“We have to inspect everything to make sure we’re not jeopardizing our families,” he said.
Soul Train fans bop on Broadway
NEW YORK (AP) — Fans of “Soul Train” boogied down Broadway wearing afro wigs and bell bottoms on Saturday while others recounted their favorite episodes at a Harlem meeting hall in tribute to the show’s late creator, Don Cornelius.
About 100 dancers descended on Times Square in a “flash mob” organized through the Internet. As startled tourists looked on, they recreated one of the show’s “Soul Train lines” in which people would take turns dancing toward a TV camera while showing off their most outrageous moves.
“Don Cornelius was a big influence in my life, and I just wanted to pay tribute,” said disc jockey Jon Quick, as he held up a speaker blasting disco grooves. “He was playing the music that nobody else wanted to play. He was an amazing man.”
Judge approves ‘Sister Wives’ suit
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal judge has ruled there’s sufficient evidence to allow a polygamous family made famous by a reality TV show to pursue a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Utah’s bigamy law.
U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups on Friday dismissed Utah’s governor and attorney general from the case, but allowed the suit to proceed against Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Buhman, the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune report.
Buhman threatened to prosecute Kody Brown and his four wives — Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn — after the TLC show “Sister Wives” debuted in September 2010, but his office has not filed charges.
The family sued Buhman, Gov. Gary Herbert and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff in July 2011, claiming Utah’s bigamy statute violates its constitutional rights.
Brigadier general dies in Afghan.
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — A 49-year-old brigadier general died Friday in Afghanistan of apparent natural causes, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. soldier to die there, the military said Saturday.
Fort Hood announced Brig. Gen. Terence Hildner’s death in a statement posted on its website. Hildner had commanded the 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command at Fort Hood since August 2010. He left for Afghanistan in December to support the NATO mission there.
Pentagon spokeswoman Tara Rigler confirmed Hildner was the highest-ranking officer to die in Afghanistan. The Army said Hildner’s death was under investigation, although it appeared natural.
Explosion kills Marine’s wife
COLEVILLE, Calif. (AP) — The person killed in a propane gas explosion outside a remote Northern California training base was the wife of a U.S. Marine, and the two people seriously injured were a Navy corpsman and his wife, military officials said on Saturday.
The officials did not release the victims’ names, saying they were still in the process of contacting next of kin.
The explosion around 9 p.m. Friday occurred at a housing unit in the Mono County town of Coleville for the U.S. Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, where Marines train for mountain operations.
It was related to the housing area’s propane distribution system, and was not associated with activities at the Marine base, which is about 30 miles away, according to Marine spokesman Capt. Nicholas Mannweiler.
Mannweiler said seven duplexes were damaged and 38 families were evacuated, most because utilities serving their homes were shut off for safety reasons.
At least some are staying with other people in town.
The evacuations had not been lifted as of Saturday afternoon at the housing unit, which is made up of 38 duplexes and some stand-alone homes, Mannweiler said.
“We have to inspect everything to make sure we’re not jeopardizing our families,” he said.