Hanna charges for the Carolinas -- Hurricane Ike isn't far behind

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Tropical Storm Hanna picked up speed Friday as it cruised toward the Carolinas, promising to deliver gusty winds and heavy rain during a dash up the Eastern Seaboard that could wash out the weekend for millions of people.

Not far behind was a much bigger worry: a ferocious-looking Hurricane Ike, on a path similar to the one taken by Andrew, the Category 5 monster that devastated South Florida in 1992. Ike could hit Florida by the middle of next week.

In only a few spots in the Carolinas did emergency officials urge evacuations or open shelters for Hanna. Forecasters said there was only a small chance it could become a hurricane, and most people simply planned to stay off the roads until the storm passed.

"If it was a Category 1 or 2, I might think about leaving," said Eddie Brown of Gastonia, N.C., who planned to spend the weekend at Myrtle Beach. "And I tell you, if it was Ike, I'd already be long gone."

Rain started to fall early Friday on the Carolina coast, with streets in some spots flooding by late afternoon and winds expected to pick up later in the night. Hanna was expected to blow ashore between Myrtle Beach and Charleston overnight, then race up the Atlantic Coast, reaching New England by Sunday morning. Tropical storm watches or warnings ran from Georgia to Massachusetts, and included all of Chesapeake Bay, the Washington, D.C., area and Long Island.

3 killed, 1 missing in Hawaii copter crash

HONOLULU -- Rescuers on Friday searched for a missing crew member from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter that crashed in ocean waters off Oahu, killing the three others onboard.

The Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter went down Thursday night while conducting search and rescue drills with a 47-foot motor lifeboat.

"This is a very difficult case because rescuers are being rescued," said Rear Adm. Manson Brown, 14th Coast Guard District commander.

There were no new developments from the overnight search for the missing crew member, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Clayton.

The helicopter crashed about five miles south of Honolulu International Airport about 8:15 p.m. Thursday, according to the Coast Guard.

Honolulu firefighters pulled the three crew members from the water and transported them to the Queen's Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead. The names of the victims were not immediately released.

Suspect in Illinois bank standoff shoots self

WHEATON, Ill. -- Police say a man who wrested a gun from a police officer and took a dozen hostages in a bank in suburban Chicago has died after shooting himself in the head.

Police say the standoff began after a Wheaton police officer responded to a call of a hit-and-run accident near the bank. Deputy Chief Thomas Meloni says the suspect held a knife to the officer's throat, took the officer's gun during a struggle and ran into the bank.

The man, whose identity was not immediately released, took 12 hostages and later released 10, Meloni said. After he pulled the blinds and stopped talking on the phone to negotiators, officers heard a single gun shot, prompting them to rush in, Meloni said.

Cockatoo's calls prompt police to kick in door

TRENTON, N.J. -- Cries for help inside a Trenton, N.J., home turned out to be for the birds. Neighbors called police Wednesday morning after hearing a woman's persistent cry of "Help me! Help me!" coming from a house. Officers arrived and when no one answered the door, they kicked it in to make a rescue.

But instead of a damsel in distress, officers found a caged cockatoo with a convincing call.

It wasn't the first time the 10-year-old bird named Luna said something that brought authorities to the home of owner Evelyn DeLeon.

About seven years ago, the bird cried like a baby for hours, leading to reports of a possible abandoned baby and a visit to the home by state child welfare workers. But it was only Luna practicing a newfound sound, DeLeon says.

DeLeon says her bird learns much of her ever-growing vocabulary from watching TV, in both English and Spanish.

Oldest gorilla in captivity dies at 55

DALLAS -- The oldest gorilla in captivity, a 55-year-old female named Jenny, has died at the Dallas Zoo -- her home for more than half a century, a spokesman said Friday.

Zoo officials decided to euthanize Jenny on Thursday night because of an inoperable tumor in her stomach. Jenny had stopped eating and drinking recently, and tests showed she was unlikely to recover, zoo spokesman Sean Greene said.

"It was a quality-of-life decision," Greene said.

The International Species Information System, which maintains records on animals at 700 institutions around the world, confirmed earlier this year that Jenny was the oldest gorilla in its database.

The zoo held a birthday bash in May to celebrate Jenny's longevity, complete with a cake made of a frozen fruit treats for the guest of honor.

Jenny was said to have a sweet disposition and enjoyed being around people. She was often seen napping below a fig tree in her habitat.

Charges dismissed against cyclist in YouTube shove

NEW YORK -- A judge dismissed charges Friday against the bicyclist who was body-checked and knocked to the pavement by a police officer in a widely viewed YouTube video.

At the prosecution's request, Criminal Court Judge James Burke dropped a charge of resisting arrest against Christopher Long, 29, of Hoboken, N.J.

Long was arrested July 25 during a Critical Mass bicycle ride through Times Square. The monthly bike rides are held around the world to draw attention to alternatives to motor vehicles.

Police said Long was arrested because he was obstructing traffic and deliberately steered his bicycle into an officer.

After the video emerged showing the policeman knocking Long to the ground, the officer, Patrick Pogan, was stripped of his badge and gun and assigned to desk duty. Police said Friday they were still investigating.

The video had been viewed some 1.5 million times since it was posted on YouTube soon after the incident. It shows Pogan shoving Long off his bike near Times Square as Long tried to steer out of the way.

As he left court, Long said he was happy not to be prosecuted and to have the case behind him. As for Pogan's account of events in the criminal complaint, he said, "The video speaks for itself."

Long's lawyer, David B. Rankin, said, "We're just very lucky this videotape surfaced, and we're very thankful the DA's office did the right thing in dropping these charges."

"This was a case where the officer's sworn testimony was contradicted by the videotape," Rankin said. "It raises serious questions about other cases that don't have the luxury of a videotape."

Trial opens in teacher-student-husband love triangle murder case

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- A prosecutor described a schoolteacher's husband as a jealous, calculating killer as trial opened Friday on charges he murdered his wife's teenage lover. But a defense lawyer told the jury that the defendant was a victim himself of a spouse who flaunted her infidelity.

Eric McLean, 33, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Sean Powell, the 18-year-old who was having an affair with student-teacher Erin McLean, then the 29-year-old wife of the defendant and mother of his two young sons.

The defense acknowledges that McLean shot Powell on March 10, 2007, outside the McLeans' home as the victim waited in his car for Erin McLean to run off with him.

But McLean claims the single shot from a high-powered rifle that blew away part of Powell's face was an accident, his lawyer Bruce Poston told jurors. The defense has said it will make the case for conviction on a lesser charge, such as voluntary manslaughter.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Crabtree told the six men and six women hearing the case that there is no such thing as a "deserved killing" under Tennessee law, including a death linked to infidelity.

Dentist charged with dumping waste on Jersey Shore

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. -- A Pennsylvania dentist has been charged with the Jersey Shore's most serious beach-dumping case in two decades, medical waste that sullied the coast in a popular area and forced beach closures at the height of vacation season.

Authorities said Friday that Thomas McFarland took his motorboat to Townsend Inlet near Avalon on Aug. 22 and dumped a bag full of some 300 dental-type needles, along with 180 cotton swabs and other materials from his Wynnewood, Pa., medical office. According to police affidavits, McFarland admitted tossing the material from his boat.

McFarland, 59, is charged with unlawfully discharging a pollutant and unlawful disposal of regulated medical waste. Each charge carries a maximum prison term of five years. Fines could total $125,000 if he is convicted on both counts.

New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said a complaint was served on his lawyer Friday. Milgram said authorities know where McFarland is, but would not disclose his location.

Phone messages left at McFarland's Pennsylvania and Jersey Shore homes were not returned on Friday. An assistant to his lawyer, Joseph Rodgers, said Rodgers would not discuss the case. A man on the property Friday at McFarland's New Jersey house declined to answer questions and told an AP reporter to go away.

Milgram would not say whether McFarland, who turned himself in to Avalon police on Tuesday, explained why he dumped the materials.