Tornado hits Little Rock AFB; officials still assessing damage

LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. A tornado struck Little Rock Air Force Base at approximately 8 p.m., April 25.

Emergency crews immediately responded in the aftermath of the tornado and conducted a house-to-house recall of all personnel, according to a 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs news release. Base housing residents were also encouraged to stay indoors due to downed power lines in base housing.

On the morning of April 26, base officials further assessed damage to the base. Another wing press release stated "roughly 100 houses were damaged" and on the flightline there were at least three C-130 Hercules aircraft damaged. Further investigation and work is on-going, officials said.

According to the National Weather Service, April 25, a tornado outbreak affected southwest and central sections of Arkansas.

"There were at least half a dozen tornadoes, and it appears some of them were strong and long-lived," according to the NWS Web site. "The storm that produced the tornado (in Faulkner County) may have also spawned tornadoes from Sunshine and Hot Springs Village (both in Garland County) to near Paron (Saline County), Morgan (Pulaski County) and Romance (White County).

"Damage north of Jacksonville and around the Little Rock Air Force Base (both in Pulaski County) was also likely caused by a tornado (from a different parent storm)," the NWS states. "There was major tree damage between Big Fork and Board Camp (Polk County), and this was probably the result of a tornado. Survey teams from the National Weather Service will be out in the coming days to examine the damage, and determine how many tornadoes ripped through the region."

Little Rock Air Force Base is the "home of C-130 combat airlift," according to the base's fact sheet. "The 19th Airlift Wing, the base's host unit, in concert with the 314th Airlift Wing, 189th Airlift Wing and U.S. Air Force Mobility Weapons School is known as the world's 'Center of Excellence' for tactical airlift. Currently Little Rock AFB is home to more than 90, C-130 H, J and E models."

(19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs contributed to this report.)

BREAKING: 8 Militants Killed in Gunbattle at Afghan Airport - UPDATED Twice

By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Writer – 1 min ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – Militants set off a car bomb and stormed the entrance to a major NATO air base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, authorities said. Eight insurgents died in the failed assault.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the third ground assault against a major coalition base in the past five weeks. The attacks failed to overrun the bases but showed that the Taliban have not been cowed by U.S. efforts to ramp up the war.

Using light weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, the militants battled U.S. and Afghan forces for 30 minutes around the airport on the outskirts of Jalalabad city, the media office at the airport said. White smoke rose from the scene.

An Afghan solider and one international service member were wounded in the fighting, NATO said.

"They were not able to breach the perimeter. They were fought off by a combination of Afghan and coalition security forces," German army Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, a spokesman for NATO, told reporters.

The airport, which includes a major military base shared by Afghans and the international force, on a main road that leads to the Pakistani border.

In a text message to The Associated Press in Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said six suicide attackers killed 32 foreign and Afghan security forces at the airport, about 80 miles (125 kilometers) east of the Afghan capital. The insurgents often claim higher numbers of deaths in their attacks than the official toll.

The Jalalabad attack follows a May 19 ground assault against the giant Bagram Air Field north of Kabul and a similar attack three days later against Kandahar Air Field in the south.

In a separate incident in eastern Afghanistan, NATO said a U.S. trooper died of wounds sustained in a gunbattle with insurgents. NATO did not provide other details. The death brought to 59 the number of American troops who have died in June.

Wednesday also marked the first anniversary of the capture of Spc. Bowe W. Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, the only American service member held prisoner by the insurgents. Bergdahl was discovered missing during his unit's roll-call the following day.

"Since he was captured on June 30, 2009, it has been a top priority for U.S. and coalition forces to find him, recover him, and bring him home safely," said Rear Adm. Greg Smith, deputy chief of staff for communication. "We continue our efforts to determine his whereabouts and ensure his safe return."

Elsewhere in the east, U.S. and Afghan forces battled hundreds of militants from an al-Qaida-linked group for a third day Tuesday in Kunar province, the U.S. military said. Two American soldiers were killed Sunday in the first day of the operation.

The attack in Kunar was directed against insurgents believed responsible for a roadside bombing that killed five American service members in the area on June 7, a U.S. statement said.

The militants were believed to be members of the Haqqani group, a faction of the Taliban based in Pakistan that has close ties to al-Qaida. About 600 U.S. and Afghan troops are taking part in the operation, the U.S. statement said.

In western Afghanistan, two patients waiting for a doctor were wounded Wednesday when a suicide bomber detonated his vest of explosives behind a clinic in the Dularam district of Farah province, said Gen. Abdul Jabar Pardeli, chief of police in neighboring Nimroz province. He said the intended target was not known.

On Monday, four Afghan National Police officers were killed by a roadside bomb in the same district, the Ministry of Interior said.

On Tuesday in Kabul, an Afghan man working for the United Nations was shot and killed in his vehicle near a busy traffic circle.

The man was driving a white pickup truck with the blue U.N. logo painted on the side. Another Afghan member of the U.N. staff who was in the vehicle was not wounded, the U.N. said.

The morning shooting occurred in heavy traffic near Massoud circle, an intersection near the U.S. Embassy and an American military base.

Blotz said Wednesday that it remains unclear whether the U.N. vehicle was the intended target of the shooting.

Also Tuesday, a roadside bomb wounded seven civilians in the Arghistan district of Kandahar and another bomb killed two civilians and wounded two others in Khakrez district, the Afghan Ministry of Interior said.

Afghan and international forces are ramping up security in and around Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban.

Blotz said 43 insurgents were killed or captured in a three-day operation aimed at disrupting insurgents in Panjwai district of Kandahar province, where they have plotted attacks on Kandahar city. In the past two months, joint forces have reportedly captured more than 115 suspected insurgents, including more than 15 mid- and senior-level militant leaders, and destroyed four roadside mine factories.

UPDATE @ 11:00 AM:

I asked BabaTim of Free Range International if he had any more insight on today's attack. He replied:

At around 0700 Ins detonated a device along the southeastern fence line of JAF and followed up the detonation with small arms and RPG fire. They did not breach the perimeter and withdrew under heavy fire to the village of Qal'eh-ye Maqamkhan which is just southeast of the base. Currently ANSF and ISAF have the village surrounded and are rooting out the attackers. JAF remains closed at this time and will probably be closed all day. There was no breach of the base and no reported casualties. Concurrent (unknown if related) with this incident was the detonation of a limpet mine attached to a fuel tanker at the customs area in Bati Kot on the Torkham to Jbad road. The charge did not catch the fuel in the tanker on fire and the incident was cleared with traffic flowing in about 10 minutes.

I have since learned that the attack started around 0500 on the southeastern side (not the main Torkham to Jbad road side) and there were 5 villains who attacked in an attempt to breach the gate. They started with a volley of RPG's and one of them (who had on a suicide vest) started towards to SE gate which is a pedestrian entrance.

This part I am not too sure about - reportedly an airborne OH 58 got him as he approached the gate and the remaining four fell back to their toyota corolla. That is mighty fast clearance for air to ground fire - and the same bird destroyed the toyota forcing the four surviving attackers into the village of Maqamkhan. In an hour of fighting the ANA and Army guys killed all four restoring calm to the area by noon.

It is hard to believe an OH 58 just happened to be up, armed, and able to get fire clearance that fast so I am still checking out that part of the story.

Other than that this was another nuisance attack which could accomplish little more than generating another international press story.

As more develops, I will post more.

UPDATE II:
BabaTim sends the following update

"...the time of attack was 0730 not 0700 and the story about the helicopter being up I think is bogus - I can't find one guy who can verify it.

We just had a rocket land near the airport and an IED go off in the downtown bazaar targeting a cell phone store. It is close to where a music store was bombed last week and probably unrelated to the attacks on JAF."

Amy Sun of the Jalalabad Fab Lab Blog writes via email:

It's mostly all the same stuff going around; lots of "I heard that..." going around here abouts. Whatever happened at 7am, I didn't hear it but I'm on the flight path and in the middle screaming kids and incessant roosters. I was out and about today and nothing seemed different in the city.

I will continue to update as more becomes available.

"If He Did It" Part 2

OJ Simpson is a suspect once again, this time in connection with the theft of possible O.J. Simpson football memorabilia from a Las Vegas hotel room. Las Vegas Police will only say that O.J. Simpson has been questioned as a possible suspect in an alleged theft at a casino. CNN Reports:

(CNN) -- Former college and NFL star running back O.J. Simpson has been questioned as a possible suspect in an alleged theft at a hotel-casino, a Las Vegas, Nevada, police spokesman said Friday.

The Thursday night incident may have involved an attempted transaction involving Simpson sports memorabilia, according to a TV report.

Sgt. John Loretto of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said there was "an allegation of a theft involving Simpson as a suspect."

"We haven't arrested him or anything else; the investigation is very preliminary right now," Loretto told CNN.

Thomas Riccio told CNN affiliate Fox5 News (KVVU) television in Las Vegas that he witnessed what sparked the allegations at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino.

Riccio said Simpson was taking back items that he said had been stolen from him, the station reported.

Riccio said he received a call about a month ago from someone who wanted to auction some of Simpson's personal possessions by placing them on consignment. Riccio said he called Simpson, with whom he had done business in the past, and the former football player told him the items had been stolen from him, the station said.

Riccio said that as he was being shown the items in a hotel room, Simpson entered and seized them, according to the station. Riccio said there was no break-in, and no gun was used, the station said.

Is this a new chapter in the saga that is O.J. Simpson? After being found guilty during a civil trial Simpson is said to have auctioned off his Heisman Trophy to help pay his legal fees. Is this another attempt to obtain notoriety and restore his "celebrity" status, or simply an attempt to make some money without actually selling anything he might have left?

Only time will tell if the "juice" is going to run once again.

Corruption in New Jersey

FBI agents set up a phony company in New Jersey in an effort to sting those responsible for receiving payments from companies that offered insurance brokerage or roofing services to school districts and municipalities. The FBI dummy company established an undercover insurance brokerage company purporting to employ the government's two cooperating witnesses and undercover agents. CNN reports:

(CNN) -- Two mayors and two state legislators are among 11 public officials arrested in New Jersey as part of a corruption investigation, the U.S. attorney's office in Trenton announced Thursday.

"The defendants allegedly demanded and accepted payments ranging from $1,500 to $17,500 at any one time," the release from the U.S. attorney's office alleges. "In most cases, the defendants sought to establish and perpetuate a corrupt relationship with the cooperating witnesses to continue receiving bribes."

State Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and Alfred E. Steele -- both Democrats -- and
Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera are among those arrested, the news release says.

Steele also serves as undersheriff in Passaic County, just outside Newark. Hackett is also mayor of Orange.

Also arrested were Keith O. Reid, the chief of staff to the Newark City Council president, Passaic Councilman Marcellus Jackson and former Passaic Councilman Jonathan Soto, the release states.

Five current and former school board members in Pleasantville, just outside Atlantic City, were arrested, too: Jayson G. Adams, James T. McCormick, James A. Pressley, Rafael Velez and Maurice Callaway, who also serves on the City Council.

Suprisingly the CNN report does mention the political affiliatin of the accused, Democrats, but only once in the entire article. Of course we knew the accussed were Democrats because the party affiliation wasn't splashed for all to see in the headline or right behind each os the accussed names.

The arrested will begin making appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne Bongiovanni at 2 p.m. Thursday. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie and FBI agent Weysan Dun are expected to hold a 3:30 p.m. news conference afterward in front of the federal courthouse in Trenton.

Luciano Pavarotti dead at 71

Breaking News!

Opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died at his home in Italy. CNN reports:

(CNN) -- Famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who appeared on stage with singers as varied as opera star Dame Joan Sutherland, U2's Bono and Liza Minnelli, died Thursday in Italy after suffering from pancreatic cancer, manager Terri Robson said in a statement. He was 71.

"The great tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, died today at 5:00 a.m. at his home in Modena, the city of his birth," according to Robson.

"The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness."

Widely considered the greatest tenor of his time, he was an inspriation to many aspiring singers, both male and female who sought to enulate his skill and range. When he wasn't singing on stage, Pavarotti sold millions of records and raised millions of dollars for charity through benefit concerts, often sharing the stage with pop stars as well as other opera singers.

Of his recordings, "The Essential Pavarotti" (1990) was the first classical album to reach No. 1 on Britain's pop charts, where it remained for 5 weeks. "The Three Tenors in Concert," (1994)with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, remains the best selling classical album of all time.

FIDEL CASTRO IS DEAD

That seems to be the news coming out of South Florida and Cuba at the moment. Via Babalu Blog:

My cellphone has not stopped ringing for the past ten minutes. Various sources inform that an announcement will come within the next few minutes from the Cuban government on Cuban TV and media. Stay tuned and we'll see if we've been manipulated once again or if today is the birth date of Cuba's liberty.

Update 1531: Just got off the phone with a local Congressman's media relations person: Nothing is official, lots of buzz, no confirmation. However, was told something that may make unfortunate sense: the Cuban government has gotten us all riled up only to proudly and snidely display fidel castro in full green fatigues regalia. I know it's difficult right now, for me especially (trust me), but we need to keep our wits about us and trust only that which we can verify.

We will stay tuned.

H/T: Jawa

BREAKING NEWS: Boris Yeltsin Dead.

Former President Boris Yeltsin, who engineered the final collapse of the Soviet Union and pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy, died Monday. He was 76.

Kremlin spokesman Alexander Smirnov confirmed Yeltsin's death, and Russian news agencies cited Sergei Mironov, head of the presidential administration's medical center, as saying the former president died Monday of heart failure at the Central Clinical Hospital.

Sources said plans for a state funeral are being worked out. Yeltsin is expected to be buried in a private cemetery and not Red Square, because of his affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Although Yeltsin pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy, many of its citizens will remember him mostly for presiding over the country's steep decline.

DEVELOPING - 22 Dead After Virginia Tech University Shooting

A shooter opened fire on students in their classrooms reported killing 21 students and professors earlier today at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. Details are ever changing but this is the most recent story via Fox New:

BLACKSBURG, Va. — At least 22 are dead after a shooting at Virginia Tech University Monday morning.

Campus police said there was only one shooter and he is now dead. They are unsure if the shooter was a student.

"Today the university was struck by a tragedy we consider of monumental proportions," Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said during a press conference shortly after noon. "I cannot begin to convey my own personal sense of loss over this senseless, incomprehensible, heinous act."

At least one person was killed at West Ambler Johnston, a residence hall, but several others were injured in that shooting. At least 20 were killed at Norris Hall, an engineering building. The dead shooter puts the death toll so far at 22.

A spokeswoman at Montgomery Regional Hospital said 17 students were being treated there for gunshot wounds, and Carilion New River Valley Medical Center in Christiansburg reports that four people with gunshot wounds were being treated there. Carilion spokeswoman Sharon Honaker said one was in critical condition and three others were stable.

One witness Virginia Tech student Blake Harrison reported:

This teacher comes flying out of Norris, he's bleeding from his arm or his shoulder ... all these students were coming out of Norris trying to take shelter in Randolph [Hall]. All these kids were freaked out," Harrison said.

The students and faculty were barricading themselves in their classrooms after what one person described as an Asian student wearing a vest opened fire.

The shooter was "wearing a vest covered in clips was just unloading on their door, going from classroom to classroom … they said it never seemed like it was going to stop and there was just blood all over," Harrison said.

Developing...