Disaster_Accident

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In this frame grab from WABC-TV, emergency personnel respond to reports of several people being shot outside the Empire State Building, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012, in New York. Authorities say the shooter is dead. (AP Photo/WABC-TV)

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National Mall and Memorial Parks Superintendent Bob Vogel on Thursday said the Washington Monument’s structure would require full scaffolding as part of the restoration process after last August’s earthquake. The 555-foot-tall structure has been closed since the day of the quake. A separate project to fix its elevator has been completed. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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Drought-damaged corn is seen in a field near Nickerson, Neb. Plains farmers have begun harvesting what corn managed to survive, although many cut their fields weeks ago, chalking the year up as a loss. Some ranchers have sold livestock because they had no grass for grazing or money to buy feed, the price of which has soared. Nearly all of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois are in extreme or exceptional drought. (Associated Press)

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A 17-year-old honor student was fatally shot Wednesday night inside her Kettering home (Andrea Noble/The Washington Times)

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A Syrian man smokes a cigarette Aug. 22, 2012, while sitting next to the rubble of a damaged mosque in the city of Azaz, Syria, on the outskirts of Aleppo. (Associated Press)

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Brookfield Homes is building more than 1,000 single-family homes and town homes at Snowden Bridge in the planned community of Stephenson. The Andover model, with 1,506 square feet, is priced from $199,990.

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Tropical Storm Isaac, in the lower right corner, moves over the Lesser Antilles in a satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration taken on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, at 1:45 p.m. EDT. (AP Photo/Weather Underground)

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The Louisa County High School marching band warms up before practice outside their closed school building that sustained massive structural damage and was deemed unsafe as a result of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit near, Mineral, Va., Tuesday, August 21, 2012. Demolition on the school began just two days before the one year anniversary of the earthquake. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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The water tower for Mineral, Va., looms above the small town days before the one-year anniversary of the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that hit the town, causing millions of dollars worth of damage and felt in nearly every state along the East Coast. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Austin Wright works on the roof of the historic Cuckoo house, built by the Pendleton family in 1819 just outside Mineral Va., according to contractors on site, will take approximately one million dollars to repair, Cuckoo, Va., Tuesday, August 21, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Dean Hinnant cleans mortar out of a wheelbarrow outside the historic Cuckoo house, built by the Pendleton family in 1819 just outside Mineral Va. Thursday, August 23, 2012 marks the one year anniversary of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit nearby Mineral, Va., causing millions of dollars worth of damage and was felt in nearly every state along the east coast. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)