Air Force Shelves $3B Worth of Brand New Drones

Stocktrek Images/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Far from spying on terrorists, more than a dozen high-tech surveillance drones, which together cost the U.S. government more than $3 billion, could soon be sitting in a storage facility gathering dust after top Air Force officials admitted this week the birds still are not as good as the half-century-old spy planes they were designed to replace.

Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz appeared with Air Force Secretary Michael Donley before a Senate committee Tuesday where the two defended the service's decision to stop acquisition of the Global Hawk Block 30 drones and to shelve the 18 Block 30 unmanned drones the Air Force already has, claiming it will save the Pentagon $2.5 billion. In joint written testimony, Schwartz and Donley said the Block 30s cost too much and would require expensive upgrades to match the current version of the Cold War era U-2 spy plane's technical capabilities.

"This was a choice [where] we had an asset that can do the mission as it's currently specified and could do it overall at much less cost," Schwartz told lawmakers during the hearing. "Sustaining the U-2 was a better bet."

The Block 30 Global Hawks, developed by defense contracting giant Northrop Grumman, are designed for capturing images and detecting electronic signals over extremely long distances. Other variations of the Global Hawk, including the Block 20 that specializes in communications technology and the Block 40 that sports a long-range radar system for advanced target detection, will continue to be used by the Air Force, Schwartz said. Each bird, regardless of type, is estimated to cost around $176 million.

The entire program has suffered from a series of costly delays and the program price tag has risen so steadily -- from an estimated $5.3 billion in 2001 to $13.6 billion in 2010 -- that as of March last year, the Department of Defense had been required to notify Congress three times about the ballooning cost.

The Block 30s in particular were the subject of a scathing internal Defense Department report last May, which claimed that in operational testing in 2010, the drones failed to provide adequate coverage of a target area more than half of the time they were in the air. The report said then that the drone was "not operationally suitable." A representative for Northrop Grumman later told ABC News the company was aware of the issues brought up in the report and said the company had worked with the Air Force to solve most of them.

Despite the internal report, an Air Force spokesperson told ABC News in June 2011 that some Block 30s had already been used in real-world operations where they "did not immediately perform at [their] full capacity."

Around the same time as that admission, Pentagon acquisitions chief Ashton Carter wrote a letter to Congress describing the program's faults, but essentially saying the U.S. military was stuck with it.

"The continuation of the program is essential to national security... [and] there are no alternatives to the program, which will provide acceptable capability to meet the joint military requirement at less cost," the letter said.

Schwartz, who read a portion of the letter by lawmakers during the Senate hearing this week, said that conditions had changed since Carter's letter and budget constraints made the U-2 a better choice.

The U-2 spy plane is one of the nation's longest-running weapons programs, the first plane having taken off back in 1955 and made its name by providing crucial intelligence about the Soviet missile build-up in Cuba for the CIA during the Cold War. The planes have been regularly upgraded since.

Winslow Wheeler, an acquisitions watchdog at the Washington, D.C. thinktank Center for Defense Information, said the costly Block 30s sitting on the sidelines are a waste of billions that could've been easily avoided.

"They could've had a side-by-side comparison years ago to see if [the Global Hawk] could compete with the U-2," Wheeler told ABC News on Friday. "But they went through the typical technological assumption that this is a step forward, that this will be better and cheaper... [except] it's both more expensive and not as good."

Representatives for Northrop Grumman declined to comment to ABC News for this report, except to point to a statement posted on the company's website that notes the company's "disappointment" in the Air Force's decision to drop the Block 30s.

"Global Hawk is the modern solution to providing surveillance. It provides long duration persistent surveillance, and collects information using multiple sensors on the platform," the statement says. "In contrast, the aging U-2 program, first introduced in the 1950s, places pilots in danger, has limited flight duration, and provides limited sensor capacity. Extending the U-2's service life also represents additional investment requirements for that program."

Wheeler said that Northrop Grumman is likely to push hard to get the Block 30s back in the military's arsenal, something Schwartz left plenty of room for in his testimony.

"We will put the platforms into recoverable storage," he said. "We're not talking about breaking the birds up. We want to be able to have access to them and as circumstances change, perhaps there will be a time when they come out of storage."

In the meantime, Schwartz said he was confident the military will continue to use the other variations of the Global Hawk to the best of their ability.

"We're not giving up on the Global Hawk by any means," he said.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Chardon High School Reopens After Shooting

David Dermer/Getty Images(CHARDON, Ohio) -- Chardon High School will reopen its doors to students on Friday, four days after suspected gunman T.J. Lane went on a shooting rampage that forced the Ohio school to shut down.

Monday's attack left three students -- Demetrius Hewlin, Russell King Jr. and Daniel Parmertor -- dead and two others wounded.

Before he could do more damage, Lane was chased out of the building by assistant football coach Frank Hall.  Lane later turned himself in to a passerby and has since been charged with murder.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Hall said he is not a hero, "just a football coach and a study hall teacher."

"I don't know why this happened, I only wish I could have done more," he said.

Hall told the families of the three fallen students that he "was with them."

"I prayed with them.  I wiped their tears.  And I know God was with them," he said.

Previewing Friday's opening, Hall noted, "Our teachers will be there. Our administration will be there. Our parents and community. But more importantly, our children will be there."

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Armored Car Murder Manhunt: Police Timeline Details Crime

iStockphoto/Thinkstock (file photo)(PITTSBURGH) -- After a Pittsburgh armored car driver allegedly killed his colleague and made off with $2.3 million, investigators are putting together a timeline of events to find the culprit, who is carrying three automatic weapons.

Police are asking people across the country to be on the lookout for 22-year-old Kenneth Konias Jr., who they are describing as a cold-blooded killer that shot his co-worker Michael Haines in the back of the head and left him in the back of the Garda armored vehicle the two operated.

"Our belief is that he planned to rob the company, and if he had to kill the guard he planned to do that," an officer said.

The two men worked for Garda Cash Logistics and were collecting cash from the Rivers Casino and a Home Depot in Pittsburgh.  Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday, Haines' body was found inside the cargo area of the Garda armored vehicle, with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, and more than $2 million missing.

Pouring over surveillance video, investigators have created a timeline showing at least five collection stops made by Haines and Konias before the shooting.

Surveillance video shows the truck speeding away from a service road behind a Home Depot at 12:55 p.m. Tuesday.  At 1:23 p.m., the armored vehicle was seen in a parking lot underneath a bridge.  Three minutes later, police say Konias ran to his 2002 Ford Explorer, and at sometime between 1:30 p.m. and 3:40 p.m. he returned to his home.

Police stumbled upon the abandoned armored car just before 4 p.m. and found blood dripping from its locked doors.

"He had at least a two-hour head start from the time he left work until the time Mr. Haines was discovered," Cmd. Tom Stangrecki of the Pittsburgh Police Department said.  "We're not sure if he's in the state."

Konias's father said that when he was home he discarded a bloodied uniform jacket, while police say that he took off with as many as three semi-automatic pistols, including one he allegedly took from Haines in the truck.

At some point, Konias made a phone call to a friend, which was outlined in the criminal complaint charging him with homicide and robbery.

"At the time of this conversation with Kenneth Konias, Konias made statements such as, 'I [expletive] up. My life is over,'" the criminal complaint stated.

After the friend asked Konias a series of questions probing what was wrong -- whether he was having a bad day at work or had gotten a girl pregnant -- the friend, who is identified as Witness #1 in the criminal complaint, said, "What, did you kill someone?"

After a few seconds of silence, Konias allegedly said "yes" and implored his friend to run away with him and live off the money from his heist.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Rutgers Trial: Cop Describes Search for Tyler Clementi

ABC News(NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.) -- A Rutgers police officer testified Thursday that when he searched for missing student Tyler Clementi, his roommate Dharun Ravi did not mention that Clementi was upset over Ravi's alleged webcam spying and had asked to switch rooms the previous day.

Police officer Krzysztof Kowalczy said he was told to conduct a "well-being" check for Clementi on Sept. 22, 2010 after police found Clementi's possessions on the George Washington Bridge.  Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the bridge earlier that day.

Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman, left a note, but its contents have never been made public.  His death came a day after he complained to school officials that Ravi had used a webcam to spy on him while on a date with another man and had invited others to watch during a second date.

Clementi had requested a room change on Sept. 21 and both students had conversations with Rutgers residence life employees about the incidents.

On Sept. 22, Kowalczy asked Ravi if he had any idea where Clementi was or if he had been acting unusually.  Ravi said he didn't know where his roommate was, but that Clementi had been acting normally earlier in the afternoon.

Ravi told Kowalczy about Clementi's Sept. 19 date with an "older, slightly overweight" male with a "scrubby beard and short black hair," the officer testified, but did not mention that Clementi was upset that Ravi has used his webcam to catch Clementi and the man kissing.  Ravi also didn't mention that Clementi was angry over Ravi's tweet inviting others to watch Clementi's second date on Sept. 21, the officer testified.

Prior to Kowalczy's testimony, three of Ravi's friends were called by the prosecution to testify that Ravi told them about setting up a webcam that could spy on his roommate. 

What is expected to be one of the most dramatic moments in the trial was also delayed again on Thursday as the man who was seen on a webcam kissing Clementi was not called to testify for the second day in a row.

The man, known only as M.B. in court documents, will be called by the prosecution to tell the court what happened during the two dates he had with Clementi in September 2010.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Ohio School Shooting Survivor Has Bullets in Cheek and Neck

ABC News(CHARDON, Ohio) -- Ohio school shooting survivor Nick Walczak is partially paralyzed with bullets lodged in his cheek and neck, but doctors are "cautiously optimistic" that he will walk again, the teen's mother said Thursday.

Walczak, 17, was one of five high school students shot in a rampage at Chardon High School on Monday by accused shooter T.J. Lane, who has been charged with murder.  Three students -- Demetrius Hewlin, Russell King Jr. and Daniel Parmertor -- died from their wounds.

Another wounded student, Joy Rickers, has been released from the hospital.  Walczak remains hospitalized.

Walczak's mother Holly Walczak told a news conference that she believes her son was shot four times: twice in the neck, through the arm and in the back.  His brother previously told ABC News that Nick Walczak had no feeling below his chest.

"He has a bullet still in his cheek and his neck," Holly Walczak said.  "He's just getting feeling back in his legs.  It's going to be a really slow process, they said.  He's going to need spine therapy.  The surgeon said they're cautiously optimistic."

Nick Walczak went into spinal shock after the shooting, but doctor's hope he will be able to walk again.

"He's strong, he's brave and his age really makes a big difference.  I know he can do it," his mother said.

She said her son has been conscious throughout the ordeal and knows that his friends have died.

"We really try not to talk about it at this point.  It's a little too traumatic for him," she said.  "It's kind of a blur, at this point."

Holly Walczak spoke at a news conference along with the families of Hewlin and Parmertor and mentioned the guilt she feels since her son survived the attack.

"The families that have had the losses...it's a guilty [feeling] for me because they lost and my son was saved.  I think that's the hardest part for me.  I feel for them every minute, every hour," she said.

The mom credits teacher Joseph Ricci for saving her son's life by dragging him into another room after he was shot and caring for him until paramedics arrived.

"He is the person that saved my son's life.  He pulled him from the hallway into a room.  He is forever our hero," Walczak said.  "He's remarkable.  I can't believe it.  Nick would be the fourth victim, otherwise."

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Second Outbreak of Storms Expected; Devastating Tornadoes Continue

Scott Olson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Powerful tornadoes that have raged across wide swaths of the United States continued Friday, leveling Alabama homes and causing damage to a prison roughly 10 miles outside of Huntsville, Ala.

A maximum-security prison that houses roughly 2,100 inmates, including more than 200 with HIV, was hit-hard by the storm, which blew down 1,000 feet of fence around the prison. The tornadoes also damaged roofs of two prison dormitories, according to Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett.

There were conflicting reports regarding inmate injuries, but prison officials reported that the area was secure and no inmates escaped.

At least four people from the Huntsville area were taken to local hospitals, although the extent of their injuries was not immediately known. Emergency crews were continuing to survey the storm-damaged area.

Meanwhile, schools across the Midwest and South closed early in response to forecasts of further severe weather in the areas, many of which were still recovering from the tornadoes earlier this week that killed 13 people across seven states.

According to Russell Schneider, director of NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., “The risk to property and people is substantial on a widespread outbreak of this variety.”

Schneider told ABC News that the storm system will be moving quickly, “up to 50-60 miles an hour,” leading to rapid changes in severe weather conditions. Schneider advised people who might be in the storm’s path to “monitor the situation very carefully.”

“Now is the time to identify safe shelter, such as a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor in a sturdy building, for when threatening weather approaches and when a warning is issued,” said Jack Hayes, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service.  “Also, be sure to have a NOAA weather radio along with fresh batteries to ensure immediate awareness of this serious weather situation.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

California Teen Leaves School, Moves in with Former Teacher

ABC News(NEW YORK) -- An angry California mother is alleging abuse now that her 18-year-old daughter is living with her former high school teacher, who left his wife and children to move into an apartment with the young woman.

James Hooker, 41, quit his job after going public with his love for Jordan Powers, who stopped attending classes at her Modesto high school and left home to be with her former business teacher.

The girl’s mother is skeptical of the couple’s claims that nothing sexual happened between them, and exactly when the relationship became physical has become the center of a police investigation.

“She looked up to him,” mom Tammie Powers said.  “[He was in the] position of an educator, [and you] don’t seduce your student.  Period.  She’s still in high school.  She still lives at home.  She has a curfew. … That’s not OK.”

The couple maintains that their feelings for each other blossomed slowly by spending time together during and after school, and then via phone calls and text messages.  The two first met when Jordan was a high school freshman at James Enochs High School, but they say they only developed romantic feelings after she turned 18 in September.

“[He's] my best friend.  I mean, he’s more than just a lover,” Jordan Powers said of Hooker, who has a daughter a year younger than her and attended the same high school.

Hooker said that while Jordan Powers was a student in his business class, he didn’t think twice about her.

“She was just a student,” he said.  “There was no attraction.  There was nothing that was out of the ordinary, as opposed to any other student.  We were very much a teacher-student role.”

Tammie Powers is unconvinced.  As soon as she discovered a long log of text message exchanges, she went straight to the police.  She waged her own war on Facebook, posting a letter that went viral telling everyone that classmates took photos of her daughter sitting on Hooker’s lap when she was still his student.

She says that she also discovered 8,000 text messages between the two, along with late-night phone calls and email exchanges that took place when she was still a minor.

“That’s pursuit, in my opinion, with some type of intent,” she told ABC News 10 in California.

Hooker confirmed that he is under investigation by the Modesto Police Department, but is confident he will be completely cleared of any allegations of inappropriate behavior.  He said that he understands that people don’t understand their relationship.

“I think the stigma of the teacher-student relationship just makes it messy, makes it really hard for people to get through to the point that we really do like each other, he said.  “We really do want to have a future together.”

Coipyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Tornado Threat Looms Large in Storm-Rattled Midwest and South

Scott Olson/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Stronger twisters and extreme weather are expected Friday to again hit the Midwest and South. Earlier this week, 33 confirmed tornadoes left 13 people dead.

A large area of the country, stretching from the Ohio Valley into the deep South, is under threat of severe weather Friday morning.  Though it was relatively quiet overnight, the first storms could pop up around daybreak in the St. Louis area, according to Rich Thompson, lead forecaster with the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

The National Weather Service has indicated a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms for the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.  These storms are capable of producing winds of 75 miles per hour, large hail and long-lived significant tornadoes, according to the NWS.

"That area centered on Tennessee and especially Kentucky looks like it has the potential for some rather long track, what we call super cell storms or tornadoes along and ahead of a cold front," Thompson said.

"And if that actually occurs this would be the type of scenario where we could have some fairly strong longtrack tornadoes," he added.  "Today actually has the potential to cause even more problems than just two days ago."

Meanwhile, authorities in a wide swath of the Midwest continued on Thursday to look for more tornado victims.  Over 300 reports of severe weather in the last 36 hours included golf ball-size hail and damaging thunderstorm winds gusting over 80 mph.

Residents across the seven states where tornadoes touched down over this week -- Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska and Tennessee -- are also digging out and sharing their stories of surviving the storms that included an EF4 -- the second-highest rating given to twisters, which can see peak winds of 170 mph.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Philadelphia Airport Closed After Police Chase on Runway

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(PHILADELPHIA) -- Philadelphia International Airport was closed briefly Thursday after a drunken man drove his SUV through a fence and onto two runways, leading police on a high-speed chase, sparking a terrorism scare and forcing an air traffic controller to order a passenger plane to abort its landing, authorities said.

The suspect, Kenneth Richard Mazik, 24, of Chadds Ford, Pa., has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence, simple and aggravated assault, and several counts of reckless endangerment, defiant trespass and criminal mischief.

Witnesses say Mazik drove his Jeep Cherokee through an airport construction gate only a few yards from the runway at about 10 a.m. The man headed directly for the landing area just as U.S. Airways Flight 3137, a commuter jet, was about to land, they added. At the last minute, a controller ordered the pilot to pull up.

“We’ve got a rogue vehicle driving around on the airport,” one controller said, advising other aircraft of the incident and a likely delay. “We got to catch him. We’re not moving anybody until we find this guy.”

All runways were re-opened by 4 p.m.

Witnesses say it seemed as though Mazik attempted to time it so that the Jeep would meet the plane as it landed, according to a report from ABC affiliate WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. Police say Mazik never made it to the runway; officers were able to stop him first.

“The ground radar kicked in; the tower was alerted immediately and they made sure to divert flights coming in and then quickly shut the airport down,” Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan said, according to WPVI.

Mazik appeared to be intoxicated when he was finally apprehended, police said.

The incident has raised questions about security at the airport, but the facility’s deputy director, Keith Prune, said security was good.

“We do have security perimeter checks on a regular basis, multiple times, every shift throughout the entire day, so we’re fairly confident with our security,” Prune said.

Police checked the Jeep for explosives or other suspect material. The reported they did not find anything.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Bank Hostage Standoff Ends in Fiery Shootout

Stockbyte/Thinkstock(BUENA PARK, Calif.) -- A bank manager at a Southern California bank who was held hostage has been rescued safely following a fiery shootout between a robbery suspect and SWAT team officers.

Police and SWAT team officers shot the suspect after they swarmed Saehan Bank in Buena Park, Calif., at about 3 p.m., according to ABC News Los Angeles station KABC.

Authorities said the suspect continued to be uncooperative after the shooting, the station reported.

Aerial pictures show the suspect being taken out of the bank on a stretcher and placed into a paramedic vehicle.

The suspect's condition was not immediately known. It was unclear what the suspect's motive or demands were, officials said.

The suspect entered the bank at 11 a.m. and let all the employees leave except the female bank manager after an employee asked if they could leave, according to KABC.

The bank manager's condition is unknown at this time.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio