HEMET — A high school student in a pickup truck ran into a group of teenagers who were crossing a street outside a California high school Wednesday, leaving nine people injured, including the driver, officials said.
The accident occurred shortly after school ended for the day at Hemet High School, Riverside County fire officials said. Three people were in critical condition, five more were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, and one refused treatment.
The driver, a student at the school, ran into a group of eight people who were headed toward the student parking lot, Principal Emily Shaw said.
“The kids were in the crosswalk doing everything right,” she said.
NEW YORK
Sept. 11 memorial marks 10 years since cleanup
NEW YORK — The National September 11 Memorial and Museum on Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of the end of cleanup operations at the site with a tribute to recovery workers and first responders.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki attended the evening event at the World Trade Center site.
“It looks peaceful, the extreme opposite of what I saw when I first came down,” said Jaye Markwell, a Connecticut volunteer with the Salvation Army who helped deliver food during the cleanup effort.
After the attacks, an army of workers spent months clearing the site. The formal end of that operation was May 30, 2002.
Planned Parenthood plans anti-Romney ad for TV
NEW YORK — Planned Parenthood is launching a TV ad campaign in three battleground states suggesting that women’s rights would suffer if Republican Mitt Romney is elected president. The political arm of the women’s health care organization has endorsed President Obama for re-election.
The group announced Wednesday that it would spend $1.4 million to air its ad in Florida, Iowa and Virginia, as well as in Washington, D.C.
The ad quotes Mr. Romney saying he would “get rid” of Planned Parenthood. When he made the comment earlier this year, aides said he was talking about eliminating federal funding.
OHIO
Man helping panhandler gets day in court for littering
TOLEDO — A driver who stopped to give a couple of bucks to a panhandler in a wheelchair at a busy freeway interchange was handed a $344 littering ticket by a Cleveland police officer after the cash fell to the ground.
The driver, who is now fighting the ticket, said he can’t believe that his attempt to help someone in need might cost him a lot more.
“It’s turned into a big hassle,” John Davis, of Elyria, told WJW-TV after he pleaded not guilty to the minor misdemeanor Tuesday in court. He is expected back in court Thursday, when he hopes the ticket will be thrown out.
The panhandler was at a busy intersection during rush hour on May 17, and it’s illegal to solicit or give money at the side of a roadway, Cleveland police said. “It’s a huge safety issue,” said police spokeswoman Jennifer Ciaccia. “The main issue was where it occurred.”
ALASKA
Birthing season for moose threatens state residents
ANCHORAGE — Wildlife biologists are warning about the dangers of moose calving season after several people were injured in the past week by protective cow moose, including a 6-year-old girl who was stomped by one in her backyard until her father scared it off.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Jessy Coltrane said moose are giving birth now, and people need to be extra careful around them.
The warning comes after Chloe Metzger was stomped by a moose and suffered a broken clavicle and back injuries Monday in her Eagle River backyard, according to Wednesday’s Anchorage Daily News.
The same day, a moose struck a man outside an Anchorage elementary school, but he was uninjured.
• From wire dispatches and staff reports
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