Hawaii

U.S. servicemen’s remains returned

Remains believed to be those of U.S. servicemen killed in Laos and Vietnam — including an American pilot who died during the Cold War — were returned to U.S. soil in a ceremony Thursday.

One of the five sets of remains may be those of James B. McGovern — better known as “Earthquake McGoon,” who became a household name for his daring exploits 50 years ago in China and Southeast Asia — or his co-pilot Wallace A. Buford.

The two men were shot down in the last days of the French Indochina war in Southern Laos.

They were recovered from four aircraft crash sites: three in Laos (in 1954, 1971 and 1972) and one in 1969 in Vietnam.

Louisiana

Teen accused of putting blades in McDonald’s pie

The FBI arrested a teenager accused of slipping razor blades into three hot apple pies at the McDonald’s where he worked. A customer who bit into one of the desserts suffered a minor cut on the lip.

Adam Joseph Fontenot, 18, of Eunice, was arrested Tuesday and jailed on tampering charges. He could get up to 10 years in prison.

The incident occurred Nov. 24 at a restaurant in Eunice, about 150 miles west of New Orleans.

Federal prosecutor James McManus would not say what the motive might have been, but he said Fontenot did know the victim.

Defense attorney Gerald Block said his client had previously been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.

A spokeswoman at McDonald’s headquarters in Chicago confirmed that Fontenot has been fired, but declined additional comment.

Atlanta

CDC: Alcohol-related fatal crashes decrease

Fatal alcohol-related crashes involving drivers too young to legally drink dropped by more than half during the past two decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The sharpest drop involved 16- and 17-year-old drivers, who had a 60 percent decrease, from 12.1 per 100,000 to 4.8 per 100,000. Drivers ages 18 to 20 had a 55 percent drop.

Overall, fatal crashes involving alcohol fell 46 percent among all age groups, from a rate of 12.6 per 100,000 people in 1982 to 6.7 per 100,000 in 2001.