Page 5 - ARUBA TODAY

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U.S. NEWS Thursday 5 January 2017

Storms pummel West; Oregon girl dies; I-80 closed

SCOTT SONNER vada Department of Trans-
KRISTIN J. BENDER portation spokeswoman
Associated Press Meg Ragonese said ear-
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Stiff lier Wednesday when they
winds toppled a tower- closed the only state high-
ing evergreen tree into an way connecting Reno to
Oregon home, killing an Lake Tahoe.
8-year-old girl, while bliz- Workers planned to trig-
zard conditions closed ma- ger man-made avalanch-
jor highways and triggered es along the Mount Rose
a small avalanche in the Highway and plow the
Sierra Nevada on Wednes- road again before reopen-
day as wet winter storms ing it late Wednesday or
pummeled much of the Thursday. Earlier, a small
West. avalanche briefly trapped
The child, Zaylee Schlect, three vehicles on an ac-
was the daughter of a vol- cess road at a nearby ski
unteer firefighter who was resort, but no one was hurt.
working during the storm Nevada state trooper Dan
that downed trees through- Gordon said visibility was
out the state on Tuesday near zero at times, but
night. She was killed in Otis, there were no reports of
a town near the coast. Oth- major accidents. Drivers stop to check out an abandoned car stuck in floodwaters on Green Valley Road Wednesday
ers inside the home were “Just a lot of slide-offs and Jan. 4, 2017, in Graton, Calif. Wet winter weather slammed much of the West on Wednesday.
uninjured, authorities said. roadway conditions that Associated Press
In Nevada, a storm are just horrendous — re- nia line, where the National casters said heavy rains No injuries were reported.
dropped 2 feet of snow, ally treacherous,” he said. Weather Service said the would last through Thurs- Snow was also falling in
and another foot was ex- Even cars with chains were potential for another 6 to day. Wyoming, where a winter
pected in the upper eleva- getting stuck and sliding off 12 inches of rain would cre- Elsewhere, the snowiest storm warning was posted
tions around Lake Tahoe. the road, he said. ate serious flooding con- day in nearly a century for much of the Interstate
All major Sierra passes The storm, which was mak- cerns into the weekend. was recorded Tuesday in 80 corridor, including Chey-
were closed Wednesday ing its way toward Utah and Some highways flooded Medford, Oregon, where enne. Heavy snow was also
night, including a 50-mile the Rockies, could be a in the San Francisco Bay more than 8 inches fell at expected in Colorado.
stretch of U.S. Interstate 80 boon for drought-plagued Area, and mud and rock- the airport, according to In New Mexico, forecast-
— from about 50 miles east California by boosting the slides were reported in the the National Weather Ser- ers said a blustery winter
of Sacramento, California, snowpack that provides Santa Cruz Mountains. The vice. Eleven inches of snow storm will produce signifi-
in the foothills near Colfax about a third of the state’s San Lorenzo River was swol- fell on a December day in cant snowfall and strong
to Truckee, about 30 miles water in normal years when len and the Big Sur River was 1919. winds across much of the
southwest of Reno, Ne- it melts in warm, dry months. also above flood stage. In Utah, snow that accu- northern and eastern parts
vada. Flash flood watches were Flood warnings and watch- mulated over several days of the state beginning late
“We are looking at near issued for most of the Sierra es were issued for 11 coun- caused the roof of a busi- Wednesday and peaking
white-out conditions,” Ne- along the Nevada-Califor- ties in the region, and fore- ness to collapse in Provo. early Friday.q
Dad who took boy from his mom in 2002 seeks prison release

CLEVELAND (AP) — A man supervision, defense attor- gives his dad. veteran with no other sig- plication process. Julian
imprisoned in Ohio for ab- ney Ralph DeFranco said Hernandez acknowledges nificant criminal history, said he had been told his
ducting his then-5-year-old in a filing asking a judge taking the boy from the Bir- wants to return to his fam- mother and father had
son from the boy’s mother to consider judicial release mingham area and keep- ily and is willing to remain broken up and he knew
in Alabama in 2002 and for him. ing him from his mother for under whatever alterna- she lived somewhere else.
settling in Cleveland using The 54-year-old Hernan- more than a decade but tive supervision the court In a statement read at Her-
new identities is seeking dez was sentenced in April provided a stable life in might deem appropriate, nandez’s sentencing by
early release. to four years in prison after which his son thrived as an DeFranco said. an attorney, Julian’s moth-
Bobby Hernandez took re- pleading guilty to kidnap- honors student in school Hernandez’s deceptions er said not knowing where
sponsibility for his actions, ping and other charges. and in other activities, De- came to light in 2015, Julian was or whether he
has served about a year His teenage son, Julian, Franco wrote last month in when Julian discovered a was safe had a physical
behind bars and should said then that Hernandez the filing, first reported by discrepancy with his So-
be freed, possibly under had given him everything WJW-TV. cial Security number while and emotional toll. q
some other form of court he needed and he for- Hernandez, a U.S. Navy starting the college ap-