California

Trapped driver rescued after setting brush fire

A driver stranded for about three days after his van plunged 500 feet off a mountain highway was rescued early Thursday by firefighters responding to a blaze he set to get attention.

The man, who asked that his name and extent of injuries be withheld, was dehydrated but in fair condition at a hospital.

“He wants us to tell everybody that he’s OK,” said Connie Matthews, spokeswoman at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

The two-acre blaze in Angeles National Forest was reported shortly before 8 a.m. and Los Angeles County firefighters sent to battle it discovered the man trapped in the van, said Capt. Roland Sprewell.

NEW YORK CITY

More money leads teens to drugs, study shows

Parents are risking big trouble when they give their children a big allowance, a new study found.

Teenagers with $25 or more in spending money are nearly twice as likely to have tried marijuana than kids with less, Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found.

“Giving a kid too much money is tantamount to putting a kid in harm’s way,” said center President Joseph Califano. “There’s clearly a tipping point.”

It didn’t matter if kids got the money through parents or a job — the more money a teen has, the more likely he or she is to spend it on drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, the study found.

In conducting the study, QEV Analytics of Wayne, N.J., questioned by telephone 1,987 children ages 12 to 17, and 504 parents of teenagers.

SALT LAKE CITY

Elizabeth Smart’s parents sign deals

A two-hour CBS television movie about Elizabeth Smart’s nine-month kidnapping ordeal is expected to be aired in November, her father said Thursday.

The story will be told from the viewpoint of her parents, Ed and Lois Smart, who have also signed a book deal about the kidnapping.

“We’re pleased. We think CBS is going to do a good job,” Smart told The Associated Press. He referred questions to CBS, and the network refused comment Thursday.

Filming was scheduled to begin in two weeks in Halifax, Nova Scotia, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The Smart parents have signed a deal with Doubleday Books to tell their story in “Bringing Elizabeth Home: A Journey of Faith and Hope.” That book is scheduled for release Oct. 28, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Calls for comment from Doubleday were not returned.

California

Scott Peterson lawyers appeal public hearing

Scott Peterson’s defense attorneys have appealed a judge’s order that lets the public attend the hearing at which prosecutors will lay out evidence against the man charged with killing his wife and unborn child.

Judge Al Girolami ruled last week that the hearing would remain open, though he later banned all recording devices.