FOX News
Utah boy, 15, arrested in deaths of two younger brothers
A teenager was arrested Thursday in the deaths of his two younger brothers, ages 4 and 10, at the family home in a Utah subdivision of new houses and tidy lawns, police said.
Authorities believe the boys died from knife wounds and that the 15-year-old boy acted alone in what appeared to be an unplanned attack, Davis County Sheriff Todd Richardson said.
"As result of the emerging details, the 15-year-old juvenile has officially been taken into custody," Richardson said.
The Associated Press withheld the name of the boy because of his age. He was being held at a juvenile detention center on suspicion of homicide. Formal charges have not been filed.
It was the second time in a month that an older brother has been arrested in the death of a sibling. Prosecutors have filed murder charges against a 12-year-old boy accused in the stabbing death of his 8-year-old sister on April 27 at their home in Central California.
In Utah, Richardson said blood but no weapon was found on the 15-year-old suspect when he was arrested about five miles from the family home.
The suspect spoke bluntly with investigators and authorities were not aware that he has any kind of medical disabilities. Few other details were released.
The sheriff said the 15-year-old boy had run away about a year ago before police found him. Neighbors said he was only gone a few hours.
His parents had six children, four of whom were adopted, said family friend and neighbor Lindsey Caballero, adding the parents were sweet, kind and loving.
The 15-year-old was the oldest and a biological son of the couple. The victims were both adopted, Caballero said.
Their bodies were found Wednesday night at the home in West Point, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. Police said the boys had been left with their older brother while their mother took her other children to a dance recital.
Richardson said the mother found her 4-year-old dead on the floor and called 911.
She thought both her 10-year-old and 15-year-old were missing, but police discovered the body of the 10-year-old while searching the house.
Police found the 15-year-old shortly before midnight in Layton. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Police declined to comment on his mental status.
The homicide case has been taxing on his deputies, Richardson said.
"You see a lot of things, but it's hard to walk in there," said Richardson, pointing to the house
The boys' father is in the military and was recently deployed to another state, officials said. The suspect was an avid runner like his father, neighbors said.
The family lives in a ranch-style house with a basketball hoop in the driveway. Neighbors had set up a makeshift memorial at the foot of the mailbox with balloons, monkey stuffed animals and flowers.
"I'm still in shock," neighbor Karin Jackson said. "This is a wonderful neighborhood and the kids are usually outside playing."
Neighbor Ann Durrwatcher called the family "picture perfect" and said the 15-year-old kept to himself. He was not often seen playing with his younger brothers, but when he ventured outside, he was "out running around the block," Durrwatcher said.
"They were a really happy family," she said.
Highway bridge collapses in Washington state; people in water
An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.
The four-lane bridge over the Skagit River collapsed about 7 p.m., Trooper Mark Francis said. There was no immediate estimate of how many people were in the water or whether there were any injuries or deaths, he said.
It also was not known what caused the collapse of the bridge about 60 miles north of Seattle in Skagit County, which stretches from the North Cascades National Park to a cluster of islands off the Washington coast.
Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, said he could see three cars with what appeared to be one person per vehicle. The vehicles were sitting still in the water, partially submerged and partly above the waterline, and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows.
"It doesn't look like anybody's in danger right now," Grospe said.
Helicopter footage aired by KOMO-TV in Seattle showed several rescue boats at the bridge collapse scene with several ambulances waiting on the shore. One rescue boat left the scene with one person strapped into a stretcher.
A damaged red car and a damaged pickup truck were visible in the water, which appeared so shallow it barely reached the top of the car's hood.
Crowds of people lined the river to watch the scene unfold.
The bridge is not considered structurally deficient but is listed as being "functionally obsolete" - a category meaning that their design is outdated, such as having narrow shoulders are low clearance underneath, according to a database compiled by the Federal Highway Administration.
The bridge was built in 1955 and has a sufficiency rating of 57.4 out of 100, according to federal records. That is well below the statewide average rating of 80, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data, but 759 bridges in the state have a lower sufficiency score.
According to a 2012 Skagit County Public Works Department, 42 of the county's 108 bridges that are 50 years or older. The document says eight of the bridges are more than 70 years old and two are over 80.
Washington state was given a C in the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2013 infrastructure report card and a C- when it came to the state's bridges. The group said more than a quarter of Washington's 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient of functionally obsolete.
2 dead in drugstore shootings in Tennessee
An East Tennessee pharmacy owner and a customer have been killed during a robbery that left a pharmacy tech and another employee wounded.
District Attorney Jimmy Dunn said a former police officer in Bean Station was taken into custody shortly after the shooting and robbery Thursday at the Down Home Pharmacy.
Dunn said the former officer, 37-year-old Jason B. Holt, took "a large quantity of pills" during the late-morning robbery.
The Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/10TXMDs ) reports that the pharmacy owner and the customer died at the scene.
Dunn said the two employees were flown by helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where they were in stable condition.
Holt was apprehended by local police and sheriff's officers. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents were summoned to the scene to assist.
The town's population is less than 3,000.
FBI arrest 37-year-old man in Washington state ricin letter investigation
The FBI has arrested a suspect in a case involving the discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin and says investigators are working "around the clock" to address any remaining risks.
The U.S. attorney's office for Eastern Washington had no comment on whether additional charges might be sought.
Matthew Ryan Buquet, 37, was arrested Wednesday.
A grand jury indictment accused him of mailing a death threat to U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle in Spokane on May 14.
The indictment did not mention ricin, but the FBI made the link in a news release late Wednesday, saying analysis showed the letter sent to the judge contained "active ricin toxin."
"Our coordinated team acted swiftly to resolve a potentially dangerous situation, and continues working tirelessly around the clock to investigate the origin of the letters and to address any remaining, potential risks," Laura Laughlin, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Seattle office, said in a statement.
The U.S. Postal Service said last week that two letters were intercepted — one addressed to the courthouse and the other to the downtown post office — and they contained ricin in a crude form that did not immediately pose a threat to workers.
Buquet appeared in federal court in Spokane after the FBI said agents arrested him Wednesday afternoon. He pleaded not guilty to mailing a threatening communication.
The short, balding Buquet wore dark-tinted glasses and was shackled in court. He gave brief "yes" and "no" answers to questions from U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno.
A search of federal court records turned up no indication that Buquet had ever appeared before Van Sickle or had any connection to the judge.
Imbrogno ordered Buquet held until a bail hearing scheduled for Tuesday. A public defender was appointed to represent him.
If convicted of mailing a threatening communication, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby declined to comment after the hearing, and little information about Buquet was immediately available.
Ricin is a highly toxic substance made from castor beans. As little as 500 micrograms, the size of the head of a pin, can kill an adult if inhaled or ingested.
There were no reports of illness connected to the Spokane letters.
Investigators in hazardous materials suits spent most of Saturday executing a search warrant at a three-story apartment building in downtown Spokane. Witnesses reported that agents escorted a man from the building.
The Spokane investigation comes a month after letters containing ricin were addressed to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a Mississippi judge. A Mississippi man was arrested in that case.
RI education board approves arming university cops
State education officials have approved allowing the University of Rhode Island to arm its campus police officers.
The state's Board of Education voted Thursday evening at a meeting at the URI campus.
The proposal would leave it to URI officials to decide whether to arm the university's police force. Right now, Rhode Island is the only state that prohibits public higher education police officers from carrying firearms.
Calls to change that policy got a boost after URI police responded to reports of a gunman in a university building last month. No gun or shooter was found, but supporters of the legislation say the incident highlighted a critical security weakness.
URI President David Dooley supports arming university police.
Defense releases photos, texts of Trayvon Martin
Data released Thursday by the defense from slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin's cellphone includes texts with a friend about fighting, smoking pot and being forced to move out of his mother's house because of trouble at school, as well as photos of a gun and what looks to be a potted marijuana plant.
A hearing next week will decide if the information can be used at the trial for George Zimmerman, who is charged with fatally shooting the unarmed 17-year-old last year during a confrontation at a gated community in Sanford. Prosecutors want the negative evidence omitted, but Zimmerman's defense attorney said if they try to portray his client as the antagonist and Martin as the victim, he wants to show the jury that Martin has talked about fighting before.
"If they had suggested that Trayvon is nonviolent and that George is the aggressor, I think that makes evidence of the fighting he has been involved with in the past relevant," said Mark O'Mara.
Zimmerman, 29, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, claiming self-defense and his trial starts next month. O'Mara also filed a motion Thursday asking for a delay in the start of the trial so the defense team can talk at length with an expert witness for the prosecution.
The photos released by Zimmerman's defense team also show Martin blowing smoke and extending his middle finger to the camera.
In the text messages, Martin tells a friend that his mother has told him he needs to move in with his father since he was caught skipping school. He also talks with a friend about smoking "weed."
In another section, he describes being in a fight where his opponent got more hits than he did in the first round.
Prosecutors have filed a motion asking Circuit Judge Debra Nelson to prevent the photos, texts and other personal information from being used at the trial. The hearing is set for next Tuesday when the judge also will consider the motion to delay the trial.
Attorneys for Martin's parents said in a statement that the photos and texts were irrelevant to the trial and could pollute the jury pool.
"Is the defense trying to prove Trayvon deserved to be killed by George Zimmerman because (of) the way he looked?" they said. "If so, this stereotypical and closed-minded thinking is the same mindset that caused George Zimmerman to get out of his car and pursue Trayvon, an unarmed kid who he didn't know."
As for the delay, O'Mara said he needed more time to review the qualifications of a prosecution witness with an expertise in speech identification. O'Mara said prosecutors only made him aware of the expert a short time ago. The expert could be used to testify whose voices were on 911 calls that captured the fatal fight between Zimmerman and Martin.
O'Mara said in an interview that he needed another month or two to prepare.
O'Mara also said in the interview that he is going to ask a judge to sequester not only the jury but the jury pool in the upcoming trial. That may involve sequestering 500 potential jurors in order to find six people who can serve on the jury, O'Mara said.
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Follow Mike Schneider at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
Hand of Lincoln: Abe's note saving teen soldier up for sale
A hastily scrawled note by President Abraham Lincoln just two months before his assassination ordering a disabled 14-year-old boy released from the Army in response to a plea from the boy's father went on sale Thursday in Philadelphia.
The message saying "Let this boy be discharged," and signed A. Lincoln was written on a telegram from Col. Thomas W. Harris about his son, Perry. It had been in a private collection and was valued at $15,000 by Nathan Raab of the Raab Collection, which offered the previously unknown document for sale.
The letter is considered rare because there are few Lincoln documents relating to children.
Lincoln's order came just two months before he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on April 15, 1865. Ironically, Perry Harris was discharged from the Army the same day.
"It shows the type of person [Lincoln] was and how he was defined by clemency," Raab told FoxNews.com. "When you see it's involving a father and his son, it strikes a personal chord and likely did for Lincoln. He was a father of four who lost all but one of his sons."
Harris sent his telegram on Feb. 6, 1865, to Illinois Sen. Lyman Trumbull and Gen. John M. Palmer, pleading, "My son Perry Harris 14 years old insane crippled has been mustered in 55th Kentucky regiment. Please have Secretary of War order him discharged. Col. Thos. W. Harris of Shelbyville, Ill."
Perry had enlisted in the Union Army one month earlier without his parents' blessing. The nature of his disability was not clear, but the minimum enlistment age during the Civil War was 18. Many boys, however, lied about their ages to join the army.
Harris' request wound up on Palmer's desk, and he passed it along to Lincoln with his personal endorsement, writing on the telegram, "I have no doubt of the truth of this statement. John M. Palmer."
Lincoln responded by writing on the telegram, "Let this boy be discharged."
"Compassion in a leader is a rare quality, especially during a horrific war," Edward Steers Jr., a historian who has written extensively on Lincoln and his assassination, told Fox News.
"Lincoln had lost his mother when he was 9 years old, his only sister and close friend when he was 20, his son Eddie in 1850, and his son Willie within a year of occupying the White House. Feeling grief so many times, Lincoln came to understand it better than most people."
"Lincoln's compassion during the Civil War is legendary, as are stories about him showing it toward soldiers, many of whom were little more than children," Raab said. "This stems from his great empathy, but also from his own experience. Nowhere is Lincoln's character on more vivid display than in his leniency toward the boys who had enlisted in the war."
While today there seems little chance of getting a letter directly to the president's desk, Lincoln made himself available to constituents.
"It's hard to imagine sending a letter to the offices of Bush or Obama," Raab said. "But letters often reached Lincoln's desk. He also had office hours and the people could go right in and see him. They were different times."
FoxNews.com's Jana Winter contributed to this story.
Chicken fight: Study backs farmer in pollution battle with EPA
West Virginia poultry farmer Lois Alt didn't chicken out when the Environmental Protection Agency threatened her with fines of $40,000 per day, and even though the federal regulators eventually backed off, she's taking them on in a legal case that could benefit thousands of small farmers.
Alt, who owns the small Eight is Enough poultry farm in the town of Old Fields, was hit with the fines after EPA officials claimed high levels of nitrogen in her chickens' waste were fouling waterways. She fought back by filing a lawsuit of her own in federal court of the Northern District of West Virginia, and although the EPA dropped the fines, a judge has kept the case on the docket. Alt's lawyers argue the EPA is wrong to deny small operations like hers the Clean Water Act's statutory exemption for "agricultural stormwater," which big farms get and believe the massive agency has to change its rules - and use better science.
"[T]his Court's ultimate decision on the merits will benefit all parties, including EPA and many thousands of farmers, by clarifying the extent of federal CWA 'discharge' liability and permit requirements for ordinary precipitation runoff from a typical farmyard," the court ruled in rejecting the EPA's bid to have the case dismissed.
Alt's case could get a boost from a new University of Delaware study, which shows the EPA has been overestimating the environmental effect of runoff from feedlots and small farms like Alt's for years. The study found that the level of nitrogen found in chicken manure is 55 percent lower than the decades-old standards set by the EPA. Those findings could give Alt and her legal team powerful ammunition when they go to court on behalf of small farmers everywhere.
"Ms. Alt has courageously taken on EPA not just for her own benefit, but for the benefit of other farmers," said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. "She refused to back down from her principles despite the best efforts of EPA and environmental groups."
The Delaware study raises the possibility of many farmers having been wrongly fined for polluting the ecosystem in the past, a prospect that would only confirm the suspicions of farming advocates.
"For me, it is not surprising, because the way in which the EPA works…it does not have a whole lot of credibility," Don Parrish, the American Farm Bureau Federation's senior director of regulatory relations, told FoxNews.com. "They do have positive goals, but there's a real disconnect in the nature of interpreting science in modern agriculture.
"It's a systematic application that is putting farmers in a negative light," he added.
The EPA did not return requests for comment.
The study, which looked at farms in Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia, found that the EPA standards did not reflect genetic modifications and improved farming techniques that have had a dramatic effect on the farm industry's environmental footprint. One case study showed that poultry plants in Sussex County, Delaware, generated 261,723 tons of manure in a single year, yet the EPA models assumed they produced 1.5 million tons.
"[The] findings are significant because they represent the most current data available, based on tests of thousands of samples of actual manure, not estimates," Dan Shortridge, spokesman for Delaware Department of Agriculture, which participated in the study, told FoxNews.com. "When making decisions and forming policies and goals -- especially about our environment -- it is important to have the most accurate data, and that's what this represents. What this provides policymakers is a detailed look at the actual effects of manure, and it appears to be less than everyone had thought."
The inflated numbers could indicate small farmers have faced unjustified fines for years, if not decades. Alt was threatened with daily fines in 2011 unless she obtained a Clean Water Act discharge permit for rainwater runoff that made its way from her coops to local waterways. With the backing of the West Virginia Farm Bureau and the AFBF, she sued to challenge the permit order. The EPA backed off, but Alt's lawsuit is still pending.
"The EPA seems to have believed if it withdrew the order against Ms. Alt, the court would dismiss her lawsuit," said Stallman. "The tactic failed because the court recognized EPA wasn't changing its underlying legal position, but just trying to avoid having to defend that position."
The court denied a motion by the EPA to dismiss the lawsuit and scheduled a hearing for June 1.
Friends, family attend funeral of 9-year-old killed in Oklahoma tornado
Friends and family are attending funeral services for a 9-year-old girl killed by Monday's tornado in an Oklahoma City suburb.
Thursday's funeral for Antonia Candelaria was the first since the storm that killed 24 people. Ten of the victims were children.
Relatives and friends huddling under umbrellas amid a downpour hurried into a chapel where mournful country songs played. The front of the chapel was filled with photos of a smiling Antonia.
Candelaria was one of seven children who perished when the tornado flattened an elementary school in the city of Moore.
A family photo released by her mother shows the girl beaming with a big smile and wearing a white sun hat.
Authorities say the tornado caused $2 billion in damage and destroyed or damaged up to 13,000 homes.
84-year-old New Mexico woman indicted for drug trafficking
An 84-year-old Albuquerque woman on an oxygen tank has been indicted for drug trafficking.
KRQE-TV reports that Lillie Smith was recently indicted by a Bernalillo County grand jury for trafficking, conspiracy to commit trafficking, tampering with evidence and possession.
Court documents show the charges stem from a warrant served at her apartment in 2011.
Deputies suspected that the woman's son, Nathan Jones, was running a small drug operation out of her home. But the sheriff's office says deputies found cocaine and marijuana on Smith and she tried to stash the drugs during the investigation.
Court records show that Smith was arrested and has been released. Her son was also arrested. It was not known if either of them has a lawyer.
84-year-old NM woman indicted for drug trafficking
An 84-year-old Albuquerque woman on an oxygen tank has been indicted for drug trafficking.
KRQE-TV reports (http://bit.ly/10pHzTh ) that Lillie Smith was recently indicted by a Bernalillo County grand jury for trafficking, conspiracy to commit trafficking, tampering with evidence and possession.
Court documents show the charges stem from a warrant served at her apartment in 2011.
Deputies suspected that the woman's son, Nathan Jones, was running a small drug operation out of her home. But the sheriff's office says deputies found cocaine and marijuana on Smith and she tried to stash the drugs during the investigation.
Court records show that Smith was arrested and has been released. Her son was also arrested. It was not known if either of them has a lawyer.
Mourners remember girl, 9, killed in Okla. tornado
Friends and family are attending funeral services for a 9-year-old girl killed by Monday's tornado in an Oklahoma City suburb.
Thursday's funeral for Antonia Candelaria was the first since the storm that killed 24 people. Ten of the victims were children.
Relatives and friends huddling under umbrellas amid a downpour hurried into a chapel where mournful country songs played. The front of the chapel was filled with photos of a smiling Antonia.
Candelaria was one of seven children who perished when the tornado flattened an elementary school in the city of Moore.
A family photo released by her mother shows the girl beaming with a big smile and wearing a white sun hat.
Authorities say the tornado caused $2 billion in damage and destroyed or damaged up to 13,000 homes.
California man arrested for more than 100 calls to 911 claiming satellites control him
A Sacramento man arrested for calling 911 more than 100 times in the last month -- because he believes his body is controlled by satellites -- says he won't stop until lawmakers launch an investigation.
"My brain, I can feel it starting. I'm blasted by the signals, every couple of minutes," Jimmy Shao told CBS Sacramento. "I yell and I scream, 'Stop it, I don't need this,' but they never listen."
Shao says he thinks he's being watched by shadowy government figures.
The 56-year-old was arrested late Monday night, according to Fox 40, and faces charges of falsely reporting emergencies and making harassing 911 calls.
Police say 60 of the 911 calls he made went to the Sacramento Police dispatcher.
Council members abstain from vote on abstaining
Three members of a Michigan city council have abstained from voting on a measure that would have prevented them from abstaining on future votes.
AnnArbor.com reports (http://bit.ly/13JeOBH ) that Ypsilanti City Council member Pete Murdock proposed a resolution Tuesday that would have required council members to only vote "yes" or "no" on each issue unless they had a financial or professional conflict.
Mayor Paul Schreiber and council members Susan Moeller and Brian Robb abstained from the vote to show their disapproval of the resolution.
The resolution failed, with Murdock and another City Council member voting "yes" while two other council members voted "no."
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Information from: AnnArbor.com, http://www.annarbor.com
California police arrest man for alleged Disneyland scam
Authorities say a man has been arrested after claiming to be a member of the Walt Disney family and giving away invalid Disneyland passes.
Los Angeles County sheriff's officials say the man called himself "Stephen Disney" and had a fake driver's license and tax forms that falsely claimed income from the Walt Disney Corp.
The statement says he gave Disneyland passes to a woman for a raffle. When the winner took the passes to Disneyland, she learned they hadn't been activated.
Deputies determined the man's name is 51-year-old Stephen David Urquidez and the passes were stolen from a store.
He was arrested on suspicion of burglary and having a driver's license with a forged state seal, a felony.
Urquidez was released after posting $20,000 bond.
Deputies arrest man they say posed as a Disney
Authorities say a man has been arrested after claiming to be a member of the Walt Disney family and giving away invalid Disneyland passes.
Los Angeles County sheriff's officials say the man called himself "Stephen Disney" and had a fake driver's license and tax forms that falsely claimed income from the Walt Disney Corp.
The statement says he gave Disneyland passes to a woman for a raffle. When the winner took the passes to Disneyland, she learned they hadn't been activated.
Deputies determined the man's name is 51-year-old Stephen David Urquidez and the passes were stolen from a store.
He was arrested on suspicion of burglary and having a driver's license with a forged state seal, a felony.
Urquidez was released after posting $20,000 bond.
New Jersey bars filled premium liquor bottles with cheap booze, authorities say
Twenty-nine bars and restaurants, nearly half of them TGI Fridays, filled premium brand liquor bottles with lower-quality booze and sold it to patrons who thought they were buying the good stuff, authorities said Wednesday.
A yearlong investigation by the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, dubbed Operation Swill, found that the establishments had swapped out the good liquor in an effort to fool customers and increase profits.
Thirteen of the restaurants cited are TGI Fridays located in central and northern New Jersey.
TGI Fridays Inc. said in a statement it was working with the franchisee and owner of the TGI Fridays restaurants to investigate the allegations, which it called serious. The statement said the company had just learned of the allegations.
"We have one of the most extensive bar and beverage programs in the industry, which sets a very high standard in the quality and service of our beverages," the company said.
The TGI Fridays restaurants that were cited are owned by the Livingston-based Briad Group, which says on its website it has 70 TGI Fridays in seven states.
The Briad Group said it opened its first TGI Fridays in New Jersey in 1993.
A call to the Briad Group seeking comment was referred to TGI Fridays.
The investigation, the result of citizen complaints, used confidential informants and covertly obtained samples that were tested.
State officials would not say what types of premium brand liquor got swapped out with lower-quality spirits the most. They said inventory was seized and records were sought as part of the probe.
State Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa planned to hold a news conference in Trenton on Thursday to provide more details on the investigation.
1 child dead, 1 missing after landslide sweeps over fourth-graders on field trip in Minn.
A fourth-grade field trip to a Mississippi River park popular with fossil hunters turned deadly Wednesday when gravel saturated by persistent rain gave way, killing one child and injuring two others. A fourth child was missing.
The landslide at Lilydale Regional Park swept over a group of children from Peter Hobart Elementary School in St. Louis Park, burying one to the waist and completely burying another, Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said.
Another child suffered minor injuries in the landslide, which happened about 1:15 p.m. The three children were taken to Regions Hospital, and one died, Zaccard said. The child with minor injuries was treated and released, and the other child is in serious condition, Zaccard said.
The search proceeded cautiously for the fourth child as light rain fell throughout the afternoon. Zaccard described that search as a recovery effort.
Crews were trying to make the scene safe Wednesday night, using fire hoses to wash away loose dirt before it falls on searchers, Zaccard said. Digging had stopped earlier, and crews were setting up lights and preparing to search into the night, he said.
"Obviously we have a very tragic situation here today," Mayor Chris Coleman said at a news conference hours after the gravel slide.
Police and firefighters dug frantically with shovels and their hands to get to the children, Zaccard said. He estimated it took an hour to rescue a child buried to the waist, and another half-hour to reach the buried child as more workers and equipment were moved in.
As news of the gravel slide broke, parents gathered at the school, located in a western Minneapolis suburb several miles away, to await their children.
Zaccard said several days of rain had softened the ground at the park, but it and nearby Cherokee Park were open and available to the public Wednesday. Brad Meyer, the city's parks and recreation spokesman, said it's rare to close a park "unless there is a major hazardous condition."
"We didn't have any indication that we should close the park or that it was unsafe," Meyer said.
The area is popular for school field trips because students can hunt for fossils in the soft sandstone cliffs, said Michael Rutzick, who was at the park Wednesday and lives in nearby Mendota Heights.
"It's all sandstone. Sandstone and trees," Rutzick said.
Tammy Olson, who lives two blocks away, was at the scene with her two young nephews Wednesday. She said she never considered the park dangerous.
"I've been here six years, and my husband has been here 23. He said there's never been an issue with accidents down there," Olson said.
A firefighter also was injured by a falling rock but was expected to recover, Zaccard said. Another firefighter suffered a back injury, and both firefighters were back home, the fire department tweeted.
Injured volunteer seeks payment from rescued California hiker
A volunteer searcher who broke his back while looking for a teenager who was lost in Orange County wilderness says he deserves restitution if the teen is convicted on drug charges.
Nick Papageorge, 20, said after Nic Cendoya's arraignment was postponed Wednesday that his medical bills could total $350,000, City News Service reported.
Papageorge searched Trabuco Canyon's woods with other members of the Orange County sheriff's volunteer search team when Cendoya, 19, and his friend Kyndall Jack, 18, went missing on Easter Sunday.
They called for help after wandering off trail in the Cleveland National Forest. Cendoya was found three days later and Jack was found the following day. Both were dehydrated and delirious.
Papageorge says that while searching for the pair, he fell 110 feet in the steep terrain and bounced off a rocky cliff twice, breaking his back.
Papageorge displayed X-rays of his injured back Wednesday, saying doctors implanted two titanium rods and 11 screws to repair his spine.
"I start physical therapy this week and I'm very thankful to be here," said Papageorge, adding that he doesn't wish ill on Cendoya.
Authorities said methamphetamine was found in Cendoya's car as they investigated the pair's disappearance. If convicted of felony drug possession, he could get up to three years in prison.
The search for Cendoya and Jack cost Orange County an estimated $160,000. Last week, county officials decided they don't have the authority to seek reimbursement from the pair, but they're now seeking to change that.
Supervisors voted Tuesday to propose state legislation that would charge reckless people for the cost of rescuing them. Assemblyman Don Wagner has agreed to carry a bill, which permits counties and cities to recover rescue costs for people who put themselves in peril through illegal or reckless acts.
Okla. men get video of deadly tornado overhead
Two 19-year-old Oklahoma men who took cover in a cellar during a deadly tornado were able to use their cellphones to get video of the twister as it passed over the home.
Charles Gafford was at the home of friend Alex Rodriguez as the tornado struck Monday. While in the cellar, they got their phones through an opening in the overhead door.
The video shows the tornado approaching and passing over the home. Debris, including tree limbs and a tire, fly past. The video has drawn more than 280,000 views on Youtube.
Rodriguez's mother, Amanda Odom, told The Associated Press that 19-year-olds "do stupid things" and if she had been home, there would be no video.
The tornado is blamed for at least 24 deaths in Moore.
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Watch the AP's video at http://bit.ly/10MRTnk