Floodwaters kill three in Alberta

Floodwaters kill three in Alberta

CALGARY, Alberta

Floodwaters that devastated much of southern Alberta left at least three people dead and forced officials in the western Canadian city of Calgary on Friday to order the evacuation of its entire downtown, as the waters reached the 10th row of the city’s hockey arena.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the level of flooding “stunning” and said officials don’t know yet if it will get worse, but said the water has peaked and stabilized and noted that the weather has gotten better.

Harper, a Calgary resident, said he never imagined there would be a flood of this magnitude in this part of Canada.

NJ flags to fly at half-staff for actor

TRENTON, N.J.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff Monday in memory of “Sopranos” star and New Jersey native James Gandolfini.

Gandolfini died Wednesday in Rome at age 51. A family spokesman says he suffered a heart attack.

The governor’s order says Gandolfini was an iconic actor who “left a timeless impact upon television and film in the state of New Jersey and across our nation.”

Gandolfini was born in Westwood, N.J., grew up in Park Ridge and attended Rutgers, the state’s flagship public university.

The governor says the actor acclaimed for his role as mobster Tony Soprano was also an advocate, in two documentaries, for U.S. service members and veterans.

Woman killed in S. Dakota storm

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.

A fast-moving line of storms barreled across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest on Friday evening, killing a woman in her trailer on a South Dakota lake and leaving thousands of people without power.

Hamlin County Sheriff Chad Schlotterbeck said the 63-year-old woman was hunkered down in the bathtub in her trailer on the east side of Lake Poinsett when a storm lifted the structure and dropped it to the ground. Schlotterbeck said the county of about 6,000 residents was without power Friday evening, and the fire department was going door to door to assess the extent of damage.

2 ex-Border Patrol agents get 30 years

SAN DIEGO

A federal judge on Friday sentenced two former Border Patrol agents to at least 30 years in prison for running a ring that smuggled more than 500 illegal immigrants into the United States.

U.S. District Court Judge John Houston sentenced Raul Villarreal to 35 years in prison for being the ring leader. His brother, Fidel Villarreal, was sentenced to 30 years for managing the operation.

The sentences are among the longest given to border law-enforcement officials.

US fighter jets to provide training

WASHINGTON

About a dozen U.S. fighter jets will be flying and conducting training operations in Jordan, poised to respond if needed to protect allies if the war in neighboring Syria spills over the border, U.S. administration officials said Friday.

The increased show of U.S. military might — which brings the total number of U.S. forces in Jordan to as many as 1,000 — should be seen as a signal to Syria that it must confine its 2-year-old civil war within its borders, officials said. The officials said it is meant to show that the U.S. is committed to its defense relationship with Jordan and that America intends to maintain a strong presence in the region.

Associated Press