Scouts go on despite deaths, illnesses
Bowling Green, Va. The star-crossed National Scout Jamboree started anew Thursday, one day after more than 300 people succumbed to the blistering heat while awaiting a visit from President Bush.
Bush’s second attempt to visit the Jamboree on Thursday was postponed until Sunday, at the Scouts’ request. Officials hoped to review safety procedures for large crowds and replenish supplies – including several tractor-trailers full of bottled water.
More than 300 Scouts and visitors were treated Wednesday at the hospital at Fort A.P. Hill, the Army base hosting the event, and some were airlifted to surrounding hospitals with heat-related illnesses.
Four people remained in area hospitals Thursday, Jamboree spokesman Gregg Shields said.
As the heat subsided, more than 40,000 Scouts, leaders and visitors attending the 10-day event returned to a somewhat normal routine Thursday, going about daily activities like trading patches, going fishing and riding bikes.
“Yesterday was ridiculous,” said Jeremy Loftness, 15, of Denver, as he traded patches along the Army bases’ streets. “I, myself, saw 50 people either passed out or being carried away.”
The illnesses came as many still were reeling from the deaths of four Boy Scout leaders Monday. Some Scouts had been watching as the metal pole at the center of a large, white dining tent touched power lines, electrocuting the adult leaders.
Aviators say they’ll try for distance record
Topeka, Kan. Aviation’s adventuresome duo of Steve Fossett and Sir Richard Branson announced plans Thursday for another world record attempt in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, this time for longest flight.
In March, Fossett became the first person to fly nonstop and without refueling around the globe, taking off and landing in Salina, Kan.
Now he wants to set a distance record. The current plan is to fly from Kansas, circumnavigate the globe and land near London, a trek of 29,000 miles.
Another possible launch site is one of NASA’s runways at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Fossett said a final decision will be made later this year.
If successful, the flight would break the current aircraft record of 24,987 miles, set by the Voyager aircraft in 1996 and the balloon record of 25,361 miles set by the Breitling Orbiter 3 in 1999.
Fossett, 60, announced his intentions at the annual Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. He flew the GlobalFlyer to the event from Salina, where it has been stored since completing its record-setting flight.
Fossett already holds world records in five pursuits – in balloons, sailboats, gliders, airships and powered aircraft.
The flight is tentatively scheduled for February, when winter conditions in the northern hemisphere could produce average tail winds of 83 mph.
2-year-old girl thrown from window of SUV
Gary, Ind. Divers stopped their search of a river Thursday without finding any signs of a 2-year-old girl who flew through an SUV’s window and plunged at least 40 feet from a highway bridge into the water. Authorities said she was presumed dead.
Divers spent several hours in the Grand Calumet River looking for Jatima Greene. Water in the heavily industrialized area was coated with moss, algae and debris.
People in the SUV said the girl was wearing a seat belt, but investigators found no child seats in the vehicle.
The crash occurred as family members were returning to Gary from a birthday party in Chicago, the girl’s aunt said.
Police were investigating reports that the SUV went out of control after it was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer.
Another driver, Keisha Bethley, said she saw the SUV strike a retaining wall on a ramp over the river and then roll over.
Jatima flew out the window, she said. Bethley said she immediately dialed 911 on her cell phone, but the dispatcher accused her of placing a phony emergency call.
“She kept saying ‘Quit playing around,’ ” Bethley said. “I said, ‘I’m not playing, the baby is in the water.’ “