National briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 14, 2001

7 die in Philadelphia fire

PHILADELPHIA -- A fire blamed on faulty wiring raced through an unlicensed, rubbish-filled boarding house that was home to the elderly and disabled Friday, killing seven people.

Five men and two women died from smoke inhalation, and an 11-year-old girl identified by neighbors as the adopted daughter of the building's manager was critically injured.

The three-story building with nearly 30 rooms was in disarray and full of trash bags, fire Commissioner Harold Hairston said. It had several smoke detectors and an alarm system, but they didn't appear to work.

The building's owner, identified in city documents as Cuddlene Ross, did not have a city license to operate a boarding house and was cited in 1987 for breaking that regulation, Hairston said.

Abducted teen returns home with parents

KEARNEY, Neb. -- Kidnapping victim Anne Sluti came home Friday, a week after the 17-year-old was taken from a mall parking lot and kept hostage hundreds of miles away in Montana.

With a bruise under her right eye and an FBI ball cap on her head, Sluti stepped off a private jet with her parents and brother. A small group of family members and friends shrieked with excitement.

"I'm just happy to get back home," Sluti said earlier in the day as the family prepared to leave Kalispell, Mont. "I want to thank everyone who helped me get home safely."

She was finally freed about 3 a.m. Thursday after more than five days in captivity. The ordeal ended with a 10-hour standoff at a lakeside cabin in Rollins, Mont., 900 miles from Kearney. Her alleged abductor, Anthony Zappa, a fugitive wanted for various crimes in several states, was arrested and charged with kidnapping.

Midwest rivers rising, but flood predictions lowered

FARGO, N.D. -- The Midwest's swollen rivers weren't expected to crest as high as earlier feared, forecasters said Friday. But with many rivers above flood stage and still rising, residents weren't taking chances.

Residents along the Red River fought to shore up emergency dikes and protect homes and businesses.

Fargo officials reported only minor problems overnight, but remained on alert.

To the south, Breckenridge, Minn., Mayor Cliff Barth said crews were working to fix a sanitary sewer main that probably broke due to a weak pipe under pressure from flooding.

The Mississippi River also threatened low-lying areas in eastern Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa.

Also Friday . . .

TRAIN VICTIM GOES HOME: Ten-year-old Alex Michael Compton, struck by a train after his foot got caught in tracks near his Abbeville, S.C., home just over a week ago, went home Thursday. He lost his left leg in the accident, but friends and family members say he didn't lose his fighting spirit.

His determination, they say, helped save his life: During the hour and 45 minutes they believe Alex waited for help, he used his belt as a tourniquet to slow the bleeding from his leg.

CHURCH ARSONIST PLEADS GUILTY: A self-described "missionary of Lucifer" serving prison time for 26 church fires around the country pleaded guilty Friday in five Georgia blazes, including one that killed a firefighter.

Federal prosecutors said they would seek a life sentence for Jay Scott Ballinger, 38, of Yorktown, Ind. No sentencing date was set.

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