Nation
SAN FRANCISCO — An extreme sports star skydiving for the opening ceremony of a golf event in northern California died when he struck a tree Monday, authorities said.
Placer County sheriff's Capt. Dennis Walsh said Erik Roner, of Tahoe City, died during a skydiving accident at a golf course in Squaw Valley, about 5 miles from Lake Tahoe's northwest shore.
Witnesses told deputies Roner, 39, was part of a group conducting a skydiving performance before a golf tournament when he hit a tree while trying to land and became entangled high above ground, Walsh said.
The other skydivers landed safely on the golf course in Squaw Valley, home of the ski resort that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics.
WASHINGTON — The Senate is set to pass a spending bill to prevent the government from shutting down this week over the opposition of the most conservative Republicans in the chamber.Today's expected vote comes after a 77-19 tally on Monday easily beat a token filibuster threat.The House is then expected to approve the measure — stripped of a Tea Party-backed measure to take taxpayer funding away from Planned Parenthood as the price for keeping the government open — before Wednesday's midnight deadline.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is under fire from Tea Party conservatives who demand that he fight harder against Planned Parenthood even at the risk of a government shutdown.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Brown University has rescinded the honorary degree it granted Bill Cosby.Brown President Christina Paxson said the university's board Friday revoked the doctorate of humane letters it granted Cosby in 1985. Fordham and Marquette universities Thursday also rescinded their honorary degrees.Paxson said the comedian received the degree for integrating his personal character into his fictional one while embracing such values as “honesty, fair play, love of family, and respect for humanity.” She said Cosby admitted in legal depositions that he'd engaged in conduct with women “contrary to the values of Brown.”Cosby has never been charged with a crime.
