43 CUBAN ILLEGALS ARE FOUND STRANDED IN THE FLORIDA KEYS
BIG PINE KEY, Fla. (AP) -- Forty-three illegal Cuban immigrants who were apparently brought ashore by smugglers have been found in the Florida Keys.Two small children and 23 adults were found on Big Pine Key on Tuesday morning. Late Monday, 14 adults and four children were found stranded on the mud flats off Big Pine Key, about 30 miles east of Key West.
They had to be rescued by Coast Guard helicopter. No injuries were reported. There was no sign of the smugglers.
ILLINOIS AIMS TO PULL LICENSE OF TRUCKER IN AMTRAK CRASH
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- The secretary of state's office was reviewing state law to see if it could revoke the driver's license of the trucker involved in last week's deadly Amtrak crash.
"Our lawyers are looking at every possible angle," spokeswoman Anne Dybek said Tuesday. "We want to do what's best for public safety."
The driver, John R. Stokes, has not been charged in the March 15 accident in which 11 people were killed and more than 100 injured after Amtrak's City of New Orleans ran into his truck at a crossing. Stokes, 58, has a history of traffic citations over 31 years.
State authorities suspended Stokes' license Jan. 25 for 60 days after learning he had received three speeding tickets within a year while driving a commercial vehicle in Indiana. After taking a driving course, he obtained a probationary permit to cover the period of the suspension, which is scheduled to end Thursday.
'SIT,' 'STAY' NOT SIMPLE ORDERS FOR SEATTLE POLICE EMPLOYEES
SEATTLE (AP) -- It's police training, from the seat of your pants.
Civilian employees in the police department's fingerprint and photo unit were ordered to attend a training session on how to safely sit in a chair after two employees slipped off their rolling desk chairs and fell on the floor.
"Take hold of the arms and get control of the chair before sitting down," a supervisor said in a recent memo. About 26 employees were expected to attend the half-hour session Tuesday.
Department safety officer Patrick Sweeney said the chair-related injuries are no laughing matter.
In two cases, chairs rolled out from under employees. A third employee hurt her back when the adjustable seat dropped abruptly.
"Some people know how to sit in a chair," while others need some instruction, Sweeney said.
ACTOR WAS DUE IN DRUG COURT THE DAY HIS BODY WAS FOUND
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A young actor who apparently committed suicide by hanging himself in a motel room had been arrested for cocaine possession and was supposed to be in court the day his body was found.
David Strickland, 29, who appeared on NBC's "Suddenly Susan" and in the new movie "Forces of Nature," was arrested Oct. 31 for possession of cocaine and pleaded no contest on Dec. 21, court records show.
He was put on 36-month probation and ordered into rehabilitation. He was to have appeared in a Los Angeles court Monday for a progress report.
His body was discovered early that day by an Oasis Motel employee, said police Lt. Wayne Petersen.
RAMSEY GRAND JURY RECEIVES FUNDS FOR CONTINUING PROBE
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- The grand jury investigating the JonBenet Ramsey slaying has received an additional $62,001 to keep working for up to three more months.
Prosecutors said Tuesday's move is not a signal of when the panel, which convened in September, will wrap up. The grand jury's term expires April 22, but District Attorney Alex Hunter can extend it for six months.
JonBenet, 6, was found beaten and strangled Dec. 26, 1996, in the basement of her home. No arrests have been made, and police and prosecutors have been accused of bungling the investigation at the start.
2ND PHOTOGRAPHER CONVICTED OF OBSTRUCTING RENO OFFICERS
RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A second newspaper photographer arrested during a car festival riot in Reno last summer has been convicted of obstructing and resisting officers.
Steven Keegan, 26, was found guilty Monday by a municipal judge, who fined him $1,230 and ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.
Keegan, who now works for the Los Angeles Times, was working as an intern at the Reno Gazette-Journal during Hot August Nights, Reno's annual classic car festival.
He was arrested while photographing riots that broke out downtown after a festival event. Police arrested 250 people in the melee.
HABIT-WEARING DRAG QUEENS HAVE EASTER PARTY DISALLOWED
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- San Francisco has earned a live-and-let-live reputation, but Mayor Willie Brown says there are limits.
Brown said a planned Easter Sunday street party by some habit-wearing drag queens should be rescheduled for another day. A measure to reverse the permit approval has been submitted to the Board of Supervisors.
"I hope our Board of Supervisors will understand that Easter is incredibly sensitive," Brown said Monday. "As a government, obviously, we support the idea of free speech and the freedom of expression . . . but there are limits."