Amputee scales Everest

Amputee scales Everest
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A New Zealand man whose legs were severed below the knees after suffering frostbite more than two decades ago became the first double amputee to reach the summit of the world's tallest mountain on Monday. Mark Inglis, who has spent a grueling 40 days on Mount Everest, had set out in his bid to reach the peak on his prosthetic legs with an early morning start in perfect weather from Camp 4 -- less than 1,500 feet below the 29,035-foot summit. "Mark definitely made it; back at Camp 4. They are in high spirits," Inglis' wife, Anne, wrote in a text message to supporters. Inglis, 47, had to repair one of his carbon-fiber prosthetic limbs after it snapped in a fall at about 21,000 feet. The original expedition split into two groups, with four members of the first group reaching the top earlier in the day, Anne Inglis said. Inglis and his group of 20, including Sherpa guides, were in the second party. The climber, a mountain guide, had both legs severed just below the knees after suffering frostbite when he was trapped by storms while climbing New Zealand's highest peak, Mount Cook, in 1982. He and his climbing companion were found barely alive two weeks after they were forced into an ice cave.
Banks extend credit to New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS -- A group of banks led by JPMorgan Chase & amp; Co. agreed Monday to extend New Orleans a $150 million line of credit over three years, helping shore up city finances ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Mayor Ray Nagin, who faces re-election on Saturday, said the money will be used primarily to ensure city services are maintained and to eliminate the threat of municipal bankruptcy. "The city is not going bankrupt. So just stop with the 'B' word," Nagin said during a news conference. Nagin's challenger, Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, has called for an audit of the city's finances and has raised the possibility of bankruptcy as a last resort. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on Aug. 29, flooding 80 percent of the city and forcing evacuations. Commerce was halted during that period, and New Orleans continues to struggle after the drop in revenue. The city will have three years to repay the debt.
Florida fires
EDGEWATER, Fla. -- Authorities evacuated about 1,400 homes in east-central Florida on Monday after a brush fire jumped across a highway and threatened a residential area. The 800-acre blaze started in a rural area along Interstate 95, then moved across the pavement, posing a threat to homes and forcing officials to close a 12-mile stretch of the highway. "The fire is blowing east. It's blowing directly over the road, and parts of the median are on fire," state trooper Kim Miller said. Parts of the highway have been closed intermittently for weeks because thick smoke from brush fires has mixed with morning fog and obscured the road, causing dozens of accidents. Four people have died in car wrecks attributed to the smoke. Wildfires have burned more than 101,600 acres in Florida since Jan. 1.
New England flooding
HAVERHILL, Mass. -- Emergency crews used boats to rescue people trapped in their homes and sewage systems overflowed Monday as rain pounded New England for the fourth straight day in what could prove to be the region's worst flooding since the 1930s. The National Weather Service predicted that rain totals could hit 15 inches in some places by Monday afternoon. In the Merrimack Valley, north of Boston on the New Hampshire line, the Merrimack and Spicket rivers overflowed their banks and forced the evacuations of hundreds of people. Tens of millions of gallons of sewage spilled into the Merrimack River after pipes burst in Haverhill on Sunday, and millions more poured from a treatment plant in Lawrence after floodwaters knocked it out of service Monday. "It's going to get worse before it gets better," Gov. Mitt Romney said.
Lens cleaner withdrawn
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Bausch & amp; Lomb Inc. has permanently withdrawn a new-formula contact-lens cleaner viewed as the "potential root cause" of a far-flung outbreak of fungal eye infections known to cause blindness. Its stock, hit hard over the last month, rose nearly 13 percent. The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that the eye-care company thinks ReNu with MoistureLoc's unique disinfecting and moisturizing agents "in certain unusual circumstances can increase the risk" of developing Fusarium keratitis, adding that the way some people used the solution may have contributed. "Based on the understanding we have now, there are a large number of factors that sort of have to come together for this to come into play," said Dr. Daniel Schultz, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. The outbreak first surfaced in the Far East, leading to a halt in sales in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia on Feb. 18.
Associated Press