Boat capsizes near Miami; 30 rescued

Boat capsizes near Miami; 30 rescued

MIAMI

A 45-foot boat capsized Sunday in waters near Miami, tossing 30 people into the sea during one of the city’s busiest boating days, authorities said. All of those on board were rescued, and no one was hurt.

The catamaran began taking on water near the Miami Sea Aquarium, and Good Samaritans, the Coast Guard, state wildlife officials and commercial boats helped pluck people out of the water within minutes. A dog that was on the boat was also saved.

“It was an incredible effort,” Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Doss said.

Thousands of boaters were on the water for Columbus Day celebrations.

Study suggests BPA tie to miscarriage risk

BOSTON

New research suggests that high levels of BPA, a chemical in many plastics and canned-food linings, might raise the risk of miscarriage in women prone to that problem or having trouble getting pregnant.

The work is not nearly enough to prove a link, but it adds to “the biological plausibility” that BPA might affect fertility and other aspects of health, said Dr. Linda Giudice, a California biochemist who is president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The study was to be presented today at the group’s annual conference in Boston. Last month, ASRM and an obstetricians group urged more attention to environmental chemicals and their potential hazards for pregnant women.

BPA, short for bisphenol-A, and certain other environmental chemicals can have very weak, hormonelike effects. Tests show BPA in nearly everyone’s urine, though the chemical has been removed from baby bottles and many reusable drink containers in recent years. The federal Food and Drug Administration says BPA is safe as used now in other food containers.

Evacuations saved lives, officials say

BEHRAMPUR, India

Mass evacuations spared India the widespread deaths many had feared from a powerful weekend cyclone, officials said, as people picked up belongings and started repairing flooded towns, tangled power lines and tens of thousands of destroyed thatch homes.

Cyclone Phailin, the strongest tropical storm to hit India in more than a decade, destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of crops, but a day after it made landfall in Orissa state on the country’s east coast, authorities said they knew of only 17 fatalities.

The final toll is expected to climb as officials reach areas of the cyclone-battered coast that remain isolated by downed communication links and blocked roads, but the evacuation of nearly 1 million people appeared to have saved many lives.

Amber Alert canceled

HILLSBORO, N.M.

An Amber Alert was canceled Sunday for five teenage boys who authorities reported missing from a rural New Mexico ranch for troubled youth along with others before the weekend, officials said.

The boys — age 13-17 — all were physically accounted for Sunday, New Mexico State Police said in a release Sunday evening. Four other teenage boys who also were part of the group already were found safe, and they with their parents Saturday.

Henry Varela, a spokesman for the State Children, Youth and Families Department, said authorities couldn’t consider the boys safe until they saw them.

Police break up party in Wash. college town

SEATTLE

Hundreds of college-age revelers in Washington state — thwarted in efforts to continue a large party — threw projectiles at police who responded with pepper spray to disperse them, authorities said.

Multiple partiers were arrested during the melee late Saturday and early Sunday in the scenic college town of Bellingham, about 75 miles north of Seattle, according to police Sgt. Mike Scanlon.

Associated Press