TheState.com: Nation

Ukraine's `hot air' bedevils global climate deal

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:24 EST

Vladimir Gapor is a plumber by trade, but now he's a scavenger, prying bits of scrap steel from the ruins of his old factory and selling them for a pittance.

For others beyond this manufacturing graveyard, however, Ukraine's economic collapse has produced a potential multibillion-dollar bonanza. In an era of climate change regulation and carbon trading, Ukraine, ironically, is profiting from the smokeless smokestacks of its industrial shutdown.

How well and how long it will profit is an under-the-radar issue complicating negotiations for a worldwide climate accord being sought at a 192-nation conference in Copenhagen next month.

Gapor's old factory, which made glass for the Soviet military and space program, shut down in the early 1990s after the Soviet Union disintegrated. Private wrecking crews and desperate jobless people like Gapor then turned the town's industries, which once employed 16,000 workers, into heaps of bricks.

In the days when Ukraine was a Soviet republic, Konstantinovka was a booming town of 100,000 with 25 factories. Concert music filled its Palace of Culture, its workers were rewarded with trips to Crimea's beaches, and its children with stays at mountain "pioneer camps." Today just five workshops still operate, and the population is down to 60,000, many unemployed having migrated to Moscow, Kiev or Western Europe to find jobs, leaving families behind.

The nation's weather

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:19 EST

A low-pressure system that has lingered in the Gulf of Mexico the past few days, bringing rain to the Gulf Coast, was expected to finally move inland into the Southeast on Sunday. This was likely to translate to widespread rain and even a few thunderstorms in the area even as the system weakens while moving toward the Southeast coast.

To the north, a large high-pressure system was anticipated to move northward into northern New England, providing dry conditions through the Northeast and Great Lakes.

Meanwhile, a weak cold front was expected to scrape through the Plains and Upper Midwest. There was not a large amount of moisture expected with this front, but a few showers were possible in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In the West, another strong Pacific storm was likely to slam into the Northwest. Washington and Oregon were predicted to receive the brunt of this storm as it provided significant rain and high-elevation snow mainly in the morning. The storm was then expected to then slide eastward, where additional snow was likely to fall in the Intermountain West.

Northeast temperatures were expected to rise into the 40s and 50s, while the Southeast was likely to face temperatures in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The Northwest was anticipated to have weather in the 30s and 40s, while the Rockies were likely to see similar temperatures.

Sizing up the Kennedy dynasty's next generation

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:10 EST

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be a tough act to follow, even for the Kennedys. His death, coupled with the decision by family members not to seek the seat he held for nearly five decades, has prompted predictions that the family's long-running political dynasty is over.

There's talk the Kennedy political bloodlines are running thin. Some say the younger brood lacks the grit and zest for political combat that drove the liberal Democrat to become one of the leading politicians of the last 40 years.

Yet it's probably too early to write off one of America's most powerful and popular families. A new generation of Kennedys, many of whom are active in humanitarian and political causes, could emerge to extend the dynasty.

Stephen Hess, author of "America's Political Dynasties," said such dynasties often ebb and flow. And while no obvious family successors to the late senator are apparent, there is a pool of about two dozen Kennedy cousins. Some of them could go on to make their mark in national politics.

"To be a dynasty, one of the things that is very helpful, almost necessary, is a lot of children," said Hess, who has been a consultant, adviser and speechwriter to presidents dating back to Dwight D. Eisenhower. "That name, or that legacy, is going to inspire some of them to go into elective politics, particularly since it obviously gives them an advantage."

Iraqi refugees move to Mich. despite poor economy

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:10 EST

The U.S. government resettled Mazen Alsaqa in Massachusetts in February. Within a month, the Iraqi refugee moved to Michigan.

It wasn't that Alsaqa disliked Worcester, Mass. But he never thought twice about staying. Even though the U.S. government tried to keep him away from the Detroit area and its soaring unemployment, that was the only place Alsaqa wanted to live.

Tens of thousands have fled Michigan's troubled economy in recent years, yet Iraqi refugees continue to move there despite a U.S. government policy trying to limit refugee resettlement in the Detroit area. Family ties and cultural support from the region's large Middle Eastern community appear no match for the U.S. effort, which tries to place refugees in cities where they stand a better chance of financial success.

"What the government gives you as a support is not a great deal. ... If you'd like to live decently, you should have a live connection - that's your family here in Michigan," said Alsaqa, 34, who lives in suburban Birmingham with family.

Southeastern Michigan has one of the country's largest Middle Eastern populations - about 300,000 can trace their roots back to the region - and has long been a top destination for Arab immigrants to the U.S.

Arrest in 1981 tribal murders revives old mystery

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:15 EST

In the days before Fred Alvarez was shot execution-style with two friends on his verandah, the strapping Cabazon tribal leader feared he was a marked man: His motorcycle had been tampered with, his mailbox shot up and his house ransacked.

He visited the local newspaper several times to say that he'd uncovered something big enough to get him killed. He arranged to talk with a lawyer to divulge what he knew, but never made the meeting.

On that day, tribal member Joe Benitez swung by Alvarez's stucco house tucked among tamarisk trees in the wind-swept sand dunes of rural Rancho Mirage, about 130 miles southeast of Los Angeles. There, he found the bloated bodies of Alvarez and his friends Patricia Castro and Ralph Boger, all fatally shot.

Dried puddles of blood stained the sand near mattresses they had dragged outside to escape the sweltering desert heat. The three had been sitting in a semicircle. Police estimated they had been dead two days.

But why was Alvarez killed? That's what police and loved ones wanted to know in the summer of 1981, when the killings happened.

2 dead after shooting at Oregon intersection

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:24 EST

A gunman fatally wounded a passenger in another vehicle at an Oregon intersection Saturday, setting off a police chase that ended when the suspect crashed and was killed by officers, authorities said.

The passenger, 56-year-old Danny K. Le Gore of Hillsboro, was rushed to a local hospital where he died. Police did not immediately identify the gunman.

Police initially called the violence a road rage shooting that followed a traffic altercation, but later they backed away from that report.

Hillsboro Lt. Henry Reimann said it still wasn't clear what happened at the intersection, and information from witnesses hadn't clarified the incident.

But he said it appeared that the gunman opened fire on the Le Gore vehicle as it was moving, pumping at least six rounds from a handgun into it.

RI bishop asked Kennedy in 2007 to avoid Communion

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:15 EST

The Roman Catholic bishop of Rhode Island said Sunday that he asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy in a 2007 letter to stop receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, because of the congressman's public stance on moral issues.

Bishop Thomas Tobin divulged details of his confidential exchange with Kennedy after the Democratic lawmaker told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Tobin had instructed him not to receive Communion. The two men have clashed repeatedly in the past few weeks over abortion.

Kennedy did not say where or how he received those instructions. He declined to say whether he has obeyed the bishop's request.

"The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion," Kennedy told the paper in an interview conducted Friday.

Kennedy said the bishop had explained the penalty by telling him "that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I've taken as a public official," particularly on abortion.

Va. Military Institute faces sexism accusations

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:35 EST

Virginia Military Institute is defending itself against a lengthy investigation into accusations that the school's policies are sexist and hostile toward female cadets, a dozen years after women won the right to enroll.

The federal Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has an ongoing investigation of a sex discrimination complaint at the small, state-supported school that so far has taken nearly a year and a half - three times longer than usual.

Defenders say VMI has worked hard to recruit women and make them comfortable since the U.S. Supreme Court ordered co-education in 1997, but women remain a small minority. Of the 1,500 cadets on the Shenandoah Valley campus this fall, 126 are women.

"The language and terminology that is used and considered acceptable by VMI in the barracks reflects a climate and culture that is derogatory and discriminatory toward the women that are required as cadets to live in the barracks," according to the Education Department's June 2008 complaint.

Details of the federal complaint were first reported by The Roanoke Times.

Police identify gunman in deadly Saipan rampage

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:26 EST

The gunman who killed four people and wounded nine in a shooting rampage on the Pacific island of Saipan was identified Sunday as a Chinese national believed to be employed at the shooting range where the deaths occurred.

Li Zhongren, 42, who killed himself after Friday's shooting spree, left several notes and authorities suspect the violence was linked to his personal finances and frustrations.

The police statement was the first official confirmation of his identity and shed light on what might have precipitated the worst violence on this normally tranquil island in recent memory.

Police also said for the first time that he wounded eight South Korean tourists, and increase from the five police reported earlier. They were shot at a popular tourist site in what police earlier described as a drive-by shooting.

Santiago F. Tudela, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, sent his condolences to the victims and their families.

Couple, 14-year-old boy killed in fiery crash

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:15 EST

Authorities say a couple and a 14-year-old boy have been killed in a fiery freeway crash in Southern California that two younger children managed to survive.

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey says a sport utility vehicle carrying two adults and three children rear-ended a big rig early Sunday on the 210 Freeway in Sunland, about 20 miles north of Los Angeles.

The SUV burst into flames and two children - a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy - were pulled out of the vehicle by a passing motorist. The children were hospitalized in fair condition.

The bodies of a man, woman and a teenage boy were found in the burned SUV, which was towing a trailer.

The big rig driver complained of chest pains and was hospitalized in fair condition.

Rhodes Scholars named for 2010

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:20 EST

Thirty-two men and women from across the U.S. have been selected as Rhodes Scholars for 2010.

The scholarships announced early Sunday provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England. The 32 winners were selected from 805 applicants endorsed by 326 different colleges and universities.

The American students will join an international group of scholars selected from 14 other jurisdictions around the world. Approximately 80 scholars are selected each year.

The value of the scholarships averages about $50,000 per years.

Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes. Winners are selected on the basis of high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor, among other attributes.

Astronaut's baby daughter born as he circles Earth

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:15 EST

Astronaut Randolph Bresnik jubilantly welcomed his new daughter into the world Sunday as he floated 220 miles above it.

Abigail Mae Bresnik was born as her father circled Earth on his first space shuttle mission, just hours after his first spacewalk.

It was only the second time in history that a NASA astronaut was in orbit instead of the delivery room.

"At 11:04 last night, Abigail Mae Bresnik joined the NASA family," Bresnik announced Sunday morning from the linked space shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station. "Mama and baby are doing very well."

It was the second child for Randolph and Rebecca Bresnik, who adopted a boy from Ukraine a year ago. Big brother Wyatt is now 3 1/2.

Lawyer: 9/11 defendants want platform for views

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:15 EST

The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday.

Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for accused terrorist Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks but "would explain what happened and why they did it."

The U.S. Justice Department announced earlier this month that Ali and four other men accused of murdering nearly 3,000 people in the nation's deadliest terrorist attack will face a civilian federal trial just blocks from the World Trade Center site.

Ali, also known as Ammar al-Baluchi, is a nephew of professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Mohammed, Ali and the others will explain "their assessment of American foreign policy," Fenstermaker said.

3.7 magnitude quake hits Big Bear Lake in Calif.

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:15 EST

A magnitude 3.7 earthquake has rattled Southern California's Big Bear Lake area, followed by a sharp aftershock.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the first quake struck at 7:55 a.m. Sunday, about seven miles north of Big Bear City.

The same area was rocked by a 2.4 magnitude aftershock two-and-a-half minutes later.

A San Bernardino County Sheriff's dispatcher says there have been no reports of damage or injury.

Big Bear Lake is in the San Bernardino National Forest about 80 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

Will Palin's book tour jump-start a political movement?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:23 EST

When Sarah Palin made her first trip to western Pennsylvania as GOP presidential candidate John McCain's fresh-faced running mate, the Arizona senator warned locals that she "doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down."

Palin returned to Washington, Pa. on her own Saturday as a "Commonsense Conservative," a definition crafted on her own terms and in her own words in her own best-selling memoir, "Going Rogue."

"It's grass roots America; it's common sense," said Joy Koplinski, 62, a retiree from Pittsburgh who waited overnight in the parking lot of a Sam's Club warehouse store for Palin to autograph a copy of the book. "She's the female Ronald Reagan."

In the first few days of a cross-country book tour to promote her memoir, the former Alaska governor's supporters have greeted her with a populist fervor unmatched in Internet-age Republican politics.

From her first stop last week in Grand Rapids, Mich., to Saturday's lunchtime book signing at the Washington, Pa., Sam's Club, thousands of people have lined up for hours, often in the cold, for a few moments in Palin's presence.

Biden says Senate handed Obama a big victory

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:24 EST

Vice President Joe Biden told Iowa Democrats on Saturday that the Senate handed the president a big victory with its decision to move forward with debate on sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system.

"Tonight we have more momentum than we've ever had in the history of health care discussions,'" Biden told about 1,000 Democrats in Des Moines.

Biden's comments at the Iowa Democratic Party's largest fundraiser, the Jefferson Jackson Dinner, came shortly after the 60-39 vote in the Senate that cleared the way for a full-scale debate on the health care bill. Biden said his speech was delayed as he worked the phone to lobby swing lawmakers.

"I see the special interests raising tens of millions of dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat our agenda," Biden said. "We've never thought change would be easy. You all knew change would be hard. It's hard to change the direction of a nation that's been adrift for at least eight years."

He pointed to the Senate's vote as the latest sign of progress.

Postal Service to resume North Pole Santa letters

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:38 EST

Wide-eyed children around the world will be hearing from Santa's "elves" at the North Pole after all.

During Christmas seasons for decades, these dedicated elves responded to thousands of letters addressed to "Santa Claus, North Pole."

All that was ending with a U.S. Postal Service decision to discontinue the program based in the small Alaskan town amid privacy concerns.

The elves from Santa's Mailbag vowed to fight the decision, while North Pole residents voiced outrage.

A reversal of the Postal Service move was announced Friday.

Report finds wide disparities in gifted education

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:13 EST

When Liz Fitzgerald realized her son and daughter were forced to read books in math class while the other children caught up, she had them moved into gifted classes at their suburban Atlanta elementary school.

Just 100 miles down the road in Taliaferro County, that wouldn't have been an option. All the gifted classes were canceled because of budget cuts.

"If they didn't have it, they would get bored and distracted easily," said Fitzgerald, whose children are 14 and 12. "It just wouldn't be challenging."

Such disparities exist in every state, according to a new report by the National Association for Gifted Children that blames low federal funding and a focus on low-performing students.

The report, "State of the States in Gifted Education," hits at a basic element of the federal government's focus on education: Most of its money and effort goes into helping low-performing, poor and minority kids achieve basic proficiency. It largely ignores the idea of helping gifted kids reach their highest potential, leaving those tasks to states and local school districts.

EPA: Uranium from polluted mine in Nev. wells

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:38 EST

Peggy Pauly lives in a robin-egg blue, two-story house not far from acres of onion fields that make the northern Nevada air smell sweet at harvest time.

But she can look through the window from her kitchen table, just past her backyard with its swingset and pet llama, and see an ominous sign on a neighboring fence: "Danger: Uranium Mine."

For almost a decade, people who make their homes in this rural community in the Mason Valley 65 miles southeast of Reno have blamed that enormous abandoned mine for the high levels of uranium in their water wells.

They say they have been met by a stone wall from state regulators, local politicians and the huge oil company that inherited the toxic site - BP PLC. Those interests have insisted uranium naturally occurs in the region's soil and there's no way to prove that a half-century of processing metals at the former Anaconda pit mine is responsible for the contamination.

That has changed. A new wave of testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that 79 percent of the wells tested north of the World War II-era copper mine have dangerous levels of uranium or arsenic or both that make the water unsafe to drink.

Ex-Air Force nurse acquitted of killing patients

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:44 EST

A court-martial acquitted a former military nurse of murder Saturday after he was accused of giving lethal doses of painkillers to hasten the deaths of three terminally ill patients at the Air Force's largest hospital.

Capt. Michael Fontana, wearing his Air Force uniform, showed no emotion as a military judge cleared him of three counts of murder, then collapsed into the arms of weeping family members inside a Lackland Air Force Base courtroom.

Military prosecutors had painted Fontana as a rogue and arrogant nurse who pumped patients full of fentanyl and morphine when they were not "dying quick enough." After the ruling, Fontana said he never second-guessed his treatment or dosages.

"My intention the whole time was to take care of dying patients," Fontana said.

Fontana, 36, said he wants to return to nursing.

Calif. fisherman arrested in sea lion shooting

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:08 EST

Authorities arrested a Sacramento fisherman Saturday in connection to shooting a sea lion in the head.

California game wardens said they arrested Larry Allen Legans, 43, on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, negligent discharge of a firearm, and take of a marine mammal. Legans told authorities he grew tired of competing with the protected animals so he fired his 12-gauge shotgun at the sea lion, injuring the creature.

"He said he was tired of watching sea lions take his fish," said Warden Patrick Foy.

About a half-dozen sea lions have started to spend time farther up the Sacramento River, competing with anglers for fish as far inland as Rio Vista, just southwest of Sacramento.

An injured sea lion was first spotted on a dock in Sacramento on Nov. 12 with a wound near its right eye. A witness told authorities Legans fired on the sea lion a day earlier when it surfaced in the river near Verona.

Officials: Atlantic City fire began in pizza shop

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:15 EST

Investigators say a fire that destroyed businesses on the famous Atlantic City boardwalk apparently started in a pizza shop.

No serious injuries were reported after the blaze broke out on the Central Pier shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday. It took nearly four hours to bring under control.

Investigators say the flames quickly spread from the pizza shop to two clothing stores and a photography shop. The fire created billows of thick smoke.

The Central Pier has been hit by other fires in its history, including one in May 2006 that caused nearly a half-million dollars in damage.

Police: Man fatally stabbed over NYC subway seat

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:24 EST

A subway passenger was stabbed to death in front of horrified riders in a dispute with another man over a seat in the car early Saturday morning in midtown Manhattan, police said.

The victim, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the Seventh Avenue station at West 53rd Street, where the train stopped after the attack at about 2 a.m. The victim, who was in his mid-30s, was repeatedly stabbed in the neck and face with a knife, police said.

He had boarded the train at the Rockefeller Center station, police said.

Gerardo Sanchez, 37, of the Bronx, was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the slaying on the northbound "D" train, police said.

It was not immediately clear late Saturday night whether Sanchez had an attorney. There was no home phone number listed for Sanchez at an address provided by police.

Car strikes crowd outside Ala. school, 1 killed

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:03 EST

Police say a woman has died after being struck along with nine children by a car outside an Alabama middle school.

The nine children were injured in the accident Friday afternoon in Fairfield, about eight miles southwest of Birmingham. Three of the injured were listed in fair to serious condition at Children's Hospital in Birmingham.

Fairfield Police Sgt. Matthew Romei says 46-year-old Debrah Johnson died after undergoing surgery Friday night.

Witnesses tell The Birmingham News that the 67-year-old driver was trying to avoid children playing in the street when she lost control of the car.

Police were questioning the 67-year-old driver, whose name has not been confirmed by authorities.

Police identify gunman in deadly Saipan rampage

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:19 EST

Li Zhongren, 42, who killed himself after Friday's shooting spree, left several notes and authorities suspect the violence was linked to his personal finances and frustrations.

The police statement was the first official confirmation of his identity and shed light on what might have precipitated the worst violence on this normally tranquil island in recent memory.

Santiago F. Tudela, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, sent his condolences to the victims and their families.

Mental health cases tax police, emergency workers

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:38 EST

Police found him sitting on the floor of his old apartment near a bucket of urine, still dressed in his hospital gown.

The apartment had been condemned for the squalor - food on the floor, flies - and his smoking in bed. But the mentally ill man, just released from the hospital, had managed to get back in. For the second time in four days, he was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Three firefighters, a battalion chief, the police chief, two police officers, a code enforcement person and a housing official responded, and finally, an ambulance crew - at a cost of thousands of dollars, Police Chief Michael Schirling said.

Police and emergency responders around the nation have long struggled to deal with people who have mental illness, and some say the situation is only getting worse. A poor economy and cuts to institutional programs threaten to overwhelm personnel trained to deal with crime and vehicle accidents, not mental crises.

"The problem seems to be accelerating in scope and severity of late," the police chief said. "More folks in need of mental health services, more significant issues occurring on the street as a result, and fewer available services for folks in acute crisis or those who are service-resistant."

More Americans expected to travel for Thanksgiving

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:00 EST

The number of Americans traveling away from home for Thanksgiving will be up only slightly this year from 2008, according to a report from the AAA auto club.

The group, which surveyed 1,350 households, said there will be about 33.2 million people traveling by car this year - a 2.1 percent increase from last year.

But there will be a 6.7 percent decrease in the number of air travelers, totaling 2.3 million this year, continuing a decade-long decline of Thanksgiving air travel.

In the report released Wednesday, AAA officials said the expected increase reflects improved consumer confidence from a year ago, when Thanksgiving travel dropped 25 percent following the country's housing and economic problems. Americans may feel more financially secure and be more willing to travel, the report says.

"The economy is still very clearly weighing heavily on the minds of Thanksgiving travelers this year, and that's evidenced by the very small increase that we expect to see in total travel," said Geoff Sundstrom, a spokesman for AAA's national office in Heathrow, Fla.

Suspicious note and package found at Fort Benning

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:48 EST

A Fort Benning spokesman says Army officials are investigating whether a suspicious note and package found at the west Georgia post is a viable threat.

Bob Purtiman says a soldier found the note and package Thursday morning in an outdoor gazebo. The soldier immediately told a supervisor, who called 911.

Purtiman would not say what was in the note or what was in the package.

He said authorities are investigating whether there is a viable threat against Fort Benning. He says security measures have been heightened in the meantime.

Earlier this month, an Army psychiatrist opened fire at Fort Hood in Texas, killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others.

Fort Hood suspect ordered held until court-martial

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:10 EST

The Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood will be confined until his military trial, initially staying in a hospital where he is recovering from gunshot wounds, his attorney said Saturday.

During a hearing at Maj. Nidal Hasan's hospital room in San Antonio on Saturday, a magistrate ruled that there was probable cause that Hasan committed the Nov. 5 shooting spree at Fort Hood, said his civilian attorney, John Galligan. Hasan has been at Brooke Army Medical Center since the shooting, and his attorney said Hasan has been told he has permanent paralysis.

Galligan told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the judge also ordered Hasan to pretrial confinement, which usually means jail, until his court-martial. The military justice system does not have bail for defendants.

The magistrate ruled that Hasan will initially remain in the hospital, where he is in intensive care, Galligan said.

Saturday's hearing was closed to the media. Officials at Fort Hood, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Worth, declined to comment.

4 injured in San Francisco cable car accident

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:22 EST

Authorities say four people were hurt when one of San Francisco's historic cable cars jarred to a sudden stop while traveling through downtown.

Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Judson True says two passengers, the cable car's gripman and conductor were hospitalized on Saturday after the accident. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

The cable car on the Powell Street line came to a quick halt after a problem with an underground cable forced central control to shut the system down automatically.

The Powell line has been shut down and is expected to resume Sunday morning.