Hurricane Hone moves south of Hawaii’s Big Island as Category 1 storm
Hurricane Hone was moving late Saturday south of the Big Island of Hawaii as a weak Category 1 storm, with winds of 75 mph.
The storm was expected to remain at about the same status, walking the tight line between tropical storm and hurricane on Sunday and into Monday. Hurricanes have winds of 74 mph or greater.
Hone is moving westerly at 12 mph and is currently 105 miles south of Hilo, Hawaii, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane force winds were only extending about 15 miles from the eye of the storm, meaning the Big Island is only experiencing tropical storm conditions, and is only expected to. Tropical storm force winds were extending up to 125 miles.
A Tropical Storm Warning had been issued as Hone approached Hawaii. That warning remained in effect for Hawaii County at about 11 p.m. on Saturday, weather officials said.
While the storm isn’t expected to make a direct hit on the islands, it is still close enough to deliver some potentially dangerous impacts. Tropical Storm conditions are likely occurring on the Big Island overnight and early Sunday, especially at higher terrains and through passes.
About 6 to 12 inches of rainfall are expected on the Big Island — especially near the windward and southeast-facing slopes — and there is a Flash Flood Watch there. For the smaller islands, about 2 to 4 inches of rain are expected.
Life-threatening surf and rip currents are also impacting Hawaii.
(LANSING, MI) — A semitractor-trailer crashed into backed-up traffic on a Michigan interstate, killing four people and injuring 17 others just before midnight on Saturday, police said.
Troopers with the Michigan State Police had been stationed on Interstate 96, controlling traffic as workers installed power lines across the road, the department said in a statement.
Prior to the crash, “numerous” cars had come to a halt in the expressway’s westbound lane near the intersection with M-52, police said. The work, which was being done by Consumers Energy, required the road to be completely shut down for a short period, police.
Those vehicles had just begun moving again when the truck crashed into them, police said.
“It appears the driver of the semi-truck did not see the backup and could not stop his vehicle in time,” police said. “The semi-truck was in the left lane of travel and struck numerous vehicles.”
The truck and more than a dozen other vehicles caught fire after the crash, police said.
“Seventeen vehicle occupants have been transported to UM Sparrow Hospital and McLaren Hospital in Lansing for serious injuries,” police said.
(LONDON, Ky.) — Joseph A. Couch, the man authorities have named as a suspect in a Kentucky freeway shooting that left seven people injured, bought the weapon used in the incident legally on the morning of the shooting, authorities said Sunday night.
Laurel County Sheriff’s Commander Richard Dalrymple said at Sunday night’s news briefing that Couch purchased about a thousand rounds of ammunition, most of which has been recovered.
The suspect remains at large despite a massive search in the area of Saturday’s shooting north of London, Kentucky.
The shooting unfolded around 5:30 p.m. local time on Saturday evening, officials said. Arriving deputies initially found nine vehicles had been shot in both the north and southbound lanes of I-75, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said at a news conference late Saturday night. By Sunday night, that number had jumped to 12 vehicles, according to officials.
Root said deputies found five people with serious gunshot wounds, including one who was shot in the face. He said one vehicle contained two people who were shot.
Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said Sunday that none of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries and were all in stable condition.
“A couple of our deputies, because of the severity of the injuries, loaded the people up, the injured persons, and transported them to London Hospital,” Root said.
Two additional people were injured in a car crash that occurred during the shooting, authorities said.
Root said I-75 was immediately shut down in both directions, saying that at the time, deputies didn’t know where the bullets came from.
“We couldn’t risk somebody else being shot,” Root said.
Authorities previously said they found an AR-15 rifle in the woods near the crime scene on Interstate 75, about eight miles north of London, Kentucky. Couch’s vehicle was also found abandoned in the same area Saturday night, officials said Sunday afternoon.
Couch was first named as a person of interest in the incident but upgraded to a suspect on Sunday. Root said the decision to name Couch a suspect was based on evidence collected in the investigation. Asked to elaborate, Root said that the recovery of the weapon and Couch’s vehicle, as well as “some information” he could not share, prompted investigators to elevate Couch to a suspect in the shooting.
The sheriff’s office earlier released a photo of Couch, who allegedly fled the freeway shooting and was believed to still be in the area, Root said.
Root said Couch has an address in Woodbine, Kentucky, and the sheriff’s office described him as about 5-foot-10-inches tall and 154 pounds.
Dalrymple said Sunday night that the suspect allegedly fired from a ledge about 30 feet down from a cliff by Exit 49. To find the location, Dalrymple said he had to hold onto a tree and look down to see the site to find the location.
Earlier, Acciardo described the shooting as “sniper-like” and said it was not the result of road rage. He said investigators do not believe the shooter knew any of the victims or had contact with them before the shooting.
Up to 60 members of law enforcement searched the area of the shooting until 3 a.m. Sunday before halting the search due to safety concerns, saying it was pitch black on the highway and describing the terrain where the search was being conducted as very rugged.
More than 150 individuals were involved in the search for Couch on Sunday, with efforts set to resume on Monday morning, according to Root.
The FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting local authorities in the investigation, officials said.
A motive for the shooting remained under investigation.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement on X on Saturday that he was monitoring the situation.
In an interview Sunday on ABC’s Good Morning America, Christina Dinoto said she was driving with a friend southbound on I-75, heading to Tennessee, when the shooting erupted.
“All of a sudden, we just heard this loud, deafening sound,” Dinoto said. “And my ear, my right ear, started ringing, and we didn’t know what the sound was, but we both looked at each other and said, was that a gunshot?”
Dinoto said that when she pulled off the interstate in Knoxville, she discovered damage to her vehicle that she suspects was caused by a bullet that may have ricocheted off another car.
The Kentucky shooting came less than a week after six people were injured in six shootings that occurred on Sept. 2 on Interstate 5 in Washington state between 8:26 p.m. and 11:01 p.m. local time, officials previously said. A suspect whose vehicle was sought in connection with several of the shootings was arrested in the Tacoma area on Sept. 3, police said.
(REDLANDS, Calif.) — Police have arrested a man in connection with a couple who went missing from a nudist community in California. Police are now confident the couple is dead.
The couple’s neighbor, 62-year-old Michael Sparks, was arrested for murder late Thursday, days after the couple were reported missing, according to the Redlands Police Department. Police had been trying to locate Sparks on Thursday, breaching a home and conducting a search using remote video equipment to find him.
Sparks was found underneath his home and he surrendered after lengthy negotiations, according to Redland Police. He has been booked at West Valley Detention Center.
Stephanie Menard, 73, and Daniel Menard, 79, were reported missing on Sunday, according to police. During a press briefing on Thursday, the Redlands Police Department said foul play was suspected after being tipped off by a source in the couple’s neighborhood.
Police are in the process of searching for the couple’s bodies, which they believe are on the suspect’s property. Search teams, including cadaver dogs, are on the property.
The couple’s dog, a white shih tzu named Cuddles, has also not been found.
A source told police on Thursday that a person involved in their disappearance was on the property as they were conducting interviews, leading police to lock down the property and eventually arrest Sparks.
Significant damage was dealt to the suspect’s home when police breached it, but they plan on searching the home as soon as it is safe to enter.
The couple was last seen at their residence on Olive Dell Ranch — a family nudist resort — at around 10 a.m. local time on Saturday. Their unlocked vehicle was found down the road from the residence that day, according to police.
Stephanie Menard’s purse was found inside their residence along with both of their cellphones, according to police.