Report: New details on military scandal

Report: New details on military scandal

WASHINGTON

A dozen U.S. service members brought women, likely prostitutes, to their hotel rooms in Colombia and also allowed dogs to soil bed linens and building grounds shortly before President Barack Obama arrived in the country for an April summit, according to a military investigation that followed the announcement of punishments for the men.

The report provided to The Associated Press on Friday revealed new details about the conduct of the service members in the prostitution scandal that engulfed both military and Secret Service personnel.

Wildfire destroys Oklahoma homes

NOBLE, Okla.

A wildfire whipped by gusty, southerly winds swept through rural woodlands south of the Oklahoma City area Friday, burning several homes as firefighters struggled to contain it in 113-degree heat.

Oklahoma’s emergency- management officials said 25 structures had burned east of Noble, including a handful of homes. The sheriff’s office directed residents of 75 to 100 houses to leave the area as flames spread through treetops. The evacuation area, south of Lake Thunderbird, is about 30 square miles.

The state Highway Patrol closed part of the main highway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa because of a fire that may have been set deliberately.

The Onion sparks ire with tower image

CHICAGO

The satirical newspaper The Onion is attracting some public ire for an image that shows an airliner about to crash into Chicago’s Willis Tower, the tallest building in the country.

The image, in a video on The Onion’s website showcasing its stories, shows an airplane emblazoned with the company name Sears flying toward the iconic black skyscraper, which for decades was named Sears Tower and headquarters to the retail chain. A narrator intones, “Sears extremists fly a plane into Willis Tower.”

The image generated more than 3,200 responses on The Onion’s Facebook page by Friday evening, many denouncing the use of an image reminiscent of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.

Officials focus on blown tire in crash

CHICAGO

A day after a Megabus coach rammed into a concrete pillar of an overpass northeast of St. Louis, killing a University of Missouri graduate student and leaving dozens injured, investigators said they were focusing on an apparently blown tire as the possible cause of the crash.

Illinois State Police Lt. Louis Kink said the investigation could take weeks to complete and that no citations have been issued.

Megabus officials said the bus was only a year old and had passed a company inspection, which included a look at the tires, just days before Thursday afternoon’s crash.

Suspect fined again for having beard

FORT HOOD, Texas

A military judge on Friday once again held the Fort Hood shooting suspect in contempt of court for showing up to a pretrial hearing with a beard he had been ordered to shave.

Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was fined $1,000 for a second time. The judge, Col. Gregory Gross, then sent Hasan to a nearby trailer to watch the rest of the hearing on closed-circuit television, as he has done since showing up with a beard at a June hearing.

Beards are a violation of Army regulations. Hasan’s attorneys say he keeps declining to shave because he believes that doing so would violate his Muslim faith.

Combined dispatches