ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Billy Graham resting in hospital, fully alert
Evangelist Billy Graham was in fair condition Saturday and resting in a hospital near his home after he was admitted for evaluation and treatment of intestinal bleeding, hospital officials said.
Graham, 88, was fully alert, and his doctors said his condition did not appear to be life-threatening, said his spokesman, Larry Ross.
Graham’s blood pressure was good, and there were no signs of new bleeding Saturday evening, according to Mission Health & Hospitals in Asheville.
The hospital said Graham’s condition had stabilized after his admission, and an endoscopy and a scan found no areas of bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract.
Ross estimated the ailing preacher could be released from the hospital in a couple of days.
NEW YORK
Fire near ground zero kills two firefighters
A seven-alarm fire ripped through an abandoned skyscraper next to ground zero in Lower Manhattan on Saturday, killing two firefighters who were responding to the blaze.
Officers at the scene were preventing nearby residents from returning to their homes, telling them that authorities were concerned the former Deutsche Bank office building, vacant since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks turned it into a toxic nightmare, could fall. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that fear turned out to be unfounded.
Two firefighters were killed, and five or six others were taken to a hospital but were expected to be released, Bloomberg said. No civilians were hurt.
Construction crews had already dismantled 14 of the building’s 40 stories – reaching the 26th floor Tuesday. Some firefighters used stairs to reach the burning upper floors of the building, just steps from where 343 firefighters lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
TRENTON, N.J.
Two more arrests in slayings of 3 collegians
Authorities arrested two more suspects Saturday in the slayings of three college students who were shot execution-style in a schoolyard, bringing the total arrests in the case to five.
The two suspects were found in suburban Washington and are awaiting extradition to New Jersey, authorities said.
Rodolfo Godinez, a 24-year-old Nicaraguan immigrant, was arrested in an Oxon Hill, Md., rooming house, said John Cuff, an investigator with the U.S. Marshals Service.
Alexander Alfaro, 16, believed to be Godinez’s half brother, was later arrested in Woodbridge, Va., said Robert Fernandez, commander of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force of the U.S. Marshals.
Authorities were still searching for an additional suspect.
The suspects were wanted in the Aug. 4 slayings in which the victims were forced to kneel in front of a wall behind a school and shot in the back of the head. Authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Rain allows resort near park gate to reopen
A resort featuring a century-old hunting lodge built by “Buffalo Bill” Cody outside Yellowstone National Park reopened as rain dampened the threat from a wildfire smoldering nearby.
Jack McDonald, weekend manager at Pahaska Tepee Resort, said the lodge reopened Friday night and had a few guests Saturday.
Guests and staff fled last week in advance of the fire, which started in Yellowstone and was moving toward the resort and other cabins outside the park’s east gate.
But three-quarters of an inch of rain fell on the fire Friday, and more Saturday, stalling the blaze and giving firefighters a reprieve. The park on Friday reopened its east gate, which had been closed for several days.
