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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM | NATIONAL NEWS | MONDAY, JULY 2, 2007
NATION
Jason Palmer/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lacey Mitchell carries her sons Jaxon, three months, and Dauntae, four years, as her husband, Mikey Mitchell, follows behind in high water in the East Side of Wichita Falls, Texas, Saturday. The Wichita River surpassed its record flood level and sent floodwaters throughout the city and low-lying areas.
River swells, residents flee Texas
WICHITA FALLS, Texas High water from the Wichita River had forced evacuation of two neighborhoods, part of the severe flooding across Texas, and residents were uncertain Sunday when they could return.
Water had risen to about 4 feet deep overnight in one neighborhood where 175 people left, although water had started gradually receding in another neighborhood of the city in north Texas, city
spokesman Barry Levy said.
City officials had urged residents to leave Friday and weren't sure when they could return because of concerns about contaminants in the water, he said.
Around the city of Weatherford, residents who had gone back home after one evacuation were keeping on the Brazos River, which rose again after flood gates were opened at overloaded upstream reservoirs.
The Brazos was expected to swell
back up to around 26 feet _ a foot above flood stage _ after the opening of a fourth flood gate at Possum Kingdom Lake.
The Brazos peaked above 27 feet Thursday, prompting Parker County to order a mandatory evacuation of 2,000 people. Everyone was allowed to return home by Saturday, but authorities encouraged them to seek higher ground again as the reservoir excess moved downstream Sunday.
Associated Press
in brief
NEW YORK An amusement park worker was thrown off a gyrating ride and killed, and park officials acknowledged Saturday that a safety precaution put in place after a fatal accident on the ride in 2004 wasn't followed.
Tainted toothpaste found in Canadian store
Amusement park ride kills another worker
Gabriela Garin, 21, of White Plains was killed Friday night after fastening some late-arriving riders into their seats on the Mind Scrambler, the same ride where a 7-year-old girl was killed three years ago at the landmark Playland Amusement Park in Rye. The ride was immediately shut down for the rest of the summer.
Garin was "a very conscientious worker;" Tartaglia said.
Garin was operating the ride, a spider-arm-shaped attraction that spins riders around in two-seat cars, park spokesman Peter Tartaglia said. She had changed shifts with a new ride operator but continued to take on a few new passengers before leaving for the night, he said.
It was the fourth fatality at the park in less than four years.
Associated Press
He looked up, noticed Garin still on the ride and shut it down 15 to 20 seconds after it began, Tartaglia said. But Garin, who started working at the park when she was 14, already had been thrown from it, he said.
The woman told the operator she would fasten the last riders into the car, and the new operator, whose name wasn't immediately available, stepped into a booth and started the ride, Tartaglia said.
WASHINGTON — Countertent Colgate toothpaste has now turned up in Canada, where testing has found dangerous bacteria but not the poisonous
In addition, store owners and police say they have discovered that the bogus Colgate was sold in Michigan and Virginia.
chemical previously detected in four states, a health official said Saturday.
The FDA warned earlier in June that fake Colgate distributed in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania may contain a poisonous chemical called diethylene glycol, or DEG, that typically is used in antifreeze. That toothpaste was the subject of a June 13 recall by a New Jersey distributor.
It was not immediately clear if the counterfeit products in Pinconning, Mich. and Arlington, Va. had been tested for DEG.
Associated Press
Techies, exhibitionists and luminaries _ even the cofounder of Apple and the mayor of Philadelphia _ were among the inaugural group of iPhone customers.
"I'm glad it's over," said Carlos Sanchez, 19, at the Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York City, clutching shopping bags containing two iPhones _ the maximum allowed per person. "I don't have to sleep outside anymore."
SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of people who lined up to be among the first to get their hands on Apple Inc.'s coveted iPhone are now the braggarts and guinea pigs for the latest must-have, cutting-edge piece of techno-wizardry.
Anticipated iPhone makes retail debut
The doors of Apple and AT&T stores opened promptly at 6 p.m. EDT with cheers from employees and eager customers.
Associated Press