American Scene

CALIFORNIA

Missing hikers find way back

WEED — Two missing hikers made their own way off Mount Shasta, showing up hungry and tired in a town more than 10 miles from the mountaintop and two days after making a 911 call for help, authorities said.

Patricia Giamoni and friend Salvador Frias walked onto the shipping docks of Rosewood Forest Products in Weed late Monday, Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said.

Weed is just outside the boundaries of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, which includes Mount Shasta.

The hikers were taken to Mercy Medical Center Mount Shasta, where they were evaluated and then released, said Michael Odle, a Shasta-Trinity spokesman.

FLORIDA

Teen loses arm in gator attack

OKEECHOBEE — A Florida teen who was attacked by an 11½-foot alligator lost his arm but managed to escape with his life after poking the animal in the eye.

A sheriff’s office report said Kasey Edwards was hanging out with friends beside a canal in Okeechobee County on Sunday when he decided to go swimming.

Halfway through the swim, an alligator clamped down on his left arm. Kasey said he fought back by grabbing onto a buoy line and not letting go. He then poked the animal in the eye to get free.

As Kasey began to swim away, he noticed that his left arm was missing. Friends pulled him to safety, and he was taken to a hospital for treatment.

ILLINOIS

Jail escapee guilty of bank heists

CHICAGO — A man who escaped jail by wearing a stolen guard’s uniform was convicted Monday of robbing five banks in downtown Chicago, including one heist he pulled the day of his breakout wearing the lifted uniform.

The jury found Randy Rencher, 39, guilty of multiple counts after two hours of deliberation. He faces 32 years to life in federal prison when he is sentenced Sept. 26.

Rencher escaped from the Cook County Jail in June 2005. He was on the lam until surrendering that November and committed three of the five bank robberies during that time.

MINNESOTA

Suspect wounded in office standoff

LITTLE FALLS — A hostage situation at a county courthouse complex in Little Falls ended with a suspect being wounded, authorities said.

The Morrison County sheriff’s office said deputies were sent to the government center after a call that a gunman was holding hostages in the board room Monday morning.

A sheriff’s office statement said the suspect was wounded by gunfire and taken to a hospital. It did not say who wounded the man.

NEW YORK

Professor fired over plagiarism

NEW YORK — A Columbia University professor who drew widespread attention when a noose was discovered hanging from her office door has been fired over accusations of plagiarism.

Teachers College administrators said in a letter to faculty Monday that professor Madonna G. Constantine’s appeal of the plagiarism charges has been rejected.

Bill Anderson, a spokesman for Teachers College, said Miss Constantine had been terminated but that she could challenge the dismissal.

Her attorney, Paul Giacomo, said she has until July 15 to decide.

Miss Constantine was sanctioned in February after an investigation found she used others’ work without attribution in papers she published in academic journals. She was allowed to keep her job and to appeal the ruling.

The New York Police Department has been investigating the Oct. 9 discovery of the noose.

NORTH CAROLINA

26 reputed gang members indicted

CHARLOTTE — A federal grand jury indicted 26 reputed members of an international gang accused in a cross-border drug ring, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday.

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey unsealed a federal indictment that charges people thought to be members of the MS-13 gang with federal racketeering for forming a drug trafficking ring that sold cocaine, marijuana and narcotics, and of committing multiple robberies. MS-13 is one of the largest gangs in the country.

Some face charges in four slayings in Greensboro and Charlotte.

The indictment states gang members hold regular meetings much like a government, discussing gang rules, problems and unity. The cliques met frequently in Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham and Columbia, S.C. and elsewhere, and the meetings often brought in gang guests from other states, according to court documents.

OHIO

Man repays gas after 34 years

SOUTHINGTON — An Ohio couple has been repaid for a liquid asset they shared 34 years ago.

Violet and Harold Goff of Southington said a man showed up at their home recently and explained that he’d appeared at their door in 1974 when he was 17 and had run out of gas.

Back then, Mr. Goff got a five-gallon can of gasoline for Jeffrey Hardin. Mr. Goff remembers telling the teen to make sure to pay it back.

Mr. Hardin still lives in the area and told the Goffs the debt had remained in the back of his head. So, he presented them with a plastic, five-gallon container of gas.

Mr. Goff notes that he made a good investment, since the gas and container once worth about $5 are now worth $25.

PENNSYLVANIA

DUI suspect went to bar, not jail

ERIE — A woman charged in the drunken-driving death of her son went to a bar after his funeral instead of reporting back to jail, state police said.

A judge had given Erin Howard, 26, of Corry, permission to leave the Erie County Prison for 24 hours to attend her son’s funeral in Ohio, with orders to return to the lockup by 3 p.m. Saturday.

Instead, Miss Howard went to a bar in Hamilton, Ohio, about a mile from the church where the funeral for 6-year-old Samuel Carpenter was held, police said.

Calls to Miss Howard’s public defender went unanswered after business hours Monday.

Howard had been in prison in lieu of $75,000 bail on charges that she was driving drunk when she crashed into a creek bank near Corry, killing Samuel on June 14 — her 26th birthday.

Miss Howard has now been charged with escape in addition to involuntary manslaughter, drunken driving, child endangerment and other charges related to the crash.

TEXAS

School workers hope for gas money

HOUSTON — These days, everyone’s feeling the pain at the pump, but for Houston’s lowest-paid school district employees — who make as little as $15,000 a year — some relief may be on the way.

On Thursday, the Houston school district is scheduled to vote on a plan that could give employees who make less than $30,000 per year a one-time $250 bonus for gasoline. The $2.85 million budget proposal would cover costs for 10,000 employees.

The money will help, but it is only half of what the workers’ union requested, said Wretha Thomas, president of the Houston Educational Support Personnel union.

Some workers said school district officials are doing what they can, and the bonus is a sign they are trying to lighten the load of high gas costs, which were averaging $4 a gallon nationwide on Monday.

Those eligible for a check would include cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians and clerks. Because the district’s lowest-paid teacher, a first-year employee with a bachelor’s degree, earns $42,000 per year, educators won’t be eligible. The district’s highest-paid teacher earns $70,000 per year.

• From wire dispatches and staff reports