• Hundreds more flights canceled as Christmas storm moves east

    Tornadoes were reported across parts of the South, compounding what was already likely to be a travel nightmare. Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel reports.

    By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News

    More than 500 more flights were canceled across the U.S. on a snowy, blustery Christmas Day, many of them in Texas, where the Dallas and Houston areas were smacked with a rare coating of snow and ice Tuesday.


    The travel website flightaware.com reported that 523 flights into or out of U.S. airports were scrubbed. Many were at the Dallas and Houston airports, which got rare Christmas snowfall.

    NBCDFW.com: White Christmas brings delays, cancellations to DFW airport

    With 8 to 15 inches of snow expected across northern Ohio on Wednesday, United Airlines canceled at least 60 percent of its flights at Cleveland Hopkins Airport beginning at noon Wednesday, NBC station WKYC of Cleveland reported.

    Numerous traffic accidents also stalled motorists across Texas and Oklahoma as drivers slid and crashed in a mixture of wind, sleet and snow. Twenty-one cars and tractor-trailers crashed in a massive pileup on roads coated with freezing rain in Oklahoma City.

    "You definitely have to worry about everyone while you're driving, especially out here," Dallas resident Jerdal Whitaker told NBC 5 of Dallas. "We're not used to the weather that comes, especially when it's ugly, so you definitely have to drive slow."

    With temperatures expected to drop into the teens, little melting was expected overnight.

    Christmas storms spread snow, tornadoes across US, snarling travel

    The Midwest was also heavily hit. A blizzard was forecast to end up having dropped 10 to 15 inches of snow on parts of Indiana, where road crews began work last Friday on keeping roads as passable as possible.


    "We're hoping to make it there in time before that weather hits," said James Mason, who was driving home Tuesday to Missouri with his wife and three children through Indiana.

    "We don't want to get caught up in it. That is when accidents happen and people get stranded," he told NBC station WTHR of Indianapolis during a rest stop in Plainfield, Ind.

    The heavy snow spread into Kentucky, where state officials urged people to stay at home and off the roads.

    "Try to avoid travel from, say, 9 or 10 Tuesday night through about noon on Wednesday, simply because the conditions are going to be so brutal," said Keith Todd, a spokesman for the state Transportation Department. "If you do go out, you  need to be prepared like you're going to the North Pole."

    In Ohio, the Transportation Department planned to have more than over 100 snow plows on the streets by 4 a.m. Wednesday.

    The storm is forecast to hit the Northeast sometime Wednesday evening, bringing a mix of heavy sleet, snow or heavy rain, depending on its track. 

    Motorists were warned to expect whiteout conditions in falling and blowing snow overnight Wednesday in the Buffalo area, where some locations could get as much as 14 inches by late Thursday, NBC station WGRZ of Buffalo reported.

    More content from NBCNews.com:

    Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

  • National alert for surgeon after NY hospital shooting

    AP Photo/David Duprey

    Police search the scene of a shooting at Erie Count Medical Center in Buffalo, N.Y., Wednesday, June 13, 2012. A police official confirmed Wednesday that a woman was killed on the grounds of the Erie County Medical Center. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

    By msnbc.com staff and wire reports

    Police in Buffalo, N.Y., issued an alert to law enforcement agencies nationwide and parts of Canada Thursday for a trauma surgeon and former military weapons expert suspected of fatally shooting a receptionist at the hospital where they worked.

    Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda told reporters at a press conference Thursday that evidence now points to a carefully planned exit strategy devised by Dr. Timothy Jorden, 49, prior to the shooting.


    The search for Jorden began Wednesday morning shortly after Jacqueline Wisniewski, 33, was found shot dead around 8:15 a.m. in a stairwell at the Erie County Medical Center, the Buffalo News reported. Derenda said the shooting wasn’t a random act. Media reports say Wisniewski was Jorden’s ex-girlfriend.

    Police searched unsuccessfully inside the hospital for more than four hours Wednesday. The sheriff’s department helicopter also hovered overhead for about two hours before leaving. The search moved to Jorden’s home near the Lake Erie shore, where police and SWAT team members in camouflage and unmarked SUVs blocked a road leading to the house. Police later said the house was empty after nine hours of searching.

    Police returned to Jorden’s half-million-dollar home to search a nearby ravine with police dogs after a neighbor reported Thursday hearing a gunshot a little over an hour after the hospital shooting took place. They said all vehicles registered to Dr. Timothy Jorden, 49, have been accounted for.

    Police warned that Jorden may be armed and should be considered dangerous.

    Jorden, described as a bald, black male, about 6-foot-2-inches tall and weighing 250 pounds, has been licensed to practice medicine in New York for a decade. He has a medical degree from the University of Buffalo and trained at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash. He received his certification from the American Board of Surgery in 2004.

    AP Photo/Buffalo N.Y. Police Department

    Dr. Timothy Jorden is shown in this undated photo from the Buffalo, N.Y. Police Department.

    Jorden joined the National Guard in high school, went into the Army after graduation and served with the Army’s Special Forces, first as a weapon’s expert, then as a medic in the Caribbean, Japan and Korea.

    A friend of Wisniewski's told WIVB-TV that she used to live with Jorden but left him because she believed he was having affairs with other women. “When they broke up, he wouldn’t let go,” Heather Shipley said.

    Jorden reportedly also put a GPS tracking device in Wisniewski’s car and once held her captive in her home for a day and a half, wielding a knife, according to local reports.

    “She told me if anything happened to her,” Shipley said, “that it was him.”

    Jorden’s colleagues told the Buffalo News that he had been acting strangely in recent months, avoiding eye contact and basic communication.

    Others who know him told the Buffalo News he has served as a role model for black youth in Buffalo.

    Betty Jean Grant, chairwoman of the Erie County Legislature, told the Buffalo News she watched Jorden grow up and never knew him to get in any trouble.

    “It’s tragic that a doctor who saved countless lives might be accused of taking someone else’s life,” she said. “It puts a dark cloud over the mission of a hospital that’s dedicated to saving lives.”

    Incoming patients to the hospital were diverted to Buffalo General Hospital.

    “This is an unspeakable tragedy for everyone involved,” ECMC CEO Jody Lomeo said in a statement. “At this time, all ECMC officials and staff are taking direction from police authorities who are in charge of this investigation.”

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

  • Ready for a 'national mammal'? Bison fans are

    For the first time in more than a century, a herd of purebred Yellowstone bison are roaming in Montana. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.

    By Miguel Llanos, NBC News

    Fans of bison are lobbying Congress to declare America's largest land mammal the "national mammal" -- putting it right up there with the bald eagle as an American icon. But bison have their critics, as well as competition: killer whales are mammals, too, and then there's that other widespread mammal: humans.


    "The North American Bison is an enduring symbol of America, its people and a way of life," Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., said in a statement Friday announcing the "National Bison Legacy Act."

    "Throughout history, the bison has been the center of the economic and spiritual lives of American Indians and is an important historical symbol of the United States," added co-sponsor Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.

    They introduced the bill at the request of an alliance among the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Intertribal Buffalo Council and the National Bison Association.

    Nearly 60 Yellowstone bison are back home on Montana's range, but not everyone's happy about it.

    "The bison is the nation’s most culturally recognizable animal and as such deserves recognition through designation and celebration," the alliance noted. "Bison currently appear on two state flags, on the seal of the Department of the Interior, and on U.S. currency. In addition, bison have been adopted as the state mammal of Wyoming, Oklahoma and Kansas."

    Tens of millions of bison, or buffalo, once roamed North America, but the species dwindled to about 1,000 by the early 1900s. The numbers are back to an estimated 20,000 in the wild today. In addition, about 500,000 commercial bison are on 4,000 ranches.

    In recent years, efforts have been made to put wild bison on more parts of the West -- including the transfer in March of about 60 Yellowstone bison to Montana's Fort Peck Reservation. 

    But the symbolic act would not provide added protections for wild bison, which have their enemies.

    In Montana, The Associated Press noted, livestock producers and property advocates have filed lawsuits to stop free-roaming bison, arguing they tear down fences, spread disease and compete with domestic cattle for grass.

    And Boulder, Colo., this week rebuffed billionaire Ted Turner's donation of a bison herd for public viewing. It cited cost concerns and public opposition.

    John Calvelli, spokesman for the Wildlife Conservation Society, told the AP that the effort is meant to transcend such issues.

    "This isn't about getting into the middle of these issues of bison and property rights," he said. "No matter what political stripe you come from, we can all agree on the important role that bison have played."

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

     

     

  • Buffalo, N.Y., releases dramatic hit-and-run surveillance video

    A 19-year-old driver faces charges for this hit and run accident that sent a teen to the hospital. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

    By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Editor's note: The above video contains content that may be disturbing to some viewers.

    A driver who struck a pedestrian, sent him flipping through the air, and then drove off has been caught -- both by Buffalo, N.Y., police and on city surveillance cameras -- and now, the dramatic footage has been made public.

    "The footage is extremely graphic," Mayor Byron Brown said at a news conference Monday, adding that he was releasing it in response to a slew of hit-and-run accidents in the region recently. "The purpose for showing this video footage is to dramatize how dangerous hit and run accidents are."

    The incident in the video happened last Thursday at about 3 a.m., reported NBC affiliate WGRZ.com. Three pedestrians are seen walking in the road in Buffalo's west side on the city surveillance video. The men scramble to the sidewalk as a car suddenly roars up behind them, striking one and coming within inches of the others. After getting hit by the car, the victim goes flying over the hood, and the car continues driving.


    But not for long: Within minutes, police had arrested the suspect, 19-year-old Tornubari Gbaraba, thanks to descriptions of his vehicle from eyewitnesses, according to local reports.

    "He was arrested and charged with assault in the first-degree, reckless driving and fleeing from a police officer," Daniel Derenda, Buffalo police commissioner, told reporters Monday.

    The victim, Victor Jerez, 18, was taken to the hospital with multiple injuries, but has since been released, reported WGRZ.

    Gbaraba is an exchange student from Nigeria, reported BuffaloNews.com. He's accused of leading police on a short car chase before being forced to the curb.

    Police don't believe alcohol played a role in the hit-and-run, but they say they aren't sure if the victim was targeted, reported WKBW.com.

    Last Thursday's incident was one of three hit-and-run crashes during an 18-hour span in the Buffalo area, reported BuffaloNews.com.

    "My message is if you commit any kind of crime in the City of Buffalo, we are watching, we will not tolerate it, and it's just a matter of time before we will catch you and put you in jail for committing that crime," the mayor said.

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

  • Home on the range: Bison make it to Montana reserve -- via Canada

    Dennis Lingohr / American Prairie Reserve

    Some of the 71 bison calves trucked from Canada are released onto grassland in Montana.

    By msnbc.com staff

    Dozens of bison calves trucked in from Canada are now roaming a stretch of Montana countryside that conservationists hope to restore to its original shape.

    The bison, even though they were born across the border, are from the genetic stock of herd that used to roam what's known as the American Prairie Reserve. Hundreds of their ancestors were from that same area when they were sold to Canada in 1906 for its Elk Island National Park.

    "We knew from the beginning that returning bison to the land would be an important step in restoring the reserve’s full biodiversity," Sean Gerrity, president of the American Prairie Reserve, said in a statement. "When the Canadian government purchased the herd, it helped the species survive near extinction. Now we are bringing them back to help restore a complete grassland ecosystem."

    The 71 calves released Thursday join 140 bison already on the 123,000-acre reserve.

    The nonprofit says it aims to "create the largest wildlife reserve in the continental U.S., culminating in three million acres of private and public land and connecting one of the last large sections of untilled temperate grasslands on the continent."

    Some 500,000 bison roam rural U.S. lands today, a fraction of the tens of millions that once populated the Great Plains.

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

    Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

  • White firefighters awarded $2.5 million in discrimination case

    By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Twelve white firefighters who sued after not getting promotions they were in line to get have been awarded a total of more than $2.5 million from the city of Buffalo.

    The men sued the city in 2007, claiming the fire department illegally allowed promotional lists with their names on them to expire so they could promote African-American firefighters instead.

    The firefighters' awards were based on how far their promotions would have taken them - $49,000 to $500,000 - plus emotional damages, which ranged from $20,000 to $30,000, reported NBC affiliate WGRZ.com.

    "The two fellows who are getting the most were selected for promotion to lieutenant in the fall of 2005 by the fire commissioner, and then again around the end of January 2006 by a new fire commissioner. Those two fellows have never made it to lieutenant," an attorney representing the plaintiffs, Andrew Fleming, told msnbc.com on Thursday. "They had been working 10 or 12 years by 2006. So the judge looked at what their prospective promotions would have been, and ruled that it was likely they would have made battalion commander."

    Those two were each given $500,000 based on the judge's calculations, he said.

    'They really felt betrayed'
    The compensation ruling was awarded on Tuesday by state Supreme Court Justice John Michalek, who 15 months ago made the initial ruling that Buffalo had illegally failed to promote the firefighters because of racial discrimination.

    In order to qualify for a promotion, a firefighter needs to take a promotional eligibility exam, which tests the skills they would need to serve as a lieutenant, captain, or other higher-ranking position in the department. The Buffalo case alleged that white firefighters had scored high enough on their exams, but were then denied promotions because the city wanted to give minorities, who hadn't scored as well, the chance to fill those positions.

    "The word that kept coming up was betrayal," Fleming said. "They really felt betrayed by the city."

    This isn't the first allegation of racial discrimination in the Buffalo Fire Department, or in fire departments around the country. According to a 2010 story on BuffaloNews.com, the department was sued in federal court over the fairness of the promotion exams before: A group of African-American Buffalo firefighters claimed that because only a handful of minorities had passed the tests, blacks did not have an equal shot at promotions as whites did in the department.

    A judge dismissed the suit, though, ruling that there was insufficient evident to prove the city intentionally engaged in discrimination against black firefighters.

    The awards this week came in a state court case.

    Reverse discrimination was also addressed in a lawsuit at a New Haven, Conn. Fire Department that made its way to the Supreme Court in June 2009. Similar to the Buffalo case, the court ruled that white firefighters were unfairly denied promotion because of their race, ruling in favor of the 20 white plaintiffs.

    13th firefighter got nothing
    In this week's ruling, a 13th firefighter listed in the suit, Anthony Hynes, was not awarded any damages because there wasn't enough evidence to support his claim, according to the court.

    "He was up for division chief, which is the highest rank you can get other than fire commissioner," Fleming told msnbc.com. "When he was passed over for it and another year had passed he realized he wasn't going to get it, he made the decision to retire."

    The judge likely excluded Hynes because he assumed there wouldn't have been an opening for division chief even if he hadn't retired, Fleming said.

    A spokesman for Buffalo told WGRZ.com that officials are reviewing the decision, and the city may appeal the ruling.

    Three firefighters in the case have since been injured on the job since the lawsuit was filed, but all of the others are still working for the department, Fleming told msnbc.com.

    "In some cases, they're working for people they should be in charge of. Seeing someone else wearing the captain's bars -- that's hard stuff," he said.

    'I cried at this one'
    The lawsuit describes emotional distress the men experienced over the past several years, citing sleeplessness, marital strain, and depression. The damages award was greeted with mixed emotions.

    "The fellow who didn't get any money, they all feel as though that was not fair," Fleming told msnbc.com. "Many of them had said they were very, very pleased with the result, but for many of them, they just simply say, you know what? This is not ever going to go away for me. One of them, he was on TV last night saying, 'I should be a captain; I'm only a lieutenant.'"

    "It's just bad stuff. It's just a sad case. I've never cried at a trial. I cried at this one," he added.

    Lawyers for the city said they disagreed with the judge's ruling on how much the firefighters should be paid.

    "The city, at all times, acted under its rights under federal law," Attorney Adam Perry told BuffaloNews.com. "The city has maintained its position that the liability determination made by Justice Michalek was erroneous and should be reversed on appeal."

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

  • Hunter turns himself in after bullet pierces school bus loaded with children

    By msnbc.com staff

    A man in upstate New York was hunting deer on his property on Monday when an errant shot flew through the front door of a school bus loaded with kids and stuck in the metal roof behind the driver, the Buffalo News reported.

    The hunter, identified as William Squires, 58, turned himself into Conewango authorities on Tuesday, the newspaper reported on its website.

    No one was injured, according to the report. Squires was charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and illegal discharge of a firearm, all misdemeanors.