Bad day starts with crash

Bad day starts with crash

ROCK ISLAND, Tenn. — One moment Justin Hill was turning into his driveway. Minutes later he was being flown to a hospital as his home went up in flames. Then he got a traffic ticket.

Hill, 42, got into a crash after turning into the path of an oncoming car Tuesday evening, said Tennessee Highway Patrol Officer Monte Terry. Hill’s wife heard the crash and ran outside, leaving the kitchen stove, where she had been cooking, unattended.

Within minutes, their Rock Island trailer was on fire, and firefighters who had responded to the accident found themselves fighting the blaze.

The rural central Tennessee home had extensive damage. Hill was treated at the hospital and released, but he was cited in the accident for failure to yield.

6.7-magnitude quake shakes U.S. territory

HAGATNA, Guam — The U.S. Geological Survey says an undersea earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 has shaken Guam.

There were no immediate reports of damage in the U.S. territory this morning. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu says the quake failed to generate a destructive, widespread tsunami.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake struck at 7:51 a.m. at a depth of 54.4 miles. It was located 125 miles west-southwest of Hagatna, Guam, and 250 miles southwest of Saipan in the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands.

Guam is west of the international date line, about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Jury selection begins in R. Kelly’s child porn trial

CHICAGO — Jury selection began Friday in R. Kelly’s long-delayed child pornography trial.

The 41-year-old R B singer is accused of having sex with a girl as young as 13 on videotape. Kelly, who has pleaded not guilty, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Gaughan read the 14-count indictment to some 150 potential jurors who packed the courtroom. Gaughan refused to allow reporters to view the proceedings. A court official said there weren’t enough seats.

Earlier Friday, Gaughan denied a defense motion to again postpone the trial that already has been delayed for six years.

Ranch to be searched for possible Manson victims

FRESNO, Calif. — The sheriff of the remote region where Charles Manson hid after a killing spree in the summer of 1969 said Friday that he will allow researchers to begin digging into the sandy soil in search of possible human remains.

In February, a team of forensic researchers visited the Death Valley ranch where Manson took refuge and found at least two sites that could be clandestine graves holding the bodies of additional victims.

Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze said he will allow a limited four-day excavation at Barker Ranch beginning May 20 because forensic tests of the soil had produced mixed results.

Dalai Lama: Chinese officials were respectful

BERLIN — The Dalai Lama said Chinese officials were “respectful” in meetings last week, but large differences remained over the causes of the recent unrest in Tibet.

In an interview published Friday with the German weekly Der Spiegel, the Dalai Lama was quoted as saying that his representatives and Chinese officials agreed to hold a new round of formal talks “as soon as possible,” following informal talks last weekend.

He added that a date would be fixed in the coming days.

Federal disaster declared in northern Maine county

AUGUSTA, Maine — President Bush declared a northern Maine county a federal disaster on Friday after historic flooding that destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes this month.

The declaration makes federal assistance available in Aroostook County for temporary housing, repairs and disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance or other assistance programs. Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been in the state assessing damage.

When he sought the federal declaration, Gov. John Baldacci estimated that more than 200 homes were damaged and that as many as 1,000 people were displaced.

An aerial estimate indicated that more than 400 structures were probably damaged. The flood also damaged many roads and bridges.

Associated Press