The Nation

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL WIRE REPORT
Published: October 12, 2008

Parents, 3 kids killed as fire traps them in home

NEW YORK -- A family of five, including three children, were killed in a fire yesterday that filled an apartment with thick black smoke and kept the victims from escaping through the front door, fire officials said.

A 10-year-old boy who survived was in critical condition after the fire in a public-housing complex in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The boy was found in a back bedroom with two other family members, while the rest of the family sought refuge in a full bathtub and underneath a bathroom sink, officials said.

Killed were a 40-year-old man, Maschay Joa Valdez; Delkis Balbuena, a 34-year-old woman; and three girls, Nanny Joa Balbuena, 8, Bet-El Joa Balbuena, 3, and Ruth Joa Balbuena, 15 months. The 10-year-old boy was not identified.

Japanese man accused in 1981 killing hangs himself

LOS ANGELES -- A Japanese businessman charged with plotting the murder of his wife in Los Angeles 27 years ago hanged himself with his shirt in a downtown jail cell only hours after arriving to face trial, police said yesterday.

Kazuyoshi Miura, 61, was alone in his cell at downtown police headquarters when a detention officer found him at 9:45 p.m. Friday, just 10 minutes after a routine cell inspection had found nothing unusual, Chief of Detectives Charlie Beck said at a news conference yesterday.

"It was apparent that the murder suspect, alone in his cell, had used a piece of his shirt as a makeshift ligature around his neck," Beck said.

Manatee found off Cape Cod is rescued, sent to Florida

DENNIS, Mass. -- A wayward manatee is headed home to Florida after being pulled from the cold Cape Cod waters in an early morning rescue.

The juvenile male manatee wandered into Sesuit Harbor near Dennis, Mass., last week. Wildlife officials decided to pull him out yesterday, fearing for his health in the chilly water.

Manatees are normally found off Florida and Georgia, and they stop feeding if they get too cold.

Chris Cutter of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said that boats on both sides of the manatee trapped him in a net and then moved him by forklift to a truck as dozens of onlookers clapped.

The manatee will be driven to Sea World in Florida. Once he is rehabilitated there, he will be released into the wild.

Wildfire in Napa Valley threatens homes, wineries

ST. HELENA, Calif. -- Hundreds of firefighters are battling a fast-growing wildfire that is threatening homes and wineries in California's Napa Valley.

Fire officials said that the fire has burned 300 acres in the rugged hills just outside the wine-country town of St. Helena. The fire was about 40 percent contained yesterday morning.

Nancy Carniglia, a spokeswoman for Calfire, said that 200 homes and several wineries are threatened.

Jet boat smashes into dock, killing 3 and injuring another

CLAY TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Authorities said that a jet boat that was spotted zipping across a Michigan river smashed into a dock, killing three people and seriously injuring a fourth.

The sheriff's department said that two couples from Fair Haven were aboard the boat on the St. Clair River Friday night.

Killed were boat owner Brian Karasinski, Scott Gearhart and Barbara Gearhart. The owner's wife, Lorraine Karasinski, was hospitalized in serious condition yesterday.

Lt. William J. Krul said that containers of alcohol were found aboard the boat.

Toxicology tests and autopsies are planned.