Fresno, Calif. – Three California Department of Fish and Game biologists and a pilot were killed Tuesday when their helicopter crashed in a craggy stretch of the Sierra National Forest where they were surveying wildlife.

The crash happened in a narrow canyon near Redinger Lake after the Bell 206 helicopter struck a power line and sparked a blaze that scattered debris throughout a quarter-mile of brush, Madera County officials said.

Killed in the accident were two longtime state scientists, 48-year-old Clu Cotter of Fresno and 40-year-old Kevin O’Connor of Bakersfield, as well as a scientists’ aide, 31-year-old Tom Stolberg of Fresno.

Pilot Dennis Donovan also died.

The men were conducting a routine aerial mission to study deer herds feeding in the steep, wooded region near the border of Fresno and Madera counties.

Skull with Yale ties to be auctioned

New York – A human skull that apparently was turned into a ballot box for Yale’s mysterious Skull and Bones society is going on the auction block.

Christie’s estimates the skull will sell for $10,000 to $20,000 when it is auctioned on Jan. 22. Fittingly, the auction house has agreed to keep the seller’s name a secret.

The skull is fitted with a hinged flap and is believed to have been used during voting at the famous society’s meetings.

The auction house said it also may have been displayed at the society’s tomblike headquarters on Yale’s campus in New Haven, Conn., during the late 1800s.

“I think it’s a macabre artifact,” Margot Rosenberg, head of Christie’s American decorative arts department, said Tuesday. “It’s an intriguing story tied to America, tied to Yale.”