New York City

Violence mars parade honoring councilman

Violence marred the festive atmosphere of New York’s West Indian American Day parade on Monday as a man was shot to death and a second was stabbed.

Police said a man wearing a mask shot another man in the head along the parade route in Brooklyn. The victim was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Later, across the street from the shooting, a man was stabbed in the neck and hospitalized in critical condition.

No arrests were made, and there was no immediate evidence the two attacks were connected, police said.

Organizers had wanted the parade to honor James Davis, a city councilman killed July 23 by a political rival who carried a gun into City Hall and shot him.

Above, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., works the parade route crowd along Eastern Parkway.

Los Angeles

MDA telethon nets record $60.5 million

The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. received a record $60.5 million in nationwide pledges, a telethon spokeswoman said Monday.

The 77-year-old Lewis, his body bloated because of steroid medication he takes for pulmonary fibrosis, was assisted during the 21 1/2-hour fund-raiser by Ed McMahon and performances from a number of entertainers, including Cher, Celine Dion and Don Rickles.

“I’m consistently humbled by the generosity of the American public. Every year I ask, and without blinking, you open your hearts and wallets,” Lewis said. “You’ve also let ‘my kids’ of all ages, and their loved ones, know that they aren’t alone in this fight.”

Texas

Three employees found slain in restaurant

Three employees were found shot to death early Monday inside an Outback Steakhouse in Texarkana, police said.

The bodies were found in the office area.

“At this point we’re unsure what the motive was. It’s likely that it was robbery, but we don’t know that for sure,” said police Sgt. Danny Presley.

He said officers were sent to the restaurant at about 3 a.m. after receiving a call from the wife of manager Matt Hines.

The woman, whose name wasn’t released, said her husband hadn’t come home and she wasn’t able to contact him at the restaurant, Presley said.

Police identified the victims as Hines, 31, Chrissy Willis, 23, and Rebecca Shifflet, 24.

Honolulu

Hurricane downgraded; Hawaii watch canceled

Hurricane Jimena weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm Monday, missing the Hawaiian Islands but still causing high surf and heavy rain along southern and eastern shores.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center lifted the hurricane watch for Hawaii, the state’s biggest and southernmost island.

Still, high surf and a threat of heavy rain put a damper on Labor Day beach plans for residents and tourists along eastern and southern shores of Hawaii, also known as the Big Island.

Beaches remained closed Monday because of rough waves and rip currents. Surf was running 8 to 12 feet high, with 15-foot waves still possible.