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CALIFORNIA

Tidal expert testifies in Peterson trial

REDWOOD CITY -- An expert witness on tides and currents testified yesterday that Laci Peterson and her unborn child may have been dumped into San Francisco Bay near the spot where her husband claims to have gone fishing the day she disappeared.

Ralph Cheng, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said that based on winds and tidal information, the body of the Petersons' unborn son, Connor -- whether still inside his mother or not -- was put into the bay between Brooks Island and the Berkeley Marina.

Mr. Cheng cautioned that that was the "highest probability" location, and defense attorneys attacked the findings as conjecture. He also acknowledged that he could not reproduce the trajectory for Mrs. Peterson's body, but could for Connor, because he was lighter.

WASHINGTON

Volcano spews more steam, ash

SEATTLE -- Mount St. Helens spewed more steam and ash yesterday as government scientists remained on alert for a larger eruption at the volcano, which awoke last week after 18 years of slumber.

Mount St. Helens, which killed 57 persons in a violent 1980 eruption, continued to increase its activity after a week of tremors and a minor eruption Friday.