First of 3,000 workers evacuated from mine

First of 3,000 workers
evacuated from mine

CARLETONVILLE, South Africa — Some 3,000 gold miners were trapped a mile underground Wednesday when falling pipe damaged the elevator, but the company began rescuing workers through a smaller shaft and estimated it would take 10 hours to get them all out.

There were no injuries and there was no immediate danger to any of the workers in Harmony Gold Mining Co.’s Elandsrand Mine, company and union officials said.

Peter Bailey, health and safety chairman for the National Mineworkers Union, said the first 74 men reached the surface shortly after 1 a.m. today. “They are all doing well,” he said.

The miners were trapped at a level slightly more than a mile underground when a column of water pipes fell down an elevator shaft causing extensive damage to the steel framework and electrical cables. Miners had to be evacuated with a smaller cage in another shaft.

Minister accused of taking
married couple’s gift cards

PORTLAND, Ore. — Kitty and Shawn Sonnenschein didn’t think they had cheap friends.

The couple were married last month at their Portland house. Because they were remodeling the kitchen, they requested gift cards from Home Depot instead of gifts.

But when they looked in the basket they had set out by the guest book, they found only three Home Depot cards. Not wanting to offend their guests, the couple didn’t say a word.

“It’s been extremely uncomfortable,” Kitty Sonnenschein, 28, told The Oregonian newspaper. “You don’t want to call somebody and ask them what they got you.”

But over the next week, many of their friends and family began to ask what they were going to buy with their gift cards. That’s when they became suspicious that someone might have stolen them.

The newlyweds suspected the Rev. Shey-Rima Silveira.

The couple had a friend who offered to officiate, but they weren’t sure his license was up to date. So they turned to the popular Web site Craigslist to find a minister.

Silveira advertised “last-minute weddings” as her specialty.

“She was wonderful over the phone,” Kitty Sonnenschein said.

The couple suspected Silveira because she was the only person in the house during the outdoor ceremony, and she seemed out of sorts and anxious to leave.

Man accused of fleeing
police — on lawnmower

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A man accused of drunken driving tried to outrun the police, but his vehicle wasn’t up to the task.

Michael Ginevan of Bunker Hill was driving a riding lawnmower on Runnymeade Road about a mile from his home when a Berkeley County sheriff’s deputy attempted to pull him over. Ginevan, 39, reportedly sped away, and Deputy J.H. Jenkins stopped his cruiser and gave chase on foot, according to magistrate court records.

Jenkins caught up to the lawnmower after a short chase, but Ginevan reportedly wouldn’t stop so the deputy pulled him off the machine. Ginevan refused to take a field sobriety test and was arrested. Jenkins then found a case of beer strapped to the lawnmower’s front, court records show.

Ginevan was charged with fleeing while driving under the influence and obstructing an officer. He was being held at the Eastern Regional Jail on $7,500 bond.

Myanmar troops step up
intimidation campaign

YANGON, Myanmar — After crushing the democracy uprising with guns, Myanmar’s junta stepped up its campaign to intimidate citizens Wednesday, sending troops to drag people from their homes in the middle of the night and letting others know they were marked for retribution.

“We have photographs! We are going to make arrests!” soldiers yelled from loudspeakers on military vehicles that patrolled the streets in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city.

People living near the Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar’s most revered shrine and a flash point of unrest during the protests, reported that security forces swept through several dozen homes about 3 a.m., taking away many men and even some women for questioning.

Sen. Domenici to retire

WASHINGTON — Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, an influential Republican voice on budget issues for a generation, intends to retire at the end of his term next year, party officials said Wednesday.

These officials said the 75-year-old, six-term lawmaker plans to make a formal announcement today in his home state. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the decision.

Associated Press