In brief: AT&T talks go on as contracts expire

New York – Union contracts for thousands of AT&T workers expired at midnight, but officials said early today that talks were continuing.

The passage of the deadline left the Communications Workers of America free to call a strike, but spokeswoman Candice Johnson said employees would report for work without a contract for the time being.

Three separate contracts in Eastern and Midwestern areas covering about 25,000 workers expired at midnight, while the midnight deadline was approaching for 18,000 workers on the West Coast.

The workers are on the shrinking local-phone and long-haul data side of the business and located mainly in the Midwest and California.

Military helicopter accident injures 7

El Centro, Calif. – Seven people were hospitalized with minor injuries after a British Chinook helicopter mishap Saturday in the Arizona desert, a military spokeswoman said.

The crew was practicing landings 15 miles northeast of Yuma when “something went wrong,” said Michelle Dee, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Facility El Centro in California.

The people aboard the Chinook had non-life-threatening injuries and were sent to a hospital for evaluations as a precaution, Dee said. The helicopter sustained damage but Dee said she didn’t know the extent of the damage.

The cause of the mishap was under investigation.

Boy, 4, shoots self with mother’s gun

Philadelphia – A 4-year-old boy shot himself in the chest Saturday with a handgun he found under his mother’s pillow, authorities said.

The shooting happened around 7 p.m. Saturday in northeast Philadelphia. Police said the boy shot himself once in the left side of the chest.

Officer Chris Bennett told the Philadelphia Inquirer the shooting appeared to be accidental. Police told the newspaper the boy was in critical condition and undergoing emergency surgery.