5 dead in RV at bikers' charity event
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Five people who took part in a motorcycling group's charity event in Tennessee were found dead in a recreational vehicle Sunday morning, authorities said.
Clarksville police spokesman Jim Knoll said authorities were investigating the deaths of the three men and two women at Clarksville Speedway but no foul play was suspected, The (Clarksville) Leaf-Chronicle reported.
Bill Langford, director of Bikers Who Care, said the three men were members of the motorcycling group and the women were a wife and girlfriend of the members. The victims' names had not been released.
"They were just all three outstanding members," Langford said. "They worked hard all weekend and put together the best toy run we've ever had."
The newspaper said about 2,000 bikers took part in the 30th annual Leslie W. Watson Memorial Children toy run. Langford said there had been a party to celebrate the charity fundraiser's success and the five had gone back to their RV to sleep early Sunday.
Their bodies were discovered later in the morning.
Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan called it a "tragic accident."
"It hits everybody in Clarksville," McMillan said. "I wanted to let them know that Clarksville cares about them and is thinking about them in their time of need."
Florida man kills wife, wounds 2 pastors
LAKELAND, Fla., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A man shot his wife to death in Lakeland, Fla., Sunday morning, then burst into a nearby church where he was once a deacon and wounded two pastors, police said.
The gunman was tackled by members of the Greater Faith Christian Church congregation and held for police, Orlando cable television station Central Florida News 13 reported. No others in the church were hurt.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office identified the suspect as Jeremiah Fogle, 57.
The St. Petersburg Times reported the dead woman was identified by family members as Fogle's 55-year-old wife Theresa.
Pastor William Boss and associate pastor Carl Stewart were transported to Lakeland Regional Medical Center. Sheriff Grady Judd said Boss was in the hospital's intensive care unit, the Times reported. Stewart, whose injuries were more serious, underwent surgery and had a tube placed in his chest, authorities said.
"We don't know exactly why he went into this mad rage," the Times quoted Judd as saying.
Two worshipers who subdued the gunman were hailed as heroes.
Fogle was a one-time deacon at the church, where he and wife were married in 2002, Judd said. He had left the congregation after a falling out with church leaders, the sheriff said.
The Times reported investigators said Fogle was arrested for first-degree murder in 1986 but it wasn't known if he was ever prosecuted.
Minnesota wildfire 11% under control
ISABELLA, Minn., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Hundreds of firefighters working to subdue the massive wildfire burning in northeastern Minnesota got help Sunday in the form of drizzling rain, officials said.
The crews had about 11 percent of the nearly 94,000-acre blaze along the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness under control, the Duluth News Tribune reported. That was an improvement from 8 percent Saturday, despite winds blowing out of the south and southeast at 10-14 mph with gusts of 18-23 mph, the newspaper said.
The precipitation was only expected to amount to about 1/10th of an inch but that, combined with highs only in the upper 50s, was welcome.
National Forest Service spokesman Doug Anderson called the moisture, light as it was, "a big positive." More rain is in the forecast this week.
"You've heard, 'Make hay while the sun shines,'" the Minneapolis Star Tribune quoted Anderson as saying. "Well, we make fire line when it rains."
The ground crews' efforts were abetted by air tankers that bombarded the flames with water. The aim is to keep the fire away from a large area of trees downed by a 1999 windstorm that would provide huge amounts of fuel.
"If it gets up there, we will have to formulate a whole new plan," Irv Leach, operations director for the south branch of the fire, told the Star Tribune.
Report: Pentagon chafing at border role
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A report from the U.S. government says the Pentagon is cool to the idea of extending the deployment of National Guard troops along the Mexican border.
Military commanders have expressed concern about the seeming lack of a comprehensive strategy for the Guard and the long-term implications of keeping about 1,200 soldiers tied down in the Arizona desert.
At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security says the Southwest Border Initiative launched in 2009 has paid off by cutting the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States.
The General Accountability Office said in a report issued last week that the big concern at the Pentagon is a "mission creep" situation in which the Guard's role evolves from a force for short-term emergency situations to one with long-term commitments to border security.
The Arizona Republic reported Sunday it was unlikely any changes would be made to the Southwest Border Initiative until after the 2012 election.
Arizona's congressional delegation has been calling on President Obama to keep the National Guard on the border.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told the newspaper the deterioration of security in Mexico made control of the border more urgent. "It's really hard to understand why, at least in the view of the Department of Defense, that there is no comprehensive border-security strategy by the Department of Homeland Security," he said.
