4 people die in motel fire in NJ

4 people die in motel fire in NJ

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J.

A fire early Friday destroyed a New Jersey shore motel that was housing people displaced by Superstorm Sandy, killing four people and injuring eight, authorities said.

The blaze erupted at the wooden Mariner’s Cove Motor Inn in this popular summer resort town about 5:30 a.m., and flames were shooting from the building by the time firefighters arrived. At least one person leaped from a second-floor window to escape.

Three people were injured critically. Other injuries included broken bones.

The discovery of a fourth victim was announced Friday afternoon just before firefighters removed the body on a stretcher. Authorities said all remaining occupants had been accounted for after hours of visiting hospitals, motels and other locations to track down other survivors.

Judge strikes down ban on gay marriage

DETROIT

Michigan’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, a federal judge said Friday, striking down a law that was widely embraced by voters a decade ago in the latest in a series of similar decisions across the country.

But unlike cases in other states, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman did not suspend his decision while the Michigan attorney general pursues an appeal. That means clerks could start issuing licenses Monday unless a higher court intervenes.

Friedman released his 31-page ruling exactly two weeks after a rare trial that mostly focused on the impact of same-sex parenting on children. The challenge was brought by two Detroit-area nurses originally seeking to overturn Michigan’s ban on joint adoptions by gay couples.

N. Korea launches short-range rockets

SEOUL, South Korea

North Korea launched 30 short-range rockets into the sea off its east coast today, South Korea said, in the latest in a series of apparent protests against ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.

Such short-range launches are normally seen as routine, but there have been an unusual number this year coinciding with the annual, routine war drills by Washington and Seoul that North Korea claims are invasion preparation. Analysts say the impoverished North chafes against the annual drills because it has to spend precious resources responding with its own exercises. As part of those drills, about 13,000 U.S. and South Korean forces were to begin a series of amphibious landings.

Vet reaches $4.5M settlement with city

OAKLAND, Calif.

An Iraq War veteran whose skull was fractured during an Occupy Oakland protest when he was hit by a beanbag round fired by police has reached a $4.5 million agreement to settle a federal lawsuit with the city of Oakland, his lawyers and city officials announced Friday.

Scott Olsen, 26, sued the city in 2012 for medical expenses and injuries that also included a fractured vertebrae and hemorrhaging of the brain. Olsen was among more than 1,000 demonstrators protesting the police clearing of an Occupy Oakland encampment when struck by a beanbag fired by an officer outside City Hall on Oct. 25, 2011.

Olsen, who served two tours of duty as a U.S. Marine in Iraq, suffered permanent brain injuries and has not been able to return to his career as a computer systems administrator, his attorney, Rachel Lederman, said Friday.

Associated Press