Miss USA wins 1st Miss Universe crown since 1997

  HANNAH DREIERLAS VEGAS -- An American university student is the new Miss Universe, defeating dozens of contestants from six continents to bring the crown back to the U.S. after a drought of more than a decade.

Twenty-year-old Olivia Culpo won the title Wednesday night at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip, replacing outgoing champion Leila Lopes of Angola.

CLICK HERE to see images from the pageant

The Boston University sophomore's coronation ends a long losing spell for the U.S. in the competition co-owned by Donald Trump and NBC. An American had not won the Miss Universe title since Brook Lee won in 1997.

Culpo, who beat out 88 competitors, wore a tight navy blue mini-dress with a sequined bodice as she walked on stage for the event's opening number. Later in the night, she strutted in a purple and blue bikini, and donned a wintery red velvet gown with a plunging neckline.

No one was more surprised than Culpo's family when told them she was entering the Miss Rhode Island contest last year, her father Peter recalled.

"We didn't know a thing about pageants," he said.

She won that contest in a rented $20 dress with a hole in it and then began working out, dieting, and studying current events on flashcards to compete for the Miss USA crown.

Culpo was good enough during preliminary Miss Universe contests to be chosen as one of 16 semifinalists who moved on to compete in the main show. Her bid lasted through swimsuit, evening wear, and interview competitions that saw cuts after each round.

She won over the judges even after tripping slightly during the evening gown competition. Telecasters pointed it out but also noted her poised recovery.

Moments before she won, Culpo was asked whether she had she had ever done something she regretted.

"I'd like to start off by saying that every experience no matter what it is, good or bad, you'll learn from it. That's just life," she said. "But something I've done I've regretted is probably picking on my siblings growing up, because you appreciate them so much more as you grow older."

One of those siblings, 17-year-old Gus, was cheering from the front row with his sister's glittering Miss Rhode Island sash wrapped around his shoulders Miss Philippines, Janine Tugonon, came in second, while Miss Venezuela, Irene Sofia Esser Quintero, placed third. All the contestants spent the past two weeks in Sin City, where they posed in hardhats at a hotel groundbreaking, took a painting lesson, and pranked hotel guests by hiding in their rooms.

After the show, Culpo appeared wearing a white gold crown atop her long brown hair and told a group of reporters she hoped to bring the country some good news in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Connecticut.

"It's such an honor to be representing the USA in an international beauty contest in spite of all the tragedy that's happened in this country lately," she said. "I really hope that this this will raise everybody's spirits a little."

The daughter of two professional musicians, Culpo grew up in Cranston and spent her summers at band camp. She has played the cello alongside world-renowned classical musician Yo-Yo Ma, and followed in her parents' footsteps with performances at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Her father called her the "nerdiest" of her siblings, and her brother recalled that she was "really chubby and sort of weird when she was younger."

They speculated that the same single-mindedness that helped her master the cello in second grade propelled her rapid rise through the beauty pageant ranks.

With her promotion, Miss Maryland Nana Meriwether becomes the new Miss USA.

The Miss Universe pageant was back in Las Vegas this year after being held in Sao Paulo in 2011. It aired live on NBC and was streamed to more than 100 countries.

The panel of 10 judges included singer Cee Lo Green, "Iron Chef" star Masaharu Morimoto and Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants.

Asked on the red carpet whether he found playing in the World Series or judging the beauty pageant to be more difficult, Sandoval said both were hard.

As Miss Universe, Culpo will receive an undisclosed salary, a wardrobe fit for a queen, a limitless supply of beauty products, and a luxury apartment in New York City.

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New York City marks 11 years since 9/11 attacks

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- Tuesday marks 11 years since the September 11th terror attacks changed America.

This year, the ceremony has been scaled back in New York City, and just the family members will read names. There will be no speeches from politicians this year.

At 8:46 a.m., there will be a moment of silence to mark the exact time the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, hit the north tower. There will be a second moment of silence at 9:03 a.m. To mark the time United Airlines Flight 175 struck the south tower. There will be a pause at 9:37 a.m. to remember the victims of the Pentagon attack, and the fourth moment of silence at 9:59 a.m. to mark the precise time the south tower collapsed.

A 10:03 a.m. pause honors the victims of the crash of the hijacked plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and a final moment of silence at 10:28 a.m., when the north tower fell.

Observances will also be held at the Pentagon and Shanksville, the other two sites of the September 11th attacks.

The emotion of the day is always prevalent, particularly in the hearts of the victims' family members.

Upon the dedication of the Ladder Company 10 firefighters memorial back in 2006, President George W. Bush said, "The time for mourning may pass, but the time for remembering never does."

And that's exactly what brings the relatives back to celebrate the lives of the loved ones that were killed.

"I come here on the 10th so that I miss all of the rah and the crowds," Joan Vishoff said. "because it's difficult to find some peach and some quiet time to celebrate my son."

And while politics has played a role in how the nation remembers that terrible day, even lawmakers agree the day should simply be one of reflection.

"I think it is important to keep politics out," Rep. Peter King said. "How the mayor does and how the governor is doing, I know there's a dispute going on. To me, the important thing is the families have a place to go. And we can put all that aside and just remember how terrible that day was and how heroic it was at the same time."

Spokesmen for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the governors were fine with the memorial organizers' decision.

"I think that everybody wants to remember 9/11," Vishoff said. "But we need to have our privacy too, and it's so very hard for us. It really is."

The Tribute in Light will return Tuesday night, shining from sunset to dawn.

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Giffords, Tucson mark 1 year since deadly rampage

  By AMANDA LEE MYERSTUCSON, Ariz. -- Hundreds of people packed a massive Tucson cathedral on Sunday for a service to remember a bloody morning one year ago when a gunman's deadly rampage shook a community and shocked a nation.

Girls in white dresses and red sashes danced down the aisle as a song called "Hero in the Dark" played, and a pastor called on everyone to celebrate the lives of the people lost and those who acted heroically during the shooting.

The names of the six people killed were read as a bell rang for each of them, and their family members and survivors walked down the aisle with red roses and placed them in a vase at the front of the church.

"We remember, we remember, we remember with grateful hearts," those gathered chanted together, standing, many closing their eyes.

"Even in the midst of this troubling year, the healing, the courage that we have experienced in our community - each one of us can notice how our cups overflow with the blessings of our lives," said Stephanie Aaron, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' rabbi.

Ron Barber, a Giffords staffer who survived two gunshot wounds, said he woke up Sunday dreaming about Giffords, who was severely wounded, and Giffords staffer Gabe Zimmerman, who died.

"You have to think about the six people whose loved ones don't have them today," said Barber at St. Augustine Cathedral just before the service began. In the crowd were survivors, families and others, including Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.

It's been a year of reflecting on lives shattered, of struggling with flashbacks and nightmares, of replaying the what-ifs before the deadly rampage.

Six people were killed, including 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, born on Sept. 11, 2001, and a federal judge. Thirteen others were shot, including Giffords.

Many throughout the close-knit southern Arizona community began the day of remembrance Sunday by ringing bells at 10:11 a.m., the exact time the gunman shot Giffords and methodically moved down a line of people waiting to talk to her during a congressional meet-and-greet on Jan. 8, 2011.

Bruce Ellis and his wife Kelly Hardesty, both 50, wept as the bells rang at the Safeway where the shooting occurred. They held each other tight.

"It's shocking to have a massacre like this occur in your backyard," Ellis said. "It's something that happens on the news, not in your neighborhood."

About 30 others rang hand-held bells, hugged each other and cried as the time of the shooting passed. Many bowed their heads in prayer.

Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, went to the scene of the shooting Saturday, and Kelly tweeted a photo and of Giffords pointing, he says remembering where she had parked that day.

They went to University Medical Center, where Giffords was treated after the attack, and visited a trailhead outside Tucson named in honor of slain staffer Gabe Zimmerman.

The couple will join thousands at an evening candlelight vigil at the University of Arizona. Kelly was expected to speak.

Barber said he spent time with Giffords on Friday and Saturday, mostly reflecting about Zimmerman's life.

"Even though it's a hard weekend for her and all of us, she wanted to be here with her community to remember," he said.

"She's sad, we're all sad, and she's glad to be home."

Daniel Hernandez, Giffords' former intern who came to her aid after the shooting and has been hailed as a hero, called Sunday a solemn day of remembrance and an opportunity to allow Tucson and those affected by the shooting heal further.

"It's definitely been a really difficult time for all of us," he said. "But last time this year, there was a lot of anger. And now it's, `How can we heal and move forward?"'

President Barack Obama called Giffords on Sunday to offer his support and tell her he and Michelle Obama are keeping her, the families of those killed and the whole Tucson community in their thoughts and prayers, according to the White House. He called Giffords an inspiration to his family and Americans across the country.

The 41-year-old Giffords has spent the last year in Houston undergoing intensive physical and speech therapy. Doctors and family have called her recovery miraculous after the Jan. 8 shooting; she is able to walk and talk, vote in Congress and gave a televised interview to ABC's Diane Sawyer in May.

But doctors have said it would take many months to determine the lasting effects of her brain injury. The three-term congresswoman has four months to decide whether to seek re-election.

"She's making a lot of progress. She's doing great," said Rep.

Debbie Wasserman Shultz, a close friend. "She still has a long way to go."

Jared Lee Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges in the shooting. The 23-year-old, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, is being forcibly medicated at a Missouri prison facility in an effort to make him mentally ready for trial.

Many of the survivors have lobbied for gun legislation in Washington in hopes of preventing similar shootings and started various nonprofits that award scholarships, help needy children and promote awareness about mental illness.

Sunday's events were designed to bring Tucson residents together much like they came together after the shooting last year.

The night of the shooting, more than 100 people showed up outside Giffords' office on a busy street corner in frigid temperatures, holding candles and signs that simply read "Peace" and "Just pray." Strangers hugged, most cried and many sang anthems like "Amazing Grace."

In the days and weeks that followed, thousands of people contributed to makeshift memorials outside the office, the Tucson hospital where Giffords and other shooting victims were treated and the grocery store where it happened.

The memorials turned into massive tributes of candles, cards, photos, stuffed animals and flowers that blanketed areas of up to 60-by-100 feet.

Others that came later include a 9-foot, 11-inch sculpture of an angel forged from World Trade Center steel in memory of Green.

Several of the shooting victims visited the memorials before they were dismantled and put in storage boxes for safekeeping until a permanent memorial is erected in the coming years. Items from the hospital alone filled 60 boxes.

More memorials were springing up Sunday. At the Safeway, Gail Gardiner, 70, who lives about a mile away, tied a balloon that says "Thinking of you" to a railing next to a memorial of the shooting that reads: "The Tucson Tragedy ... we shall never forget."

"This is my backyard and this is where I want to be and show people that we remember this," Gardiner said. "It just hits so close to home and so many innocent people's lives were taken and changed forever."

Albert Pesqueira, assistant fire chief for the Northwest Fire District in Tucson, was one of the first responders to the shooting. He came to the Safeway on Sunday to remember and to heal.

His most vivid memories from that day are the sounds of moaning and crying among shooting victims in the aftermath of the attack.

"I can still hear them," Pesqueira said. "We'll never be the same. We'll never be normal again because of what occurred."

Victims of the Tragedy in Tucson released a video online marking one year since the shooting.

TUCSON SURVIVOR STORIES: WATCH THE ENITRE VIDEO HERE ---
Online:
AP interactive - http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2011/congresswoman-recovery/

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2011 now deadliest year for tornadoes since 1950

  By NOMAAN MERCHANTJOPLIN, Mo. -- The numbers look increasingly bleak for families hoping for the best after a monster tornado that devastated the town of Joplin, as the city has raised the death toll to at least 139 and state officials say 100 people are still missing.

President Barack Obama will fly to tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo., Sunday. His visit comes one week after the massive EF-5 twister raced through the city with 200 mph winds. Obama returned to Washington Saturday night after a six-day trip to Europe.

Thousands more people far beyond Joplin had been waiting for good news about a teen believed to have been ejected or sucked from his vehicle on the way home from graduation. Several social-networking efforts specifically focused on finding information about Will Norton. But his family says he, too, is among the dead - found in a pond near where his truck was located.

"At least we know that he wasn't out there suffering," his aunt Tracey Presslor said, holding a framed portrait of her 18-year-old nephew at a news conference. "Knowing that he was gone right away was really a blessing for us."

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr said Saturday during a news conference that the death toll rose by three to at least 142, but later revised that figure down to 139 without elaboration.

Mike O'Connell, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he could not confirm the city's updated death toll number. He said the state of Missouri currently places the death toll at 126, saying they have no reason to raise that number.

State officials say there are 142 sets of human remains at the morgue handling those killed by the storm and some could be from the same victim.

If the death toll does stand at 139, it would place this year's tornado death toll at 520 and make 2011 the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1950. Until now, the highest recorded death toll by the National Weather Service in a single year was 519 in 1953.

There were deadlier storms before 1950, but those counts were based on estimates and not on precise figures.

The tornado - an EF-5 packing 200 mph winds -also injured more than 900 people. Tallying and identifying the dead and the missing has proven a complex, delicate and sometimes confusing exercise for both authorities and loved ones.

Missouri officials said Saturday that the number of people unaccounted for stands at 100. The Missouri Department of Public Safety said that within that number, nine people have been reported dead by their families, but state officials are working to confirm those.

Newton County coroner Mark Bridges said most, if not all, of the people brought to the temporary morgue could be identified this weekend. He described officials there as "making real good progress."

After a mistake immediately after the storm - four people thought they had identified one person's body, only to be wrong - authorities are relying instead on dental records, photos and unique tattoos or piercings, Bridges said. They've also used DNA tests in a handful of cases, he said.

"We learned the hard way at the start," he said. "It's bad for the families."

Asked about calls to open the morgue to all families of the missing, Bridges said doing so would be impractical. He described the site as a number of dark, refrigerated trailers holding body bags.

"There's no place to let them into," he said.

There have been 1,333 preliminary tornado reports in the U.S.

through May 27, officials said, while the average number of confirmed tornadoes in a single year during the past decade has been 1,274.

Presslor said Saturday that the family received confirmation of his death late Friday night. She said her nephew's body was not found sooner because there was so much debris in the pond.

Family members had previously told The Associated Press that Norton and his father were still on the road when the storm hit.

Mark Norton urged his son to pull over, but the teen's Hummer H3 flipped several times, throwing the young man from the vehicle, likely through the sunroof.

Mark Norton remains in the hospital and is "having a really tough time" after being told his son's body was found, Presslor said.

About a dozen of Norton's classmates stood in the back of the room as she spoke. His funeral arrangements are pending.

Presslor thanked the thousands of people who posted good wishes for Norton on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, and thanked all those who helped look for him. She urged those volunteers to keep looking for other people still missing.

"Please don't give up," she said.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more U.S. & World News »

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