Missing woman found in New York City hospital

Missing woman foundin New York City hospital
ST. LOUIS -- More than a week after she was reported missing, a 68-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease who had disappeared while traveling was found by a detective in a New York City hospital.
Annie Burns was found unhurt in a hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., more than 1,000 miles from her planned destination in Georgia, where she was traveling from St. Louis.
Burns lived with her son in Glen Carbon, Ill., and boarded a Greyhound bus Sept. 18 to visit her daughter. Kathy Burns waited for her mother at the bus stop in Albany, Ga., but Annie Burns never showed up.
The family called authorities, who contacted Detective Rick Severino, head of missing persons for the St. Louis police.
Through phone calls and interviews with bus drivers and workers, he determined that Annie Burns rode the bus as far as Atlanta. A ticket-taker recalled an elderly woman saying she needed to buy a ticket to Newark, N.J., to attend the funeral of her daughter, Severino said.
Last year, Burns had attended the funeral of her daughter Lodine in Newark and wandered away for four days.
Butterfly garden honorsR.I. nightclub fire victims
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- More than 100 people gathered Wednesday at Roger Williams Park Zoo to dedicate a new butterfly garden to the memories of those killed in The Station nightclub fire, and to others affected by the blaze.
The garden, which will open to the public today, was designed to be a site for reflection and renewal, state officials said. Organizers say the butterfly symbolizes hope and renewal.
Among those on hand for the ceremony were Gov. Don Carcieri and his wife. The site includes a stone inscribed with a poem about a butterfly that was read by first lady Sue Carcieri.
More than 100 people died in the Feb. 20, 2003, blaze. Victims' families clustered at the front of the garden Wednesday to read the inscription on the stone. Many wiped away tears, and embraced one another. Among those killed in the fire was Ty Longley, a Sharon, Pa., native who was guitarist for the band Great White.
Reputed mobsters nabbed
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Eighteen people, including the reported No. 2 man in the Gambino crime family, were indicted Wednesday following an investigation into organized crime in Connecticut, Rhode Island and suburban New York.
Anthony "The Genius" Megale, a Stamford man believed to be the highest-ranking Mafia member in Connecticut, was arraigned on a 46-count federal indictment charging him with racketeering, extortion and illegal gambling.
Fifteen of the 18 people were arrested Wednesday. Investigators were searching for the others, including Igazio Alogna, an alleged Mafia captain, and Vincent Fiore, an alleged Gambino soldier from Goshen, N.Y., both charged with attempted extortion.
Cabinet OKs Kyoto treaty
MOSCOW -- Russia's Cabinet approved the Kyoto Protocol on global warming today, clearing the way for the worldwide adoption of the document once the Russian parliament ratifies it as widely expected.
The protocol must be ratified by no fewer than 55 countries that accounted for at least 55 percent of global emissions in 1990, and Russia's participation would tip the scale.
The United States, China and some other big industrial nations have rejected the treaty. It seeks to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which are widely seen as a key factor behind global warming.
In May, President Vladimir Putin pledged to speed up approval in return for European Union support of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization. Many of his advisers have opposed, arguing that joining would stymie Russia's economic growth and make Putin's goal of doubling gross domestic product in a decade out of reach.
Austrian bishop resigns
VIENNA, Austria -- An influential Roman Catholic lay organization expressed relief today at the resignation of a bishop who oversaw a seminary where authorities found child pornography, calling it an "important first step" in rebuilding trust in Austria's scandalized church.
We Are the Church, which claims to have 500,000 members and has condemned priest pedophilia and other scandals that have rocked the country's religious establishment over the past decade, had pressed for Bishop Kurt Krenn to step down or be fired.
In an interview for today's edition of the newspaper Der Standard, Krenn announced he was resigning with immediate effect as bishop of St. Poelten, the diocese 50 miles west of Vienna where the seminary is located.
Associated Press