Around the Nation

FLORIDA

Sisters survive plane mishap

TAMPA — A pilot and her sister scrambled to safety yesterday when their single-engine plane ran a few feet off the end of the Davis Island runway and into the water.

Only the tail of the Aero Commander was sticking out of the water after the plane’s nose dipped.

The pilot, Camille Branch-Turley, 43, and her sister, Sharon Branch, 49, both of Tampa, did not require medical treatment, said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy.

NEW YORK

Hidden Torah finds new home

NEW YORK — A 150-year-old Torah, hidden for a half-century in the former Soviet Union, was paraded through New York’s streets yesterday on its way to its new home at a Brooklyn synagogue.

Many in the procession of hundreds of former Soviet Jews sang English, Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian songs as the foot-high scroll was taken to the Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe Synagogue.

Senya Dovidov, 68, a one-time shoe factory worker in Latvia, gave the Torah to the synagogue. Mr. Dovidov brought the scroll with him when he came to the United States in 1995.

ARKANSAS

Veteran honored for documentation

BENTON — For more than two years as a prisoner of war in Germany, Ewell Ross McCright secretly recorded and saved a precious piece of history — information that would help expose Nazi atrocities and connect veterans and their families with the past.

The World War II bombardier filled four ledgers with the backgrounds and war injuries of 2,194 soldiers. He hid the records under floorboards in one prison camp and secretly carried them with him in place of food on a forced 34-mile march to another camp.

On Friday, nearly 60 years after Mr. McCright was freed and 14 years after his death, his family received the Legion of Merit medal in honor of the risky but valuable work he performed.

“Because of [Mr. McCright’s ledgers], veterans have found former POW roommates, adult children have felt connected with their fathers’ pasts and 11 former POWs have received Purple Hearts,” said Sen. Mark Pryor, Arkansas Democrat, who lobbied for the posthumous honor and presented Mr. McCright’s sister, Marie Hall of Benton, with the medal.

FLORIDA

Times publishes teen’s crossword

SEA RANCH LAKES — What two words are 12 letters long and mean precocious puzzle maker? The answer is Kyle Mahowald, who at 17 is the youngest person to publish a Sunday crossword in the New York Times.

The teen began constructing crosswords for his school newspaper last year. That was after he was completing weekday Times puzzles in less than four minutes. By February, major newspapers were picking up his submissions for up to $350 a puzzle.

He has had puzzles in the Times on weekdays, but his first Sunday one appeared Sept. 19. His work also was in the Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times this year.

The high school senior from the Fort Lauderdale area was considering careers in law or journalism.

“It’s hard to make it professionally as a puzzle creator,” Kyle said. “But I’ll keep doing it as a hobby for as long as I can. It’s just really fun.”

GEORGIA

Teacher charged in school brawl

MACON — A teacher has been charged with beating a student’s mother in front of a classroom of fourth-graders.

Katrina Ann Rucker purportedly broke Lurella Amica’s nose during the scuffle at Bibb County’s Bruce Weir Elementary School, the Macon Telegraph reported. She faces charges that include battery and cruelty to children.

The student’s mother told police that she went to the school to give her daughter a note and met the crying girl, who told her Miss Rucker had thrown her book bag into the trash. She said that when she pulled the bag out of a wastebasket, Miss Rucker tried to take it away from her, then knocked her down with a chair and began hitting her.

Investigators said the child was crying to Miss Rucker to stop hitting her mother and that the teacher hit her when she approached. A school official and another teacher eventually pulled Miss Rucker away from the child’s mother.

IOWA

Ike’s granddaughter campaigns for troops

DES MOINES — The granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower joined area students planting an oak tree at the Statehouse in support of Iowa veterans and soldiers.

Mary Jean Eisenhower is participating in Operation Liberty Trees, a nationwide campaign to plant a tree for every soldier. She urged Americans, whatever their views on war, to support U.S. troops.

MICHIGAN

Man’s body found in jet’s wheel well

ROMULUS — The body of a stowaway was found early Friday in the wheel well of an American Airlines jet that had just finished a flight from Miami to Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The body was found about 1 a.m. by an airport worker after passengers had disembarked. The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office said the man was in his 20s and died from a lack of oxygen stemming from high altitudes. Chief Investigator Albert Samuels said the death was accidental.

Authorities are hoping to use the man’s fingerprints to establish his identity.

Airport spokeswoman Barbara Hogan said the man was wearing a T-shirt and pants and carrying coins from the Dominican Republic. He was not carrying identification.

Miss Hogan said the flight originated in the Caribbean.

MISSISSIPPI

Publication offers details on charities

JACKSON — Mississippi Secretary of State Eric Clark says a new publication by his office gives details about how much money charities spend for fund raising and how much they spend to help people.

Mr. Clark said after September 11 the secretary of state’s office saw an increase in charities trying to raise money in the name of firefighters and police officers and not all the charities were reputable. Mr. Clark said the new publication gives information Mississippians need to be smart about charitable giving.

NEW JERSEY

Jury clears man who killed thief

MOUNT LAUREL — A Gloucester County grand jury decided against murder charges for a man who fatally shot a would-be thief in his back yard.

Neighbors protested when Robert J. Clark Jr. was charged with murder after slaying a man who was trying to steal his all-terrain vehicle from a shed. Mr. Clark’s attorney said his client was protecting his Franklin Township home.

Prosecutors are contemplating taking the case to a second grand jury.

A spokesman for prosecutors says the decision not to indict may be interpreted as condoning the shooting of people who steal. William Hamilton, 39, died after being shot in the chest in April. Neighbors said Mr. Clark tried to administer first aid after the shooting.

PENNSYLVANIA

Man shoots at rodent, wounds girlfriend

CONFLUENCE — A man missed a mouse he was trying to shoot and wounded his girlfriend instead, state police said.

Donald Rugg, 43, was trying to kill the rodent with a .22-caliber handgun when his girlfriend, Cathy Jo Harris, 38, apparently went into the line of fire and was hit in the arm early Tuesday, state police said.

State police said they won’t charge Mr. Rugg, but advised against people shooting firearms inside.

RHODE ISLAND

Board rejects pharmacies bid

PROVIDENCE — A state board rejected proposed regulations to make Rhode Island the first state in the nation to license Canadian pharmacies.

The state Board of Pharmacy’s rejection of draft regulations is unlikely to prevent a law allowing the licensing from going into effect in January, Health Department Director Patricia Nolan said. Public hearings are planned.

TEXAS

Volunteers gather yams for hungry

GOLDEN — Volunteers fanned out across Texas farm fields to pick up sweet potatoes missed by mechanical harvesters, joining a national network to feed the poor with produce that otherwise might go to waste, from California oranges to Indiana beans and Florida squash.

In this rural community about 75 miles east of Dallas, the weekend effort is called the Texas Yam Jam.

“It’s rewarding; it’s a good gig, just to come out here and glean for the people who might not be able to eat if we hadn’t actually done this,” said Jay Wilbur, 43, from Panola, near the Louisiana state line.

The work is overseen by the Big Island, Va.-based Society of St. Andrew, an ecumenical organization with strong United Methodist ties. The society estimates that during the past quarter-century, 250,000 volunteers have gleaned 461.5 million pounds of food that would have been dumped, plowed under or left to rot.