NEW YORK (AP) — Joanna Simon, an acclaimed mezzo-soprano,
Emmy-winning TV correspondent and one of the three singing
Simon sisters who include pop star Carly, has died.  

Simon, the eldest of four, died Wednesday, just a day before her
sister Lucy died, according to Lucy’s daughter, Julie Simon.

Carly Simon (center) and sisters Lucy Simon and Joanna
Simon.

On the morning of October 21, 1966, a landslide of coal waste
crashed into a small Welsh mining village, killing 116 children
and 28 adults. The accident left just five survivors and wiped
out half the town’s youth. The Aberfan disaster became one
of the UK’s worst coal mining accidents.

The landslide sent 140,000 cubic yards of coal waste in a tidal
wave 40-feet high hurtling down the mountainside where Merthyr
Vale Colliery stood, destroying farmhouses, cottages, houses
and part of the neighboring County Secondary School.

The avalanche is thought to have been the result of shoddy
construction and a build-up of water in one of the colliery’s
spoil tips—piles of waste material removed during mining.

TIM MAGUIRE

The lead singer of the band Ronnie Van Zant, vocalist and guitarist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassier Gaines,
and the managing crew including assistant road manager
Dean Kilpatrick, died in the crash.

PORTLAND, Ore. —According to his family, Len Bergstein died
Monday night. He was 76 years old.

(Fox News) – The Louisville Zoo in Louisville, Kentucky,
announced it made the tough decision to euthanize Helen
on Friday, Oct. 14,  because her quality of life declined for
several months due to natural aging.

The zoo said Helen had been in "remarkably good health
for most of her life" despite being diagnosed with "expected
age-related arthritis and some periodontal disease.”

According to the media release, In recent months, Helen
developed instability and tremors that put her at fall risk
and impacted her day-to-day life. 

Female zoo gorillas typically have a median life expectancy
of about 39 years.

Helen’s estimated birth year is 1958, and she was born in the
wilderness of Western Africa, which is now modern-day
Cameroon.