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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 12, 2002
Wis. collision kills 10
CEDAR GROVE, Wis. -- More than two dozen vehicles crashed on a foggy highway Friday morning, killing 10 people in a pile of charred and twisted metal in the deadliest auto accident in state history. At least 34 were injured, seven critically.
Rescue workers picked through the wreckage for more victims in four smoldering piles along Interstate 43 about 60 miles north of Milwaukee.
"I would just say, that in my 21 years, it's the most horrific scene I have ever seen," Sheboygan County Sheriff Loni Koenig said.
Some victims were burned beyond recognition, and authorities said it might take DNA analysis to identify them.
The crashes happened about 7:30 a.m. on both sides of the interstate as heavy fog engulfed the road just west of Lake Michigan. One vehicle after another plowed into each other, and at least eight burst into flames. State Patrol Sgt. John Jones said visibility was "next to nothing" when the first officers arrived.
NEW YORK -- The country's biggest health insurer has informed members of the senior citizens lobbying group AARP that it will reimburse them for prescriptions filled in Canada and elsewhere abroad.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. sent a letter to the 97,000 people who bought insurance with a drug benefit through AARP telling them about the coverage.
Buying prescription drugs outside the country for use at home violates federal regulations but is a growing practice among older Americans seeking relief from high prices. Insurance policies generally cover drugs bought abroad if a person is traveling and has forgotten their medicine or becomes ill.
UnitedHealth and AARP appeared to want to keep the measure low-key, but it was certain to meet with approval from AARP plan members and thousands of other senior citizens who buy their drugs in Canada and Mexico, where they are drastically cheaper.
AARP said it is not advocating buying drugs from abroad. It described the letter as a reminder of policy, and called its timing "unfortunate," coming so soon after a failed effort at legislation to allow people to import prescription drugs for their use. U.S. law bans Americans from importing medicines that are available in the United States.
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- After wandering deep in the Atlantic for three weeks, Tropical Storm Kyle sideswiped the South Carolina coast Friday, swamping streets and homes with up to 8 inches of rain and packing high winds.
The storm's center passed across Charleston Harbor, the first tropical system to do so since Hurricane Hugo smashed into the state in 1989.
By 8 p.m., Kyle weakened and was downgraded to a tropical depression as it moved north along North Carolina's coast. All tropical storm warnings were canceled as it appeared to be headed out to sea and toward absorption in another storm system.
Kyle had drifted in the Atlantic since Sept. 20, only briefly gaining hurricane status. The tropical system with the longest lifespan was Hurricane Ginger, which lasted 30 days, from Sept. 5 to Oct. 5 in 1971.
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- A Fort Bragg soldier trying to stage his disappearance searched the Internet for a man who looked like him and cut the man's throat, but the victim survived, police said.
The victim pulled the 8-inch knife from his throat, cut ropes around his hands and feet and fled, Detective Barbara Davenport said.
Jonathan Meadows, a specialist assigned to the 37th Engineering Battalion, was charged with attempted murder and held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Meadows spent weeks searching the Internet for someone who would be mistaken for himself, Davenport said. He was seeking men who were 5-foot-6, about 150 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
Meadows found Stephen "Jeremy" Bowen about two weeks ago, lured him to his home, tied him up and cut his throat Sunday night, Davenport said. Bowen, 26, who suffered severe cuts to his larynx, ran to a neighbor's house. Meadows surrendered shortly after the attack, authorities said.
Meadows, 20, said his plot was a way to get out of the Army, investigators said. He was frustrated with the Army and depressed, Davenport said.
BUSH SIGNS TEMPORARY SPENDING BILL: President Bush signed a temporary spending bill Friday that allows the federal government to continue spending for another week at current levels because most budget measures remain snarled in Congress.
A $10.5-billion military construction bill Congress cleared Thursday was the first of 13 annual spending bills lawmakers have completed for the budget year that began Oct. 1.