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In wake of sex scandal, Air Force Academy chief sees progress

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - When the Air Force Academy's sexual assault scandal exploded three years ago, Lt. Gen. John Regni didn't have to depend on the media or fellow commanders for all the details.

His daughter, Jessica, was a senior cadet in the class of 2003.

"When I was selected to become the superintendent I had been updated on academy life from her perspective before I got here - and that is a valuable piece to have," Regni said

Regni took command in October, saying his goals included providing a safe environment for some 4,000 cadets. The first graduation under his watch takes place Wednesday.

Regni arrived as the furor was dying down from the academy's assault scandal, and as a number of reforms were put in place

Surveys have shown the willingness of female cadets to report assaults increased from 18.6 percent in 2003 to 44 percent last year. The reported assaults declined from 14 in 2003-2004 school year to three last year.

Officers find storm victim's body

LEOPOLD, Ind. - Officers searching a swollen creek on Sunday recovered the body of the third of three family members who drowned when their pickup was caught in a flood during severe thunderstorms.

The body of Robert Edwards, 55, of Leopold, was found in Oil Creek about 300 yards downstream from where the pickup was carried off a road, Conservation Officer Mark Farmer said.

Officers found the bodies of Edwards' grandson, 4-year-old Isaac Kemp, and the boy's father, Greg Kemp, 35, of Leopold on Friday, a day after the flood occurred about 45 miles west of Louisville, Ky.

Elsewhere during the storms on Thursday, lightning killed a woman in Lexington, Ky.; a 4-year-old girl drowned when she was trapped inside a vehicle washed off a road near Irvington, Ky., and two 15-year-old boys drowned when they were swept away while swimming in a swollen creek near Clarksville, Tenn.

Novice skydiver falls to her death

STERLING, Ohio - A first-time skydiver slipped from her harness during a jump and fell to her death, authorities said.

Ellen Ann McWilliams, 44, of West Chester, Pa., was participating in a tandem jump Saturday, officials said. During tandem jumps, a novice is harnessed to the chest of an experienced jumper. A preliminary investigation indicates McWilliams slipped from the harness after the parachute opened.

It is not known how far she fell.

[Last modified May 29, 2006, 06:40:49]