SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The huge Sierra Nevada wildfire and its smoke plume have caused some fearful tourists to opt out of plans for the last big travel weekend of the summer, but most appear intent to go through with vacations to destinations such as Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe. Those who keep their hard-to-get Labor Day lodging reservations in Yosemite will enjoy a pleasant surprise: stunning views of the towering granite icons Half Dome and El Capitan with less of the usual holiday congestion. The park has seen some reservation cancellations and some nearby mountain communities have had a serious drop-off in business due to the 301-square-mile Rim Fire, which was 30 percent contained Thursday.
But 20 miles upwind in Yosemite Valley, the sky is clear. Park officials expect about 3,000 cars a day this weekend instead of the nearly 5,000 typical for the holiday. - AP Boy, 8, crashes car; sister dies PHOENIX - Half an hour after putting her two children to bed, a Phoenix mother discovered they were gone. Fearful they had been kidnapped, she called police, who spotted her car near her apartment and tried to pull it over. After it swerved and crashed into a pole, police discovered the driver was the woman's 8-year-old son, and her 6-year-old daughter was a front-seat passenger.
The girl died early Thursday of injuries suffered in the Wednesday night crash, while her brother suffered an ankle injury, police said. Police did not release the identities of the mother or her son. Sgt. Steve Martos said police did not know what prompted the children to go on the drive or how they got the car keys. He said the investigation was continuing. - AP Lawsuit alleges abuse in Scouts SEATTLE - A dozen men are filing a broad new lawsuit against the Boy Scouts and some of its former adult leaders, saying that abuse occurred regularly in Washington state sites.
The case filed Thursday accuses 13 people of abuse. They include a scoutmaster accused of repeatedly abusing two boys and a camp cook accused of raping a boy. Attorneys say the case shows that the Scouts and its affiliated organizations demonstrated negligence in failing to protect youngsters.
The Washington state cases focus on problems at Camp Brinkley, a popular destination about an hour outside of Seattle. A spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America declined comment but said the organization regrets that there have been times when Scouts were abused. - AP Elsewhere: A judge on Thursday ordered the early release from prison of Chris McNair, 87, a former Alabama politician convicted of taking thousands of dollars in bribes. U.S.
District Judge Lynwood Smith said McNair, whose daughter was one of four girls killed when Klansmen bombed a Birmingham church in 1963, should be freed as soon as possible because of his age and deteriorating health. Jiamei Tian, 58, the woman arrested in connection with spattering Washington landmarks with green paint last month, has been moved from a halfway house to a psychiatric ward, her attorney said Thursday at a hearing in D.C. Superior Court. Judge Franklin Burgess ordered another hearing Sept. 18 for Tian, who is charged with defacing property.
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