Wednesday Headlines

Schools closing due to student absences, crash on I-75, man arrested for making threats against Obama

New Bedford Academy closed early today because of a high number of student absences and will be closed the rest of the week. School officials say it's because of a high fever. Pittsford school in Michigan is also closed this week due to flu-like illnesses among almost 25 percent of its students.

A crash on I-75 southbound in Monroe County north of Elm Avenue tied up traffic today. The Monroe County sheriff's office says Robert Simms, 64, of Wyandotte, Michigan lost control of his vehicle when an oncoming motorhome slammed into him. His passenger Judith Simms, 59, was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Simms is in serious condition. The people in the motorhome had only minor injuries.

A Newark airport subcontractor was arrested last night for making threats against President Obama. Police arrested John Brek, 55, at Newark airport. He is charged with making terroristic threats against President Obama. Police say when they arrived at Brek's home, they found 43 guns.

The Demon Drop at Cedar Point is headed west. The ride has been a fixture for a long time near the front of the amusement park. It will be moved for the 2010 season to Knott's Berry Farm, Cedar Point's sister park in southern California.

A Massachusetts man has been charged with conspiring to carry out terror attacks in a shopping mall and against U.S. military personnel in Iraq. Authorities in Boston say Tarek Mehanna sought training in terrorist training camps and worked with others from 2001 to 2008 on the conspiracy. The group also targeted prominent U.S. politicians. Authorities say they first arrested Mehanna last November for lying to FBI agents conducting a terrorism investigation. Mehanna has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

A white supremacist from Portland, Oregon has pleaded not guilty to charges he mailed a noose to a Lima civil rights leader. Daniel Lee Jones, 32, entered that plea in federal court in Toledo yesterday. He's charged with mailing threatening communication and interfering with federally protected activities. Jones is currently free on bond.

At the Toledo Zoo, Elaine, a 42 year old female gorilla, died yesterday afternoon. Tests revealed abnormalities in her kidneys and lungs. The zoo says Elaine was being treated for a cough and appeared to be responding before becoming almost unresponsive Tuesday morning. The life expectancy for gorillas in zoos is about 31 years. Just last weekend, the zoo reported the death of 49 year old Fifi, a female chimpanzee.

On November 3, Springfield Township residents will vote on a police services levy. Lucas County told township trustees it'll now charge for protection services by the sheriff's department. The proposal calls for Springfield to be protected by Holland police instead.

A survivor from an Arizona sweat lodge is speaking out about what happened. The woman says spiritual guru James Arthur Ray pushed them to stay in the lodge even after some people collapsed. Three people have died. A homicide investigation is now underway.

A mother made an emotional plea today some 48 hours after her 7 year old Florida child went missing after she left school. Hundreds of searchers and some volunteers continue the search for Somer Thompson throughout Clay County, Florida. Somer's mom, Diena Thompson, pled for her daughter's safe return during a morning news conference. Authorities have interviewed more than 60 of the nearly 100 registered sex offenders in the area and who live within a three mile radius of where the second grader was last seen, but still no luck at locating the little girl.

The former head of the federal auto task force says General Motors and Chrysler had, as he put it, "shockingly" bad financial management. Steven Rattner says that weakened their case for a government bailout. But he says his team feared letting the automakers collapse would deal a devastating blow to the economy. Rattner says GM had perhaps the weakest finance operation his team had ever seen at a major company.

In India, a passenger train rear ended another killing at least 21 people and injuring 17 others. The injured were trapped among the rubble for hours as rescuers tried to reach them and pull them to safety. Authorities say they're still trying to determine why the accident happened.

A pedestrian narrowly avoided being crushed by an out-of-control bus in Russia earlier this week. The brakes on the bus reportedly failed and the bus struck 19 cars. The bus finally came to rest after it mounted a raised plaza in the city center. Four people suffered mild concussions.

A house in Massachusetts is now condemned and police found 3 people living in filthy conditions. Officers in hazmat suits took breaks from what they called an overwhelming bad smell. Inside, they found 2 dead cats, trash and human and animal waste stacked nearly 3 feet high. Eleven cats were rescued. Police say there was no electricity or running water in the home making a bad situation even worse. One of the residents may face animal cruelty charges.

Ohio is now offering a new standard license plate option. The colorful plate with images of a barn and a Wright Brothers plane will be available as an alternative to the state's familiar red, white and blue plates. You can get one starting November 23. It will cost you the same as the old plate - $2.50. At one time, the so called "Beautiful Ohio" plates were to become the new standard. In May, the state pulled them saying it wasn't appropriate to offer drivers a replacement during a recession.

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