Massachusetts

Revolutionary history buffs mark Flag Day

The USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, conducted a turnaround cruise Saturday in honor of Flag Day, Bunker Hill Day and Nahant, Mass.’s 150th anniversary.

Members of the Massachusetts Council of Minutemen and Militia, wearing colonial Revolutionary War period attire, led activities including historic demonstrations and musket firing. The Bunker Hill Day parade is planned today.

Kentucky

Child swept away after heavy flooding

A 6-year-old girl was swept away Saturday when flood-waters forced the car she was riding in down an eastern Kentucky creek.

The two adults in the car, including the girl’s mother, were able to escape. Victoria Yarber, 38, of Ravenna, and Fred Healy, 76, were attempting to cross Drowning Creek on a bridge Saturday afternoon when the car was swept away, said Wallace Taylor, judge-executive for Estill County.

Rescue teams continued to search for the child Saturday evening, Taylor said. The vehicle was completely submerged.

No other injuries were reported from flooding in Estill County, where more than two inches of rain within an hour.

New York

Man kills ex-girlfriend, shoots self at diner

A man pulled a shotgun out of what appeared to be a box of flowers, shot his ex-girlfriend and then killed himself early Saturday at a Long Island diner, police said.

The victim, Arhodoula Gianacopoulos, 47, was preparing for the day at her restaurant when Demetrios Zodiatis, 39, walked in to the Oasis Diner, said Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick.

Moments later, a cook heard screaming and checked the dining area, where he saw the pair struggling. Gianacopoulos told the cook to flee.

The cook ran to get help, but by the time he returned both were dead, police said.

LOS ANGELES

Rib restaurant founder dies of cancer at 78

Tony Roma, whose casual rib joint became an international restaurant empire after it caught the attention of a Texas financier in the 1970s, died Friday of lung cancer at a hospice.

He was 78.

Roma opened his first barbecue restaurant in North Miami, Fla., in the early 1970s, according to his company’s Web site. The restaurant originally specialized in steaks and burgers, but that changed when Roma and his chef decided to offer barbecued ribs as a special.

Roma’s restaurants eventually opened across the United States, Japan, England and Canada.

Florida

Academics condemn USF in firing professor

A national group influential in higher education condemned the University of South Florida on Saturday for firing a professor charged with terrorism, but stopped short of issuing a potentially damaging censure.

The American Association of University Professors passed the resolution at a meeting in Washington, condemning university President Judy Genshaft for firing Sami Al-Arian without a hearing before his faculty peers, said association spokeswoman Ruth Flower.