Snowmobiles go through ice; 3 family members die

Snowmobiles go through ice; 3 family members die

SALISBURY, Vt. — Three snowmobiles crossing a frozen Vermont lake plunged through the ice Saturday, killing a man, his 24-year-old daughter and 3-year-old granddaughter, police said.

The snowmobiles were carrying six people on Lake Dunmore when the accident occurred about 100 yards from shore about noon Saturday. Five people went into the water and were later pulled out by rescue crews. A 4-year-old was pushed to safety before the snowmobile he was riding went through the ice.

Kevin Flynn, 50, Carrie Flynn, 24, both of Whiting, and 3-year-old Bryanna Popp of Brandon were pronounced dead at Porter Hospital in nearby Middlebury.

Kevin Flynn’s wife, 47-year-old Terry Flynn, and Bryanna’s brother, 6-year-old Jeremiah Popp, survived, as did the 4-year-old, whose name wasn’t immediately released.

Company: FDA OKs drug for rheumatoid arthritis

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Biotechnology company Genentech Inc. says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its new drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

The approval of the drug, Actemra, “marks a major step forward” in the treatment of the disease, Hal Barron, chief medical officer for Genentech and its parent company, the Roche Group, said in a statement.

Actemra works by blocking the effect of a certain protein associated with inflammation. But because Actemra acts to suppress the immune system, it can also have serious side effects, including severe infections, liver abnormalities and damage to digestive organs.

Nader sues over election

MACHIAS, Maine — Ralph Nader didn’t have any luck in Washington, D.C., with a lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to keep him off the 2004 presidential ballot. So he’s taking his case to Washington County, a sparsely populated locale at the nation’s easternmost tip.

The lawsuit five years after President George W. Bush beat Democrat John Kerry contends the Kerry campaign and Democratic leaders conspired to keep Nader off the ballot in Maine and more than a dozen other states.

6.5-magnitude quake hits off California coast

FRESNO, Calif — A 6.5- magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Northern California on Saturday afternoon, shaking buildings south of the Oregon border and knocking out power in several coastal communities.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit at about 4:27 p.m. about 27 miles from Eureka, a city of about 26,000.

The state’s warning center had received no reports of injuries or major damage, California Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Lori Newquist said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there was no threat of the quake’s generating a tsunami.

2 men in London charged with false bomb threat

LONDON — Two men have been charged with making a false bomb threat and being drunk aboard a passenger plane after a security scare at London’s Heathrow Airport, British police said Saturday.

Armed police officers pulled Robert George Fowles and Alexander Bain McGinn from an Emirates plane preparing for take-off to Dubai late Friday, after crew members reported that verbal threats were made to staff.

Police said Fowles, 58, will appear in custody at court on Monday. McGinn, 48, has been bailed out and is due to appear at court Jan. 22.

A third man who was arrested along with the other two suspects was released, police said. He was not identified.

Family of shooting suspect expresses puzzlement

ST. LOUIS — Relatives of a man suspected in a shooting spree at a St. Louis plant that left four people dead say the man they knew “never could have done this.”

Police believe 51-year-old Timothy Hendron of Webster Groves killed three co-workers before shooting and killing himself Thursday at the ABB Inc. plant in north St. Louis. Five others were wounded.

The family issued a statement Friday through attorney Scott Rosenblum.

It says, “The loving and caring person we knew as a husband, father, son, brother, uncle and friend could never have done this.” The statement also stressed that the family does not understand what happened to cause the tragedy.

Associated Press