Funeral mass held for officer killed in hit-and-run

Funeral mass held for officer killed in hit-and-run

CLEVELAND

Hundreds of police officers joined city officials and family members at a funeral Mass for a Cleveland police officer killed in the line of duty.

Authorities say Patrolman David Fahey was setting down flares Tuesday to close the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 after an earlier fatal accident when he was struck.

A $500,000 bond has been set for the driver who’s charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and failing to stop after a fatal accident in Fahey’s death.

About 2,000 people attended Saturday’s Mass at Our Lady of Angels Church in Cleveland.

Ohio offers new license plate with redesigned cardinal

COLUMBUS, Ohio

Ohio is offering a license plate for sale that features a new, redesigned image of a northern cardinal.

Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources says the image was created in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the original northern cardinal wildlife plate released in 1997.

The new license plate is available for purchase from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. It costs $25 plus the yearly vehicle registration fee. State officials say $15 from the sale of each plate goes to support Ohio’s wildlife diversity.

Cops ease rules on tattoos, turbans

NEW YORK

Police departments, compelled by a hiring crisis and eager for a more diverse applicant pool, are relaxing traditional grooming standards and getting away from rules that used to require a uniformly clean-shaven, 1950s look.

More officers are on the job with tattoos inked on forearms, beards on chins or religious head coverings such as hijabs and turbans in place of – or tucked beneath – their blue caps.

“My turban is a part of me,” said Mandeep Singh, among 160 Sikhs in the New York City Police Department who last month were allowed to wear navy blue turbans in place of the standard-issue police caps.

Volkswagen’s Audi brand to recall 576,921 vehicles

DETROIT

Volkswagen’s luxury Audi brand is recalling more than 576,000 vehicles in the U.S. for two separate defects.

Audi says 2013-2017 model year A5, A5 Cabriolet and Q5 SUVs with 2.0-liter turbocharged engines may have an electric coolant pump that can get blocked with debris. If that happens, the pump can overheat and cause a fire.

Audi also is recalling 2011-2017 Q5 SUVs because the sunroof drainage system can allow water to soak into the foam surrounding the side air bag inflators. If that happens, the inflator could rupture and spew metal fragments into the vehicle.

In both cases, Audi will notify owners and repair the vehicles for free.

Ethiopia faces new drought, seeks urgent aid

WARDER, Ethiopia

The carcasses of goats and sheep litter the ground near the airstrip in this remote eastern region of Ethiopia, which is struggling to counter a new drought that authorities say has left 5.6 million people in urgent need of assistance.

U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien visited a local camp for displaced persons Saturday, saying that “these people are really struggling to survive.” He cautioned, however, against “dramatizing by saying this may degenerate into famine.”

Associated Press