3 skiers killed in Wash. avalanche

3 skiers killed in Wash. avalanche

STEVENS PASS, Wash.

Three skiers were killed Sunday when an avalanche swept them about a quarter-mile down an out-of-bounds canyon at a popular resort, but a fourth skier caught up in the slide was saved by a safety device, authorities said.

The four were among three groups of skiers — about a dozen people in all — making their way through 11/2 feet of fresh snow on the back side of Stevens Pass when the avalanche hit. Stevens Pass is in the Cascade Mountains, about 80 miles northeast of Seattle.

All were buried to some extent, but the men who died were swept approximately 1,500 feet down a chute in the Tunnel Creek Canyon area, King County Sheriff’s Sgt. Katie Larson said.

Seoul begins military drills

SEOUL, South Korea

South Korea began live-fire military drills today from front-line islands near its disputed sea border with North Korea, despite Pyongyang’s threat to attack.

The drills, scheduled to last two hours, happened in an area that was the target of a North Korean artillery attack in 2010 that killed four South Koreans.

South Korean military officials reported no immediate action by North Korea.

Residents on those front-line islands were asked to go to underground shelters before the drills started, according to an officer at Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.

Elizabeth Smart marries in Hawaii

SALT LAKE CITY

Elizabeth Smart married her fianc Saturday at a Mormon temple in Hawaii, several months ahead of scheduled plans for the nuptials after news of her engagement last month drew widespread media attention.

A family spokesman said the Utah woman who was kidnapped at knifepoint at age 14 and held captive for nine months married Matthew Gilmour on Oahu’s North Shore.

“Elizabeth’s desire was for what most women want — to celebrate her nuptials in a private wedding with family and close friends,” family spokesman Chris Thomas said in a statement. “She decided, about a week ago, the best way to avoid significant distraction was to change her wedding plans and to get married in an unscheduled ceremony outside of Utah.”

The 24-year-old Smart is a senior at Brigham Young University. She met Gilmour, of Aberdeen, Scotland, while doing Mormon missionary work in Paris.

FDA to review inhalable caffeine

BOSTON

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials plan to investigate whether inhalable caffeine sold in lipstick-sized canisters is safe for consumers and if its manufacturer was right to brand it as a dietary supplement.

AeroShot went on the market late last month in Massachusetts and New York, and it’s also available in France. Consumers put one end of the canister in their mouths and breathe in, releasing a fine powder that dissolves almost instantly.

Each grey-and-yellow plastic canister contains B vitamins, plus 100 milligrams of caffeine powder, about the equivalent of the caffeine in a large cup of coffee.

David Edwards, AeroShot inventor and Harvard biomedical engineering professor, says the product is safe and doesn’t contain taurine and other common additives used to enhance the caffeine effect in energy drinks.

Associated Press