LA cops pull pilot from plane moments before train hits it LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles police officers pulled an injured pilot from the wreckage of a small plane that crash landed on railroad tracks just moments before a commuter train smashed into the aircraft over the weekend. Bodycam video showed the officers working furiously Sunday afternoon to disentangle the bloodied pilot from the cockpit of the crumpled Cessna 172.
MEXICO CITY – As coronavirus cases spike in Mexico and tests become scarce, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told Mexicans on Monday to just assume they had COVID-19 if they had symptoms. The number of confirmed cases in Mexico spiked by 186% last week.
KAMPALA, Uganda – Uganda’s schools reopened to students on Monday, ending the world’s longest school disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reopening caused traffic congestion in some areas of the capital, Kampala, and students could be seen carrying their mattresses in the streets, a back-to-boarding-school phenomenon not witnessed here for nearly two years.
CAIRO – One of Egypt’s last independent human rights organizations has closed down, a statement by the group said Monday, citing government persecution. Egypt’s government has engaged in a widespread crackdown on dissent for years that has stifled many of the country’s civil society groups and jailed thousands.
WASHINGTON – Heading into a critical midterm election year, the top political concerns of Americans are shifting in ways that suggest Democrats face considerable challenges to maintaining their control of Congress.
VALLEY CENTER — Another thirdquarter struggle cost the Newton High School girls’ basketball team in a 47-36 loss to Valley Center Friday in nonleague play in Valley Center. Down by one at the half, Newton gave up a 15-3 third quarter.
VALLEY CENTER — The Newton High School boys’ basketball team managed to stay with the Valley Center Hornets early, but struggled to keep up as the game went on, falling 68-48 Friday in non-league play in Valley Center.
JENKS, Okla. — The Newton High School wrestling team took on some of the best competition Oklahoma and a couple other surrounding states had to offer with a fifth-place finish Friday and Saturday at the Larry Wilkey Invitational in Jenks, Okla.
The Bethel College women’s basketball team that showed up Saturday against Kansas Wesleyan was the one coach Derrick Pringle Jr. was hoping would emerge, stopping the Coyotes 78- 56 at Thresher Gym.
Thomas Leroy Metzler, aged 72, died surrounded by his family on Saturday, January 1, 2022, at his home in Newton after a lengthy journey with cancer. Tom, a 1968 graduate of Newton High School, married Aimee, and together they raised their son, Scott (Robin). Known affectionately as Pop to his grandchildren Zach Metzler, Tim Jeffries, and Emily Kepley (Andrew), and his great-grandchildren Maggie Elizabeth, Allie Jo, and Bentley Thomas, he was a hands-on grandparent, fully engaged in making sure his family was happy, safe, and loved.