In brief: L.A. gas cylinder explosion kills one

LOS ANGELES – Authorities say a gas tank exploded behind an industrial area south of downtown Los Angeles, killing one person and injuring three others.

Fire department Deputy Capt. Mario Rueda said the gas cylinder exploded behind the building next to a meat market at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Police Capt. William Hayes said one person died after being taken from the scene.

Authorities say three others were taken to hospitals, one of them in critical condition and two in fair condition.

Change sought within Boy Scouts

DALLAS – James Turley, CEO of Ernst & Young and a board member of Boy Scouts of America, announced that he will work to change the scout policy that bans gays and lesbians from the nation’s leading youth organization.

Turley’s announcement appeared to break the perception that the Irving, Texas-based BSA is completely united in its desire to maintain its current policy, which prevents openly gay and lesbian adults from being Cub Scout den parents or Boy Scout troop leaders. It also prevents openly gay youth from being BSA members.

“I support the meaningful work of the Boy Scouts in preparing young people for adventure, leadership, learning and service; however, the membership policy (banning gays and lesbians) is not one I would personally endorse,” Turley said in a statement released by Ernst & Young on Tuesday.

STD study subjects’ lawsuit dismissed

WASHINGTON – A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against U.S. officials by Guatemalans who had been subjected to sexually transmitted diseases by U.S. researchers in the 1940s.

The suit, on behalf of the victims and their heirs, came after revelations that Guatemalan prisoners, mental patients, soldiers and orphans had been deliberately infected without their consent. The researchers were studying the effects of penicillin, then a relatively new drug.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton acknowledged that the study was a “deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history.” But he ruled that federal law bars claims against the U.S. based on injuries suffered in a foreign country and granted a motion by the U.S. government to dismiss the suit.

Guatemalan officials said last year that they have found 2,082 people were involved in the experiments to infect subjects with syphilis, gonorrhea or chancroid. U.S. officials put the figure at 1,308 subjects.

Tour guide’s hand eaten by alligator

MIAMI – The Everglades airboat tour started like most. Revved engines, six windswept tourists and an hourlong trek through the sawgrass.

But it didn’t end like others.

The tour guide’s left hand was bitten clear off by an alligator, which authorities then found, killed and slit open just outside of the national park in Southwest Florida.

Inside the beast’s belly: Wallace “Captain Wally” Weatherholt’s severed hand.

Weatherholt, 63, and his hand were taken to a hospital in Naples, where doctors said the hand was in good condition. From there, Weatherholt was transferred to Tampa General Hospital, where a medical team was attempting to reattach the hand.

Glenn Smith, manager at Captain Doug’s Small Airboat Tours in Everglades City, said his tour guide was “in good spirits.”

Wildlife officials suspect the animal attacked because it had been fed.