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©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 4, 2001
Marine jet crashes, kills both crew members
CHERRY POINT, N.C. -- A Marine Corps Harrier jet crashed Saturday as it neared touchdown on a base runway. The two crew members were killed, a spokesman said.
The jump-jet crashed while approaching the runway about 4 p.m., said 1st Lt. John Caldwell, spokesman at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station. The jump-jet design allows the Harrier to take off and land vertically; it redirects its thrust to fly.
The area where the Harrier crashed was clear of trees or other obstructions, Caldwell said. The victims' names were withheld.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Michigan couple who gained national attention over the adoption of Baby Jessica say they plan to remarry, more than a year after they divorced.
Jan and Roberta DeBoer said Friday their love and commitment carried them through a hard time.
The DeBoers had divorced in October 1999, saying the strain of a 21/2-year custody battle was too much for their 17-year marriage.
The couple adopted Jessica in 1991 after Cara Schmidt, then Cara Clausen, gave the girl up for adoption.
Two weeks later, Clausen filed papers to revoke her decision.
The Supreme Courts in Iowa and Michigan awarded custody to Dan and Cara Schmidt in 1993. Photographers and TV cameras captured the screams and tears of the 21/2-year-old girl as she was taken from the DeBoers.
Jessica, who turns 10 this month, was renamed Anna.
CHATFIELD, Ohio -- A car plowed into the side of a moving train early Saturday at a crossing marked by flashing lights, and was dragged and then struck by a second train traveling in the opposite direction. All four people in the car were killed.
Crawford County sheriff's officials said the car driven by John W. Moore, 26, of Putnam County, W.Va., struck a northbound Norfolk Southern coal train near Chatfield, about 65 miles north of Columbus.
The automobile hit the 100-car train about three-quarters of the way back from the locomotives and was dragged about a quarter-mile.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Owners of a freighter have sued the Coast Guard for $96-million, saying navigational charts omitted warnings about unsafe conditions in the waters where the ship went aground and broke apart.
The freighter New Carissa went aground in a storm on Feb. 4, 1999, on the north spit of Coos Bay. About 70,000 gallons of the fuel oil that powered its engines spilled into the ocean.
The lawsuit, filed Friday, seeks damages for the amount of the cost of the cleanup and salvage.
The owners claim that charts didn't warn that the anchorage was unsafe during winter and failed to indicate that dredge spoils from the mouth of Coos Bay had made the water shallower.
GUILFORD, Conn. -- A small earthquake shook southern Connecticut Saturday afternoon, rattling some homes and alarming some residents but causing no damage or injuries.
Yale University geologist Jeffrey Park said the temblor, which began about 12:50 p.m., measured about 2.5 to 2.8 magnitude and was centered in the shoreline town of Guilford.