New York

Bus crashes into tractor-trailer, kills four

A charter bus crashed into a tractor-trailer Saturday in western New York, splitting the bus and killing four people.

The bus was carrying members of a Canadian women’s youth hockey team when it rear-ended the truck parked on the shoulder of Interstate 390, about 27 miles south of Rochester.

The truck driver and three passengers were killed, said Mark O’Donnell, a spokesman for New York State Police.

The truck driver was outside his rig at the time and died instantly, O’Donnell said.

The bus was carrying 22 women’s hockey players ranging in age from 17 to 20 years old, as well as the players’ parents and coaches. The Windsor Wildcats had played a game earlier Saturday and were on their way to a ski resort.

Authorities closed the highway’s southbound lanes after the crash and redirected traffic around the scene.

Michigan

Auction house sells Ku Klux Klan items

Ku Klux Klan robes sold for up to $1,425 and a KKK knife drew a $400 bid Saturday during an auction of KKK paraphernalia that critics have blasted as insensitive.

Auctioneer Gary Gray said a steady stream of people visited the auction house in Howell, about 55 miles west of Detroit, in the hours leading up to the sale, where participants could bid on seven KKK robes and items including buttons, books, movies and a lantern.

“Maybe I have taught more people about history, at least this week, than some schools,” Gray said. “It’s not a question of racism. That’s intertwined. But it’s not the main focus.”

One of the robes was bought for $700 by the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Big Rapids. Museum officials hope to use it to teach tolerance.

Other robes sold for $1,425 and $1,150. Many of the people who bought items did not give their names. One person was seen wearing a KKK pin, and another wore an armband with a Nazi swastika.

About 10 protesters gathered outside the auction house, holding signs that read, “Hate has no home here.”

Texas

Mourners bid farewell to slain Wal-Mart clerk

More than 1,000 mourners gathered Saturday at a funeral service for a Wal-Mart clerk whose abduction was captured on surveillance videotape.

Friends and family remembered Megan LeAnn Holden, 19, as a beautiful, compassionate young woman known for her smile. Photos of Holden growing up — in her softball uniforms, at her sister’s wedding and being silly with friends — were shown on a large screen behind her coffin.

Holden had attended only one day at Tyler Junior College before she was abducted Jan. 19 after finishing her night shift at the Wal-Mart. Her body was found two days later in a ditch 380 miles away in western Texas. Police said she had been shot.

Police arrested Johnny Lee Williams, 24, two days later at an Arizona hospital seeking treatment for a gunshot wound after a robbery attempt. He was driving Holden’s truck, police said.

Williams waived extradition Friday, clearing the way for him to return to Tyler to face charges.