House fire kills 9, including 6 children

A house fire killed nine members of a family, including six children, in eastern Tennessee early Saturday, officials said.

The fire may have started on the second floor of the two-story house, where the victims were sleeping, said Rhea County Sheriff Mike Neal.

Joseph Alexander, a 19-year-old member of the family who was the only one asleep on the first floor, jumped out a window and escaped unharmed, officials said.

“I woke up, seen smoke,” Alexander told Chattanooga’s WTVC-TV. “I thought it was a dream. I heard my cousin yell, got up, tried to go upstairs – couldn’t.

“After that I just started breathing in all kinds of smoke. I jumped out the window because the doors were on fire.”

The victims, ranging in age from 1 to 42, were members of an extended family, said funeral director Randy Garrison.

San Francisco

Snow, sleet slicken Bay Area; 2 die

A storm spread rarely seen snow and sleet across the San Francisco area early Saturday, and two people were killed in a 28-vehicle pileup on slippery Highway 101 just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, authorities said.

Cars were scattered along a 350-foot stretch of the highway. The highway’s northbound lane just north of the Waldo Tunnel remained closed by late morning, causing major traffic backups on the bridge.

Madison, Wis.

Lawmaker guilty of misconduct

A former speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly was convicted Saturday of using state employees as campaign workers, with the jury rejecting his claims that it was common practice and that he thought the workers were off the state clock.

State Rep. Scott Jensen was found guilty of three felony counts of misconduct in office and a misdemeanor count of using his public position to benefit the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee.

Once one of Wisconsin’s most powerful lawmakers with hopes of one day becoming governor, Jensen now faces up to 15 years in prison and $35,000 in fines.