Page 39 - June 23, 2017

Groton Daily Independent
Friday, June 23, 2017 ~ Vol. 24 - No. 344 ~ 39 of 54
Cosby is eager to get back to work following the mistrial, a spokesman said. A series of town halls is planned to help educate young people about the problems their misbehavior could create, spokesman Andrew Wyatt told a Birmingham, Alabama, TV station. The issue “is bigger than Bill Cosby” and can af- fect any young person, especially young athletes, Wyatt said, without elaborating.
The AP does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done.
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Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania.
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For more on Cosby, including stories about the trial, historical photos, videos and an audio series explor-
ing the case, visit http://www.apnews.com/tag/CosbyonTrial .
Cindy weakens but still stirs weather over wide swath By KEVIN McGILL, Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A suspected tornado near Birmingham, Alabama, attened businesses and injured one person Thursday, while the mayor of a coastal Louisiana town urged residents to evacuate ahead of a rising tide — two lingering effects of a weakening Tropical Depression Cindy that was fueling harsh weather across the Southeast.
The walls of a liquor store and an oil-change service in Fair eld, west of Birmingham, collapsed in the apparent twister. A fast-food restaurant also was among the damaged businesses. Dean Argo, a spokes- man for the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board said one employee of the liquor store was hurt.
Meteorologist Jason Holmes of the National Weather Service said trees were down and buildings were reported damaged along the Interstate 20 corridor on the western outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama’s most populous city. The weather service had issued tornado warnings earlier for the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa areas.
Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast was still suffering from the effects of Cindy, a former tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico that crawled ashore early Thursday near the Louisiana-Texas state line. Downgraded to a tropical depression, Cindy weakened as it crossed Louisiana toward Arkansas but a broad circulation around the system swept moist Gulf air over the South, fueling severe weather and pushing up coastal tides.
In the low-lying Louisiana town of La tte, south of New Orleans, Mayor Tim Kerner urged residents in and around the town to seek higher ground because of rising water.
“The tide’s rolling in. It’s getting to a dangerous level,” Kerner said. Streets and yards in the town were covered and Kerner worried that homes, even those in parts of town protected by levees, might be ooded. “I’m hoping not,” he added.
“Certainly it’s not been as bad as we feared. That’s the good news, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in Baton Rouge. “The bad news is it’s not over yet.”
As a slow-moving tropical storm that formed Tuesday in the Gulf, Cindy was blamed for one death: a 10-year-old boy, Nolan McCabe of St. Louis, Missouri, was vacationing with his family on the Alabama coast when he was hit by a log washed in by a large wave. Cindy also caused widespread coastal highway and street ooding and several short-lived tornadoes, but no other deaths.
In Louisiana, Edwards said two shermen reported missing in a coastal area were located and rescued Thursday. A day earlier off Texas, the U.S. Coast Guard helped the four-member crew of a shrimp trawler limp to shore at Freeport after the crew radioed in distress amid fears of sinking.
Authorities warn driving rains could still cause dangerous ash oods. “That continues to be the threat,” said Ken Graham, of the weather service of ce near New Orleans. “Not only around the center of Cindy. The impact of rain can be hundreds of miles away.”
Heavy rain was forecast to spread over the Tennessee and Ohio valleys on Thursday, then move Friday and Saturday into the central Appalachians. At 4 p.m. CDT Thursday, Cindy was about 45 miles (75 kilo- meters) south of Shreveport. It maximum sustained winds of 20 mph (32 kph) and was heading northeast,