A couple was killed and their son and four grandchildren were injured when severe weather sparked a pair of tornadoes in central Florida before dawn.

Severe weather sparked a pair of tornadoes that ripped through central Florida before dawn Sunday, officials said. A couple was killed and their son and four grandchildren were injured when one of the twisters destroyed their mobile home.

"I'm amazed to see anybody got out of this alive," said Manatee County Sheriff Brad Steube during a news conference.

UPDATE: Photos from storm damage on Albritton Road in Duette from Manatee County officials. pic.twitter.com/cKMAcJO5vH

-- ABC Action News (@abcactionnews) January 17, 2016

Steube said that the victims of the tornado in Duette were asleep in their mobile home when the tornado struck. Steven Wilson, 58, was killed immediately, while his wife, Kate, died from a heart attack after being taken to a hospital. Their son, also named Steven Wilson, crawled out of the wreckage and helped his four children out of the home. The children are between the ages of 6 and 10.

Another shot of the damage in Duette, per videographer Matt McGlashen. pic.twitter.com/UHstlozlRU

-- ABC Action News (@abcactionnews) January 17, 2016

The younger Wilson and the children are being treated at a hospital. Their injuries aren't thought to be life threatening.

The National Weather Service in Ruskin, Florida, said a tornado touched down in Duette in Manatee County at 3:45 a.m.

Minutes later, another twister struck near the beach community of Siesta Key in Sarasota County.

#breaking storm damage reported at Excelsior condo on Seista Key @abcactionnews pic.twitter.com/09LZC3Y2xV

-- Jake Peterson (@JakePetersonTV) January 17, 2016

Siesta Key is a barrier island known for its pricey condos and wide, gorgeous beaches. On Sunday morning, about 17,000 residents in the area were without power, the Sarasota County Emergency Management office said on its Facebook page.

Sarasota County officials reported damage to multiple homes near Siesta Key. At least one home was destroyed and a woman had to be pulled from the wreckage by first responders. Other damage reports include roofs being blown off homes.

The Sarasota Police Department early Sunday reported downed trees, minor flooding and mangled parking structures in the city.

Rodney Wynn, a NWS meteorologist, said a survey team determined that Duette, about 50 miles southeast of Tampa, was struck by a category EF2 tornado, with winds of between 111 mph and 135 mph. Teams were still surveying the tornado that hit Siesta Key, he said.

Tornadoes aren't unheard of in beach communities, but they aren't common either.

"It does happen, especial in an El Nino year," Wynn said. "It's not common, but it's very possible."

The Sarasota Police Department early Sunday reported downed trees and power lines and minor flooding. Officials in Tampa closed the Skyway Bridge, a major thoroughfare, Sunday morning for the second time since midnight after wind speeds reached up to 50 mph with wind gusts up to 60 mph.

State Police troopers from two different barracks responded to fatal crashes in Seekonk and Peabody in the span of an hour Saturday night.

State Police troopers from two different barracks responded to fatal crashes in Seekonk and Peabody in the span of an hour Saturday night.

The first crash occurred around 6:10 p.m. on Interstate 195 eastbound in Seekonk. Troopers from the Dartmouth barracks found a 2003 Dodge truck had been heading eastbound on the highway when the driver exited the left lane and went into the median.

The driver, 26-year-old Chad L. Jackvony of Lincoln, RI died in the single-vehicle crash.

About an hour later, troopers from the Danvers barracks were called to Route 1 northbound in Peabody for reports of a rollover crash. The call came in around 7:05 p.m.

A 2002 Toyota Avalon driven by a Peabody man was heading northbound on the highway when it left the roadway and rolled over, State Police said. The driver, Michael F. Keddie, was taken to a local hospital where he died.

Both crashes remain under investigation.

There were no injuries caused by the fire in the single family home in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — Firefighters put out a fire caused by lint in the clothes dryer Sunday morning.

" Firefighters responded to 133 Lebanon Street for a cellar fire around 11:46 a.m.," said Dennis Leger, executive aide to Springfield Fire Department Commissioner Joseph Conant.

The fire caused about $5,000 in damage to the two-story single-family home, Leger said.

There were no injuries and the fire was quickly extinguished, he added.

Large waves persist as search and rescue efforts are underway for 12 Marines missing after two helicopters crashed off the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

HALEIWA, Hawaii (AP) -- The high surf warning that has complicated the search for 12 Marines who are missing after two helicopters crashed off Hawaii was expected to persist Sunday.

The waves dispersed the debris and complicated the search, which was expanded to include waters off Oahu's west coast. "It makes finding things incredibly difficult," Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Scott Carr said.

Rescuers battled waves up to 30 feet Saturday, but winds decreased to about 10 mph.

The U.S. Marines Corps released the names of the 12 missing crew members late Saturday. Though based in Hawaii, the Marines were from various states.

The Coast Guard was notified late Thursday of the crash by a civilian who saw the aircraft flying then disappear and a fireball. Someone else reported a flare in the sky, Carr said. It was not clear if the fireball and the flare were the same.

The Marines were alerted when the CH-53E helicopters carrying six crew members each failed to return to their base at Kaneohe Bay following a nighttime training mission. Hours later, a Coast Guard helicopter and C-130 airplane spotted debris 2 1/2 miles off of Oahu.

A Navy P-3 airplane was scouring the ocean, along with helicopters from the Coast Guard, Army, Navy and Honolulu police and fire departments. Two Navy warships and two Coast Guard cutters were on the scene. Honolulu lifeguards on personal watercraft were also looking.

The Coast Guard was keeping people out of a wide zone that spanned about 30 miles of shoreline, citing danger from debris. The zone extended from the shore to 8 miles off the coast.

National Weather Service meteorologist Derek Wroe said Saturday that the surf peaked Friday afternoon and was slowly declining.

A storm about 1,500 miles to the north and northwest of Oahu was sending large swells to the islands, he said.

The transport helicopters were part of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Known as Super Stallions, they are the U.S. military's largest helicopter, capable of carrying a light armored vehicle, 16 tons of cargo or a team of combat-equipped Marines, according to a Marine Corps website.

The Coast Guard initially reported that the choppers had collided, but Marine Capt. Timothy Irish said Friday that he did not know if the accident was a collision.

The helicopters normally carry four crew members, but this particular flight also carried one or two instructor trainers, Irish said. He did not know if they were teaching the crew or just observing.

On Saturday evening, the U.S. Marine Corps released the names of the missing officers. They are:

• Maj. Shawn M. Campbell, 41, College Station, Texas.
• Capt. Brian T. Kennedy, 31, Philadelphia.
• Capt. Kevin T. Roche, 30, St. Louis.
• Capt. Steven R. Torbert, 29, Florence, Alabama.
• Sgt. Dillon J. Semolina, 24,Chaska, Minnesota.
• Sgt. Adam C. Schoeller, 25, Gardners, Pennsylvania.
• Sgt. Jeffrey A. Sempler, 22, Woodruff, South Carolina.
• Sgt. William J. Turner, 25, Florala, Alabama.
• Cpl. Matthew R. Drown, 23, Spring, Texas.
• Cpl. Thomas J. Jardas, 22, Fort Myers, Florida.
• Cpl. Christopher J. Orlando, 23, Hingham, Massachusetts.
• Lance Cpl. Ty L. Hart, 21, Aumsville, Oregon.

The family of Orlando said it was grateful for people's prayers. "We continue to monitor the ongoing search effort in Hawaii and are thankful for the hard work of the many federal and local heroes undertaking this search and rescue mission," the family said in a statement released by the Massachusetts State Police.

Brother of missing Marine from Oregon counting on sibling's toughness

Before Orlando joined the Marines, he was a counselor at a surf camp in Hull, Massachusetts, and is a "camp legend," the South Shore Surf Camp said in a Facebook post. "He is mentally and physically strong with the ocean experience and skills needed to survive anything Mother Nature can throw at him."

Hart lives on base in Hawaii with his wife. His former high school football coach and teacher, Alan Kirby, described Hart as a positive kid who always had a smile on his face and called him a quick learner on the gridiron.

This photo taken in 2010 and provided by the Roche family, shows Capt. Kevin Roche. On Saturday, the U.S. Marine Corps released the names of the missing officers involved in a helicopter crash, including Roche. (Roche Family via AP) 

The family of Roche believes he was one of the Marines aboard the helicopters. "We believe the Marines and Coast Guard are doing everything they can to bring Kevin and his fellow Marines home safely, and we are grateful to everyone involved in the rescue," said a family statement distributed by brother-in-law Anthony Kuenzel in St. Louis.

The uncle of Semolina said the 24-year-old wanted to be a Registered Nurse when he left the Marines. "He was waiting to hear from a school he had applied to and was hoping to hear next week," said his uncle, Ryan Bachand.

Semolina is an impressive young man, respectful and positive, Bachand said. He had been a good football player at Delano, Minnesota, high school.

A woman was brutally attacked Saturday night by three masked men who slashed, punched and kicked her while she was walking home from work, according to Chelsea Police.

CHELSEA - A woman was brutally attacked Saturday night by three masked men who slashed, punched and kicked her while she was walking home from work, according to Chelsea Police.

The woman, who is in her 20s, told police she was walking home around 9:30 p.m. when the three men attacked her. Police said the men repeated kicked and punched the woman and then slashed her with a knife.

The men also robbed the woman of several items. The attack occurred in the area of Lynn Street Extension between Central Avenue and Maverick Street. The woman was treated at an area hospital.

All three suspects are Hispanic males believed to be between the ages of 18 to 21. All three men wore black face masks and black sweatpants. Two men wore black hooded sweatshirts while the third wore a grey hooded sweatshirt. All three may have blood on their clothes and may live in the area.

Police more patrols in the area after the attack. They reminded people, particularly females, to be aware of their surroundings especially while walking alone at night.

Anyone with information is asked to call (617) 466-4826 or call the tip line at (617) 466-4880.

Police arrested one man in connection with the stealing of a Yellow Cab Sunday afternoon.

Republican file 

SPRINGFIELD — Police have arrested one man in connection with a cab stolen at gunpoint Sunday morning.

Detectives said two Hispanic men approached a Yellow Cab driver on Riverside Road in the city's North End neighborhood around 11:45 a.m. One suspect was carrying a handgun, the other was carrying a knife.

Fearing for his safety the cab driver exited the cab, ran away and called for help, police said.

The cab was located a few streets from where it was stolen and one suspect was taken into custody.

The cab driver was unharmed and it is unclear whether the suspects took anything, including money, from the cab.

Police continue to search for the second suspect who is described as being in his 20s, of medium build.

The 36-year-old man has been missing since Saturday.

Kenneth Francis (Chicopee Police Dept.) 

Kenneth Francis, 36, was last seen wearing a blue Red Sox cap as well as a black North Face jacket. His last known location was the Williamansett area, according to a post on the Chicopee Police Department Facebook page.

Police said the man's family and friends are concerned about him.

Police are asking anyone who has seen Francis or knows his whereabouts to please contact the Detective Bureau (413) 594-1738.

The 36th annual Auto Parts Swap 'n Sell at the Eastern States Exposition was held Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016 in West Springfield, Massachusetts

WEST SPRINGFIELD - The last day of the 36th annual Auto Parts Swap 'n Sell at the Eastern States Exposition was held Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016 in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

The event, held over the weekend at the Better Living Center, featured automotive paraphernalia, parts, tools and shop manuals for sale as well as automobiles and trucks on display.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed Sunday that "several" Americans have gone missing in Iraq.

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The U.S. Embassy confirmed Sunday that "several" Americans have gone missing in Iraq, after local media reported that three Americans had been kidnapped in the Iraqi capital.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Scott Bolz said, "We are working in full cooperation with Iraqi authorities to locate the missing Americans."

Bolz did not identify the missing Americans or say what they were doing in Iraq.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said that "due to privacy considerations" he had nothing further to add about the missing Americans. "The safety and security of Americans abroad is our highest priority," Kirby said.

The comments by U.S. officials came after the Arab news channel, al-Arabiya, citing its own sources, reported that three Americans had been kidnapped by militias in Baghdad.

Iraqi media reports said the Americans went missing in south Baghdad on their way to Baghdad International Airport. A Western security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said Sunday that he had been told that three Americans went missing 24 to 48 hours ago.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility. Kidnappings in Iraq have been carried out by the Islamic State group and Shiite militias as well as criminal gangs demanding ransom payments or disgruntled employees seeking to resolve workplace disputes.

The incident comes after a week that has seen a deterioration of security in and around the Iraqi capital after months of relative calm.

The Islamic State group claimed a number of attacks in Baghdad and neighboring Diyala province last week that killed more than 50 people, including a high profile attack on a mall in the Iraqi capital. The string of IS attacks on civilian targets within areas of Iraqi government control follow battlefield losses, most recently in western Iraq. Last month, Iraqi troops pushed IS fighters out of the center of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province in Iraq's Sunni heartland.

In acts of apparent reprisal, armed gangs residents identified as Shiite militias, attacked Sunni owned businesses and mosques in Diyala province just north of Baghdad. After IS was pushed out of the province, security there was left almost entirely in the hands of Shiite militias.

Responding to a call to arms from Shiite clerics in Iraq after the Islamic State group swept across the country's northern and western provinces in the summer of 2014, Shiite militias in Iraq now wield more power than the country's regular security forces and military.

NORTH HAVEN,CT— A 23-year-old woman died from injuries she suffered when the all-terrain vehicle she was driving crashed into a tree in North Haven Sunday afternoon. Police said the woman was riding with her husband near 100 Dodge Avenue just before 1 p.m. when the ATV she was riding crashed into a tree and she was severely injuried. The...

Dave Canton | dcanton@repub.com 

Police said the woman was riding with her husband near 100 Dodge Avenue just before 1 p.m. when the ATV she was riding crashed into a tree and she was severely injuried.

The injured woman was transported to a local hospital where she later died of those injuries.

North Haven police said they dispatched an accident reconstruction team to the scene to investigate the incident.

he three Democratic presidential candidates squared-off over so-called "gun control," the economy and foreign policy Sunday, as they met in Charleston, S.C. for the party's fourth debate - the last before voters head to the polls in early primary states.

SPRINGFIELD ‒ The three Democratic presidential candidates squared-off over so-called "gun control," the economy and foreign policy Sunday, as they met in Charleston, S.C. for the party's fourth debate - the last before voters head to the polls in early primary states.

With recent polls placing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just ahead of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., nationally, the prime time event, hosted by NBC News, YouTube and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, represented a chance for the candidates to build momentum for their campaigns heading into the presidential primaries.

For Martin O'Malley, who barely qualified to make the debate stage, meanwhile, the two-hour event offered the former Maryland governor the opportunity to make some headway against the other two Democratic hopefuls.

NBC Nightly News Anchor Lester Holt moderated the debate, broadcast from the Gaillard Center.

Here are five takeaways from the prime time event:

Candidates took jabs at each other's records on gun safety issues.

Following Sanders' recent announcement that he would support a bill to strip gun manufacturers' legal immunity, which was included in a 2005 measure he voted for, Clinton said she's glad to hear that her Democratic opponent has reversed his position on the issue.

The former first lady, who argued that Sanders has "voted with the NRA numerous times,"contended that no other industry in America "has been given a total pass" from lawsuits and stressed that such protections need to be addressed.

Sanders, meanwhile, said Clinton's argument is disingenuous and that he has a D- voting record from the NRA. Pointing to his announced support for the new bill, Sanders praised its provisions relating to child gun safety protections and prohibiting ammunition that can kill cops.

O'Malley took issue with both Democratic candidates' backgrounds, saying both of them have been inconsistent on gun laws.

"I'm the only candidate on this stage who brought people together to pass comprehensive (gun safety) legislation," he said, adding the Maryland law hasn't interrupted anyone's hunting season.

Sanders touted the momentum his campaign has seen in recent polls.

When asked how his campaign will win the Democratic party's nomination when it trails Clinton in support among minority voters, Sanders pointed to the gains he has made in closing the gap between himself and the Democratic front-runner.

"Secretary Clinton well knows that when this campaign began, she was 50 points ahead of me. We were all of 3 percentage points," he said. "Guess what, in Iowa, New Hampshire the race is very, very close - maybe we're ahead in New Hampshire."

When it comes to head-to-head match ups with against Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, the Vermont senator added, polls put his campaign ahead of the businessman.

Sanders argued that his campaign will continue to build on the momentum it's seen so far to appeal to minority voters.

Clinton blasted Sanders' health care proposal, saying it could jeopardize the Affordable Care Act.

Hours after Sanders' campaign detailed its "Medicare-for-all plan," Clinton said she respects the senator's intention, but raised concerns that pushing for a new proposal could lead to the repeal of President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

"The Democratic Party in the U.S. has worked since Truman to get the Affordable Care Act passed. We finally have a path toward universal health care," she said. "I don't want to see the Republicans repeal it or see us start over again with a new debate. I want to build on and improve it."

Clinton cautioned against putting the issue "back into contentious debate" in Congress.

Sanders, however, argued that his "Medicare-for-all" proposal would finally provide health care for everyone as a right, adding that while he helped work on the ACA and voted for it, millions of Americans remain uninsured and pay high prescription drug prices.

He stressed that he wouldn't "tear up" the ACA if elected president, but rather look to move forward to ensure Americans aren't underinsured and don't face large co-payments and deductibles.

O'Malley, meanwhile, contended that the focus should be on things that are actually working. He pointed to his state's move toward an all-payer system, which he said has helped connect payments with outcomes.

Sanders said he has tried to run issue-oriented campaign, refused to attack Clinton on husband's personal life.

When asked about comments he made calling former President Bill Clinton's past sex scandals "totally disgraceful and unacceptable," Sanders stressed that despite calls to attack his opponent's husband he has tried to focus instead on issues.

"I cannot walk down the street - Secretary Clinton knows this - without being told how much I have to attack Secretary Clinton. Want to get me on the front pages of the paper? I make some vicious attack - I have avoided doing that trying to run an issue-oriented campaign," he said.

Sanders added that whether or not he answers a question about such topics, it becomes a front-page story.

The Vermont senator said while he found the former president's past behavior to be "deplorable," he has refrained from touching on the topic.

"I'm here to debate Secretary Clinton and Gov. O'Malley on the issues facing the American people, not Bill Clinton's personal behavior," Sanders said.

Clinton and Sanders condemned Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's response to Flint water emergency.

Following reports of lead found in water used for drinking, cooking and bathing in Flint, Michigan, Clinton and Sanders used their final remarks of the debate to blast Snyder's handling of the situation.

Clinton, who said she sent her top campaign aide to the city in response to the news, accused Gov. Snyder of acting as though "he didn't really care" when receiving requests for help.

The former secretary of state argued that the situation would likely have seen quicker action if it was impacting "kids in a rich suburb of Detroit" and not a city where the population is largely poor and African-American.

"I want to be a president who takes care of the big problems and problems affecting the people of our country every day," Clinton said.

Sanders agreed with Clinton's criticism, adding that he has demanded that Snyder resign his post.

"A man that acts that irresponsibly should not stay in power," he said.

Five cars were damaged and at least one person was injured when a Jeep exited Pynchon Street onto East Columbus Avenue going to wrong way.

SPRINGFIELD— A careening SUV struck three vehicles before it was stopped by a head-on collision with a second SUV on East Columbus Avenue just after 11 p.m. Sunday night. At least one person was taken to the hospital.

Police were investigating the incident and had no information available at the scene. But a witness, James McCarthy saw the incident unfold from the line of traffic stopped for a red light.

A sergeant with the Springfield College Police Department, McCarthy said he was sitting in a line of cars at a red light at the intersection of East Columbus Avenue and Pynchon Street. He said a black Jeep SUV came out of Pynchon Street at a high rate of speed. But, rather than turning right to follow the southbound flow of the one-way street, the SUV turned left into traffic stopped for the light. The Jeep struck a Buick sedan and a Dodge Challenger before slamming head-on into a Toyota Rav4

Even before striking cars on East Columbus Avenue, the speeding Jeep apparently struck the rear of a Nissan Maxima on Pynchon Street.

McCarthy said the driver of the Jeep attempted to get out of the vehicle, but he set himself in front of the door to keep the male driver in the car until police arrived.

That driver was later transported to the Baystate Medical Center. A second ambulance was also at the scene.

This is a breaking story and more information will be posted as it becomes available.

A new analysis is challenging the idea that smoking marijuana during adolescence can lead to declines in intelligence.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A new analysis is challenging the idea that smoking marijuana during adolescence can lead to declines in intelligence.

Instead, the new study says, pot smoking may be merely a symptom of something else that's really responsible for a brainpower effect seen in some previous research.

It's not clear what that other factor is, said Joshua Isen, an author of the analysis. But an adolescent at risk for smoking pot "is probably going to show this IQ drop regardless of whether he or she is actually smoking marijuana," said Isen, a lecturer in psychology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

The study was released Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Some prior research has led to suggestions that the developing adolescent brain is particularly vulnerable to harm from marijuana.

Studying the topic is difficult because children can't ethically be randomly chosen to either take illicit drugs or abstain for years so that their outcomes can be compared. Scientists have to assess what people do on their own.

For the new work, the researchers examined data that had been collected for two big U.S. studies of twins. They focused on 3,066 participants who were given a battery of intelligence tests at ages 9 to 12 -- before any of them had used marijuana -- and again at ages 17 to 20.

They tracked changes in the test scores and studied whether those trajectories were worse for marijuana users than for non-users. Most tests revealed no difference between the two groups, but users did fare more poorly than abstainers in tests of vocabulary and general knowledge.

If smoking pot harmed test scores, the researchers reasoned, people who'd smoked more pot should show poorer trends than those who'd smoked less. But that's not what the data revealed. Among users, those who'd smoked more than 30 times or used it daily for more than a six-month stretch didn't do worse.

The study also looked at 290 pairs of twins in which one had used marijuana and the other had not. The members of each pair had grown up together and 137 sets were identical twins so they shared the same DNA. Again, the pot users did not fare worse than their abstaining twin siblings.

So, the researchers concluded, pot smoking itself does not appear responsible for declines in test scores. Isen noted, however, that the work says nothing about other potential harmful consequences of smoking marijuana in adolescence.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said that while the study has some limitations, it is important and deserves to be followed up with more research. She noted the government has already launched a project to follow about 10,000 children over time to assess the impact of marijuana and other drug use.

A prominent 2012 study had indicated long-term IQ harm from pot smoking in teenagers. An author of that research said the new work does not conflict with her finding. Terrie Moffitt of Duke University said her study dealt with marijuana use that was far more serious and longer-lasting than the levels reported in the new work.

NOTE: We'll have much more from this game posted later. Senior Lonzo Ball, a 6-foot-6 senior point guard headed to UCLA and younger brothers LiAngelo Ball (junior) and LaMelo Ball (freshman) each impressed for No. 1 Chino Hills (Calif.) High School in a 100-75 win over High Point (N.C.) Christian on Monday at the Spalding Hoophall Classic. Lonzo Ball is...

NOTE: We'll have much more from this game posted later.

Senior Lonzo Ball, a 6-foot-6 senior point guard headed to UCLA and younger brothers LiAngelo Ball (junior) and LaMelo Ball (freshman) each impressed for No. 1 Chino Hills (Calif.) High School in a 100-75 win over High Point (N.C.) Christian on Monday at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.

Lonzo Ball is the No. 11 ranked senior in the country and Chino Hill is the top ranked team in the nation.

Lonzo Ball finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 18 assists, including some full-court outlet passes that turned into easy layups.

LiAngelo scored a game-high 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, to go with seven rebounds and five assists. LaMelo added 21 points.

The game also featured Edrice Adebayo, a 6-foot-9 Kentucky commit, for High Point. Adebayo is ranked No. 6 in the country among seniors.

He had 13 points and 18 rebounds in the loss.

After successfully delivering a U.S.-European ocean-monitoring satellite into orbit, a Space X rocket made a hard landing on a floating barge in the roiling Pacific, breaking a support leg and toppling over.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- After successfully delivering a U.S.-European ocean-monitoring satellite into orbit, a Space X rocket made a hard landing on a floating barge in the roiling Pacific, breaking a support leg and toppling over.

SpaceX announcers said the first stage of the Falcon 9 was not upright after reaching the 300-by-170 foot landing pad in choppy seas about 200 miles west of San Diego on Sunday.

The rocket launched as planned at 10:42 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Los Angeles, streaking through a cloud-filled sky before eventually sending its second stage and a Jason-3 satellite into orbit.

The failed landing was a setback for the Hawthorne, California, company's plan to reduce launch costs by reusing rockets rather than having them fall into the ocean. Meteorologists predicted swells of 10- to 13-feet where the barge waited for the landing attempt.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on Twitter that the rocket's speed at touchdown was OK, "but a leg lockout didn't latch, so it tipped over after landing."

Well, at least the pieces were bigger this time! Won't be last RUD, but am optimistic about upcoming ship landing. pic.twitter.com/w007TccANJ

-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 17, 2016

Two previous attempts to land a rocket on a barge in the Atlantic failed, but last month SpaceX succeeded in returning a rocket to a vertical landing at Cape Canaveral, Florida, after putting a cluster of satellites into orbit.

Meanwhile NASA said Jason-3 was "ready for science operations" after it reached orbit and had its solar arrays deployed. The satellite's mission is to continue an unbroken record of more than two decades of sea level measurements from orbit. As the current El Nino in the eastern Pacific has strengthened, Jason-3 had been stuck on the ground.

Jason-3's launch was originally scheduled for August 2015 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. However, the launch was postponed after a different Falcon 9 rocket failed during a supply mission to the International Space Station in June. After correcting the problem, a successful launch last month restored Falcon 9s to flight status.

Like its predecessors, Jason-3 is equipped with radar altimeter to bounce microwave energy off the ocean and a GPS system to identify the satellite's precise location. Timing of how long it takes the signal to return indicates sea level height, which rises or falls depending on the temperature of the water.

The data collected can detect the weather-altering El Nino condition and its opposite, La Nina, and are most familiar to the public in images of the Pacific Ocean that use colors to illustrate variations in heat. Other pragmatic uses include measuring global sea level rise, and forecasting the strength of hurricanes, other severe weather and ocean conditions for the shipping industry and in response to oil spills.

"Jason allows us to get the big picture in terms of sea-level change in the years to come," said Laury Miller, Jason-3 program scientist.

Jason-3 is a project of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. It was built by Thales Alenia of France.

Jason-3 will ultimately replace Jason-2, which has been in orbit since mid-2008 and has been tracking the current El Nino that experts say has tied the 1997-98 version as the strongest recorded and is expected to last through the winter before weakening in spring.

Despite being in its eighth year and only designed to last five, Jason-2 "is still in great shape," Jason-3 project scientist Josh Willis said. After being used to help calibrate the new satellite, Jason-2 will be moved to an orbit to study the shape of the sea floor.

The series of spacecraft began with Topex-Poseidon, which operated from 1992 to 2006. Topex, short for ocean surface topography experiment, revolutionized understanding of the role of ocean temperature on climate. Its successor, Jason-1, operated from 2001 until it was decommissioned in 2013.

Mission scientists emphasized at a prelaunch briefing that it was important to maintain a continuous record of global sea level variation.

Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of mission assurance for SpaceX, said previously that the current rocket would have been able to return to land, but the company does not have environmental approval at Vandenberg yet.

The cost of the mission, including five years of operation, was put at $180 million.

A bill prohibiting the use of hand-held mobile electronic devices while driving would also make it illegal to enter information by hand into a GPS device while behind the wheel.

BOSTON -- Motorists in Massachusetts may soon have to put down their cell phones when they're on the road.

A bill prohibiting the use of hand-held mobile electronic devices while driving would also make it illegal to enter information by hand into a GPS device while behind the wheel.

Motorists could still talk on their cellphones, but only with hands-free technology. Exceptions would be made for emergency situations.

The bill calls for a fine of $100 for the first violation, $250 the second time and $500 for all violations after that. Three-time offenders would be hit with an auto insurance surcharge.

Fourteen states including Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York have hands-free cellphone laws.

The state Senate is scheduled to debate the bill Thursday in its first session of the new year.

Principal Stefan Czaporowski calls the open house a "historic" event for the technical high school.

WESTFIELD - Westfield Technical Academy has scheduled a grand opening and open house for its new Aviation Maintenance Technology Program for Jan. 25.

Calling it a 'historic event', Principal Stefan Czaporowski said the open house and ribbon cutting officially launching the program will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Smith Avenue campus.

WTA is the first high school in New England to offer this soon to be Federal Aviation Administration certified program, the principal said.

School officials began researching the possibility of creating the new program here in the fall of 2013 and discovered that aviation is one of the world's fastest growing industries and the FAA predicts the demand for air travel to continue to grow. By 2033, U.S. commercial carriers are projected to transport 1.15 billion passengers, said Czaporowski.

An Aviation Maintenance Advisory Committee was created in 2014 consisting of career teaching professionals, local business owners and aviation professionals from the industry including members from the Air National Guard 104th Fighter Wing, Bombardier, Dassault. Embraer, Gulfstream, NASA New England Air Museum and Rectrix.

"The goal of our program is to give students the opportunity to meet FAA requirements to secure a career in aviation maintenance," Czaporowski said.

The program already has four donated aircraft for students to learn from. One of those will be transported from Barnes Regional Airport to the school grounds for the grand opening ceremony.

A Black Hawk helicopter will land on the school's football field as part of the ribbon cutting ceremony.

School officials will present an overview of the program in the school's auditorium from 4:30 p.m. to 4:50 p.m.. Following the ribbon cutting, guests will be allowed to tour program classrooms.

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube have ended the monthlong box-office reign of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

NEW YORK (AP) -- Kevin Hart and Ice Cube have ended the monthlong box-office reign of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Their "Ride Along 2" topped the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend in North America with an estimated $41.5 million over four days, according to studio estimates Monday. The Universal release took in $35.3 million Friday through Sunday.

The comedy sequel, which cost $40 million to make, came in below the original, which made $48.6 million over the same holiday weekend two years ago. But the box office-topping performance of "Ride Along 2" nevertheless lent a timely reminder to Hollywood of the power of diversity at the multiplex, days after the Academy Awards came under criticism for a slate of all-white acting nominees.

In second was Alejandro Inarritu's 1820s frontier saga "The Revenant," which earned $39 million over four days, capitalizing on its leading 12 Oscar nominations Thursday. In two weeks of release, the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring film has made nearly $100 million, making it an unexpectedly big success for distributor 20th Century Fox and producer New Regency. The budget for "The Revenant" swelled to $135 million amid production delays.

Michael Bays' "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" opened with $19.7 million in four days and $16 million in three days. The "Transformers" director's avowedly nonpolitical film about an extremely political subject performed strongest in the South, where Paramount Pictures said it did 41 percent of its business.

"The Force Awakens" slid to third place with an estimated $32.6 million through Monday. That puts the record domestic total of "The Force Awakens" at $858.5 million, nearly $100 million beyond the previous top domestic total of James Cameron's "Avatar." (Adjusting for inflation, however, neither bests "Gone With the Wind," nor the original 1977 "Star Wars," which remained in and out of the No. 1 spot for more than 40 weeks.)

Overseas, the Disney behemoth crossed $1 billion, buoyed by a second week of release in China. There, the seventh installment of the franchise is doing well ($95.2 million in two weeks), but is not on a recording-setting pace. Globally, "The Force Awakens" sits at $1.86 billion, third all-time behind "Titanic" and "Avatar."

A post-nominations Oscar bump, once a dependable boost for Academy Awards favorites, materialized substantially only for "The Revenant."

The best-picture nominated Irish immigrant tale "Brooklyn" went up 51 percent with $2 million from 687 theaters. The Fox Searchlight release has grossed $25 million. A24's "Room," easily the smallest of the best picture nominees, made $893,357 over the three-day weekend in 293 locations -- but that was a 500 percent increase for the mother-son drama, which has grossed $6.2 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Ride Along 2," $41.5 million.

2. "The Revenant," $39 million.

3. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," $32.6 million.

4. "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi," $19.7 million

5. "Daddy's Home," $12 million.

6. "Norm of the North," $9.3 million.

7. "The Forest," $7 million.

8. "The Big Short," $6.5 million.

9. "Sisters," $5.5 million.

10. "The Hateful Eight," $4.4 million.

___

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:

1. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," $47.3 million.

2. "The Revenant," $31.5 million.

3. "Boonie Bears III," $16 million.

4. "Creed," $14.2 million.

5. "Royal Treasure," $11.5 million.

6. "The Last Witch Hunter," $9.3 million.

7. "The 5th Wave," $8.2 million.

8. "Daddy's Home," $7.8 million.

9. "The Peanuts Movie," $7.5 million.

10. "The Big Short," $7 million.

The attorneys hired to defend Cosby in the sex-assault case are a study in contrasts.

By MARYCLAIRE DALE

PHILADELPHIA -- At his only criminal court appearance to date, aging TV icon Bill Cosby stumbled past a scrum of photographers while two lawyers held him up on either side, walking him into a suburban Philadelphia courtroom.

The attorneys hired to defend Cosby in the sex-assault case are a study in contrasts:

• Outsider Monique Pressley, a lawyer-turned-TV legal analyst with side jobs as a pastor, motivational speaker and radio host, who got a taste of the limelight as a law student, posing a question about race in the O.J. Simpson trial on CNN's Larry King Live.
• Insider Brian McMonagle, a revered local criminal lawyer whose past clients include mobsters, rappers, athletes and -- in a case with some parallels to Cosby's -- the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia during the searing priest-pedophile scandal.

"He takes a very, very aggressive posture, but does it in a diplomatic and smooth fashion. It's almost like an iron fist in a velvet glove. He is a strong advocate for his client, but can break tension with a quip or a joke," said fellow Philadelphia criminal lawyer William J. Brennan. "Mr. Cosby is lucky to have him."

McMonagle, 57, is expected to lead the defense arguments inside the courtroom when Cosby, 78, returns to court Feb. 2 in a crucial bid to have the case dismissed. He will attack the 12-year delay to file charges, the use of Cosby's deposition from accuser Andrea Constand's civil case, and the government's plan to call other accusers to show a pattern of behavior.

But Pressley will be the lawyer people see on TV in their living rooms.

Pressley, 45, was plucked from relative obscurity to lead the sprawling flock of lawyers Cosby has deployed to fight sex-assault and defamation battles in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and California, involving some of the dozens of women who accuse him of drugging and molesting them. After stints as both a prosecutor and public defender in Washington, D.C., she was doing TV commentary on the case when she impressed someone in the Cosby camp last fall.

"She's got his confidence," said celebrity defense lawyer Mark Geragos. "Obviously, you can't diminish the fact that you would want a female on the defense team. You're going to have female after female coming up and accusing him. ... And race is always a subtext in the criminal justice system."

Pressley, who is black, could boost Cosby's battered standing in the black community. McMonagle, who is white, may play to jurors in mostly white Montgomery County.

Pressley has taken to the airwaves to blast accusers who come forward decades later to "persecute" someone. And she dismissed an FBI study that found only a tiny fraction of rape accusations are proved false.

"How many people of influence and means have been the victims of extortion attempts? How many women -- and men -- have been willing to offer up their bodies on a casting couch?" she asked in a Huffington Post Live interview that earned raves for her poise under fire.

Constand, now 42, went to police in 2005 to report that Cosby had drugged and violated her a year earlier at his home near Philadelphia. Cosby called the contact consensual.

McMonagle will argue that a former prosecutor made a deal that Cosby would never be prosecuted and could therefore testify, without invoking his right not to incriminate himself, in Constand's later civil suit. In the deposition, unsealed last year, Cosby detailed his romantic interest in Constand, who is gay; his pursuit of other young women during his long marriage; and his use of quaaludes in the 1970s as a seduction tool. He settled with Constand soon afterward.

Incoming District Attorney Kevin Steele pondered that testimony, along with the dozens of new accusers, and decided to charge Cosby weeks before the 12-year deadline expired this month. He has said there is no evidence that Cosby had an immunity deal with former prosecutor Bruce Castor.

McMonagle has pulled off wins in cases no less difficult.

He unearthed a lab error in a drug-linked date rape case involving a local GOP official; helped persuade authorities not to charge future NBA standout Tyreke Evans as an accessory in a fatal 2007 shooting; and helped Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua avoid testifying in open court in the priest sex-abuse case.

The elderly Bevilacqua died before a loyal aide was convicted in 2012 of keeping the church's sordid secrets under lock and key. Monsignor William Lynn has spent two years in prison while appeals courts debate the fairness of the trial, including the testimony of 21 church accusers his lawyers calls peripheral to the case.

McMonagle and Pressley will likewise press to keep other Cosby accusers from testifying. McMonagle declined to comment for this article, while Pressley did not return messages seeking comment.

"Anybody who thinks that you can just ignore the media, it's kind of a quaint thought," Geragos said of Cosby's two-prong legal strategy. "There's a trial inside the courtroom -- but you don't want to be in a position where you can't find a jury willing to acquit him."

The January 19 administrative hearing at the town hall meeting room, 4417 Main St., begins at 7 p.m.

PALMER - Fresh on the heels of a $304,500 fine assessed by the town's Conservation Commission earlier this month, Palmer Motorsports Park officials are going to have to defend themselves against new allegations of environmental wrong-doing that the panel is scheduled to discuss with them on Tuesday.

The Jan. 19 administrative hearing at the town hall meeting room, 4417 Main St., begins at 7 p.m.

That meeting had originally been intended to provide Whiskey Hill Raceway an opportunity to demonstrate whether it could mitigate the wetlands damage that resulted in the $304,500 fine assessed on Jan. 5 - and if so, see a reduction to the penalty.

But the commission says it discovered new problems since then.

"The commission will hold an administrative hearing to discuss the continuing violations that have occurred with the septic installation and discuss new violations discovered for the well access road," the meeting agenda states.

Attorney General Maura Healey's office ordered Palmer Motorsports Park, the racetrack owner, and J. Read Corp., the contracting firm that built Whiskey Hill Raceway, to pay $450,000 back in August, to settle an environmental lawsuit prompted by what the attorney general described as "irreparable damage to wetlands."