WASHINGTON – A fourth person has died after being hit when a gunman sprayed bullets from a moving vehicle into a crowd in the nation’s capital, police said Wednesday.
Three suspects have been arrested in the drive-by shooting Tuesday that injured five others, but investigators said the motive wasn’t clear.
Six men and three women were hit by the gunfire around 7:30 p.m. in the southeastern part of the city, said D.C. Police Department spokesman Officer Hugh Carew. Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer says all were in their 20s and 30s, except for one teenager.
Police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said Wednesday the fourth victim had died.
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In one water-weary neighborhood along the Pawtuxet River in Cranston, basements were flooded by early Tuesday morning as water levels approached waist-deep levels toward the end of the street. One resident hung a sign: “FEMA + State + City of Cranston. Buy our houses.”
“Right now it’s bad and getting worse,” said Brian Dupont, a real estate broker who owns two homes on the street. He feared the dozens of sandbags protecting the homes would offer minimal protection.
Standing water pooled on or rushed across roads in the region, making driving treacherous and forcing closures. In Maine, a dam in Porter let loose Tuesday morning, sending a torrent of water down country roads. No evacuations or injuries were reported.
North of New York City, a man in his 70s drove past a barricade onto a flooded section of the Bronx River Parkway and had to be rescued from the roof of his truck, Westchester County police said. On Long Island, rain coupled with tides inundated a 20-mile stretch of oceanfront road in Southampton.
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In Massachusetts, the biggest concerns were in the southeastern part of the state, where a highway was closed, said state Emergency Management Agency spokesman Scott MacLeod. A bridge gave out in Freetown, isolating about 1,000 residents, he said.
Records fell across the region.
The more than 14 inches of rain that fell this month in Boston broke the previous March record of 11, according to the National Weather Service. New Jersey and parts of New York City also set March records. And by Tuesday afternoon, Providence had recorded more than 15 inches of rain in March, becoming the rainiest of any month on record.
Cranston Mayor Allan Fung told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday that the city was facing “dire circumstances.” A sewer pump station gave out early Wednesday, and about 130 homes had been evacuated.
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The rain came as residents were still recovering from a storm two weeks ago that dumped as much as 10 inches on the region. Business owners in the flood zone are still grappling with the impact of lost income.
“It’s definitely devastating,” said liquor store owner Maria Medeiros, whose family-owned business in Providence now abuts raging rapids of water and streets barricaded by the police. “Situations like this, what can you do?”
Even fishermen were hit: Shellfish beds in Rhode Island and Massachusetts were closed because of sewage overflows and failures at wastewater treatment facilities caused by flooding.
National Guard troops were activated in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Pockets of home evacuations were reported in those states, as well, and more than 100 people were ordered to leave an apartment complex in Milford, N.H. No deaths were reported in those states as of Wednesday.
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Interstate 95, a major East Coast thoroughfare, was closed for about a quarter-mile in Warwick, R.I., because of flooding and down to one lane in other areas of Rhode Island. Officials on Wednesday warned that it could remain closed for days as the water recedes and to allow time for safety inspections.
Nonessential state employees were given the day off in Rhode Island, schools were urged to close and state officials asked drivers to stay off the road.
“If we end up with a gridlock, it’s going to impact the entire state,” said Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for the governor.
President Barack Obama issued an emergency declaration late Tuesday for the state, ordering federal aid for disaster relief and authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts.
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CRANSTON, R.I. – The second record storm that socked the Northeast this month was reduced to drizzle as it was winding down Wednesday, but the worst of widespread flooding was yet to come, forecasters said.
Rivers from Maine to New York were expected to crest later Wednesday or Thursday. And in Rhode Island, officials were bracing for what was expected to be the most severe flooding to hit the state in more than 100 years.
“None of us alive have seen the flooding that we are experiencing now or going to experience,” Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri said Tuesday night. “This is unprecedented in our state’s history.”
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It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development,” he warned.
Obama also urged Congress to complete work on a climate change and energy bill, which has remained elusive. The president met with lawmakers earlier this month at the White House about a bill cutting emissions of pollution-causing greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020. The legislation would also expand domestic oil and gas drilling offshore and provide federal assistance for constructing nuclear power plants and carbon sequestration and storage projects at coal-fired utilities.
White House officials hope Wednesday’s announcement will attract support from Republicans, who adopted a chant of “Drill, baby, drill” during 2008’s presidential campaign.
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Under Obama’s plan, drilling could take place 125 miles from Florida’s Gulf coastline if lawmakers allow the moratorium to expire. Drilling already takes place in western and central areas in the Gulf of Mexico.
The president’s team has been busy on energy policy and Obama talked about it in his State of the Union address. During that speech, he said he wanted the United States to build a new generation of nuclear power plans and invest in biofuel and coal technologies.
“It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development,” he warned
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WASHINGTON – In a reversal of a long-standing ban on most offshore drilling, President Barack Obama is allowing oil drilling 50 miles off Virginia’s shorelines. At the same time, he is rejecting some new drilling sites that had been planned in Alaska.
Obama’s plan offers few concessions to environmentalists, who have been strident in their opposition to more oil platforms off the nation’s shores. Hinted at for months, the plan modifies a ban that for more than 20 years has limited drilling along coastal areas other than the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama was set to announce the new drilling policy Wednesday at Andrews air base in Maryland. White House officials pitched the changes as ways to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil and create jobs — both politically popular ideas — but the president’s decisions also could help secure support for a climate change bill languishing in Congress.
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The RNC will be reimbursed by Erik Brown of Orange, Calif., the donor-vendor who billed the committee for the club visit, Heye said.
Brown did not respond to an e-mail and phone message seeking comment. The transaction was first reported by the Daily Caller.
Since November, the RNC has paid Brown’s company, Dynamic Marketing Inc., about $19,000 for printing and direct-mail services, campaign spending reports show. He has contributed several thousand dollars to the party.
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