Tour helicopter crash kills three

LOS ANGELES - A tour helicopter crashed in rainy weather on an island off the Southern California coast yesterday morning, killing three people and injuring three others, a county sheriff's deputy said. The helicopter went down on the west end of Santa Catalina Island near Two Harbors, authorities said. Helicopters airlifted the three injured to mainland hospitals. (AP)

KANSAS CITY - Authorities checking on a car stranded in a field yesterday morning found two people killed by a powerful storm that raked the state a day earlier with more than a dozen tornadoes. The Friday storm destroyed several buildings and left at least four people injured in Stafford County. Authorities found a man and woman from Colorado dead in a car in a field 75 miles west of Wichita. (AP)

The Pentagon's internal watchdog is investigating a government public relations effort that relied on retired military officers to defend the administration's Iraq war policies. The House this past week passed an amendment to a defense authorization bill calling for reviews by both the inspector general's office and the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The Pentagon suspended the program last month. (AP)