Obama family attends luau at friend’s home

Obama family attends luau at friend’s home

HONOLULU

President Barack Obama and his family attended a luau at his friend’s home on Oahu’s famed North Shore.

The first family’s close friends and some White House staff also attended the Friday afternoon gathering at Bobby Titcomb’s Waialua residence.

Titcomb is Obama’s longtime friend and has hosted luaus for the first family during their previous Hawaii vacations.

As the presidential motorcade drove through Waialua town, many people came out to their front yards to wave.

Vehicle hits hill, launches into group home in N.C.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.

Authorities say a woman driving at least 70 mph hit a hill and launched into the roof of a group home in North Carolina.

Remarkably, no one inside the home was injured. WGHP-TV reports that the woman was taken to a hospital. She is expected to be OK.

Winston-Salem police said the crash happened about 4 p.m. Friday. The vehicle hit a hill in the front yard of the group home and landed through the roof of the house. The front part of the home appeared undamaged in photos posted online.

Police believe the woman may have suffered a medical emergency while driving.

Shane Ferguson, executive director of Rescare, says the home is for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and there were six people inside.

Kennedy grandson arrested in Aspen bar fight

ASPEN, Colo.

Police say a member of the Kennedy family was arrested after a bar fight in the tony resort town of Aspen.

Police say 22-year-old John Conor Kennedy was charged with disorderly conduct in the Thursday morning scuffle. Kennedy is the oldest son of Robert Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist, and the grandson of Robert Kennedy.

Police say Kennedy and another man were fighting in the street and rolling around on the ground when officers tried to separate them. Officers reported seeing Kennedy punch the man in the head four or five times.

Kennedy allegedly struggled against an officer who was trying to restrain him before they both fell into a snowbank.

It was unclear if Kennedy has an attorney who could comment on his behalf. A court appearance is set for Feb. 22.

Judge’s order upheld blocking Ohio execution info

COLUMBUS

A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge by attorneys for death row inmates of a judge’s order blocking them from information about Ohio’s new lethal injection process.

Friday’s 2-1 decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will help determine whether Ohio will proceed with its first executions in three years beginning in February.

Ohio plans to execute Ronald Phillips on Feb. 15 for raping and killing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter in 1993. Another execution is scheduled for April.

Judge Eugene Siler, writing for the majority, said a judge didn’t abuse his discretion last fall when he barred the release of information about lethal injection requested by attorneys for Phillips and other inmates.

Executions have been on hold in Ohio since January 2014.

Wire reports