101-year-old killed in California blazes told wife to flee
101-year-old killed in California blazes told wife to flee
SANTA ROSA, Calif.
A 101-year-old man who told his wife to flee deadly wildfires in Northern California without him last month is the latest victim to be identified by authorities.
The Press Democrat newspaper of Santa Rosa reported that coroner’s officials Thursday identified the man as longtime Santa Rosa resident Tak-Fu Hung. He was one of at least 43 people killed by the fires that raged across a huge swath of wine country.
Hung’s granddaughter told the newspaper that her grandfather, who had fought the Communists in China’s 1949 revolution, got as far as the front door of his burning home when he told his 76-year-old wife, Helen, he could not make it through the flames.
“He told her, ‘Just go,’” Rosanne O’Hara said by phone from San Francisco. “He would not make it. He couldn’t make it.”
Rev. Jesse Jackson discloses Parkinson’s disease diagnosis
CHICAGO
The Rev. Jesse Jackson disclosed publicly Friday that he has been seeking outpatient care for two years for Parkinson’s disease and plans to “dedicate” himself to physical therapy to slow the progress of the disease.
In a letter to supporters, the 76-year-old civil-rights icon said family and friends noticed a change in him about three years ago, and he could no longer ignore symptoms of the chronic neurological disorder that causes movement difficulties.
“Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it,” he wrote. “For me, a Parkinson’s diagnosis is not a stop sign but rather a signal that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy.”
Hawaii psychiatric patient is surprised his escape worked
FRENCH CAMP, Calif.
A man who acknowledges killing a woman nearly 40 years ago said Friday that he is surprised he was able to walk out of a Hawaii psychiatric hospital and make it to California before being captured.
Randall Saito told The Associated Press in a jail near Stockton, Calif., that he acquired “a pretty good” fake ID.
“I was surprised that it actually worked,” the 59-year-old said before a court appearance. “I was expecting almost every leg of the way, I was expecting them to be right around the corner just going to nab me.”
Saito left Hawaii State Hospital in suburban Honolulu on Sunday, got a taxi to the airport and took a charter plane to Maui. From there, he caught another flight to San Jose.
Station: Video shows nurses laughing as 89-year-old dies
ATLANTA
Two nurses lost their licenses after a television station persuaded courts to unseal a video secretly recorded by the family of a man who died in their care.
The video shows the World War II veteran repeatedly calling for help, saying he can’t breathe. It also shows the nurses failing to take life-saving measures and laughing as they try to start an oxygen machine.
The family of 89-year-old James Dempsey of Woodstock, Ga., sued the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation Center in 2014.
Dempsey’s family declined to comment, citing a settlement with the nursing home, the station said.
Associated Press