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United Airlines adds 20 flights for fans to attend college football games
United Airlines is betting big that college football fans are going to want to fly out to see their favorite teams face off against rivals in person this season.
The airline on Tuesday said it is adding 20 nonstop flights and flying larger planes on 115 flights to 30 of the most anticipated college football matchups this fall.
Those games include the University of Texas-Austin at the University of Michigan on September 7, Ohio State at the University of Oregon on October 12, and the University of Alabama at Louisiana State University on November 9.
“Connecting travelers to the moments that matter most to them is at the core of what we do at United,” Patrick Quayle, United’s SVP of global network planning and alliances, said in a statement. “We know fans will appreciate this year’s special football schedule that will make it easier to cheer on their teams on the road.”
With the exception of one game over Memorial Day weekend, the routes are for travel to events on Friday, with returning flights on Sunday.
The airline had also added flights last year to accommodate the millions of football fans seeking to travel across the U.S. to see college athletes compete in the flesh. Indeed, college football has a robust fanbase, with attendance hovering around 41,867 fans per game in 2023, according to NCAA figures, CBS Sports reported.
Click here to see which thirty college football games the new schedule is designed around. Tickets are available for purchase today, United said.
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12/18: CBS Evening News – CBS News
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Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say
The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.
Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
A Southern California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego.
According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.
CBS’ San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday night after the order was signed by the judge.
Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.
Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
On a Madison city website providing details about the shooting, police disclosed Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used in the shooting. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News the weapon used appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
Barnes told the AP that he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the guns and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes told the AP.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
The Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
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12/18: The Daily Report – CBS News
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