Spectators killed in raceway crash
Mount Vernon, Ill. A race car crashed into the stands at a southern Illinois track, killing two spectators and injuring six people, including the driver, officials said.
State police were trying to determine what caused the car to shoot off the quarter-mile dirt oval track Saturday night at Mount Vernon Raceway. It was the only vehicle on the track at the time. The driver was doing a qualification run.
The car’s speed wasn’t known, but it flew deep into the stands, said Capt. Conan King of the Jefferson County Fire Protection District.
“I believe there’s about 25 rows of bleachers,” he said. The car “landed probably two rows from the top.”
Jefferson County Sheriff Roger D. Mulch said two men suffered major injuries. Three other spectators and the driver, Kevin Beatiee, 38, of Benton, suffered minor injuries.
The dead were identified as Donald Roznowski, 51, and his daughter’s boyfriend, Jeff Conner, 18, both of Du Quoin.
Democrats target Taft
Columbus, Ohio Ohio’s House Democrats are considering impeachment proceedings against Republican Gov. Bob Taft, who pleaded no contest last week to four ethics violations.
House Minority Leader Chris Redfern said Sunday that Democrats had made no decision yet about whether to seek Taft’s ouster – impeachment would be difficult if not impossible with Republicans controlling both houses of the Legislature.
But he said they had asked the Legislature’s legal research arm to outline the impeachment process so they understand it when they meet Tuesday to discuss a response.
The House Democrats will also consider other alternatives, including asking Taft to resign, Redfern said.
Taft issued a public apology after entering his plea last week, but he said he would not step down as governor. He was fined $4,000 for failing to report golf outings and other gifts.
The governor’s press secretary, Mark Rickel, reiterated Sunday that Taft will not resign. Rickel declined to address the prospect of impeachment.
A scandal that began with a prominent GOP contributor’s investment of state money in rare coins has ballooned to include 15 state and federal agencies investigating allegations of risky investments and illegal campaign contributions to Bush.
NW faces tough week
Minneapolis Northwest Airlines Corp. got off to a smooth start by keeping its planes flying when mechanics struck. But the real test for the company and its replacement mechanics arrives with a far busier weekday schedule.
The strike began on Saturday, generally the lightest flying day of the week. Northwest averages 1,215 flights on Saturdays – but that increases to 1,381 on Sunday and 1,473 on weekdays, company spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Sunday.
The airline will find that maintaining its schedule will be tougher as the work week begins, said airline consultant Scott Hamilton, an airline consultant for Leeham Co. in Sammamish, Wash.
“Sooner or later if the replacement mechanics can’t keep on top of it, it’s going to start causing cancellations,” he said.
Northwest’s unionized mechanics, cleaners and custodians walked off the job Saturday morning after refusing to take pay cuts and layoffs that would have reduced their ranks almost by half. No new talks have been scheduled.
Northwest said there were few cancellations and most flights were on time, though the company declined to provide specifics.
Egyptians arrest 300
Cairo, Egypt Some 2,100 members of Egypt’s security forces swept through the rugged desert of the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, arresting 300 people as they searched for terrorists involved in a series of recent bombings, security officials said.
Most of the arrests took place in el-Arish, a north Sinai town near the border of Gaza and Israel, a security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to issue public statements.
Earlier, another security official said troops would start searching for suspects in the region on Monday.
The open-ended manhunt is not connected with the deployment of 750 Egyptian security forces along the Gaza-Egypt border, in agreement with Israel as it abandons settlements in the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli forces have clashed often there with Palestinian arms smugglers and have destroyed dozens of smuggler tunnels.