hospitalize 50 concertgoers
BOSTON (AP) — Three dozen people were transported to the hospital and as many as 50 others were treated or evaluated at the scene during a an electronic dance music show in Boston featuring Swedish disc jockey Avicii.
No one appeared to have life-threatening injuries, Boston EMS Deputy Superintendent Mike Bosse said, blaming alcohol and drug use for the problems at the Wednesday night show at the TD Garden.
All of those transported and treated appeared to be between 16 and 25 years old, he said.
Some concert-goers blamed oppressive heat inside the arena.
Bosse said he contacted the Boston Police Licensing Division, which cited the TD Garden for allowing lots of intoxicated concertgoers to enter.
Two people died over the weekend at a Las Vegas music festival attended by Avicii, one of the biggest names in electronic dance music. Authorities said Monday it will take several weeks to determine what caused the deaths of the Electric Daisy Carnival fans.
