■UNITED STATES
Bridge collapse injures 25
A pedestrian bridge collapsed in Indiana, injuring 25 people who had gathered with thousands of others to watch a fireworks display marking US Independence Day, police said on Sunday. The collapse of the cable suspension foot bridge occurred at 10:08pm on Saturday in the town of Merrillville, sending rescue teams diving into the water at Hidden Lake Park to help some 50 people who fell in. “We were walking across, and everybody just stopped ... we heard two snaps, and we all went in the water,” Seth Argullin, 29, of Merrillville, told the Post-Tribune.
■UNITED STATES
Irish pub wins Chowderfest
The manager of an Irish pub in Boston is as happy as a clam. Ned Devine’s Irish Pub has won a New England clam chowder contest called Chowderfest for the third time and has been elected to the event’s Hall of Fame. Manager Greg Springer says it’s fantastic New York City chef Sean Ryan’s 20-year-old recipe did so well. The 28th annual Chowderfest was held on Sunday as part of Boston Harborfest, a Fourth of July festival showcasing the city’s heritage. Eight restaurants competed for the title of Boston’s Best Chowder. Organizers said 7,600 liters of New England’s signature dish of clams, cream and potatoes were served to a hungry crowd of about 10,000. Ned Devine’s Irish Pub also won in 2004 and 2005.
■UNITED STATES
Barry charged with stalking
Police say former Washington mayor Marion Barry has been arrested and charged with stalking a woman. The US Park Police said Barry, now a Washington city council member, was arrested on Saturday in Washington after a woman flagged down an officer and complained that Barry was stalking her. Barry was charged with misdemeanor stalking and released. Barry’s spokeswoman, Natalie Williams, said on Sunday that the accusation was “baseless.” She said Barry plans to fight the charge and that the accuser is a woman Barry had helped financially. Barry served four terms as mayor. In his third, he was videotaped in 1990 in a hotel room smoking crack cocaine in an FBI sting. He served six months in prison and in 1994 regained the mayor’s office.
■UNITED STATES
Group calls for ‘midget’ ban
Little people are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to ban the use of the word “midget” on broadcast TV. The group Little People of America said on Sunday the word is just as offensive as racial slurs. The request was prompted by an episode of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice that the group said was demeaning. In the episode, contestants created a detergent ad called “Jesse James and the Midgets.” The contestants suggested bathing little people in the detergent and hanging them to dry.
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