Teacher, student missing in Pacific near Costa Rica
San Jose, Costa Rica – Searchers in planes and boats scoured Costa Rica’s Pacific coast Monday for a Kansas high school student and teacher missing since they disappeared in the ocean over the weekend.
Jessica Pierce, 17, and Brett Carlson, 26, who taught at Labette County High School in Altamont, Kan., vanished Saturday in the waters off Palo Seco beach, about 180 miles from the capital, San Jose.
Labette graduate Danielle Tongier, 18, and Andrew Harpstrite, a 17-year-old junior, also disappeared. Tongier’s body was found Saturday; Harpstrite’s was recovered Sunday.
Carlson reportedly jumped in to try to save the three students after they ran into trouble while swimming.
Labette County school Superintendent Dennis Wilson said that 10 students, Carlson and another chaperone had been in Costa Rica since June 6, and students had saved money all year for the language and arts trip. The group had been scheduled to return Wednesday.
MIDDLETOWN, Iowa
2 feared dead in blast at Army ammo plant
Two workers at an Army ammunition plant were missing and presumed dead after an explosion Monday, officials said.
Officials would not comment on the cause or the extent of the damage from the blast at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant. Two other workers received minor injuries, according to American Ordnance, which produces missile warheads, tank ammunition, artillery rounds and other weaponry.
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
Atheist loses lawsuit against minted words
A federal judge Monday rejected a lawsuit from an atheist who said having the phrase “In God We Trust” on U.S. coins and dollar bills violated his First Amendment rights.
U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell Jr. said the minted words amounted to a secular national slogan that did not trample on Michael Newdow’s avowed religious views.
Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, also is engaged in an ongoing effort to have the Pledge of Allegiance banned from public schools because it contains the words “under God.”
SELMER, Tenn.
Wife of slain minister indicted in his death
The wife of a minister who was shot to death in his church’s parsonage was indicted Monday on a charge of premeditated murder.
Mary Winkler, 32, indicted by a McNairy County grand jury, has been in custody since the day after the March 22 slaying of her husband, Matthew Winkler. Authorities have said she confessed, but they haven’t disclosed a motive.
Matthew Winkler, 31, was found dead after he failed to show up for an evening service.
His wife and the couple’s young daughters were found the next night in Orange Beach, Ala.
SAN FRANCISCO
Gun owners win fight to overturn city’s ban
A California judge on Monday overturned a voter-approved city law that banned handgun possession and firearm sales, siding with gun owners who said the city did not have the authority to prohibit the weapons.
Judge James Warren sided with the National Rifle Association, which argued that a local government cannot ban weapons because the Legislature allows their sale and possession.
RENO, Nev.
Sniper wounds judge at courthouse window
A family-court judge was shot and wounded as he stood near a third-floor courthouse window Monday, and police sealed off the area and searched nearby parking garages for a sniper.
Chuck Weller, 53, was hit in the chest around midday by a shot or shots through his office window, authorities said. He was reportedly in serious condition.
Darren Roy Mack, a suspect in a slaying reported later at an apartment building, was a “person of interest,” Reno Deputy Police Chief Jim Johns said. The victim’s name was being withheld.
The building was home to Mack’s estranged wife, Charla Mack, 39, according to public records. The two had appeared before the judge earlier this year.
NETANYA, Israel
Train-truck smashup kills 5, injures scores
A commuter train carrying hundreds of passengers derailed after slamming into a pickup truck at a crossing in central Israel, killing five people and injuring 77. The locomotive and three of the train’s six cars derailed.
Police said the pickup stopped at a train crossing and was pushed onto the tracks when another vehicle hit it from behind. The pickup’s driver got out and tried to alert Israel Railways but was unable to avert the wreck, local media reported.
