Nation & world

Two teens crash plane,

get only minor injuries

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. - Two 14-year-old boys escaped with minorinjuries after crash-landing a small plane that authorities say theystole from an airport hangar.

The single-engine Mooney M20C belonged to one of the boys'parents, and the pair was trying to run away from their homes, saidCindy Beavers, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff'sDepartment.

"There was a disagreement between the boys and their parents, and(the boys) decided to run away," she said. The boys took the planefrom Big Bear Airport Sunday afternoon, authorities said. Two pilotssaw the boys taxiing and called the plane's owner and the Sheriff'sDepartment.

The plane ditched in Joshua Tree National Park between 5:30 and 6p.m. The boys suffered minor injuries and were treated at the sceneby rangers, according to park officials.

The boys were arrested for investigation of airplane theft andburglary, Beavers said. They were booked into San Bernardino CountyJuvenile Hall on Monday.

Braille commemorative

coin gets House OK

WASHINGTON - Louis Braille, the inventor of the most widely usedreading and writing method for the blind, would be featured on acommemorative U.S. silver dollar under a bill approved by the House.

Under the bill, the U.S. Mint would issue 400,000 silver dollarscommemorating Braille in 2009, the bicentennial of his birth.

"Blind people today would be far less likely to achieve the goalsof independence and productive living without the positivecontribution of Louis Braille," said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, a co-sponsor of the bill, which passed by voice vote on Tuesday.

The front of the coin would depict Braille, and the reverse wouldinclude the word "Braille" written in Braille code.

Airman in training dies

of virus linked to rodents

EL PASO, Texas - An airman who was training at Fort Bliss fordeployment to Iraq died of a deadly virus linked to rodents, an AirForce official said.

Senior Airman Leonard Hankerson Jr., 24, a security forcespatrolman, died Feb. 11 at William Beaumont Army Hospital in El Paso.

Autopsy results confirmed last week that Hankerson had hantavirus,said Lt. Col. John Paradis, a Luke Air Force Base spokesman. Thedisease is transmitted to humans when they inhale particles of driedurine, feces or saliva from an infected rodent. He said Tuesday it isunclear how Hankerson contracted hantavirus.

Second-grader brings

cocaine to class, shares

PHILADELPHIA - A 7-year-old girl brought cocaine to her second-grade classroom and passed it around, police said.

Detectives were trying to determine where the girl got the drugs,which she brought into the John M. Patterson School in her backpackMonday, said police Capt. Benjamin Naish. The teacher calledauthorities after she discovered the drugs among her students.

One child told her mother that she had eaten some of the powder,but was found to be OK when examined at a hospital, authorities said.

The School District of Philadelphia is waiting for the results ofthe investigation before deciding how to punish the child, saidspokesman Vincent Thompson.