Davenport school board to decide whether to close school

Davenport school board to decide whether to close school

DAVENPORT (AP) — The Davenport school board will likely decide Monday whether to close a school with declining enrollment.

The Quad-City Times reports the board is scheduled to decide Monday whether to close J.B. Young school.

Superintendent Art Tate proposed the move in August because enrollment at the school is below 60 percent of the building's capacity.

Tate says the closing would save the district about $1.9 million in salaries and eliminate the need for $11 million in upgrades the building needs.

Police say same man may have tried robbing 2 banks

DAVENPORT (AP) — Authorities say a man who robbed a Davenport bank Saturday afternoon might have tried to rob a different bank earlier in the day.

The Quad-City Times reports a man successfully robbed a Wells Fargo branch downtown shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday. A man matching the same description tried to rob Northwest Bank at 1454 W. Locust Street about three hours earlier.

In both cases, the suspect handed a teller a note demanding money. At Wells Fargo, the man received an undisclosed amount of cash.

Davenport Police said the suspect in both cases was a black man in his 30s who wore a baseball cap, black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. He didn't display a weapon at either bank.

Police: Son kills mother, himself at assisted living center

VOORHEES, N.J. (AP) — Authorities say a man shot and killed his elderly mother before turning the gun on himself at an assisted living facility in southern New Jersey.

Police were called to Genesis HealthCare Voorhees Center in Voorhees at 5:44 p.m. Sunday.

The Camden County Prosecutor's Office said 62-year-old George Bullet III was visiting his 85-year-old mother, Andree Bullet. Authorities said the mother and son had eaten dinner together, and afterward, George Bullet III, of Lumberton, went to his car. He returned and shot his mother. Authorities said a nurse walked in as he shot and killed himself.

Nobody else was hurt in the shooting.

Police are continuing to investigate.

The facility is home to patients receiving short- and long-term care and those receiving cardiac management and dementia and Alzheimer's care.

Spokeswoman: Christie sorry for talking on train's quiet car

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie says he's sorry for making too much noise on an Amtrak quiet car.

Christie spokeswoman Samantha Smith says he accidentally took a seat in the quiet car while traveling from Washington on Sunday morning.

Smith says after breaking 'the cardinal rule of the quiet car,' Christie promptly left for the cafe car.

She says he was talking on a cell phone when a conductor pointed out it was the quiet car. Unaware of it, Christie told the caller he would call back after changing cars.

Smith offered sincere apologies.

Conductors generally urge passengers to maintain a 'library-like atmosphere' in the quiet car. It's not uncommon for conductors to ask noisier passengers to change cars.

The Republican presidential hopeful appeared on CBS's 'Face the Nation' earlier Sunday.

Conservationists are thrilled: 6th newborn orca spotted

SEATTLE (AP) — Puget Sound's endangered resident orcas have welcomed yet another new addition.

The Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor confirmed on its Facebook page this weekend that a newborn orca designated as J53 was seen traveling Saturday in Haro Strait with a 38-year-old orca known as Princess Angeline.

Conservationists are thrilled. It's the sixth baby born to Puget Sound's three orca pods since last December, boosting their numbers to 82.

Michael Harris, the executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association, says the whale watch community is referring to the baby boom as the 'class of 2015.'

There could be more babies on the way. Federal biologists recently used drones to take thousands of images of the orcas, and they said several appeared to be pregnant.

Spanish shepherds guide 2,000 sheep through Madrid's streets

MADRID (AP) — Spanish shepherds have led 2,000 sheep through the streets of Madrid in defense of age-old droving, grazing and migration rights that are increasingly threatened by urban sprawl and fenced-in pastures.

Tourists and children were surprised to see wide avenues blocked off in the Spanish capital to let the woolly parade — bleating loudly and clanking bells — cross the city, accompanied by sheepdogs.

Government agriculture spokesman Carlos Cabanas says the tradition is essential to 'maintain native breeds that are in danger of extinction.'

Shepherds have held the right since at least 1273 to use droving routes across land that used to be open fields before Madrid became a sprawling metropolis.