A wildfire burns homes in the Glenn Ilah area near Yarnell, Ariz., on Sunday, June 30. At least 18 members of an elite firefighting crew in Arizona Sunday were overtaken by fast-moving fire that was thought to be sparked by lightning, as triple-digit temperatures have gripped the US West. (David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic/AP)

19 firefighters killed in Arizona wildfire: What went wrong? (+video)

By Chelsea B. Sheasley, Correspondent / 07.01.13

The members of an elite firefighting crew who died in Arizona Sunday were overtaken by a fast-moving fire that was thought to be sparked by lightning, as triple-digit temperatures have gripped the US West.

Nineteen members of the “Granite Mountain Hotshots” were killed, said Mike Reichling, Arizona State Forestry Division spokesman, on Monday. More firefighters died battling this wildfire than have died fighting any other wildfire in the United States in 80 years.

"We grieve for the family. We grieve for the department. We grieve for the city," Prescott (Ariz.) Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said at a news conference Sunday evening.

The specially trained “Hotshot Crew” was based in Prescott, about 100 miles north of Phoenix. The 20-member crew was one of 110 Hotshot Crews in the United States, according to the US Forest Service website. Hotshot Crews are often deployed soon after a fire breaks out and will sometimes hike for miles into the wilderness with chain saws and backpacks filled with heavy gear to build lines of protection between people and fires. They remove brush, trees, and anything that might burn in the direction of homes and cities. This crew had worked other wildfires in recent weeks in New Mexico and Arizona.

As a last-ditch effort at survival, Hotshot crew members are trained to dig into the ground and cover themselves with a tentlike shelter made of fire-resistant material, Chief Fraijo said. The hope in that desperate situation is that the fire will burn over them and they will survive.

"It's an extreme measure that's taken under the absolute worst conditions," Fraijo said.

Nineteen fire shelters were deployed, and some of the firefighters were found inside them, while others were outside the shelters, Mr. Reichling told The Arizona Republic. 

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) website lists the last wildland fire to kill more firefighters as the 1933 Griffith Park fire of Los Angeles, which killed 29. The most firefighters – 340 – were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, according to the website.

The news comes just a few weeks after the NFPA released a study showing the number of on-duty firefighter deaths has actually dropped by more than a third in the past three decades and had fallen to historic lows the past two years. The drop is largely due to improvements to firefighter equipment, better safety standards, and a decrease in overall fires.

A total of 64 on-duty firefighters died in the US in 2012, marking the second consecutive year that the total has been below 65 deaths, the lowest level since statistics began to be tracked in 1977.

Wildfire deaths are included in the annual NFPA reports, but they don’t typically account for a major portion of the deaths, according to an interview with Ken Willette, a former fire chief in Massachusetts and manager of Public Fire Protection at NFPA, when the recent report was released.

In 2012, four members of the North Carolina Air National Guard died when their aircraft crashed while responding to a wildfire in South Dakota, the report says.

The top cause of death for firefighters is listed as cardiac arrest, which has industry associations promoting major health and fitness campaigns.

Wildfire crews have long had strict fitness standards, higher than most fire departments', Mr. Willette says.

Firefighters in the Prescott crew were required to take an 80-hour critical training course and then an annual refresher and were also offered fire-safety courses, according to the crew's website. 

Each firefighter had to pass a test of carrying a work pack, as well as run 1.5 miles in 10 minutes, 35 seconds, and complete 40 sit-ups in 60 seconds, 25 push-ups in 60 seconds, and between four and seven pull-ups (based on weight), Reuters reports.

"It had to be a perfect storm in order for this to happen. Their situational awareness and their training was at such a high level that it's unimaginable that this has even happened," Prescott Fire Department spokesman Wade Ward told NBC's "Today" program.

On Sunday the fire, which spread to at least 2,000 acres, also destroyed 200 homes and sent hundreds fleeing from Yarnell, Ariz., a town of about 700 residents about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix. 

Eighteen Hotshot Crews are now battling the blaze, and more are expected, Reichling said Monday.

• Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

The thermometer at the Furnace Creek resort is already at 120 degrees before noon in Death Valley National Park in Furnace Creek, Calif. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. (Chris Carlson/AP)

Heat wave scorches Death Valley, America’s hottest of the hot (+video)

By Patrik Jonsson, Staff Writer / 06.29.13

Potential record temperatures are inching up across the American West as a high pressure dome slides across gauzy skylines and trembling desert canyons. But only one place can determine whether a new world heat record will be set this weekend: Death Valley, Calif.

Death Valley is a seared moon landscape that periodically blooms with fields of wildflowers. A thermometer near Furnace Creek recorded a 134 degree day in o July 10, 1913, which remains the hottest recorded air temperature on planet earth.

As heat warnings reverberate on Saturday from Phoenix to Las Vegas and hospitals gear up for a spike in heat exhaustion victims and perhaps worse, weather watchers are watching to see whether this heat wave breaks any records.

The heat wave is "a huge one," National Weather Service specialist Stuart Seto said, according to the AP. "We haven't seen one like this for several years, probably the mid- to late 2000s."

Phoenix was forecast to hit nearly 120 on Saturday. The record in that part of the world, Arizona’s Valley of the Sun, is 122.

Energy-sapping heat is expected to spread across Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah, potentially to dangerous levels. Las Vegas may see 117 degrees this weekend, which would mark only the third time the Nevada gambling capital got so hot. An average of 658 Americans die from heat-related causes every year, far more than are hurt or killed by tornadoes.

"This is the hottest time of the year, but the temperatures that we'll be looking at for Friday through Sunday, they'll be toward the top," weather service meteorologist Mark O'Malley tells the AP. "It's going to be baking hot across much of the entire West."

Forecasters say the temperature in Death Valley, meanwhile, could inch to 130, at least close to one of the earth’s most extreme weather moments. The world in 1913 was far less polluted and industry, cars, and planes emitted a fraction of modern-day carbon emissions, which many earth scientists today blame for climate change.

At any rate, Death Valley has been pretty hot in recent years. On July 12, 2012, nighttime temperatures dropped to only 107 degrees after a 128 degree day, tying a world record for highest daily low temperature set a few days earlier in Oman. That same day, the 24-hour mean temperature in Death Valley clocked in at 117.5 degrees. That 24-hour period was the hottest in recorded world history.

A federally protected subtropical desert and once a supplier of gold, silver and borax, Death Valley has a unique mix of landscape and weather that create what Chris Carlson, an AP photographer, described as “unrelenting heat so bad it makes my eyes hurt, as if someone is blowing a hair dryer in my face.”

As air rises from the near plant-less valley floor, it cools as it gains elevation, eventually dropping back to the valley floor again, denser than before. As superheated localized air masses thus circulate, Death Valley becomes a convection oven.

A medical marijuana plant is shown at a dispensary in Seattle in November last year. (Ted S. Warren/AP/File)

Marijuana legalization: The blustery crosscurrents of change

By David Clark Scott, Staff writer / 06.29.13

When it comes to marijuana legalization, the pot-scented winds of change are blustery. It's sometimes hard to read the prevailing winds.

Eighteen states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical use. New Hampshire looks likely to be come No. 19. Last November, voters in Colorado and Washington took legalization a step further by approving the use of cannabis for recreational use.

But the new Colorado law allows every municipality to regulate retail sales of marijuana for recreational use – or opt out. On Thursday, some 60 residents turned out for a Colorado Springs City Council meeting held to give residents an opportunity to share their views. And if this meeting is any indication, the debate on marijuana legalization continues at the local level.

The Gazette in Colorado Springs reported:

"Selling marijuana in retail stores could lead to more traffic crashes and fatalities, said Colorado Springs Police Chief Pete Carey. On the other hand, selling marijuana could boost the economy with jobs and sales tax revenue. For every point there was a counterpoint as residents in a standing-room only hall waited patiently to speak."

The new state law requires each city to decide on whether to allow marijuana sales – or not – by Oct. 1. Colorado Springs City Council member Jan Martin said they expect to make a decision by July 23.

So far, 34 Colorado cities and counties have banned retail marijuana sales; 25 cities or counties have put a moratorium on sales and will take action at a later date, said Ms. Martin, according to The Gazette.

Rosemary Harris Lytle, president of the NAACP Colorado/Montana/Wyoming State Conference, spoke out in favor of Colorado Springs retail sales. The NAACP endorsed Colorado's Amendment 64, "because of the impact of incarceration on young men and women of color," she said. "We know from our research that possessing a joint has great impact on the lives of young people."

Similarly, on June 25 the NAACP came out in favor of a bill allowing recreational use of marijuana in Pennsylvania.

The NAACP says that the war on drugs in America unfairly targets minorities and that there is a “staggeringly disproportionate” arrest rate compared with white drug users, according to The Patriot News.

“The war on drugs is a catastrophic failure,” said David Scott, chair of the Legal Redress Committee for the Cheltenham Area Branch of the NAACP and a former deputy chief of police. Scott cited an ACLU study that sees a racial bias in the prosecution of marijuana users.

While the Pennsylvania marijuana legalization bill is not expected to pass, it's indicative of how the issue continues to roil.

This past week, the New Hampshire legislature passed a bill that would make it the 19th state to allow for medical marijuana use.

The Associated Press reports that "the bill allows patients diagnosed with cancer, Crohn's disease and other conditions to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana obtained from one of four dispensaries authorized by the state. To qualify for medical marijuana, a person would have to have been a patient of the prescribing doctor for at least 90 days, have tried other remedies and have exhibited certain symptoms. Only New Hampshire residents would qualify.

The [new New Hampshire] dispensaries could have a maximum of 80 marijuana plants, 160 seedlings and 80 ounces of marijuana or 6 ounces per qualifying patient. They also would have a limit of three mature cannabis plants, 12 seedlings and 6 ounces for each patient who designates the dispensary as a treatment center."

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan has said she will sign the bill into law.

Meanwhile, in California, where medical marijuana use has been legal since 1996, the state's Supreme Court ruled in May that cities and counties can ban medical marijuana dispensaries. A few weeks later, Los Angeles voters approved a ballot measure that limits the number of pot shops in the city to 135, down from an estimated high of about 1,000. And earlier this month, federal authorities in California began a crackdown on some 100 pot clinics in Los Angeles County.

Betty Lu Guapo, 4, cools off in the heat at the Los Angeles Fountain Thursday. California is preparing for a scorching weekend that could see temperatures hit 120 degrees in the deserts as a massive heat wave rolls through the West. (Nick Ut/AP)

Heat wave could bring 120-degree temperatures to US West

By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer / 06.28.13

From southern Arizona up into Idaho, the US West is in the midst of an extreme heat wave expected to last into next week.

“An atmospheric blast furnace will be at full throttle heading into the weekend over the interior West with heat reaching dangerous levels, challenging records and elevating the wildfire threat,” warns Alex Sosnowski, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather. “In some cities, record highs for any date throughout the year could be equaled or breached.”

Chris Dolce of the Weather Channel agrees: “Temperatures will soar well into the 110s and even 120s in the days ahead. One location could even approach 130 degrees!”

Indeed, the prediction is for temperatures to range as high as 130 degrees in California’s Death Valley – which would be the highest there since 1913. Bullhead City, Ariz.; Blythe, Calif.; and Palm Springs, Calif., are all forecast to approach or reach the low 120s. Phoenix is expected to max out in the middle to upper 110s, and Las Vegas could top out at 117 degrees. When it gets that hot, nighttime temperatures remain in the 90s.

Even parts of the typically cooler Pacific Northwest could be baking over the next several days, according to the Weather Channel: Portland, Ore., and Seattle in the 90s, and Boise, Idaho, in the low 100s and perhaps as high as 108 by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise is forecasting “above normal potential for significant fire activity in the West Coast states, the Southwest, and portions of Idaho and Montana.”

Causing the heat wave, according to the National Weather Service, is a "massive and unusually strong high-pressure system" over the region, resulting in “dangerously hot temperatures.”

The weather service has issued excessive heat warnings and watches for most of Arizona, Nevada, and California and parts of Utah, in effect through Monday.

"An excessive heat warning is issued when temperatures are forecast to reach dangerous levels that will stress the body if precautions are not taken," the weather service states.

In the face of such heat, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges these cautions:

• Stay indoors as much as possible and limit exposure to sun.

• Stay on the lowest floor, out of the sunshine, if air conditioning is not available.

• Consider spending the warmest part of the day in public buildings such as libraries, schools, movie theaters, shopping malls, and other community facilities.

• Eat regular, light, well-balanced meals and limit any intake of alcoholic beverages.

• Drink plenty of water.

• Dress in loose-fitting, lightweight, and light-colored clothing that covers as much skin as possible.

• Protect the face and head by wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

• Check on family, friends, and neighbors who do not have air conditioning and who spend much of their time alone.

• Do not leave children or pets alone in closed vehicles.

• Avoid strenuous work during the warmest part of the day. Use the buddy system when working in extreme heat and take frequent breaks.

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Witness Jonathan Good (r.) watches prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda demonstrate the possible fight positions of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, during the trial in Seminole circuit court, in Sanford, Fla., Friday, June 28. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/AP)

Who was on top in Zimmerman-Martin tussle? Witness testimony in conflict.

By Chelsea B. Sheasley, Correspondent / 06.28.13

A neighbor of George Zimmerman testified in Mr. Zimmerman’s murder trial Friday that it appeared Trayvon Martin was straddling and striking Zimmerman before the unarmed teenager was shot.

The neighbor, Jonathan Good, said he went outside after hearing a noise outside his town house on Feb. 26, 2012. Mr. Good said he saw what looked like a “tussle” when he stepped onto his back patio.

“What’s going on? Stop it,” Good said he yelled.

Good returned inside to call 911 and was on the phone with police when he heard a gunshot.

However, Good said he did not see anyone's head being slammed into the concrete sidewalk, which Zimmerman's lawyers say Trayvon did to him. Good initially testified that it appeared "there were strikes being thrown, punches being thrown," but during detailed questioning, he said he saw only "downward" arm movements being made.

Good, who lived in the same gated community in Sanford, Fla., as Zimmerman, was the fourth neighbor who partially witnessed the death of Trayvon to testify in the trial, Reuters notes.

“Each has given slightly different accounts,” Reuters notes.

Good's testimony complicates the picture for jurors after two other neighbors testified Thursday that they believed Zimmerman was on top. But unlike Good, those neighbors did not see the fight before the gunshot was fired.

Neighbor Selma Mora testified Thursday "that after she heard what she now believes was a gunshot, she rushed outside and saw the man who survived the fight on his knees straddling Trayvon," according to The Orlando Sentinel. "That man then stood up and began pacing, she said.” 

Jennifer Lauer, a former neighbor of Zimmerman, testified that she heard yelps for help outside her town home on the night Trayvon was shot, but couldn't tell who was screaming.

“Lauer testified she heard an exchange that was presumably between two people. She then heard a scuffling, ‘like sneakers on pavement and grass,’ ” CBS News reported Thursday.

"It kinda sounded like wrestling," Ms. Lauer said. "At one point I felt like they were going to come through the screen."

Another neighbor, Jayne Surdyka, testified Wednesday that during the struggle, she saw a person in dark clothes on top of the other person. Trayvon was wearing a dark sweat shirt, and Zimmerman wore red clothing.

Ms. Surdyka said she heard cries for help and then multiple gunshots: "pop, pop, pop." However, only one shot was fired in the fatal encounter.

"I truly believe the second yell for help was a yelp," said Surdyka, who later dabbed away tears as prosecutors played her 911 call. "It was excruciating. I really felt it was a boy's voice."

On Friday, Good said he thought the person on the bottom yelled for help, but later acknowledged he was not 100 percent sure, according to Fox News. It was his opinion, he said, that Zimmerman was the one calling for help.

Good also testified that he saw a person in black clothing on top of another person with "white or red" clothing. He said he couldn't see faces but it looked like the person on the bottom had lighter skin. Trayvon was black, while Zimmerman identifies as Hispanic and was wearing a red jacket. 

Zimmerman, who has pleaded not guilty, is on trial for second-degree murder for the February 2012 shooting death of Trayvon, 17. Zimmerman's lawyers have said he acted in self-defense after he was attacked.

Under Florida law, all six jurors must be convinced Zimmerman acted with “ill will,” “hatred,” or “an indifference to human life,” notes Reuters.

• Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

The family of Odin Lloyd react during the arraignment of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in Attleboro District Court on Wednesday, in Attleboro, Mass. Hernandez was charged with murdering Lloyd, a semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits. (Mike George/The Sun Chronicle/AP)

Former Patriots star Aaron Hernandez faces second murder probe (+video)

By Ryan Lenora Brown, Correspondent / 06.27.13

A day after he was arrested for the murder of an acquaintance near his suburban Massachusetts home, NFL star Aaron Hernandez is now under investigation for his possible involvement in another deadly shooting last year.

Hernandez was denied bail for a second time Thursday afternoon, after being held Wednesday night on murder and weapons charges related to the death of Odin Lloyd, whose body was found in an industrial park near the player’s home June 17. 

Superior Court Judge Renee Dupuis said she would not grant bail because the state had a  'very, very strong circumstantial case' against Hernandez.

Meanwhile, authorities are now investigating Hernandez’s potential involvement in a drive-by shooting that killed two men in South Boston last July. The men, Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado, had apparently been involved in a nightclub fight with a group that included Hernandez shortly before they were shot and killed at a stoplight while driving home.  

Speaking anonymously to The Boston Globe, law enforcement officials said they believe Mr. Lloyd may have known about the earlier shooting, giving Hernandez motive to want him silenced. 

The motivation for the murder “might have been that the victim knew [Hernandez] might have been involved,” the official said.

The drive-by case is the latest in a series of recent revelations about Hernandez’s violent past, which have begun to surface over the past week as police investigated his possible role in Lloyd’s death.

Most recently, a Connecticut man filed suit this month alleging that Hernandez shot him outside a Florida nightclub in February, damaging his right eye and requiring several surgeries to rebuild his face.   

In the current murder investigation, prosecutors told a judge Wednesday that they possess video footage of Lloyd being shot as he emerged from an SUV thought to contain Hernandez. A surveillance camera at the player’s house later captured him returning home carrying a pistol. Later that day, Hernandez had his house professionally cleaned and apparently smashed his cellphone and home security system.

"He orchestrated the crime from the beginning, he took steps to conceal and destroy evidence, and he took steps to prevent the police from speaking to ... an important witness," the prosecutor said. 

Hernandez came to the New England Patriots from the University of Florida as a fourth-round draft pick in 2010, and in 2012 he signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the team. The Patriots announced that he had been cut shortly after his arrest Wednesday.

Police also arrested a second man, Carlos Ortiz, Thursday in connection with the murder of Lloyd. He is being held on $1.5 million bail in a Connecticut jail, Fox News reports.

Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson reported that Hernandez was a “model inmate” and “polite and cooperative” during his first day in jail, according to CNN.

Governor Rick Perry addresses a large audience at the National Right To Life Convention Thursday, June 27, in Grapevine, Texas. (Tony Gutierrez/AP)

Controversial Texas abortion bill will pass in new session, Rick Perry vows

By Chelsea B. Sheasley, Correspondent / 06.27.13

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) vigorously defended controversial Texas abortion legislation Thursday, saying it would pass and the dramatic defeat of the bill Tuesday was “nothing more than the hijacking of the democratic process.” 

“This is simply too important a cause to allow unruly actions of a few to stand in its way,” Governor Perry said at the opening session of the National Right to Life Convention in Dallas. The organization, which supports grass-roots opposition to abortion rights, had previously scheduled its annual national conference to be held in that city this week.

The abortion legislation had failed at the end of a special legislative session, and on Wednesday, Perry used his gubernatorial powers to call another special session, this one to begin July 1. Texas lawmakers will have 30 days to pass the bill – enough time, supporters hope, to avoid the stalling tactics that allowed Democrats to defeat the bill despite having fewer votes than Republicans.

“Through their duly elected representatives, the citizens of our state have made crystal clear their priorities for our great state,” Perry said in a statement Wednesday. "Texans value life and want to protect women and the unborn."

Perry used his speech Thursday to warn lawmakers that he is fully committed to passing the controversial abortion bill, which drew national attention after a filibuster by state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) and a raucous crowd at the State Capitol defeated the bill in dramatic fashion.

"The louder they scream, the more we know we are getting something done," Perry said.

Senator Davis said in a statement Wednesday night that if her GOP colleagues intend "to keep pushing their extreme personal political agenda ahead of the interests of Texas families, I will not back off of my duty to fight on their behalf."

Under Texas law, Perry can call as many special sessions as he chooses, and legislators can work only on the agenda the governor sets. Perry has a history of calling special sessions until his legislation is passed, Texas analysts say. 

“I thought there was really no question that he would” call the new session, James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Texas Tribune. “He wasn’t going to relent on abortion legislation that he called them in to pass.” 

A decade ago, Perry called repeated special sessions until redistricting legislation he supported passed. Democrats initially bolted town to prevent Republicans from reaching a quorum, but the legislation passed during the third session.   

In addition to renewing the abortion debate, Perry asked lawmakers in the next special session to pass two pieces of legislation that also failed with Davis's filibuster: funding for major transportation projects statewide and new, stricter sentencing guidelines for 17-year-olds in capital murder cases. Democrats say they are not opposed to those measures.

During the special session, the entire process starts over, with lawmakers filing the bills that then undergo public hearings before being passed out of committee. Only then can they be considered by both chambers.

But legislators would be able to move the bills quickly, state Rep. Phil King (R) told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“All three of those bills ... are ready to go,” Representative King said. “We can pass them out of the committees very quickly. We just need to start over where we won’t be up against a quick deadline.” 

Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and daughter of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards, said in a statement Wednesday: "While [Tuesday] was a great victory, we knew the fight was not over. And it's a fight we will win. The nation is watching and we will defeat this again." 

Supporters are expected to draft a measure similar to the one that nearly passed this week, which sought a statewide ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The legislation also would have required abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles and mandated clinics that perform abortions to upgrade their facilities to be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. 

Defenders of the bill argue that it would strengthen women’s health, while opponents say it would effectively close 37 of 42 clinics in the state and make it difficult for most women to have the procedure done legally.

• Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez (l.) stands with his attorney Michael Fee during arraignment in Attleboro District Court Wednesday, June 26, in Attleboro, Mass. (Mike George/The Sun Chronicle/AP)

NFL player Aaron Hernandez charged with murder. Video evidence is cited.

By Ryan Lenora Brown, Correspondent / 06.26.13

NFL tight end Aaron Hernandez was charged with murder Wednesday afternoon in the death of an acquaintance, a semi-pro football player from Boston, the dramatic culmination of several days of what appeared to be patient evidence-gathering by investigators.

Mr. Hernandez was arrested at his home Wednesday morning following an investigation that began last week with the discovery of a body, later identified as a Odin Lloyd, in a North Attleborough, Mass., industrial park near Hernandez's home. 

In a hearing Wednesday at a district court in Attleboro, Mass., prosecutors alleged that Hernandez had “orchestrated [Mr. Lloyd’s] execution” after a disagreement at a Boston nightclub June 17, citing evidence from surveillance videos taken the night of the murder, according to Boston.com.

Shortly after video of a handcuffed Hernandez being led out of his home was broadcast, the New England Patriots issued a statement saying he had been cut from the team.

“A young man was murdered last week and we extend our sympathies to the family and friends who mourn his loss,” the team wrote. “Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation…. At this time, we believe this transaction is simply the right thing to do.”

As the investigation into the 23-year-old’s alleged involvement in Lloyd’s death progressed, police made repeated searches of the Hernandez home and surrounding areas, and a daunting list of potential links between Hernandez and the murder mounted.

The player had been with Lloyd on the night of his murder, and reportedly had his home professionally cleaned just hours after Lloyd was shot. Authorities also reported that Hernandez had intentionally smashed his cell phone and home security system following the death. 

The Patriots drafted Hernandez from the University of Florida in 2010, and in 2012 he was awarded a five-year, $40 million contract from the team.

But his time as a college and professional football player had been marred by repeated allegations of violence and drug abuse. 

Most recently, a Connecticut man filed suit this month alleging that Hernandez shot him outside a Florida strip club in February, destroying his right eye and leaving him “substantially disabled,” according to the Boston Globe.

Prosecutors said in court Wednesday that on the night of the murder Hernandez and two others drove Lloyd to the industrial park and shot him five times. Surveillance cameras at the industrial park captured the arrival of the car with Lloyd and his shooting, and video taken in Hernandez’s own home showed the player entering the house with a pistol around 3:30 a.m., the prosecution alleged. 

For Hernandez's part, his attorney, Michael Fee, said the evidence against his client is “circumstantial ... not strong. However, Judge Daniel J. O’Shea ruled to hold Hernandez without bail, according to Boston.com. 

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement that Hernandez’s ties to the murder investigation were “deeply troubling.”

“The Patriots have released Aaron Hernandez, who will have his day in court. At the same time, we should not forget the young man who was the victim in this case and take this opportunity to extend our deepest sympathy to Odin Lloyd’s family and friends,” he said.

Sen. Wendy Davis (D) of Fort Worth (c.) holds up two fingers to signal a 'No' vote as the session where they tried to filibuster an abortion bill draws to a close, Tuesday, June 25, in Austin, Texas. Despite barely beating a midnight deadline, hundreds of jeering protesters helped stop Texas lawmakers from passing the abortion bill. (Eric Gay/AP)

Filibuster of Texas abortion bill makes a star of Wendy Davis. Will that last? (+video)

By Chelsea B. Sheasley, Correspondent / 06.26.13

In less than 13 hours, Wendy Davis rocketed from being a Democratic state senator little known beyond heavily Republican Texas to a global social media celebrity, as her filibuster helped defeat a major abortion bill with a last-minute boost from hundreds of noisy supporters packed into the State capitol.

Ms. Davis’ raised profile – her Twitter account jumped from 1,200 to more than 46,000 followers in a day – and the defeat of a stroke-of-midnight vote on the bill by the deafening roar of supporters in the gallery, are moments that Texas Democrats are relishing, but ones that may not last long, analysts say.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry could call another legislative session with more time to pass the abortion law, and Davis faces an uphill battle if she wants to channel the attention into a bid for statewide office.

“It's over. It's been fun. But see you soon.” Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst told reporters after the bill's defeat early Wednesday, hinting that Governor Perry may soon call legislators back for another 30-day special session.

Davis earned substantial exposure during her 11-hour filibuster. Twitter reports that there were at least 730,000 tweets about the filibuster on Tuesday, with 5,776 tweets per minute at the height of the drama around 11:58 p.m. central time as Senate Republicans were trying for a last-minute vote before the midnight deadline. Hashtags including #StandwithWendy and #WendyDavis trended worldwide, while a YouTube live stream drew more than 180,000 viewers.

“Something special is happening in Austin tonight,” tweeted President Obama’s official twitter account at about 8 p.m. central time Tuesday as Davis entered the ninth hour of her attempt to block passage of the bill, which would have banned abortions after 20 weeks and closed nearly every abortion clinic in the state.

Some political analysts were impressed with Davis’ star-power Tuesday, but question whether she can sustain a lasting statewide or national role. 

“The biggest question is whether Democrats are really ready to compete statewide,” Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

There is both a governor and US Senate race in 2014, but the last time Democrats in Texas won a major statewide race – for president, senator, or governor – was in 1990 when Ann Richards was elected governor.

"I think the Republican leadership in both chambers of the Legislature unwittingly helped create a national Texas Democratic star," Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak, told the Texas Tribune.

Mr. Mackowiak called Davis’ fundraising potential “unlimited,” and suggested she can raise millions of dollars over the next couple of months, but questioned whether she has the ideology to win over wide swaths of the heavily Republican public.

"Wendy Davis does not have the profile of a Democrat that's going to win statewide in this interim period where Democrats are trying to become competitive again," he said. "It's going to be a pro-business, moderate, big-city Democrat."

Supporters hope Davis could emerge as a face of a burgeoning Democratic attempt to move Texas ever so slightly to the left. In January, national Democrats started “Battleground Texas,” an organization run by Jeremy Bird, the former national field director for Mr. Obama’s reelection campaign. 

Mr. Bird told Politico the group would be “a grass-roots organization that will make Texas a battleground state by treating it like one.” Sources told Politico that Bird "plans to engage the state’s rapidly growing Latino population, as well as African-American voters and other Democratic-leaning constituencies that have been underrepresented at the ballot box in recent cycles," and that the organization's budget would run into the tens of millions of dollars over several year.

Yet the track record for Democrats seeking statewide office points to a difficult path.

“The GOP boasts comfortable majorities in both chambers of the Legislature and controls every statewide office; in fact, Democrats haven’t won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, a 19-year losing streak that spans 101 defeats,” the Texas Observer wrote in May.

“Since that time, the party has struggled mightily to even be competitive,” wrote The Washington Post when it examined chances for Democrats in Texas in 2012. “The story at the gubernatorial and Senate level is no better for Democrats [than at the presidential]. Richards took 45.9 percent when she lost her bid for a second term to George W. Bush in 1994. And no Democrat for Senate has won more than 43.9 percent of the vote in the last twenty years.”

Over the past decade, several candidates with substantial funds were defeated in their bids for statewide office. Hispanic businessman Tony Sanchez spent $67 million of his own money on a gubernatorial run, but earned just 40 percent of the vote in his loss to Perry in 2002.

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk and former Houston Mayor Bill White drew money to their campaigns for senator and governor in 2002 and 2010, respectively, but neither earned more than 42 percent of the vote, notes The Washington Post.

None of those candidates drew attention like Davis, say other consultants. "I have never seen a Texas senator suddenly make world news over the course of 13 hours," longtime Democratic consultant Harold Cook told the Texas Tribune. "I'm not sure it was possible before Twitter, honestly. At the start of the day, this was a local story. By the end, it was an international story."

"It's too early to tell, but I will say that it is episodes like tonight that are potentially game-changers and that change the electorate fundamentally,” he said.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.