Rescued miners sell Disney their story for $150,000 each

LOS ANGELES -- Nine Pennsylvania coal miners who were trapped underground for more than three days and whose rescue enthralled the nation, have sold the television and book rights to their tale to the Walt Disney Co., a Disney representative said Saturday.

The coal miners will be paid $150,000 each for the story -- a total of $1.35-million -- which will be the subject of a television movie next year for the ABC network, as well as a book to be published by the company's Hyperion Publishing division.

The nine miners, who survived in an air pocket, splitting a corned beef sandwich and two sodas, were rescued from the Quecreek mine in southwest Pennsylvania on July 28. They became trapped when water from an adjacent abandoned mine burst through the wall of the new mine they were working.

BUSH MAY VISIT: President Bush is expected to visit on Monday with the "Quecreek Nine" and their rescuers, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Although Bush's advisers remained mum about the president's schedule, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said the White House had sent an advance team to scout out the security and logistics for the visit.

COAL MINERS STAMP POSSIBLE: The dramatic rescue of nine men trapped in the Quecreek Mine has increased interest in efforts to have a postage stamp issued in honor of coal miners.

For 16 years, John Vengien has been writing letters and gathering hundreds of signatures in support of the stamp. But for years, he was told that coal miners were not "of national interest."

Vengien, 84, a former coal miner, was recently notified along with other supporters that the coal miner stamp is under consideration for 2005. A Postal Service spokesman said Friday that decision was made before the mine accident.

Missing girl from China found safe with relatives

SAN FRANCISCO -- A 12-year-old Chinese girl missing for two days was found Saturday with relatives on the East Coast after disappearing from her youth tour group, authorities said.

Yukun Jia is "safe with relatives, and in good spirits," said Bronwyn Hogan, spokeswoman for the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. She would not release the city where Jia is staying to protect the girl's privacy. She said she was not sure why Jia abruptly disappeared from her fellow travelers or whether the girl hoped to defect from China.

Also . . .

LIGHTNING KILLS THREE: Fierce storms that rattled the Northeast killed three and injured a 17-year-old by lightning strikes and left tens of thousands of residents without power.

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