Company to start railroad operations

Company to start railroad operations

CHARLESTON, W.Va.

Trains will resume chugging along Norfolk Southern railroad tracks in West Virginia’s Kanawha Valley after being mostly silent for months.

A new short line railroad will operate a route from outside of Mullens in Wyoming County, through the Kanawha Valley and on to Columbus, Ohio, The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

In February, as part of system-wide cost-cutting efforts, Norfolk Southern suspended operations on most of the Ohio portion of the route.

$400K raised to honor shooting victims

chardon, ohio

More than $400,000 in donations, grants and promises of services and equipment have been raised for a memorial park to honor the victims of a 2012 Northeast Ohio school shooting.

Supporters had hoped to raise $318,000 for the 17-acre Chardon Living Memorial Park, which will honor the three students killed and several others injured during a shooting at Chardon High School on Feb. 27, 2012.

The memorial includes play and fitness equipment, a renovated half-mile trail through an adjacent wooded area, plaques and a 10-foot tall statue titled “Echoes of the Heart.”

2 dead after flooding ravages Md. town

WASHINGTON

Historic, low-lying Ellicott City, Md., was ravaged by floodwaters Saturday night, killing two people and causing devastating damage to homes and businesses, officials said.

A Pennsylvania woman visiting the town with her family was one of those killed after their car was caught in the raging floodwaters and carried toward the Patapsco River, police said.

Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman told The Associated Press by telephone that the devastation was the worst he’d seen in 50 years living in the county, including Hurricane Agnes in 1972, which caused the river to overflow its banks.

The town, about 14 miles west of Baltimore, received 6.5 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service, and most of it fell Saturday evening between 7 and 9 p.m.

Officials: 1 dead, 3 hurt in shooting

AUSTIN, TEXAS

A shooting in a crowded entertainment district in downtown Austin early Sunday caused a chaotic scene, leaving one woman dead and three others wounded and police searching for a suspect.

Austin police say they want to question a 24-year-old possibly armed man in the overnight shootings. Police are circulating a photograph of a man described in a statement as a “person of interest.”

Austin Police Chief of Staff Brian Manley says police received reports of gunshots in crowded Sixth Street Entertainment District shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday, and found that five people had been shot. One woman was pronounced dead at the scene, and three other women were taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with injuries that were serious, but not life-threatening.

Turkey’s president issues big changes

ISTANBUL

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a new presidential decree Sunday that introduced sweeping changes to Turkey’s military in the wake of a July 15 failed coup, bringing the armed forces further under civilian authority.

The decree, the third issued under a three-month state of emergency declared after the attempted coup, gives the president and prime minister the authority to issue direct orders to the commanders of the army, air force and navy.

It also announces the discharge of 1,389 military personnel.

Associated Press