Cop taken off life support

Cop taken off life support

SAN FRANCISCO — An Oakland police officer shot by a man wanted on a parole violation was taken off life support after vital organs were removed for transplantation, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The officer’s death brings to five, counting the gunman, the number of people killed in Saturday’s confrontation.

Officer John Hege was taken off life support Monday night and his heart, liver and kidneys were removed, said Andrea Breaux of Alameda County Medical Center.

The 41-year-old officer had been declared brain-dead Sunday but the hospital kept him on life support so his organs could be donated, in keeping with his wishes. Four patients received the organs, Breaux said.

Change of flight plan under scrutiny in Montana crash

BUTTE, Mont. — Investigators said Tuesday that a pilot’s change of course shortly before his plane nose-dived into a Butte cemetery, killing all 14 aboard, has emerged as a potentially crucial factor in the crash.

Flying at 25,000 feet, pilot Buddy Summerfield requested the diversion from Bozeman to Butte half an hour before the single-engine Pilatus PC-12 crashed at the edge of Butte’s airport Sunday. Seven children under the age of 10 were among the victims.

National Transportation Safety Board acting Chairman Mark Rosenker says why the plane diverted is at the forefront of his agency’s investigation.

Obama, astronauts chat

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — President Barack Obama seemed to have as much fun Tuesday talking to the 10 astronauts in orbit about e-mailing, fitness and Tang as the children who surrounded him at the White House and took part in the call.

Obama, making his first call to space, even asked the only woman aboard the shuttle-station complex whether she was tempted to cut her long hair while she was up there. She said no, and the president called her flyaway curls “a real fashion statement.”

2 Komodo dragons kill man

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Two Komodo dragons mauled a fruit-picker to death in eastern Indonesia, police and witnesses said Tuesday, the latest in a string of attacks on humans by the world’s largest lizard species.

Police Sgt. Kosmas Jalang said 31-year-old Muhamad Anwar was attacked on Komodo, one of four islands where the giant reptile is found in the wild, minutes after he fell out of a sugar-apple tree Monday.

He was bleeding badly from bites to his hands, body, legs and neck after two lizards, waiting below, attacked him, according to a neighbor, Theresia Tawa. He died at a clinic on the neighboring island of Flores soon after.

Parrot honored as a hero

DENVER — A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his owner when a little girl choked on her breakfast has been honored as a hero.

Willie, a Quaker parrot, has been given the local Red Cross chapter’s Animal Lifesaver Award.

In November, Willie’s owner, Megan Howard, was baby-sitting for a toddler. Howard left the room and the little girl, Hannah, started to choke on her breakfast.

Willie repeatedly yelled “Mama, baby” and flapped his wings, and Howard returned in time to find the girl already turning blue.

Howard saved Hannah by performing the Heimlich maneuver but said Willie “is the real hero.”

U.S. seeks documents to deport Demjanjuk

CLEVELAND — The U.S. government said Tuesday it is asking German officials for travel documents needed to deport accused World War II Nazi guard John Demjanjuk, who is charged in Europe with 29,000 counts of accessory to murder.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement provided an e-mail to The Associated Press showing that it has contacted the German government in its effort to deport Demjanjuk, once accused but ultimately cleared of being a notorious guard at the Treblinka concentration camp in occupied Poland.

The 88-year-old suburban Cleveland man was charged in Germany in March with crimes while working as a guard at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in Poland.

His son, John Demjanjuk Jr., said Tuesday that his father remains at home and is not in federal custody.

Case of fake traffic tickets

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — An ex-New York state trooper has admitted in court that he issued fake traffic tickets to a man he’d argued with.

Lester Hooper pleaded guilty Tuesday in White Plains court to one count of official misconduct. As part of the plea deal, he resigned. He’d been on paid suspension since his July 1 arrest.

Associated Press