NATIONAL BRIEFS
NATION: Guardsmen hit by furloughs
More than 1,100 National Guard soldiers and airmen in Hawaii, and thousands in other states, will be living with 20 percent less pay over the next three months as the Defense Department carries out automatic federal budget cuts. Guard members will be furloughed for one day a week starting Monday, so helicopter pilots and mechanics, pay and finance clerks and others will have eight hours less each week to do their jobs. The unprecedented cuts could make it more difficult for the guard to help put out wildfires or rush to the scene of natural disasters. The furloughs were originally supposed to involve only civilians. The Guard added military technicians to the list in May, after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gave notice to begin furloughs for civilians. Florida Gov. Rick Scott said the furloughs, affecting nearly 1,000 guardsmen in his state, are his biggest concern for the hurricane season.
OKLAHOMA: Dad runs over son in parade
An 8-year-old boy riding in a Fourth of July parade died after his father accidentally ran him over, authorities said. The boy, on a martial arts group's float at LibertyFest in Edmond, just north of Oklahoma City, either got down or fell off the vehicle at the end of the parade, Police Officer James Hamm said. Part of the float, a truck and flatbed trailer, loaded with hay bales, knocked the child to the ground, Hamm said. "The driver, obviously unknowing what was going on, drove forward and ran over the child," he said. The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital nearby. "It's just a freak, unfortunate accident," Hamm said.
MAINE: Driver killed in parade crash
The driver of a tractor taking part in Bangor's Fourth of July parade was killed when an antique fire truck rammed it from behind, police said. The parade was on an alternative route because police were in a standoff with a gunman, NBC station WLBZ reported. It said Perrin Oliver, 43, was arrested after the standoff that began when he was found firing from a second-floor apartment window.
