Health tips 10 Stars make

from Russert Southern League

tragedy. C1
All-Star team.
Army’s next robots will swarm
like ants to support a soldier. D8 D1
WE BREAK MORE NEWS AT TUESDAY / JULY 1 / 2008 Classifieds: 532-4222

Local
The annual Fourth of July
fireworks extravaganza
hosted by the Exchange
Club of Greater Huntsville
has a new address this year
– Bridge Street Town Cen-
tre. B1 Photo courtesy of Blake Mathis
The once-neat line of tents shown below was a twisted mass of metal and canvas after the storm passed.
Mayoral battles are featured
as qualifying opens today for
municipal offices in TRAGEDY AT AIRSHOW 2008
Huntsville, Madison and AARON JOSIAH MILLER

‘Nothing that we ‘Only son’

elsewhere. B1

State
The state Supreme Court
sets a July 31 execution date
for an inmate who came
within a day of being exe- loved Braves
and T-ball
cuted last year for a 1982

could have done’

contract killing. B3

Nation
In pre-July 4 speeches,
Barack Obama, John Mc-
Cain and their supporters
give their views of patriot-
ism. A7
The collision of two medical
helicopters in Arizona is the
ninth such accident this
year, and 16 people have
been killed. A8
World
The Pentagon is charging a
Saudi Arabian with “organ-
izing and directing” the
2000 bombing of the USS
Cole, and will seek the death
penalty. A3
Three men held at Abu
Ghraib prison file a suit
claiming they were tortured
by U.S. defense contractors
there. A3
Business
Child, parents made
‘the sweetest family you
could ever hope to see’
By PATRICIA C. McCARTER
Tent owner likens wind Times Staff Writer
patricia.mccarter@htimes.com
to tornado that skips Aaron Josiah Miller was more than
what history will remember him to be.
around neighborhood Yes,heisthetragicfaceofHuntsville’s
By NIKI DOYLE Airshow 2008, where a violent storm
Times Staff Writer uprooted
niki.doyle@htimes.com tentsSunday
The owner of the tents that fell dur- afternoon
ing Sunday’s air show said he person- and fatally
ally supervised the installation of the toppled a
tents and described the incident as a 5,000-
“freak weather circumstance.” pound piece
“In my opinion, it’s like a tornado of air condi-
when it takes out two or three houses tioning
but leaves one standing,” said Steve equipment
Whitman, owner of All Needz Rentals. on the boy.
“The microburst had no warning. Butbefore
There was nothing that we could have he was that,
done to improve the stability of the he was just a
tents.” beloved,
impish 5-
Whitman said Monday night that
year-oldwho

<ä<
one side of the tents was secured with couldn’twait Josiah Miller had a
3-foot-long stakes driven as far into the Aerial photos courtesy of Blake Mathis
to start wall-size mural of At-
ground as they would go, and the other The line of white tents, lower right, before the storm hit. k i n d e r - lanta’s Fulton Stadium
Dow Nasdaq S&P 500 side was anchored by 55-gallon drums garten, who in his room.
+ 3.50 - 22.65 + 1.62 of water. loved the At-
Huntsville-based Avocent is
Some tents were secured with only
stakes while others had only water bar-
In today’s Times
Air show official says this is the
Airport officials mum lanta Braves so much his parents put a
wall-size mural of Fulton County Sta-
cutting 110 jobs worldwide; rels, but the wind didn’t discriminate. worst accident he’s heard of. A4 Huntsville International Air- diuminhisredandbluebedroom,who
about 20 will be in The tents that toppled were pulled up Eyewitness accounts. B1
port authorities declined Monday played his toy guitar as he sang John-
Huntsville, but there will be on the sides with the stakes, and some Emergency workers’ quick re-
sponse came from preparedness. B1 to release additional information ny Cash songs.
a net gain of about 20 local tents with the same construction – or comment on the tent collapse He was and is the only son who will
What can be done that might pre-
positions as work from stakes on one side and barrels on the vent another storm tragedy? Editori- that killed 5-year-old Aaron Josi- ever be born to Amie and Jason Miller.
other sites is transferred other – didn’t budge, Whitman said. al, A6 ah Miller. Complications after his birth deter-
here. D8 “My family was under the tents and, Spokeswoman Laura Gipson minedthat, and his parents – who were
if I thought there was any danger at all, On the Net: said airport authorities are with- just 20 and 23 when he was born –
Sports I would have had tried to evacuate my Stories, photos, and video at:
blog.al.com/ht/airshow
holding that information for now poured everything they had into him.
Huntsville’s family and others, yet it happened so “out of respect for the family.” Amie stayed home with him in their
Margaret fast, there was no warning,” said Whit- More information may be re- new and nice brick home in the Lime-
Hoelzer man, who has a daughter the same age grief that his parents and family mem- leased today, Gipson said. stone County part of Madison, teach-
qualifies for as Josiah Miller, who was killed. “My- “The staff of Huntsville Inter- ing him everything he needed to know
self, my family and my company em- bers are going through at this time.” to be prepared for school.
the 100- national Airport wishes to express
meter back- ployees are grieving the loss of Josiah Whitman said he also provides pro- ourdeepestcondolencesandsym- “They were attached at the hip,” said
stroke finals Miller. fessionaltentinstallationforeventssuch pathies to the Miller family,” Gip- Amie’s mother,MartaNewbyofMerid-
at the U.S. “MywifeandIalsohavechildrenand son said in a written statement. ianville. “Oh, she is going to miss him
Olympics cannot imagine the devastation and Please see 'NOTHING' on A5 so much. They did everything togeth-
Margaret swim trials. er. And Jason, too.

Microburst killed 11 in 1984 capsizing

Hoelzer D1 “They made the sweetest family you
could ever hope to see.”
The last game of his inaugural T-ball
seasonthisspring,Josiahturnedadou-
ble play, an unusual feat in a child’s first
year of playing ball.
Full weather, C8 Paddlewheel vessel was fromacrossthecountrytostudythecir-
cumstances – including Tetsuya Fuji- His mother’s tears stopped long
In Today’s Times
Forecast: High today
overturned by violent Microbursts hard to measure, and ta, the University of Chicago meteor- enough Monday evening to recall that
moment.

86
Sunny, mild. wind during SCI picnic come and go suddenly. A4 ologist who devised the standard for
measuring the strength of tornadoes “Hecaughtalinedrivefromthepitch-
By JOHN PECK and discovered microbursts and their er’s mound, and he tagged a runner out
Times Staff Writer cluding some children of SCI workers link to plane crashes. at second,” said Amie, 25. “I was the
john.peck@htimes.com taking part in a company picnic. Earlyreportsthatatornadomayhave dugout mom for that game, and he ran
Low tonight Few in Huntsville had ever heard of The company-leased vessel, a two- swamped the SciTanic were replaced to me and said, ‘I did good, Mom! Give

59
a“microburst”untilapaddlewheelves- story, 100-foot sternwheeler, was eeri- withtheofficialdiagnosis:amicroburst. me a hug!’ ”
selwascapsizedbyonenearDittoLand- ly named SciTanic.
ing. Eleven passengers drowned, in- The1984eventdrewweatherexperts Please see CAPSIZING on A5 Please see SON on A5

What’s inside
Abby/C2 Editorials/A6
Blind soldier determined to serve
Bridge/C2
Business/D6
Horoscope/C2
Life/C1
Special Forces In today’s Times
officer serving in the Special
Forces – the small, elite units
Classifieds/E1 Lotteries/A2 captain lost sight President Bush signs a famed for dropping behind
Movies/C7
Comics/C3
Crossword People/C2 fighting in Iraq war-funding bill. A3
Iraq opens bidding for op-
enemy lines on combat mis-
sions.
puzzles/C2, E7 Sports/D1 eration of its oil fields. D6
By KEVIN MAURER Asexecutiveofficerofthe7th
Cryptoquote/C2 Sudoku/E3 The Associated Press
Deaths/B3 Television/C8 Special Forces Group’s head-
FORTBRAGG,N.C.–When away, blasting away his sight. quarters company in Fort
Capt. Ivan Castro joined the “Once you’re blind, you have Bragg, Castro’s duties don’t di-
Huntsville, Alabama Army, he set goals: to jump out
Vol. 99, No. 101, 40 pages to set new goals,” Castro said. rectly involve combat, though
Contents © 2008, The Huntsville Times ofplanes,kickindoorsandlead they do have him taking part in
soldiers into combat. He He set them higher.
justabout everythingthatleads The Associated Press
achieved them all. Then the Notcontentwithjuststaying “I don’t want them to take pity over me or give me something
mortar round landed five feet in the Army, he is the only blind Please see BLIND on A5 I’ve not earned,” Castro says.