Nation/World Briefly: Crews work to hold wildfire’s east edge
Published 9:45 pm Sunday, September 6, 2009
LOS ANGELES — With the massive wildfire burning north of Los Angeles more than half contained, crews were working Sunday to keep the fire’s eastern flank from crossing a rural mountain highway, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman said.
The fire, which started Aug. 26, has killed two firefighters, blackened nearly 246 square miles of the Angeles National Forest and destroyed at least 76 homes. Fire agencies so far have spent $43.5 million fighting the blaze.
Authorities on Sunday were trying to determine who set the deadly fire.
The fire was 51 percent contained Sunday as crews built new protective lines near Highway 39 in the San Gabriel Wilderness, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Jennifer Sanchez said. No homes were immediately threatened.
Gunman, an ex-Lynnwood resident, says he’s sorry for attack
A white supremacist who killed a postal worker and wounded five people at a Los Angeles area Jewish community center in a 1999 shooting spree says he has renounced his racist views. In a letter to a Los Angeles Daily News reporter, Buford O. Furrow Jr. said he regrets the pain he has caused. Furrow, who is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole, described himself as a “model inmate who has shunned criminal activity.” The former Lynnwood resident said he has thrown away his neo-Nazi literature and now believes “a life based on hate is no life at all.”
Longer bridge closure
The bridge that carries commuters between San Francisco and the heavily populated cities to its east could remain closed for a fifth day, Tuesday, as crews race to repair a crack in a steel link that holds up part of the span, a state transportation official said Sunday. Workers had hoped to get the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge open by the beginning of the workweek on Tuesday.
Louisiana: Man kills self after shooting family members
Dennis Carter Sr., 50, shot his estranged wife, son and 2-year-old grandson to death and seriously wounded his pregnant daughter-in-law late Saturday night at their Holden home, then killed himself as police tried to pull over his car 20 minutes later, authorities said. The pregnant woman later gave birth, about three months early, her father said. The suspect allegedly had a history of abusing his estranged wife.
Mass.: Swimming banned because of great white sharks
The sightings of several great white sharks have prompted a swimming ban for the rest of the Labor Day weekend at some oceanside beaches in Massachusetts. Officials put up red “no swimming” signs at several beaches after a shark expert with the state Division of Marine Fisheries spotted four great whites off Chatham’s coast Saturday.
Ohio: Pickup hits buggy, killing three Amish siblings
Law enforcement officials say a pickup truck rammed into the back of an Amish buggy in Holmes County, ejecting three siblings — ages 13 to 15 — and killing them. The driver of the pickup told police he couldn’t see the horse-drawn cart because of glare on his windshield from the setting sun. Neither he nor his passenger were injured. The crash remains under investigation. No charges have been filed.
Afghanistan: Votes disqualified
Afghan election officials on Sunday announced their first mass disqualification of votes because of possible fraud in the bitterly contested Aug. 20 presidential race, even as President Hamid Karzai edged closer to the majority he needs for a first-round victory. Election authorities declined to say how many votes were affected when results from nearly 450 polling places were set aside pending an investigation. Because voting took place in about 26,000 locales, this probably represents only a small share of total ballots cast.
From Herald news services
