SAN FRANCISCO — Attendance was up at the San Francisco Zoo after a tiger attack that killed a young man on Christmas Day, a zoo spokesman said Saturday. Twice as many visitors came to the zoo when the facility reopened Thursday as had visited the same day last year, he said. Most of the 782 visitors arrived before heavy rains began falling over the city Thursday afternoon. Just under 400 visitors who came to the zoo the entire day on Jan. 3, 2007, he said. Other zoos that have endured mishaps have seen similar spikes in attendance, which zoo officials have attributed to the publicity and morbid curiosity.
@3. Headline Briefs 14 no:Arrest in bicycle trail vandalism
Police in Fullerton said they arrested a man who acknowledged digging holes on a park bike trail as payback for nearly being run down by a cyclist. Warren John Wilson, 52, faces a single felony count of vandalism, a police spokeswoman said Friday. She said nearly 50 holes measuring about 1 foot by 2 feet have been found since June along a trail at Laguna Lake Park, and in some cases attempts had been made to hide them from cyclists. She said some riders went over their handlebars after hitting the holes, but none reported major injuries.
Georgia: Missing hiker charges
Authorities said Saturday they believe a hiker who disappeared from the northern Georgia woods on New Year’s Day is dead, and they charged the man who was reportedly last seen with her with kidnapping. A Union County judge signed a warrant charging Gary Michael Hilton with kidnapping with bodily injury in the disappearance of Meredith Emerson, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman said. He said the search for the 24-year-old woman, who was hiking with her dog in the Chattahoochee National Forest, is now focused on finding her body.
Hawaii: Superferry run delayed
The operator of Hawaii’s new interisland ferry, which got the green light to resume trips despite environmental protests, said Friday it is further delaying service on one route. The Hawaii Superferry won’t immediately resume service between Honolulu and Kauai but will instead start a second voyage between Honolulu and Maui starting Jan. 16, the company president said. The company is imposing the delay “in order to allow more time in which to work with the community on Kauai to ensure a safe and successful resumption of service,” he said.
Michigan: Girlfriend burned
A man suspected of setting his girlfriend on fire out of jealousy was arrested after police found him hiding in an attic, authorities said. Shannon McGee, 34, is accused of attacking his 29-year-old girlfriend on Dec. 22. Authorities say he punched her, poured a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her and set fire to her. She was treated for burns at a Grand Rapids hospital. Police said McGee accused his girlfriend of being with another man. She said she was Christmas shopping with her mother.
Tennessee: Rodeo bulls hijacked
Somebody hijacked a truckload of rodeo bulls bound for a professional bull riding show, then abandoned them after running out of gas, authorities said. The truck and its cargo were found early Saturday with an empty gas tank in the outskirts of Nashville, police said. The bulls — about a dozen valued at $100,000 — were unharmed. A suspect had not been arrested. A woman in the truck escaped despite the carjacker’s attempts to keep her inside, witnesses said.
Iraq: Prime minister returns
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returned to Iraq on Saturday after spending a week in London for medical tests. The prime minister flew to Britain on Dec. 29 for what his office described as a routine medical checkup. “I am in good health. I will resume work directly,” al-Maliki said at the airport. “We will proceed with our process of rebuilding.”
Egypt: Cell phone terror videos
Al-Qaida video messages of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri can now be downloaded to cell phones, the terror network announced as part of its attempts to extend its influence. The announcement was posted late Friday by al-Qaida’s media wing, al-Sahab. As of Saturday, eight previously recorded videos were made available including a recent tribute to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former al-Qaida in Iraq leader killed by U.S. forces in Iraq in June 2006. In a message introducing the cell phone videos, al-Zawahri, al-Qaida’s No. 2 figure, asked followers to spread the terror group’s messages.
Jamaica: Music goes missing
A massive collection of 1970s music including original recordings by reggae greats Bob Marley and Peter Tosh has disappeared from the archives of the former Jamaica Broadcasting Corp., authorities said Saturday. The possible theft of thousands of vinyl records and compact discs is a blow to the island’s history, Jamaica’s information minister said. Workers at the newly formed Public Broadcasting Corp. of Jamaica noticed the disappearances earlier this week.
From Herald news services
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
