Girl, 13, on ATV killed in fall down mine shaft

Girl, 13, on ATV killed
in fall down mine shaft

PHOENIX, Ariz. — A 13-year-old girl who fell into an unmarked mine shaft while riding an all-terrain vehicle was found dead at the bottom Sunday, and her 10-year-old sister was rescued with serious injuries, authorities said. The girls, Rikki Howard, 13, and Casie Hicks, were riding around 7 p.m. Saturday when their father, who was riding ahead of them on a dirt bike, noticed the girls were missing.

Sheriff’s personnel tracked the ATV to the 125-foot mine shaft at 6:20 a.m. Sunday, and one of the girls responded when her father called out, officials said. Crews later rappelled into the mine and found the girls and the vehicle at the bottom. The mine is located in Chloride, about 17 miles north of Kingman. It had no signs or barriers, and officials believe it was inactive.

The 10-year-old girl was transported to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, Edwards said. She was in critical condition Sunday afternoon, a hospital spokesman said. The girl’s family declined to comment through the hospital.

Girl, 12, walking to store
is killed by stray bullet

CLEVELAND — A 12-year-old girl on her way to a corner store was caught in the crossfire of a gunbattle between two men and was shot in the neck and killed, police said. Asteve’e Thomas, known to her friends as “Cookie,” was walking down a tree-lined side street Saturday afternoon when two men began chasing each other while firing guns.

Bystanders scrambled to get out of the way, but one bullet hit the girl, and she fell on a nearby porch, witnesses said. Another bullet passed through the wall of a house and lodged in a gun cabinet. The owner of the house, Antonette Bina, said she thought the gunshots were fireworks until her stepfather noticed the hole on the outside of her home.

One of the men was shot and collapsed about a block away. He was taken to a local hospital. Police were searching for the second gunman. The girl’s father, Steven Thomas, said his daughter liked to dance, play softball and tutor other students at Cleveland’s School of the Arts.

Florida’s first sextuplets

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It was a Labor Day weekend for the record books at a Florida hospital, where Karoline Byler gave birth to the state’s first set of sextuplets. The five boys and one girl, weighing between 2 and 3 pounds each, were born Saturday night to Karoline Byler, 29, of Wesley Chapel.

Five of the babies, who were born more than two months early, were listed in stable condition Sunday at neighboring All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Dr. Roberto Sosa said at a news conference. He said a medical team was still trying to stabilize one of the boys.

The proud father, Ben Byler, described the birth as “amazing.” The boys were named Brady Christopher, Eli Benjamin, Ryan Patrick, Jackson Robert and Charlie Craig. The girl is MacKenzie Margaret. The Bylers said they used fertility drugs after their daughter, Zoe, 4, asked for a sibling.

Girl, 15, starting college

PHILADELPHIA — Brittney Exline is too young to vote, drive a car or go to an R-rated movie, but at age 15, she is beginning her Ivy League career Wednesday when classes start at the University of Pennsylvania. She said she doesn’t really notice the age gap between herself and her 17- and 18-year-old peers — and neither do they.

Brittney grew up in Colorado Springs, Colo., where at 8 years she was already in sixth grade. By 13 she had finished high school math. She turned 15 in February and graduated a few months later. She excels at math and science and is really interested in politics, so she enrolled in a Penn program that will award her degrees from both the engineering and liberal arts schools when she graduates in 2011.

There have been much younger college students: Jessica Meeker enrolled at Penn State two months before her 13th birthday, graduating in 2004 at age 16.

25 suspected insurgents
killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S.-led coalition and Afghan security forces aided by airstrikes killed about 25 suspected militants during raids on a Taliban command center in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said Sunday. The joint force targeted two compounds southwest of Kandahar city late Saturday after weeks of observing the area, it said. No coalition or Afghan soldiers were injured, the coalition said.

More than 4,200 people — most of them insurgents — have been killed so far this year, according to an Associated Press count. This year the southern and eastern provinces have seen the worst bout of violence since the Taliban were ousted from power by a U.S.-led invasion in 2001. The surge in violence comes despite the presence of more than 50,000 foreign troops.

Associated Press