Oregon

Fighter jets collide, killing two reservists

A pair of fighter jets collided in Oregon on Wednesday while conducting a training exercise, killing two reservists and injuring another.

At least one of the dead was a pilot; the other was a pilot or a weapons operator, said Capt. Michael Braibish of the Oregon National Guard.

A third crew member survived and was to be released Wednesday evening from the emergency room at Mid-Columbia Medical Center.

“In some respects, it’s very amazing — no broken bones, no abrasions, minor injuries,” said Dr. John Jacobson, who treated the unidentified airman.

The jets, both F-18 warplanes, collided over the Columbia River near Arlington, about 120 miles east of Portland.

Los Angeles

New wildfire expands

A third major wildfire burning north of Los Angeles swelled to 10,000 acres Wednesday, threatening hundreds of homes on the edge of the Mojave Desert.

It was the third large fire in and around the Angeles National Forest and the latest in a series of blazes that have raged across California unusually early in the year.

“What we’re experiencing here in Southern California is pretty much unprecedented,” said Jody Noiron, forest supervisor for the Angeles National Forest.

Six hundred homes were evacuated, but residents of all but about 30 were allowed to return by Wednesday evening, national forest spokesman Stanton Florea said. Two homes and a bridge were destroyed Tuesday.

Officials said the fire was 40 percent contained after growing to 10,000 acres in less than 24 hours.

Salt Lake City

Volunteers search for missing jogger in

The search for a pregnant woman who apparently vanished during a morning run was expanded Wednesday from a park and canyon into nearby neighborhoods.

Volunteers took fliers door-to-door in downtown Salt Lake City neighborhoods in their search for Lori Kay Hacking, who hasn’t been seen since going for a run Monday.

Hacking, 27, left her Salt Lake home around daybreak Monday for a run, Detective Dwayne Baird said. After she failed to show up at work later, her husband, Mark Hacking, called police, Baird said.

Her car was found parked near the front gates of the park. The car and one belonging to her husband were confiscated by police.

Among those who have assisted in the search were relatives of Elizabeth Smart, the girl who vanished from her home in 2002 and was found nine months later in a Salt Lake suburb.

New York City

Power companies sued in bid to cut pollution

Opening up a new front in the effort to slow global warming, eight states and New York City Wednesday filed a novel lawsuit against five giant power companies that are the source of 10 percent of all of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.

The states said they weren’t seeking money, but instead will try to persuade a federal judge in Manhattan, where the case was filed, to order the companies to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 3 percent annually over 10 years.

Since carbon dioxide is not regulated as a pollutant by the federal government, the states said they were suing under the doctrine of “public nuisance,” which is often invoked in environmental lawsuits as a way to curb pollution originating in other states.

Power industry officials called the lawsuit frivolous, and said the consequences would be disastrous if the suit succeeded. They said the only way to make deep cuts in carbon dioxide would be to switch from abundant coal to scarce and expensive natural gas.

Defendants are: American Electric Power Corp., Southern Company, Xcel Energy Inc., Cinergy Corp. and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

In addition to New York state and New York City, the lawsuit was filed by Connecticut, California, Iowa, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.