SAN FRANCISCO — A deadly Northern California wildfire burned so hot in dry and windy conditions that it birthed a record-breaking tornado of flame, officials said Friday.
They also warned of worsening conditions throughout the region.
Winds in the “fire whirl” created July 26 near Redding reached speeds of 143 mph, a speed that rivaled some of the most destructive Midwest tornados, National Weather Service meteorologist Duane Dykema said. The whirl uprooted trees and tore roofs from homes, Dykema said.
The whirl measured a 3 on the five-level Enhanced Fujita scale, which scientists use to classify the strength of tornados, he said. California has not recorded a tornado of that strength since 1978.
That fire continues to burn about 100 miles south of the Oregon border as firefighters there and throughout Northern California brace for worsening conditions this weekend.
NEW YORK — Before telling authorities that Harvey Weinstein had raped her, his accuser sent warm emails after the alleged attack welcoming plans to get together, seeking advice and telling him no one “understands me quite like you,” according to court papers his lawyers filed Friday.
The woman, who hasn’t been publicly identified, has accused the former movie titan-turned-#MeToo villain of raping her in a hotel room in March 2013.
But his lawyers, who are seeking to get the rape and other sex charges against Weinstein dismissed, argue the emails portray an intimate, consensual relationship, not the aftermath of a rape. And the attorneys say grand jurors should have heard about the exchanges before deciding to indict him this spring.
One message, less than a month after the alleged rape, expresses appreciation for “all you do for me,” according copies of emails filed in court. Another message, days later, says “it would be great to see you again.”
“Miss you big guy,” another message added in September 2013, not long after the woman had written that she “was hoping for some time privately with you to share the direction I am going in life and catch up.”
HOUSTON — A man accused of killing one of former President George H.W. Bush’s doctors fatally shot himself during a confrontation with authorities in Houston on Friday morning, the city’s police chief said.
Joseph James Pappas, 62, was accused of shooting Dr. Mark Hausknecht on July 20, while the cardiologist rode his bike to work at Houston Methodist Hospital. Authorities have said Pappas might have been seeking revenge for his mother, who died on the doctor’s operating table more than 20 years ago, in April 1997.
Authorities on Wednesday had announced Pappas as a suspect in the death, saying he should be considered armed, dangerous and possibly suicidal. Police found him Friday after a city worker reported seeing him.
Pappas died from a single self-inflicted shot to the head, Houston police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters a short time after Pappas’ death, with his body still at the scene. Pappas was wearing a bulletproof vest during the confrontation and shot himself after a second police unit arrived, Acevedo said.
From Associated Press