Oklahoma: Cleanup under way in train derailment

Cleanup is under way after a Union Pacific train derailed and threw 36 cars off track near Eufaula.

Crews are working to pick up the derailed cars and will have to replace about 1,000 feet of track, said Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis.

Friday’s derailment also damaged a 90-foot bridge.

The train was headed to Fort Worth, Texas, from Kansas City, Mo., Davis said.

California : Resident convicted for removing trees

A Ventura man who bulldozed more than 300 oak trees on his property could face more than 3 years in jail after he was convicted on criminal charges.

William Kaddis, 58, could also face fines of $100,000.

The oak trees, protected under a 1992 Ventura County law, were destroyed sometime before October 2001.

“This was the largest rape of land in the history of Ventura County, and if they think we wouldn’t prosecute anyone who destroyed our environment, they’re wrong,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Wold said.

Arkansas: Inmates sharing cells with recluse spiders

Spiders have infested a county jail in Jonesboro, biting at least 15 inmates and confounding the exterminator.

The main offender appears to be the brown recluse spider, up to three-quarters of an inch long with skinny legs and a violin-shaped mark on its head.

The Craighead County sheriff said a pest-control contractor had increased spraying.