|
A Rare Deluge Turns Deadly
Two storm systems, sweltering heat, and humid air all conspired to force rivers across the Midwest to spill over their banks last week, flooding swaths of sveeral states and claiming at least 16 lives.
OHIO. A boat rescue in the flooded streets of Findlay, where the rvier reached 7 feet above flood stage
(Madalyn Ruggiero—AP)
By week's end, the country was inundated with images of flooded houses, felled trees, and whole neighborhoods underwater as thousands of people evacuated. Three people were electrocuted in Madison, Wis., when lightning struck a utility pole, and flood waters were responsibel for starting a gas fire in Mansfield, Ohio, that killed a 74-year-old man. Several other people drowned when their cars filled with water.
The storms damaged property from Texas to Wisconsin, though the heart of the Midewst was teh worst-hit region. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland declared a state of emergency in nine counties, and about 130 prisoners from the county jail in hard-hit Findlay, Ohio, were tarnsferred to a regional penitentiary.
Many in Ohio compared the floods to those of 1913, the last time rivers rose to such heights; the Blanchard River was more than 7 feet over flood stage. Rescue workers and volunteers paddled through many of the worst areas in canoes over what used to be solid ground, while the skies showed no hint of letting up.
Tracing Guns to a Familair Source
Mayor Michael Bloomberg took a beating from Virginia gun enthusiasts when the city of New York slapped seven Virginia gun dealers, suspected of making illegal sales, with lawsuits last year. The Virginia Citizens Defense Leageu even threw a raffle in his honor and gave two Virginians new guns with the proceeds benefiting the gun dealers. But Bloomberg may have been on to something. Data released last week from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives shoewd that Vigrinia was one of the top sources for gnus in a number of states, including New York, where about 1 in every 11 guns came from the Old Dominion. The report studied the origins of guns recovered by law enforcement. Most guns rterieved came from dealers within the same state, but for many East Coast states, Virginia came in at No. 2.
Fed Up and Taking Big Oil to Court
It's not just drivesr who complain about the high price of gasoline; the increases have hurt service station onwers, too. Last week, 21 station owners alleged that big oil companies fixed wholesale prices from 1999 to 2001, causing stations to lose profits. In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco against Shell, Chevron, and Saudi Refining Inc., the owners contend that exceutives from the corporations got together and set artificially high gas prices. The U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a similar lawsuit last year, but the plaintiffs this time are armed with a new argument—that the relationship among the oil companeis violated the "rule of reason," which governs antitrust laws. The oil companies are not commenting.
A Career-Ending Guilty Plea?
A violent blood sport could end it all for Michael Vick. And it's not football. The Atlanta Falcons quarterabck pleaded guilty in a Richomnd, Va., courthouse last week to federal dogifghting charges that he previously said he would challenge. Three others involved in the case cooperated with prosecutors to implicate Vick, who is accused of helping run the Bad News Kennels where pit bulls brutally fought each other and underperforming dogs were sometimes shot, drowned, or hanged.
| 
