Ecuadorean killed in New York buried at home

An Ecuadorean immigrant beaten to death in an apparent U.S. hate crime was carried to his grave on Saturday in a town that has seen thousands of others seek their fortunes abroad.

Julia Quintuna, the mother of Jose Oswaldo Sucuzhanay, sobbed as she embraced her 10-year-old grandson Brian, one of Sucuzhanay's children.

Sucuzhanay, a 31-year-old real estate agent, was attacked by a group of men who kicked and beat him with an aluminum baseball bat, shouting anti-Latino and anti-gay slurs as he walked arm in arm with his brother near his Brooklyn home on Dec. 7. He died after five days in a coma.

New York City police are still searching for three …

Smoke detectors just Band-Aid? Absurd

I would like to respond to the April 11 Personal View column ofAlex A. Burkholder headlined "Smoke detectors just a Band-Aid."

I have been a fireman for 17 years. I had the privilege ofworking on a tough smoke-detector ordinance for the City of Chicago.Through the hard work of many people, it became a reality.

In fires, death's principal ally is smoke, not flames. Thecontents of residences and especially bedrooms, with newpetro-chemical bases such as polyvinyl chloride - which emits some ofthe deadliest smoke - can accomplish their lethal work long beforethe flames have spread to the structure itself.

Burkholder asks: "What of the tenant in the …

Afghan Leader: Cut Back on Airstrikes

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan President Hamid Karzai is calling for the U.S. and NATO to cut back on airstrikes in the battle against Taliban and al-Qaida militants, saying too many civilians have been killed.

Karzai said that six years after the U.S.-led invasion the Afghan people "cannot comprehend as to why there is still a need for air power."

"The United States and the coalition forces are not (killing civilians) deliberately. The United States is here to help the Afghan people," Karzai told the U.S. news program "60 Minutes" for a story scheduled to air Sunday night.

Asked if he wants the use of airstrikes curtailed, Karzai replies, "Absolutely. Oh, yes, in …

Official: Comoros black boxes too deep for divers

Investigators have concluded that the black boxes from a plane that plunged into the Indian Ocean with 153 people onboard are too deep to be reached by divers, a French official said Tuesday.

Yemenia Airways Flight 626 crashed into the Indian Ocean north of the Comoros Islands a week ago. A 12-year-old girl was the sole survivor.

A French submarine picked up signals from the plane's two black boxes on Sunday but no one has yet located the boxes, which contain the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders.

The French official, speaking from a crisis unit set up at the French embassy in Comoros after the crash, said two teams of investigators from the French navy and …

Landau to sign autographs on Dec. 6

The 2011 "America's Got Talent" winner Landau Eugene Murphy Jr.will be at Budget Tapes & Records in Kanawha City for an autographsession at 3 p.m. Dec. 6.

Murphy, a Logan County native, won the …

Transportation access affects employment

A Lancaster County official says that employers should support efforts to improve transportation services for residents in southeastern Lancaster city because they represent such a large, untapped labor pool.

The Urban League of Lancaster County, Red Rose Transit Authority and the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board released a report in early June on how transportation affects southeastern Lancaster city residents' access to jobs. Local businesses should work with these organizations to overcome the challenges the report identified, said Travis Martin, executive director of Lancaster County Transportation Management Services.

The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & …

Boars help German cops capture auto theft suspect

A herd of wild boars has thwarted a suspected car thief's getaway in northern Germany.

Police in Schwerin say the 18-year-old abandoned a stolen SUV he was driving Thursday after failing to shake off a chasing patrol car by driving into a field.

Police nabbed his passenger immediately. But they say the driver initially got away by running into nearby woods.

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