Army probing deadly N.Y. copter crash
MENDON, N.Y. -- The U.S. Army will lead the investigation into a helicopter crash that killed three National Guard members on a training exercise, authorities said Thursday after the remains of the troops were recovered from the rural crash site in upstate New York.
The UH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopter crashed in a farmer's field in rural Mendon, south of Rochester, around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. There were no survivors.
Witnesses who called 911 reported hearing the sounds of an engine sputtering and said the helicopter was flying very low. Photos from the scene showed the wreckage in flames on a snow-covered field.
Army aviation safety investigators were expected on the scene by this morning, Monroe County sheriff's Chief Deputy Michael Fowler said at a news conference.
The helicopter flew out of the Army Aviation Support Facility at Rochester International Airport, and was assigned to C Company of the 1st Battalion, 171st General Support Aviation Battalion, according to Eric Durr, the public affairs director of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.
$731M Powerball ticket sold in Maryland
LONACONING, Md. -- The latest jackpot-winning Powerball ticket, worth $731.1 million, was sold in a struggling coal mining town whose biggest previous claim to fame was being the hometown of baseball Hall of Famer Lefty Grove.
The ticket was purchased at Coney Market, a convenience store in the Allegany County town of Lonaconing, the Maryland Lottery announced on Thursday. The store will get a $100,000 bonus for selling the ticket to the fifth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.
It had been more than four months since anyone won the Powerball, allowing the game's jackpot to grow so large. An even larger Mega Millions jackpot will be up for grabs Friday night.
Just who will collect the Powerball prize may never be known: Maryland is one of the states that allow winners to remain anonymous.
The Powerball jackpot came only a day after nobody won the $970 million Mega Millions prize, the third-largest prize in U.S. history.
Winning numbers for Wednesday night's Powerball drawing were: 40-53-60-68-69 and a Powerball of 22.
It was the first time both lottery jackpots topped $700 million. The biggest prize was a $1.58 billion Powerball jackpot won by three people in 2016.
The prizes listed are for winners who choose an annuity option, paid over 30 years. Most winners opt for cash prizes, which would be $546.8 million for Wednesday's Powerball. Prizes are subject to federal and state taxes.
Repairs delay vice president's moving-in
WASHINGTON -- Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emoff will not be immediately moving into the Naval Observatory while work is done on the 128-year-old home, according to two people familiar with the arrangement.
The couple will stay at a temporary residence while the repairs, which involve liners in the chimney and other maintenance, are being done, according to a person close to Harris, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not have authorization to speak publicly.
Harris, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, has a two-bedroom condominium where she will stay during the construction, according to another person familiar with the arrangement.
It was unclear how extensive the work on the Naval Observatory home would be, how long it would take and how much it would cost.
Vice presidents and their families for most of American history lived in their own homes, but as housing costs escalated, Congress in 1974 agreed to refurbish the house for the vice president's use.
Walter Mondale was the first vice president to live in the home, and it has since housed six vice presidents, including, during his eight years as vice president, President Joe Biden.
Wray to keep FBI post, Biden office says
WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden intends to keep FBI Director Christopher Wray in the job, White House press secretary Jennifer Psaki said Thursday, a day after raising doubts about his future by dodging a question on whether Biden retained confidence in him.
"I caused an unintentional ripple yesterday, so wanted to state very clearly President Biden intends to keep FBI Director Wray on in his role and he has confidence in the job he is doing," Psaki said in a tweet Thursday.
Wray is serving a 10-year term, but his job was in jeopardy for much of the past year, and Trump and his senior aides repeatedly discussed firing him after November's election.
During her first White House news briefing on Wednesday, Psaki would not publicly commit to keeping Wray at the agency's helm.
Psaki gave similar replies to a number of unrelated questions, appearing to want to avoid making significant news outside of her prepared remarks.
A lawyer and former Justice Department official, Wray began as FBI director in 2017 after Trump fired his predecessor, James B. Comey, who had served less than four years.