National Obituaries

TOKYO (AP) — Hirotake Yano, who founded the retail chain Daiso known for its 100-yen shops, Japan’s equivalent of the dollar store, has died. He was 80. Yano died Feb. 12 of heart failure, Daiso Industries Co. said in a statement Monday.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Lefty Driesell, the Hall of Fame coach whose folksy drawl belied a fiery on-court demeanor that put Maryland on the college basketball map and enabled him to rebuild several struggling programs, died Saturday. He was 92.

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Catherine Rigby, a renowned telemark , big mountain, and expedition skier covering first descents of some of the world’s most revered peaks, died in an avalanche in a Kosovo resort. She was 54.

MOSCOW — Alexei Navalny , who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, died Friday in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Russia’s prison ag

Alexei Navalny, Russia's top opposition leader and President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe, died in prison on Friday , a statement from the Federal Penitentiary Service said.

Don Gullett, a standout major league pitcher who played for four consecutive World Series champions in the 1970s, died on Wednesday. He was 73.

GLEN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — William Post, a Michigan man who played an important role in the development of Pop-Tarts, has died at age 96.

WINNIPEG — Ken Ploen, a two-way star who led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to four Grey Cup titles, has died at 88. The Blue Bombers confirmed Ploen's death in a statement Tuesday. A cause of death was not given.

NEW YORK (AP) — David Bouley, the award-winning and frenetic chef whose idiosyncratic haute cuisine and crusty breads pleased critics and the public during a career chasing sleek deliciousness, has died. He was 70.

NEW YORK (AP) — Bob Edwards, who anchored National Public Radio's “Morning Edition” for just under 25 years and was the baritone voice who told many Americans what had happened while they slept, has died. Edwards, who died Saturday, was 76 years old.