Obama: Julian Bond changed America for the better...China to investigate chemical blasts...Tribe votes on Martha's Vineyard gambling

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FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Barack Obama says Julian Bond helped change the country for the better -- and there's no better way to be remembered than that. The civil rights activist died last night after a short illness. He was 75. Bond played founding roles in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Poverty Law Center, served in the Georgia legislature and chaired the board of the NAACP for 10 years.

TIANJIN, China (AP) — Chinese authorities have confirmed that several hundred" tons of sodium cyanide was being stored at the site of last week's massive explosions in the port city of Tianjin (tyan-jihn). The toxic chemical can form a flammable gas upon contact with water. China's top prosecuting office says it's setting up a team to investigate possible offenses related to the explosions, which killed at least 112 people and injured more than 700. Another 95 are listed as missing.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers are heading to a remote area of Indonesia where villagers say they saw a plane crash into a mountain. Indonesian officials say a Trigana Air Service plane carrying 54 people lost contact with ground control during a short flight in bad weather. A search in the mountainous eastern province of Papua was suspended because of weather and darkness.

HICKSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — One person is dead and another injured after a single-engine plane crashed onto a railroad crossing on New York's Long Island this morning. The crash has shut down service on a branch of the busy Long Island Rail Road. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says the track will be assessed for damage once the plane wreckage is removed.

BOSTON (AP) — A Native American tribe is voting on a plan to turn an unfinished community center into a gambling hall on the Massachusetts resort island of Martha's Vineyard. The plan is to offer electronic, bingo-style games. More than 1,000 members of the tribe (Aquinnah Wampanoag) are eligible to cast ballots in today's vote. The state, town and a local community association have sued to block the project. A federal judge heard arguments in the case last week.