Tennessee

Park manager guilty for death on ride

An amusement park manager was convicted of reckless homicide Monday in Sevierville in the death of a woman who fell from a ride last year, but he avoided a murder conviction.

Charles Stan Martin was originally charged with second-degree murder in the death of June Carol Alexander, 51, who died in March 2004 after her safety harness became too loose on the ride, sending her tumbling 60 feet to the ground.

Martin faces up to four years in prison when he’s sentenced in July. He could have received up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the murder charge.

Dist. Atty. Al Schmutzer said the verdict shows the community has no tolerance for “jeopardizing people’s lives when they innocently get on these rides expecting to have just a thrill, not a death.”

California

Jury recommends death for killer of 5-year-old

A jury in Santa Ana on Monday decided a factory worker should get the death penalty for killing Samantha Runnion, a 5-year-old girl who was seized kicking and screaming outside her home in a case that stirred outrage and led to stronger efforts to rescue abducted children.

Alejandro Avila, 30, was convicted last month of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the 2002 slaying.

Sentencing was set for July 22. A judge can set aside a jury’s death penalty recommendation, but that is extremely rare.

Chicago

Congressmen rally stem cell research support

Armed with fresh hope of overturning President Bush’s limits on federal funding of embryonic stem cell studies, Republican members of Congress held an unusual hearing in a Chicago courtroom Monday to rally support for expanding the controversial research.

Patients with diabetes, paralysis and Parkinson’s disease testified at the unofficial hearing that Bush’s policy is hampering work that could lead to treatments for their conditions. Opponents of the research limitations have sought a change ever since Bush imposed them in 2001.

What’s different this time is that lawmakers in the U.S. House believe they have more than enough votes to rescind the limits. The bill could come to a vote as early as next week, and even opponents agree it’s likely to pass. Together with the broad support such a move has in the Senate, the stage may be set for the measure to reach Bush. He has yet to veto a bill as president.

California

Flooding shuts down Yosemite Valley

A combination of a heavy snow pack and a hot weekend followed by a fierce rainstorm caused flooding Monday that shut down Yosemite Valley, drenching campgrounds and meadows, displacing campers and leaving bridges and a few swaths of roadway a couple of feet under water.

Park officials said some visitors headed out early in the morning as the valley was lashed by rain, but hundreds of others would be put up Monday night in spare lodging until the water begins to recede.

The waters were expected to crest early this morning.

Although springtime flooding is not unusual in the valley, park officials say this is the worst since 1997, when the raging Merced River uprooted roads, toppled trees, savaged campgrounds and ripped through cabins.