National Roundup

Indiana
Symphony cancels another week of concerts in strike
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is canceling a fifth week of concerts as contract negotiations with the musicians union remain deadlocked.
The orchestra’s management locked out its some 80 musicians in early September after the previous contract expired. Orchestra officials announced late Sunday that concerts scheduled for Friday and Saturday were being called off.
The two sides are split over a push by management to cut salaries and shorten the symphony’s current year-round schedule because of shortfalls in private donations and other revenue. The latest proposal would cut base musician pay by about one-third to $53,000 a year.
The Indianapolis Star reports more than 1,000 people attended a musicians-organized concert Sunday at the Palladium in Carmel, with some of the ticket sales going to the Indianapolis-based New World Youth Orchestras.

Pennsylvania
Man dies amid brawl at wedding in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police say a man died of a heart attack amid a massive brawl that broke out between people attending two different wedding receptions in downtown Philadelphia.
The incident happened early Sunday morning at a hotel in the Society Hill section when fighting broke out among dozens of people attending the receptions. Police say a 57-year-old guest suffered a fatal heart attack outside the reception, but they don’t know if he was involved in any of the fights.
Dozens of people were involved in the altercations and police arrested three people; at least one man was subdued with a stun gun.
Police say they don’t know what started the brawl, but that alcohol was involved. Investigators haven’t released any of the names of those involved.

Florida
SpaceX Dragon capsule launched to space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A commercial cargo ship rocketed into orbit Sunday in pursuit of the International Space Station, the first of a dozen supply runs under a mega-contract with NASA.
It was the second launch of a Dragon capsule to the orbiting lab by the California-based SpaceX company. The first was last spring.
This time was no test flight, however, and the spacecraft carried 1,000 pounds of key science experiments and other precious gear on this truly operational mission. There was also a personal touch: chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream tucked in a freezer for the three station residents.
The company’s unmanned Falcon rocket roared into the night sky right on time, putting SpaceX on track to reach the space station Wednesday. The complex was soaring southwest of Tasmania when the Falcon took flight.
Officials declared the launch a success, despite a problem with one of the nine first-stage engines. The rocket put Dragon in its intended orbit, said the billionaire founder and chief executive officer of SpaceX, Elon Musk.

New Jersey
Report: Some security lapses at Newark Airport
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — An internal report shows screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport are properly executing standard pat-downs of passengers only 16.7 percent of the time.
The report obtained by The Star-Ledger of Newark also shows that screeners identify and take appropriate action on prohibited items in only a quarter of all cases.
But it also found that in numerous categories, including removing prohibited items found during physical searches and exhibiting good listening skills, screeners performed their duties properly 100 percent of the time.
The report was compiled by undercover teams of Transportation Security Administration employees from other airports who observed the Newark Liberty screeners at work over several months. TSA officials conduct the evaluations at airports around the nation and use the results to improve their screening practices.

Massachusetts
50-foot finback whale found dead in Boston Harbor
BOSTON (AP) — Coast Guard officials say a 50-foot finback whale has been found dead, floating in Boston Harbor.
Authorities don’t know the cause of death.
Petty Officer Robert Simpson says the whale was spotted early Sunday. He says the Coast Guard took a team from the New England Aquarium to examine the whale and take samples.
New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse told WCVB-TV that biologists spotted bruising and pressure lines on the finback which can be caused by something wrapping around the whale.
Simpson says the whale has been beached at Long Island, in the middle of Boston Harbor, and a necropsy is planned.
The finback is the second-longest whale in the world behind the blue whale. It can reach about 70 feet and weigh up to 70 tons.

New Jersey
Federal agency  probes accident that injured 23
WAYNE, N.J. (AP) — Federal investigators are probing the crash of a tour bus from Canada that injured 23 people in New Jersey.
Officials with the Federal Motor Safety Carrier Safety Administration are trying to determine whether the bus company could legally operate in the U.S.
Authorities also are examining what caused the accident on an exit ramp along eastbound Interstate 80 in Wayne Saturday.
The driver, 51-year-old Neville Larmond of Toronto, told authorities that another driver cut him off. The bus slid down an embankment before coming to rest on its side.
There were 57 passengers aboard the bus, which had left from Toronto and was bound for New York City. Many of the passengers were members of a Seventh-day Adventist church in Toronto.
Three people remain hospitalized in fair condition.

Indiana
SUV driver dies in commuter train crash at crossing
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Authorities say a commuter train struck an SUV at a crossing in northern Indiana, knocking the vehicle onto its roof and killing its driver. No one on the train suffered significant injuries.
Police say the train was traveling at about 70 mph with some 200 passengers on board when the collision happened near South Bend on Sunday night. The train had set off from Chicago.
St. Joseph County police Sgt. William Redman says investigators found no sign of malfunctions with the crossing’s warning lights or gates.
The identity of the SUV driver wasn’t immediately released.