American Scene

CALIFORNIA

Wildfire destroys buildings, threatens rural homes

SANTA CRUZ - A wind-whipped wildfire burning out of control in central California mountains destroyed buildings and threatened many rural homes yesterday morning, closing schools and forcing hundreds of evacuations.

The blaze in the Santa Cruz Mountains, reported at about 5:30 a.m., had grown to more than 2,200 acres by midday and was completely uncontained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

About 320 homes were under mandatory evacuation orders, said Santa Cruz County spokeswoman Dinah Phillips. Santa Clara and Santa Cruz county officials said more than 60 residents had been evacuated, and 200 students from a summer camp in the mountains.

As many as 10 structures were destroyed and at least three schools in the area closed their doors yesterday because of the fire. No injuries have been reported.

MISSISSIPPI

Crematory owner loses licenses

JACKSON - The state yesterday revoked the licenses of a crematorium accused of inappropriately disposing of human remains.

The Mississippi Board of Funeral Service pulled the licenses of crematory owner Mark Seepe for failing to provide documents, including cremation and embalming logs and proof his crematory chamber had been fixed, officials said.

In March, a former employee released photos taken inside Seepe Funeral Home and Crematorium that appeared to show human bones and ash being commingled and heaped into a 55-gallon barrel. The photos also showed a large hole in the bottom of the crematory retort - the actual chamber where cremations take place.

CALIFORNIA

Manson ranch dig yields no bodies

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK - Investigators and scientists went to Charles Manson’s last hide-out to hunt for clandestine graves that could contain other possible victims. The closest thing they found were animal bones.

The dig for human remains ended Wednesday after four sites yielded no bodies, leaving scientists puzzled over the clues that enticed them to go this far.

The excavation had been scheduled to last three days, ending yesterday. But the work went faster than scheduled, with the crew of 20 digging until dusk, then camping out at night beside the ranch house Manson and his followers had used.

Manson and his followers hid out at Barker Ranch after their 1969 killing spree in Los Angeles. For years, rumors have swirled about other possible Manson victims, including hitchhikers and runaways who visited the site and were never heard from again.

The clan was ultimately prosecuted for nine murders; Manson is serving a life prison sentence.

FLORIDA

2 Picasso etchings stolen from gallery

PALM BEACH - Two Pablo Picasso etchings worth a combined $450,000 have been stolen from a gallery in Palm Beach, police said.

Authorities responded to an alarm at Gallery Biba at about 3:40 a.m. yesterday. Palm Beach police spokeswoman Janet Kinsella said a glass back door had been smashed and the two etchings were missing.

She said the etchings were valued at $150,000 and $300,000. The gallery has identified the pieces as “The Frugal Meal” and “Jacqueline Lisant.”

GEORGIA

Officer gets prison for lying about raid

ATLANTA - An Atlanta police officer was sentenced to 4 years and six months in prison for lying to investigators after a drug raid ended in the death of a 92-year-old woman.

Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson also sentenced Arthur Tesler, 42, yesterday to six months of probation.

The officer must serve 450 hours of community service.

Kathryn Johnston died in a hail of bullets after narcotics officers burst into her northwest Atlanta home Nov. 21, 2006, using a special no-knock warrant to search for drugs.

Tesler was convicted Tuesday of making false statements. Two other officers have already pleaded guilty. Tesler was the only officer to go to trial.

LOUISIANA

Suspects arrested in student deaths

BATON ROUGE - Two suspects were arrested yesterday on fishing boats near the Gulf Coast in the killing of two Louisiana State University graduate students late last year, authorities said.

Vermilion Parish sheriff’s deputies and state police arrested one man in Freshwater City and another in Intracoastal City, said sheriff’s Col. Kirk Frith, who would not identify the suspects.

They were taken into custody on the boats without incident, Col. Frith said.

The bodies of Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma, 31, and Kiran Kumar Allam, 33, were found the night of Dec. 13 in Mr. Allam’s apartment on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. At the time, police described the attack as a home invasion.

Both doctoral students had been shot in the head.

MISSOURI

Drug suspects arrested near fort

WAYNESVILLE - Nearly 30 people face state or federal drug charges in a sting operation that uncovered evidence of drug sales at Fort Leonard Wood, authorities said.

Some civilian employees of mess halls at the U.S. Army fort were among those arrested Wednesday, Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King said. No military personnel were thought to have been arrested, he said.

During the two-year investigation, an undercover state trooper purchased heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and Ecstasy, authorities said.

Fourteen people face charges in Pulaski County, with four others charged in nearby Phelps County, court records show. Yesterday, federal officials announced the indictments of nine other people.

Most of the state charges were for felony drug possession or drug distribution, carrying penalties of up to 15 years. The federal charges involve drug sales that allegedly happened at Fort Leonard Wood, Sheriff King said.

NEVADA

Simpson could get jury pool of 400

LAS VEGAS - Court officials preparing for O.J. Simpson’s armed robbery trial say lengthy questionnaires will be given to a jury pool that could number 400 or more.

A Nevada judge told prosecutors and lawyers for the former football star and two co-defendants yesterday that she plans to summon prospective jurors and have them start filling out forms at least two weeks before the trial starts Sept. 8.

The questionnaires haven’t been made public but will include at least 115 questions. The two sides might sign off on the questions during a meeting with the judge next month.

Simpson and two other men face kidnapping and other charges after police said they robbed sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room in September.

NEW YORK

Historian admits stealing Lincoln letter

NEW YORK - A U.S. historian pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal charge stemming from stealing letters penned by former U.S. Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Edward Renehan, 51, admitted stealing a March 1, 1840, letter written by Lincoln and two by Washington, one written on Aug. 9, 1791 and one written and signed on Dec. 29, 1778.

Renehan later sold them to a New York gallery for $97,000, according the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.

Renehan, who has written six books including one on the Kennedys, stole the letters from the Theodore Roosevelt Association, a New York-based historical and cultural association where he had been a director.

He pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

PENNSYLVANIA

Moms sentenced in fatal fire

PITTSBURGH - Two women whose house burned down while they were at a bar, killing five of their children, received sentences of one to two years. Shakita Mangham and Furaha Love, both 26, also were sentenced yesterday to five years’ probation.

The women pleaded no contest in February to involuntary manslaughter for the June fire.

The women left the children in the care of two 8-year-old boys and initially told police the children were with a baby sitter. An investigation revealed they had lied.

Authorities said the fire was started by children playing with matches.

WASHINGTON

Jewish center shooter sane, prosecutor says

SEATTLE - A prosecutor told jurors yesterday a man charged with a fatal shooting at a Jewish center knew right from wrong but was using murder to get out a message.

“The cost of that message was high and now it must be paid,” prosecutor Don Raz said in his closing argument in the trial of Naveed Haq, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder and attempted murder.

Mr. Raz said the way Mr. Haq went about killing a woman and wounding five others at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle in July 2006 showed he clearly could perceive the nature of his actions and was not insane.

Mr. Raz said Mr. Haq, 32, of Kennewick, planned the shooting for days before driving from his Tri Cities home to Seattle, left a shotgun in his truck because he thought carrying it with him would draw too much attention, hid in the foyer of the center to avoid detection and picked his victims in the small office.