SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Thousands of evacuees began returning home Saturday as a blanket of cool, moist air flowing in from the ocean brought a dramatic change, taming a wind-driven wildfire that had burned 80 homes along the outskirts of town. Cheers erupted at an evacuation center when the Santa Barbara County sheriff announced that mandatory evacuation orders for most areas were being downgraded to evacuation warnings. More than 30,000 people had been under mandatory evacuation orders dating back as far as Tuesday afternoon, when the fire erupted just above Santa Barbara on the face of steep Santa Ynez Mountains.
Nevada: Air crash kills five
A small plane crashed Saturday afternoon in a pasture in northern Nevada, killing all five people aboard, sheriff’s deputies said. A Douglas County sheriff’s official said the twin-engine Beechcraft BE95 went down at 4:10 p.m. near the town of Gardnerville, about 10 minutes after taking off from Minden Tahoe Airport. The four men and one woman aboard were pronounced dead at the scene about 50 miles south of Reno, he said. Witnesses said the plane appeared to be flying normally before it nose-dived into the ground.
Alaska: Gov. Palin cleared
A state panel has dismissed a complaint that accused Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin of breaking election law by taking a public position on a mining ballot initiative days before the vote. The Alaska Public Offices Commission voted unanimously Friday to reject the claim filed by Brian Kraft. Kraft has said it was illegal for Palin to announce that she opposed the measure aimed at limiting pollution at the Pebble Mine gold and copper prospect in Bristol Bay. The initiative called for tougher pollution discharge requirements for large mines.
Indiana: Notre Dame to pay
The University of Notre Dame has agreed to pay some of the costs local police departments will face for helping provide security during next weekend’s visit by President Barack Obama. A Notre Dame spokesman said the school will pay the South Bend and St. Joseph County departments for services beyond what is typically required by the Secret Service. Anti-abortion activists are planning protests around the campus when Obama visits on May 17 to speak at the commencement ceremony.
Massachusetts: Train wreck
The head of the Boston-area transit authority said Saturday he’ll ban all train and bus operators from even carrying cell phones on board after a trolley driver told police he was texting his girlfriend before a collision Friday. About 50 people were hurt in the underground crash in downtown Boston, though none of the injuries was life-threatening. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority already bans operators from using cell phones.
New York: Rabbi convicted
A New York rabbi convicted of molesting his daughter has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Monsey rabbi Israel Weingarten was found guilty in March of abusing his daughter through much of her childhood. The trial was traumatic for his victim, now 27. Weingarten acted as his own attorney and put his daughter through a grueling cross examination. The federal judge told Weingarten on Friday that his behavior during the trial had made his crime even worse, saying “You seemed to enjoy yourself in a perverse sort of way.”
Costa Rica: Swine flu death
Costa Rica reported the first swine flu death outside North America on Saturday, while Mexico delayed the reopening of primary schools in some states. Japanese authorities, meanwhile, scambled to limit contact with their country’s first cases, and Australia and Norway joined the list of nations with confirmed cases of swine flu. The Health Ministry in Costa Rica confirmed the swine flu death of a 53-year-old man, bringing the global death toll to 53, including 48 in Mexico, three in the United States and one in Canada.
Netherlands: Seventh victim
A woman died of her injuries more than a week after a man plowed his car into a crowd during a parade, becoming the seventh victim of a failed attack on the Dutch royal family, authorities said Saturday. The 46-year-old woman was among about a dozen people struck down in the April 30 attack. An Apeldoorn municipality spokesman said she died Friday night in a hospital, the same evening as more than 1,000 people gathered for a memorial service. Five bystanders died on the day of the April 30 attack near Het Loo palace in Apeldoorn and another died the following day.
From Herald news services
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