Nation roundup for November 29

Winds allow NYC balloons to fly

NEW YORK (AP) — Snoopy, Spider-Man and the rest of the iconic balloons have gotten the all-clear to fly between Manhattan skyscrapers at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

There were fears the balloons could be grounded if windy conditions from a storm that snarled holiday travel along the East Coast pick up. But the New York Police Department decided Thursday morning that the winds were calm enough for the 16 giant character balloons to lift off.

The iconic characters wouldn’t have been allowed to lift off if sustained winds topped 23 mph and gusts exceeded 34 mph, according to city rules enacted after fierce winds in 1997 caused a Cat in the Hat balloon to topple a light pole and seriously injure a spectator. Balloons had only been grounded once in the parade’s 87-year history, when bad weather kept them from flying in 1971.

Amy Kule, the parade’s executive producer, said the 3.5 million spectators who gather to watch the annual affair could also expect to see numerous floats, 900 clowns and 40 smaller balloons.

A wet and blustery storm along the East Coast made driving hazardous and tangled up hundreds of flights Wednesday but didn’t cause the all-out gridlock many Thanksgiving travelers had feared. The storm for the most part unleashed wind-driven rain along the Northeast’s heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor from Richmond, Va., to the tip of Maine.

Elsewhere in the country, Thanksgiving traditions were unaffected by the weather.

In Washington on Wednesday, President Barack Obama pardoned two 38-pound turkeys named Popcorn and Caramel, fulfilling the annual presidential tradition.

Suspected killer held on $5M bail

PARSONS, Kan. (AP) — The man suspected in the deaths of a southeast Kansas woman and her three children and arrested after a massive manhunt was being held Wednesday on $5 million bail.

Labette District Judge Robert Fleming signed an order that gives prosecutors until Dec. 10 to file charges against David Cornell Bennett Jr., 22, of Cherryvale, who was arrested late Tuesday. It was unclear whether Bennett has an attorney. The Labette County Jail declined to make him available for comment.

Bennett is being held in connection to the killings of 29-year-old Cami Umbarger and her children.

Bennett, who has not been formally charged, was captured shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday in Independence while walking and talking on his cellphone to a friend who alerted authorities to his whereabouts, Independence Police Chief Harry Smith said Wednesday. It ended the search that began Monday when Umbarger, of Parsons, was first reported missing.

Their bodies were found late Monday night in Parsons, about 35 miles from Independence. Details about how the victims were killed or their relationship to Bennett have not been released by authorities.

However, Umbarger’s cousin, Tara Umbarger, of Fredonia, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Cami Umbarger had met Bennett around the end of September and went out with him a couple of times.

President gives fixings to needy

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is continuing an annual family tradition by helping to pack bags of food and distribute them to the needy on Thanksgiving eve.

Obama, his wife, Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha and his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, on Wednesday dropped in on the Capital Area Food Bank, one of the largest serving the Washington area.

They dropped bundles of sweet potatoes, onions, carrots and apples into reusable bags people held open as they walked by. They also handed out small white boxes stamped with the presidential seal that contain M&M’s candy.

Obama wished people a “Happy Thanksgiving,” and Malia shook their hands.

It’s the third straight Thanksgiving that Obama and his family have helped out at this particular food bank.

Obama was spending the holiday at the White House.

Gunman fires at officers in L.A.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — A gunman who fired several shots at a pair of Southern California police officers, hitting one, and held two people hostage for nearly nine hours was booked Thursday on suspicion of attempted murder, a sheriff’s official said.

Christopher Warsaw, 45, was being held on $1 million bail, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Guillermina Saldana.

It was not immediately clear if Warsaw had an attorney and he had not made an initial court appearance.

Warsaw was arrested late Wednesday after engaging police in a nearly nine-hour standoff after taking his girlfriend and her 14-year-old daughter hostage, authorities said. He fired at officers who responded to a family disturbance call from the home that came at 12:30 p.m.

The worst injury occurred when an Inglewood policeman was shot in his bulletproof vest. He was taken to a hospital in good condition but “in a lot of pain,” police Capt. James D. Madia said.

He suffered blunt force injuries and spent Wednesday night in the hospital as a precaution but could be released Thursday, police said.

The second officer was not hit but was hurt when she fell down in the chaos that followed, Madia said. She was treated at a hospital and released.

The gunman, his girlfriend and her 14-year-old daughter all came away unharmed, police said.

The man in the home shot at the arriving officers “before they could even get to the front door,” Madia said. Officers returned fire, and a video aired on KABC-TV captured more than a dozen shots being fired.

Officers pulled their wounded colleague out of the line of fire, Lt. Oscar Mejia said.

Esther Frazier, who lives across the street from the standoff, said she was baking a cake for Thanksgiving when she heard a commotion and walked outside to see police officers banging on the door of the home.

She went back inside to turn off her oven when gunfire erupted.

“There were so many gunshots, oh my God, it was like you were in a war zone,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “A shot came through the screen on my door.”