Around the Nation

NEW YORK

High-speed ferry draws crowd

ROCHESTER — The Queen Mary 2 it isn’t.

But don’t tell that to the Rev. Thomas Wheeland, whose Holy Cross Church commands a lofty view of the Port of Rochester and its new, hulking presence — the Spirit of Ontario 1, a five-story car ferry that will soon be darting across Lake Ontario to Canada at more than 50 mph carrying up to 774 passengers and 220 cars.

A few thousand people lined the pier Tuesday for their first glimpse at the Australian-built, twin-hulled catamaran.

MINNESOTA

Three teens die in cave

ST. PAUL — A labyrinth of caves left by 1800s sandstone miners along the Mississippi River has long been a forbidden and sometimes deadly thrill for teenagers, who ignore the keep-out signs.

On Tuesday, the caves again proved lethal: Three teens died, apparently of carbon monoxide poisoning, perhaps from a fire smoldering inside the caverns.

Killed were Nicholas Lee Larson, Natalie Lorraine Vanvorst and Patrick Gerard Dague, all 17. A 17-year-old boy was rescued, and his condition was upgraded yesterday from critical to serious.

CALIFORNIA

County to get smoke-free beaches

SANTA MONICA — Los Angeles County is getting 13 miles of smoke-free beaches.

The City Council gave final approval Tuesday to a smoking ban on the sand, at bus stops and on much of the city’s historic wooden pier, a measure that Mayor Richard Bloom has promised to sign.

The legislation is expected to go into effect sometime in the next six weeks, as is a similar Los Angeles ban. Together, the ordinances form a 13-mile span of beaches where smokers will be prohibited from lighting up cigarettes, pipes and cigars.

Santa Monica’s ordinance slaps violators with a $250 fine.

FLORIDA

Teacher charged in fatal accident

TAMPA — An elementary school teacher was charged yesterday with leaving the scene of a car accident that killed a teenager and his younger brother.

Jennifer Porter, 28, went to the Hillsborough County Jail and was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death, and her bail was set at $7,500, said her attorney, Barry Cohen.

Sheriff’s deputies said the children were crossing the street at about 7 p.m. on their way home from a community center. They were not in a crosswalk.

Mr. Cohen said Miss Porter contacted his office the day after the accident and he told authorities the next day she was the driver. He has said she was too afraid to stop after the accident.

GEORGIA

Lawsuit filed against Waffle House

ATLANTA — Eight black customers have filed a federal lawsuit against Waffle House Inc., saying they experienced racial discrimination at Atlanta-area restaurants.

A spokesman for Norcross-based Waffle House, Pat Warner, said he had not seen the lawsuit filed Tuesday but that the chain treats complaints seriously and has fired employees found guilty of discrimination in the past.

One plaintiff, Eli Jackson, said that, unlike white customers, he had to pay in advance for his meal. Another, Hakieem Mack, said he placed a carryout order at one restaurant and was told he would have to pick it up at another location.

Two other plaintiffs, John Scott and his fiancee, Krystyll Gardner, say they were confronted by a knife-wielding cook who shouted racial slurs at them at a Waffle House in Alpharetta. They say they were pulled over later by Alpharetta police who made them sign a form agreeing never to return to that Waffle House.

HAWAII

State’s visitor count ahead of last year

HONOLULU — The latest state figures show that Hawaii’s visitor count is running 3.8 percent ahead of last year.

The number of visitor arrivals in March was 6.5 percent ahead of March 2003. Three of the four major tourism markets made gains in March, including an 11.2 percent increase in visitors from Japan, the report said.

NEBRASKA

Twins break arms on same day

LAUREL — They say twins feel each other’s pain, but 8-year-olds Cassidy and Marissa Wiese of Laurel might have taken that idea a bit too far.

In a five-hour span April 17, both girls had roller-skating accidents that resulted in broken left arms.

Cassidy broke her arm while skating at a friend’s birthday party. Later that evening, Marissa was demonstrating her skating skills to her mother, Tami, when she fell and broke her arm.

The twins were outfitted in matching blue casts. Cassidy has to wear her cast for about three weeks. Because Marissa’s break was more severe, she has to wear her cast for six weeks.

NEW YORK

GOP convention protesters denied

NEW YORK — An antiwar group planning a massive demonstration at the start of the Republican National Convention has been denied a permit to use Central Park because the crowd would be too large.

United for Peace and Justice said it planned to appeal the city parks department’s denial of its request to rally on the park’s Great Lawn after marching from 23rd Street and Eighth Avenue.

In denying the permit, city officials said the Aug. 29 event would exceed the 55-acre lawn’s capacity of 80,000 people and “cause enormous damage to the lawn.” The group said on its application that it expected 250,000 demonstrators.

In its appeal, the group plans to cite such events as a 1981 Simon and Garfunkel concert that drew at least 400,000 fans. The Department of Parks and Recreation maintains that no gatherings of that magnitude have been held on the Great Lawn since the area was restored in 1996.

Parks department spokeswoman Megan Sheekey said the city has offered to help the group find another location.

OHIO

NAACP challenges police death ruling

CINCINNATI — Police used excessive force in subduing a 350-pound black man who died shortly after the struggle, a civil rights leader said yesterday.

A pathologist concluded that Nathaniel Jones suffocated during the struggle, Calvert Smith, chapter president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said at a press conference.

Mr. Smith said the pathologist’s results show that police must share responsibility for Mr. Jones’ death. He said the NAACP was considering a federal civil rights lawsuit.

TEXAS

Woman, 97, jailed over traffic ticket

HIGHLAND PARK — Police say they had no choice but to go by the book when they handcuffed a 97-year-old woman and took her to jail for failing to pay a traffic ticket.

Harriette Kelton was arrested last week after officers stopped her for having an expired registration and inspection sticker and realized there was a warrant for her arrest for failing to pay a traffic ticket.

Mrs. Kelton, a former schoolteacher who has lived in the Dallas suburb for decades, was in police custody for about two hours.

VERMONT

Burlington police recruit minorities

BURLINGTON — Flashing police lights fill the TV screen, a siren wails and a Vietnamese man appears in the picture.

“The face of Burlington is changing,” he says in his native tongue, the English translation shown in subtitles. The camera cuts to a Bosnian woman. “And the Burlington Police Department is changing with it,” she says, in translation.

The 30-second ad, which aired from March to mid-April, represents the departments latest effort to recruit officers of different racial and ethnic backgrounds — a particularly difficult task in one of the whitest states in the union.

Vermont is 96.8 percent white, second only to Maine, according to the 2000 census.

Police officials said it is too early to judge the success of the ad, part of a larger campaign involving members of Burlington’s growing immigrant and minority population.

WASHINGTON

Storm blacks out parts of state

SEATTLE — Thousands of customers had no electricity yesterday in northwest Washington after severe storms that included a rare tornado.

Several schools were closed or were opening late yesterday. No injuries or severe damage were reported.

Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula reported wind blowing at a sustained 45 mph, gusting to 54 mph, when the storm struck Tuesday afternoon, said Jeff Rood, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

WISCONSIN

Father, son pitch no-hitters

BOWLER — It seemed all too familiar when senior pitcher Mike Rickert tossed a no-hitter for Bowler High School against Iola.

The performance last week came 22 years to the day after his father, John, accomplished the same feat, against the same team, also in his senior year at Bowler.

Although no one realized the connection at the time, the headline in the Shawano Leader on Friday read, “Rickert hurls perfect game” — the same as the headline in the issue of April 23, 1982, announcing his father’s no-hitter.

Both games were played Thursday, and both were against Iola. Bowler won 10-0 in five innings last week and 2-0 in seven innings in 1982. Mike had 12 strikeouts in last week’s game; John had 11 strikeouts in his no-hitter.

WYOMING

Toddler found alive hours after crash

CHEYENNE — An 18-month-old girl survived a near-freezing night beside her father’s dead body after their car cartwheeled off a road and into a creek.

Raylynn Miller was found alive Monday by a police officer who was out jogging and came across the crash site about a mile west of Thermopolis in northwest Wyoming.

Raylynn remained hospitalized Tuesday for dehydration and possible broken bones. The girl survived 30 hours in the open and temperatures that dropped into the low 30s overnight.

The crash occurred when Shye Miller lost control of his car on a curve on Wyoming Highway 120, possibly around 11 a.m. Sunday, the investigation showed. The car was traveling at about 70 mph, trooper Dan Smith said.