Obama, Clinton join to raise funds

Obama, Clinton join to raise funds

WASHINGTON

Former President Bill Clinton says President Barack Obama has “beaten the clock” to help the economy recover, telling Democratic donors he deserves to be re-elected.

Clinton made the first of three planned joint appearances with Obama on Sunday evening at the suburban Washington home of longtime Clinton supporter Terry McAuliffe. The two presidents have had a sometime testy relationship, but they appeared relaxed and friendly Sunday.

Clinton told about 500 supporters that Obama’s presumed Republican rival wants to return the United States to failed economic policies, and do so “on steroids.”

Neither Clinton nor Obama mentioned Republican Mitt Romney by name in the first of two addresses at the McAuliffe home.

Obama joked that every presidential candidate says the next election is crucial. But, he added, “This time, it matters.”

Van plunges off road into zoo

NEW YORK

Authorities say an out-of-control van plunged off a highway into a ravine on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo in New York City, killing seven people aboard, including three children.

Fire Department spokesman Jim Long say the victims were an 84-year-old man; three women, ages 80, 45 and 30. He says a 12-year-old girl and a 10-year-old girl also were killed and a younger girl whose age wasn’t immediately known.

Police say the van bounced off the median Sunday, crossed all southbound lanes, went through the guardrail, fell more than 50 feet and landed upside down. A spokesman says it crashed onto a part of zoo property that’s closed to the public and not near exhibits.

The southbound side of the highway was closed while police investigated but has reopened.

Bodies of 3 sailors from yacht ID’d

ENSENADA, Mexico

Authorities have identified two of the three sailors found dead off the shore of Southern California and Mexico after their racing yacht apparently collided with a larger vessel.

The San Diego Medical Examiner’s office said Sunday that the sailors were 57-year-old William Reed Johnson Jr. of Torrance, Calif., and 64-year-old Joseph Lester Stewart of Bradenton, Fla.

The name of the third sailor whose body was pulled from the waters Saturday has been withheld pending notification of relatives.

A fourth person who was aboard the 37-foot Aegean remains missing. The crewmembers were taking part in a 124-miler race that began Friday from Newport Beach, Calif. to Ensenada, Mexico.

More building tornado shelters

MONTGOMERY, Ala.

When deadly twisters chewed through the South and Midwest last year, thousands of people in the killers’ paths had nowhere to hide. Now many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time: adding tornado shelters to their homes.

Sales of small residential storm shelters known as safe rooms are surging across much of the nation, especially in cities such as Montgomery and Tuscaloosa in Alabama and in Joplin, Mo., where the storms laid waste to entire neighborhoods.

Manufacturers can barely keep up with demand. Some states are offering grants and other financial incentives to help pay for the added protection.

The interest in shelters was renewed by the staggering death toll of 2011 — 358 killed in the South and 161 dead in Joplin.