Nation in brief: Texting may have been factor in crash
Text messages were sent and received on a 17-year-old driver’s cell phone moments before the sport utility vehicle slammed head-on into a truck, killing her and four other recent high school graduates, police said.
Bailey Goodman was driving her friends to her parents’ vacation home when her SUV, which had just passed a car, swerved back into oncoming traffic, hit a tractor-trailer and burst into flames.
Goodman’s inexperience at the wheel; evidence she was driving above the speed limit at night on a winding, two-lane highway; and a succession of calls and text messages on her phone were cited Friday by Sheriff Phil Povero as possible factors in the June 28 crash.
“The records indicate her phone was in use,” Povero said. “We will never be able to clearly state that she was the one doing the text messaging. … We all certainly know that cell phones are a distraction and could be a contributing factor in this accident.”
Oshkosh, Wis.
Woman dies at Christian festival
A woman attending a Christian festival died Saturday after plunging about 45 feet from a bungee-like amusement ride.
Workers at the Lifest 2007 event shut down the Air Glory ride after the accident, which occurred about 4:45 p.m. A prayer service was held at 7 p.m. and the music festival resumed about 7:30 p.m.
The woman, whose name and age were not released by Oshkosh police, was pronounced dead at a local hospital several hours after the accident.
Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Is it rocket science? Shuttle spelling off
NASA moved space shuttle Endeavour a step closer to liftoff without an essential part: the “u.”
The spacecraft arrived at its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, and officials welcomed it with a banner reading “Go Endeavor.”
The shuttle’s name, however, is spelled the British way, with a “u.” It’s named after the first ship commanded by 18th century British explorer James Cook.
The banner was up for about 90 minutes before being replaced by one with the correct spelling, but with photographers on hand for the arrival of the shuttle, cameras captured the mistake.