Random News and Notes 4 April
On this date in 1970, in Kent, Ohio, 28 National Guardsmen fire their weapons at a group of anti-war demonstrators on the Kent State University campus, killing four students and wounding nine.
Two days earlier, on May 2, National Guard troops were called to Kent to suppress students rioting in protest of the Vietnam War and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. The next day, scattered protests were dispersed by tear gas, and on May 4 class resumed at Kent State University. By noon that day, despite a ban on rallies, some 2,000 people had assembled on the campus. National Guard troops arrived and ordered the crowd to disperse, fired tear gas, and advanced against the students with bayonets fixed on their rifles. Some of the protesters, refusing to yield, responded by throwing rocks and verbally taunting the troops.
Minutes later the Guardsmen discharged more than 60 rounds toward a group of demonstrators in a nearby parking lot, killing four and wounding nine. The closest casualty was 20 yards away, and the farthest was almost 250 yards away. After a period of disbelief, shock, and attempts at first aid, angry students gathered on a nearby slope and were again ordered to move by the Guardsmen. Faculty members were able to convince the group to disperse, and further bloodshed was prevented.
We start today’s news with a sad note. Long-time Yankees radio announcer John Sterling has passed. Sterling served as the Yankees’ primary radio play-by-play announcer from 1989 to 2024 (36 seasons). He called 5,420 regular-season games and 211 postseason games, for a total of 5,631 games. Those numbers equal 29.5% of all regular season games and 49.9% of post-season games in franchise history. Sterling called 5,060 consecutive Yankees games from 1989 to 2019
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Sterling retired at the end of the 2024 season.
John Sterling was 87.
Resquiecat in Pace.
Today is the first day of what president Trump is calling Project Freedom. The operation is using US vessels to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The rules of engagement seem to have been loosened for this op.
The change comes after reports of an IRGC boat shooting at a vessel near the Strait emerged yesterday.
The Iranians are also claiming they have struck a US vessel with a missile. CENTCOM denies the report. The video the IRGC used as evidence is not recent nor the result of an Iranian missiles. The video is from a 2016 SINKEX that sent the former USS Thach to the bottom off Hawaii.
A United Flight from Venice, Italy, with 221 passengers and 10 crew, struck a pole and a delivery truck driver’s side during final approach to Newark Liberty International Airport around 2 p.m. Sunday. Driver Warren Boardley suffered minor cuts from glass and was hospitalized. The plane landed safely, taxied to the gate, and everyone on board walked away unhurt.
The NTSB is investigating the low descent near busy Runway 29, with gusty winds possibly a factor.