Maine

Rock slide kills 1 on Mount Katahdin

A rock slide on a popular trail on Mount Katahdin killed one hiker who became trapped under a boulder and injured another, officials said Sunday.

The injured hiker and two other people caught in Saturday’s rock slide were rescued and walked down the mountain during the night, said Irvin “Buzz” Caverly Jr., director of Baxter State Park in northern Maine.

About 60 people helped search Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, for the hikers. The slide occurred about 4,100 feet along Cathedral Trail in the mile-high mountain’s south basin.

The crew of a Maine Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter removed the body of Roger Cooper, 52, of Bangor, late Sunday morning, Caverly said.

California

Mountain lion attack costs hiker an eye

A woman was attacked by a mountain lion while hiking in central California, but was rescued when her friends stabbed the animal with a knife and threw rocks at it, officials said.

Shannon Parker lost her right eye, was injured in her other eye and suffered deep lacerations to her right thigh during the attack Saturday, officials with the California Department of Fish and Game said.

Parker, 27, of Santa Monica, was transferred to UCLA Medical Center, where she underwent reconstructive surgery Sunday morning, Fish and Game spokesman Steve Martarano said.

The lion left a bloody trail as it fled, and was later shot and killed by U.S. Forest Service officers and state game wardens.

New York

‘Fire-safe’ cigarettes now required by law

A long-awaited law requiring cigarettes sold in New York to be manufactured with paper that extinguishes itself takes effect today .

Designed to prevent accidental fires, the law is the first of its kind in the United States and was supposed to begin last year.

Beginning today, retailers and wholesalers must sell the new products, though they can sell out existing stock.

An average of 60 people die annually in New York from cigarette fires, according to Department of State statistics.