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STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Gene Wilder, the star of such comedy classics as "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles," has died. He was 83. Wilder's nephew says the actor and writer died late yesterday in Stamford, Connecticut from complications from Alzheimer's disease. The frizzy-haired actor was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Mel Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in "Young Frankenstein" or bilking Broadway in "The Producers."
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia school board is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on whether a transgender male must be allowed to use the boys' bathroom at his high school. The Gloucester (GLAH'-stur) County School Board formally asked the high court today to overturn an appeals court ruling that said the board's policy barring Gavin Grimm from the boys' restroom violates federal law. At issue is whether the courts must defer to a U.S. Department of Education rule that says transgender students in public schools must be allowed to use restrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the United States has asked Turkey to "stay focused" on the fight against the Islamic State -- and not to engage with the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Defense Forces, who are backed by Washington. Carter told reporters at the Pentagon that Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford spoke to his Turkish counterpart yesterday. Carter's comments and a written statement by the Pentagon earlier today were the first U.S. criticism of Turkey, a NATO ally, since it launched a U.S.-backed incursion into northern Syria to help Syrian rebels seize a town from the Islamic State group.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators at Los Angeles International Airport are focusing on what prompted the first of several 911 calls falsely reporting gunshots that sent panicked travelers running onto streets and the tarmac. They say the initial 911 call came in Terminal 8 around 8:45 p.m. yesterday — about five minutes after officers detained a man dressed as Zorro who was carrying a plastic sword in Terminal 7. Police have found no connection between the two incidents. They say multiple 911 calls were made from at least three terminals. A search uncovered no evidence of a gunman or shots fired.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Authorities at some locations in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area of Florida are hauling out sandbags to offer to residents. This, amid predictions of heavy rains from a storm system heading to the southeast Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters expect it to turn to the north and then northeast in coming days, and they say it could drop heavy rains over northern Florida.
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