SALT LAKE CITY — A truck carrying 35,500 pounds of explosives crashed and exploded Wednesday, leaving a huge crater in a Utah highway and injuring at least four people.

The driver was able to get out and warn other motorists away before the truck exploded. But a passenger in the truck cab and other motorists were rushed to hospitals with injuries, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce said.

Two people were in critical condition and another was in satisfactory condition at a hospital in Provo, LDS Hospital spokesman Jess Gomez said.

Another person was taken by helicopter to University of Utah Hospital, spokesman Chris Nelson said. That person's condition wasn't released.

It wasn't immediately clear why the truck crashed, Royce said. He said the truck was "pretty much vaporized" in the explosion and both lanes of Highway 6 in Spanish Fork Canyon, about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City, were gutted by the blast.

Several small fires in the hills above the accident scene were believed to have been triggered by flying debris, and nearby rail lines were damaged.

The rig with a 6-foot trailer from R&R Trucking of Missouri had just left commercial explosives maker Ensign-Bickford at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon when the accident happened. The truck was headed to Oklahoma, company officials said.

Officials wouldn't say what type of explosives the truck was carrying.

Hal Jaussi, an Ensign-Bickman manager, said the trucking company "met federal regulations for transporting explosives."

Fugitive couple wanted in courthouse shooting arrested in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A fugitive inmate and his wife, wanted in a brazen courthouse escape and shooting in Tennessee, were captured Wednesday night at an Ohio motel after a tip from a cab driver who had dropped them off, authorities said.

George Hyatte and Jennifer Forsyth Hyatte were in a room at an America's Best Value Inn in Columbus and were arrested without a struggle, said Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

"We have found weapons," he said. "We don't know if it's the murder weapon, but we're processing those as we speak."

On Tuesday, authorities say Jennifer Hyatte, 31, ambushed two guards as they were leading her 34-year-old husband from a courthouse hearing in Kingston, Tenn., about 300 miles south of Columbus. Guard Wayne "Cotton" Morgan was fatally shot in the escape.

Jennifer Hyatte had some injuries, Gwyn said, but he declined to elaborate.

He said the couple would be brought back to Tennessee on warrants for first degree murder.

Authorities had already tracked the Hyattes to the Cincinnati area when they got a tip around 9 p.m. that the couple was at the Columbus motel. A cab driver who had apparently driven them to Columbus from Erlanger, Ky., just south of Cincinnati, called Erlanger police, U.S. Marshal John Schickel said.

He declined to give any additional information or identify the cab driver.

After the tip, authorities surrounded the Columbus motel, said John Bolen, a supervisor for the U.S. Marshals Service in Columbus.

Authorities called the motel room where the couple was staying, told them they were surrounded, and the couple came out of their room and surrendered around 10 p.m., Bolen said. They didn't say anything during the arrest, he said.

Jennifer Hyatte came out of the second-floor room with her hands up, said motel guest Robin Penn, who was watching from her first-floor window across the parking lot.

The woman was limping but followed officers' instructions to walk down the balcony to a stairwell and get on her knees, where she was handcuffed, Penn said. She said the man came out next, with his shirt pulled over his head. He walked backward toward the stairwell, then got on his knees and authorities handcuffed him, Penn said.

There were at least 25 officers on the motel balcony and in the parking lot, she said.

Earlier in the day, authorities had tracked down a van the couple was believed to have used, finding it outside a motel in Erlanger. The couple was gone, but authorities knew then that they were getting close.

Blood had been found in the motel room, and an employee at a nearby restaurant told federal agents she had given directions that day to a couple she later recognized as the fugitives.

Jennifer Hyatte had been a prison nurse when she met her future husband. She was fired last year for sneaking food to him but a few months later, she got permission from the warden to marry him.

George Hyatte had a long and violent criminal record. Before the escape Tuesday, he had been in court on a robbery charge.

It was at least the fifth time he had gotten way from law enforcement officials. The other escapes were from local authorities in east Tennessee in 1990, 1991, 1998 and 2002.

Fan arrested day after a plunge from Yankee Stadium upper deck

NEW YORK (AP) — A fan who plunged from the upper deck at Yankee Stadium onto the screen behind home plate during Tuesday night's game between New York and the Chicago White Sox was released from the hospital into police custody Wednesday.

The game was delayed for four minutes in the eighth inning after 18-year-old Scott Harper of Armonk, N.Y., plummeted about 40 feet onto the large net.

After the final out, he was carried from the ballpark on a stretcher, his head immobilized in a neck brace, and taken to Lincoln Medical Center, where he was treated and released Wednesday.

He was immediately placed in police custody and taken to the 44th precinct in the Bronx where he was booked on charges of reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, a New York police spokesman said.

Harper was being held in a detention cell at the precinct awaiting arraignment Wednesday in Bronx Criminal Court, according to Michelle Medley of the Bronx District Attorney Office. The DA has not yet determined the specific charges in the criminal complaint against Harper, said Medley.

Harper told three friends he was sitting with that he was going to test whether the net would hold his weight — and then he jumped, police said.

"The next thing you know, you don't see him anymore. You saw him on the net," said 18-year-old Mike Spadafino, one of Harper's friends.

Obviously scared and shaken after he landed, Harper sat with his head in his hands for a few moments before climbing on the net back up to the middle level of seats as players watched and the crowd roared.

"That was the only exciting thing that happened today," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said after Chicago's 2-1 victory.

Harper then was hoisted over the railing and led away by security.

"People think we threw him off, but we're all best friends, so I don't think that would ever happen," said 20-year-old Giusseppe Tripi, another one of Harper's friends.

"They claimed we were saying, 'Sit or jump, sit or jump,"' Spadafino said. "It was everyone in there, in the basic area."

It was the second time in five years a fan dropped from the upper deck at Yankee Stadium. In May 2000, 24-year-old Stephen Laurenzi of Yonkers, N.Y., was unconscious for a short time while sprawled on the net as a game between Boston and New York went on. He also was arrested and taken to a hospital for observation.

"I was hoping I wouldn't see that again," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "You could break your neck."

In 1997 and 1998, there was only a high backstop behind the plate and no netting extending to the stands.

"I've never seen anything like that before," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I think that's New York, you know, anything can happen."

Young girl killed by falling tree at Boy Scout camp in New Jersey

OCEAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — An 8-year-old girl died and three others were injured Wednesday when a tree fell on them during a first-aid class at a Boy Scout camp, authorities said.

The girls were participating in the class at an overnight camp when the 31-foot tree suddenly snapped, crashing through a tarp over a picnic table at which they were sitting, Police Chief Kenneth Flatt said.

"It was an accident. There was no warning. There wasn't a whole lot anybody could do," said Flatt.

The tree landed on the 8-year-old girl's head. She was pronounced dead at Southern Ocean County Hospital in Manahawkin.

The other girls — ages 9, 10 and 16 — suffered minor injuries and were treated and released from the hospital. Their identities weren't immediately released. One girl suffered a broken ankle; the others had bruises and scrapes.

There were seven counselors on the scene at the time, and one who had been teaching the 45-minute first aid class administered CPR on the girl, to no avail.

The girls were among a group of 17 children from a northern New Jersey group called the Resident Camp Association. They were on a weeklong "Learning For Life" program at the heavily wooded, 600-acre Joseph A. Citta Scout Reservation, according to Ethan Draddy, an executive with the Jersey Shore Council of Boy Scouts of America.

The group had arrived Sunday and was to stay until Friday, Draddy said.

"We are feeling completely and utterly devastated," he said.

The camp undergoes a safety inspection at least twice a year, but it wasn't clear whether the tree was part of that inspection, Flatt said. It had rained overnight but there had been no lightning reported, he said.

The tree accident was the latest in series of tragedies to strike scouting-related activities this summer.

Four adult Scout leaders were killed in a July electrical accident in Virginia at the National Boy Scout Jamboree. Five other people have died this summer from drowning and lightning during Scout outings in Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah and California.

Man fires bullets into parked Toyota to silence car alarm

SIMI VALLEY (AP) — A man annoyed by a noisy car alarm fired at least three bullets into a Toyota Camry, silencing the alarm and bringing out police who hauled him away in handcuffs, authorities said.

David Owen Rye, 48, was arrested and booked for investigation of reckless discharge of a firearm and felony vandalism, Sgt. John Adamczyk said. Rye allegedly told officers he grabbed his handgun and went out to put a stop to the car alarm.

The owner of the Camry, a sailor whose ship the USS Theodore Roosevelt just returned from an eight-month cruise, was visiting a friend when he heard the gunfire at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, KCAL-TV reported.

"I mean, that's not a safe guy. I mean, you get upset over an alarm, over a noise like that, (then) there's some little kids making too much noise and he decides to do something awful," sailor Nicholas Moreno, 25, said.

Police were called to the Yosemite Avenue apartment building and Rye was ordered out of his apartment by an officer with a bullhorn. A Los Angeles Police Department helicopter also responded and Rye was arrested.

Neighbor Ken Davis said he heard gunshots and looked outside to see Rye holding a gun.

"It was little scary," Davis said. "I didn't know what kind of mood he was in. I didn't want to say anything to him."

Police in Brazil scour through evidence left behind by thieves who stole $67.8 million

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Police in northeastern Brazil on Wednesday examined fingerprints and scoured through evidence left behind by thieves who stole $67.8 million from a Central Bank vault in one of the world's biggest heists ever.

Authorities said they were able to identify some of the thieves and were searching for them in surrounding states.

The amount taken surpassed the $65 million stolen in 1987 from the Knightbridge Safe Deposit Center in London, once recognized by experts as the planet's biggest robbery. The Brazil heist, however, was dwarfed by the theft of $900 million in U.S. bills plus as much as $100 million worth of euros from the Iraq Central Bank in 2003.

The money was stolen over the weekend by about 10 men who spent three months digging a tunnel — about 260 feet long and 28 inches high — from a house they'd rented near the bank in the city of Fortaleza, 1,550 miles northeast of Sao Paulo.

In the house, which had a sign saying it was a landscaping company, police found fingerprints on walls, doors, closets, shovels, pickaxes, saws, drills, blowtorches and other equipment used to dig the tunnel and cut through the vault's 3.6-foot-thick, steel-reinforced concrete floor, said Luiz Wagner Mota Sales, one of the federal police officers investigating the heist.

Once inside the vault, the thieves broke into five containers filled with used Brazilian currency notes — the equivalent of $22 each — which was apparently transported back through the tunnel by a pulley system attached to a large plastic barrel cut in half, Sales said.

The notes had been collected from local retail banks for inspection by Central Bank auditors. Those in good condition were to be returned to the banking system, while worn notes were to be incinerated.

In the house, police also found clothing and a large stock of food and water and several bags packed with part of the 100 tons of dirt experts estimate were excavated during the construction of the tunnel.

"We have been able to identify some of the thieves and we have extended our investigation to surrounding states where we think they may be hiding out," Sales said.

Asked if police had any idea how the thieves got the money out of the house or where it may be hidden, Sales said he could not comment "so as not to jeopardize the investigations."

Sales said police were looking into the possibility the heist was pulled off by the First Capital Command, one of Brazil's most notorious organized crime groups.

Better known by its Portuguese initials, PCC, the Sao Paulo-based group has gained notoriety over the past several years for masterminding bank holdups, kidnappings and violent prison uprisings in several parts of the country.

He said a few months ago police in Sao Paulo warned federal police of the imminence of a major heist in Fortaleza.

"We were warned that criminals were planning to rob an armored car company," Sales said. "We were beginning to investigate when we were surprised by the Central Bank heist."

The heist was similar to one pulled off last year in Sao Paulo in which thieves tunneled into a company that transports money for banks, making off with $1.6 million.

Police, Sales said, have not ruled out the possibility the Fortaleza and Sao Paulo heists were masterminded by the same man — Moises Teixeira da Silva.

Da Silva, a convicted bank robber, escaped from prison in Sao Paulo in 2001 along with more than 100 other inmates by building a tunnel.

Believed to be a member of the PCC, da Silva is said to be the leader of a gang specializing in building tunnels to rob banks and armored car companies.

The name of his gang: "Tatuzao", Portuguese for Giant Armadillo.

Teenager dies after cheerleading stunt at camp in Massachusetts

TEWKSBURY, Mass. (AP) — A high school freshman died after she was tossed in the air during a cheerleading routine and landed chest-down in her teammates' arms, authorities said.

Ashley Burns, 14, complained of abdominal pain and had trouble breathing shortly after the stunt, police Chief Alfred P. Donovan said.

"She said she thought she had the wind knocked out of her," he said. "She was talking, but her condition worsened rapidly."

Paramedics took Burns to a hospital in Lowell, where she died. An autopsy was to be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Burns and her teammates were practicing a stunt in which the other girls held her by one foot and tossed her in the air. She was supposed to twirl twice before landing on her back in the arms of her teammates, but Burns did not rotate fully and landed instead on her stomach, said her coach, Julie Brown.

James Deveney, principal of the middle school Burns attended until June, said she missed part of the last school year with an illness. A neighbor who said she was speaking for the girl's family said Burns had her appendix removed in the spring. Linda Michaud said that Burns otherwise was fine.

Linda Bernis, co-owner of the East Elite Cheer Gym where the girls were practicing, declined to comment pending the outcome of the investigation. "Our sympathy is with the family right now," she said.

Burns was an incoming freshman at Medford Vocational-Technical High School and had cheered for years on a Pop Warner team. She had just made the team at Medford High School, which shares sports with Burns' high school.

Flash flood sweeps 7-year-old girl to death in Arizona; driver dies near Phoenix

PHOENIX (AP) — A 7-year-old girl died in a flash flood that ripped her out of the grasp of a would-be rescuer as her family fled to high ground.

The body of Marissa Reyes was found early Wednesday, about 1.5 miles from the spot where the rushing water separated her from her family, authorities reported.

Reyes, three of her family members and a ranch worker fled from the family's home Tuesday when they saw high water rushing down a nearby creek following thunderstorms, said Sgt. Kip Rustenburg of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

The ranch worker grabbed a tree for support with one hand and held onto Reyes with his other hand, but the water ripped Marissa from his grasp.

The ranch worker and Marissa's relatives, including a 1-year-old, made it to safety in the area 10 miles northeast of Cave Creek, Rustenburg said.

Elsewhere in central Arizona, a man died when he tried to drive his pickup truck across a flooded river bed near New River, north of Phoenix, said Lt. Paul Chagolla of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Lightning damaged 12 homes in Mesa, on Phoenix's east side, where more than 2 inches of rain was measured in some areas. There were no injuries.

Tropical depression Irene regains some strength and moves toward East Coast

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical depression Irene regained some strength Wednesday as it followed a course toward the East Coast, raising the possibility it could eventually hit the United States as a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.

Irene's top sustained wind had strengthened to 35 mph, up 5 mph from earlier in the day, and it could reach tropical storm status by Thursday, meteorologists said. Tropical storms have sustained wind of at least 39 mph.

It is possible that Irene could reach hurricane strength with sustained wind blowing at 74 mph as it will be passing over warmer water, said Jennifer Pralgo, a hurricane center meteorologist.

"We need to see how much it will get its act together," she said.

Earlier Wednesday, the center had said the storm was becoming disorganized and could soon dissipate.

At 11 a.m. EDT, Irene was centered about 810 miles southeast of Bermuda and about 455 miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, forecasters said.

It was moving west at near 10 mph and was expected to continue that motion over the next five days in the general direction of the U.S. coastline from Florida to the Carolinas, the hurricane center said.

Irene became a tropical storm Sunday, the ninth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Normally, there are only two named storms by this time of year.

On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Fires diminish after blasts rock chemical plant outside Detroit; hundreds urged to evacuate

ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — A series of explosions rocked a chemical plant, causing a fire that lit up the night sky and prompting hundreds of people to evacuate their homes.

Authorities said no serious injuries were reported from the fire which broke out late Tuesday at the E.Q. Resource Recovery Inc. plant in this suburb of Detroit, although some people sought treatment for lesser symptoms.

Andrew Crawford, 18, who lives within a few blocks of the explosion site, was one of about 300 Wayne residents who went to a shelter at school.

"My backyard lit up orange," he said. "It was like a bomb went off."

The company specializes in treating, recycling and disposing of hazardous materials such as airplane deicing fluid and industrial paint solvents.

By Wednesday afternoon, flames and smoke still rose from several tanks in the plant complex. Firefighters had no estimate when the fire would burn itself out.

The cause of the blasts had not been determined.

Romulus Public Safety Director Chief Charles Kirby had urged residents within a mile of the fire to leave their homes. The area included about 1,000 homes in Wayne and 150 others in Romulus, officials said.

By Wednesday afternoon, 32 residents and firefighters gone to hospitals complaining of a burning sensation in their mouths or difficulty breathing, officials said. Most were treated and discharged.

Romulus is home to Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Flights were not affected by the fire, said airport spokesman Mike Conway.

Helicopter with 14 people, including two Americans, crashes in Baltic Sea

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A helicopter carrying 14 people, including two Americans, crashed in the Baltic Sea off the Estonian coast on Wednesday and all aboard were believed killed.

The U.S.-made Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, operated by Finnish firm Copterline, was on a commercial flight from the Estonian capital, Tallinn, to Helsinki, Finland, when it went down in strong winds shortly after takeoff near the island of Naissaar, about three miles off the coast, officials said.

Pictures from an unmanned underwater robot sent to the wreckage on the seabed, some 160 feet underwater, showed bodies inside, rescue spokesman Aivar Murikse said.

"It seems like everybody is inside," Murikse said. He said the hull was nearly intact, but the front windows were shattered and the cabin was filled with water. "Probably they died at the impact moment," he added.

Divers would try to recover the bodies later Wednesday or early Thursday, depending on the weather, he said.

Kairi Leivo, a spokeswoman at the Estonian Embassy in Helsinki, said the two pilots were Finns and the passengers included six Finns, four Estonians and two U.S. citizens. Their names were not released.

Bill Davnie, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, said he didn't know the identities of the Americans but all embassy personnel and members of a U.S. team participating in world athletics championships in Helsinki were accounted for.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but a storm in the area caused operators to cancel ferries between Tallinn and Helsinki and wind speeds of more than 45 mph were recorded on the Baltic Sea.

However, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Jaana Aduson said wind speeds at the time and place of the crash were only 14 mph. She said it was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash.

Copterline managing director Kari Ljungberg said the pilots were experienced and well-trained.

Ljungberg said the company had no information about the cause of the accident, but said that the weather was not to blame and that the helicopter flew at a "normal height."

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said there was no hope of finding anyone alive and Finnish Interior Minister Kari Rajamaki sent condolences to the families of the victims.

The helicopter disappeared from radar screens at Tallinn's air traffic control a few minutes after taking off from the city's harbor at 12:40 p.m., said Tonis Lepp, a senior Copterline pilot.

When rescuers arrived, the tail section was sticking out of the water while the rest of the aircraft was submerged, said Mati Raidma, head of the Estonian rescue service. The helicopter then sank, leaving only scattered debris floating.

Copterline has operated commercial helicopter flights across the 50-mile Gulf of Finland since 2000 without any previous accidents. The crossing takes about 18 minutes.

Last year, Finnish aviation authorities temporarily banned the company from flying helicopters in bad weather due to inexperienced pilots. The restriction was lifted after the company made necessary changes to flying policy.

Rural political leader, daughter, slain in Mexico

VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) — The leader of a regional farm and worker movement in rural Mexico was shot to death along with her daughter, according to Veracruz state officials.

Gov. Fidel Herrera on Tuesday night ordered special attention to the slaying of Edith Sosa and her daughter Edith Ortiz, which occurred Monday night in the southern Mexican city of Playa Vicente, about 215 miles southeast of Mexico City.

Sosa was a leader in the General Union of Workers and Farmers of Mexico, a group which has clashed with other Indian and farm organizations in the region over a variety of issues, some involving land and political influence.

She had opposed creation of a new municipality, Santiago Sochiapan, which had been promoted by several Indian organizations.

Matthew McGrory, 7-foot-plus actor in 'Big Fish,' dead at 32

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matthew McGrory, the deep-voiced 7-foot-plus actor who moved from appearances on Howard Stern's radio show to a high-profile role as a gentle giant in the movie "Big Fish," has died. He was 32.

McGrory died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, said director Drew Sky, who was working with him on his current movie, a biopic of wrestler-turned-actor Andre the Giant. Paramedics determined he died of apparent natural causes, police said.

McGrory, who had size 29.5 shoes, appeared on Stern's show in the 1990s and received other attention from the national media even before he became an actor. He attended law school and showed up in music videos before starting his career in Hollywood B-movies.

He played a human Sasquatch in 2001's "Bubble Boy," an alien in "Men In Black II" (2002) and Tiny in the Rob Zombie horror movies "House of 1000 Corpses" (2003) and its sequel released this year, "The Devil's Rejects."

His big break in Hollywood came in 2003 with Tim Burton-directed "Big Fish." Ewan McGregor's character refuses to be intimidated by the size of McGrory's Karl character, walking up to shake his hand.

Sky said he first met McGrory at a bar in 2000 and had been filming "Andre: Heart of the Giant" on and off for six months. He said that McGrory, who was from West Chester, Pa., felt a connection with the man he was playing, wrestler and "The Princess Bride" actor Andre Rousimmoff, who died in 1993.

"He felt the same way, that he would do anything just to be a person of regular size one day a week, where people don't have to stare at him, where he could go see a regular movie and walk down the street," Sky said.

McGrory's family and girlfriend declined immediate comment.

Jewish group denounces video on Internet that likens Auschwitz death camp to rave party

PARIS (AP) — An Internet video that depicts the Nazi death camp Auschwitz as a rave party drew sharp criticism Wednesday from a Jewish rights group, which urged authorities to have it removed from European Web sites.

The three-minute video titled "Housewitz" — a pun on house music and Auschwitz — casts Nazi soldiers as DJs. It alternates black-and-white still photos of Holocaust atrocities with color images of youths at an outdoor party. And it advertises a "Free taxi ride home," showing a wheelbarrow full of corpses.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center's European office denounced the video as "outrageous," saying it goes "beyond the bounds of freedom of expression to an unprecedented level of obscenity."

The center asked the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to call on countries where Web sites have posted the video to "immediately stop the spread of this pernicious nihilism."

Jaroslaw Mensfeld, a spokesman for the museum at the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland, said he was "absolutely shocked." Some 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, were killed at the Nazi camp during World War II. "I don't understand how a person can make such a movie," he said.

The film is featured on one Dutch and two Polish Web sites, the Wiesenthal Center said.

The Dutch Web site, Geenstijl, says it's doing nothing wrong in posting the video. The site, whose name means "no style," says it mixes news with "light subjects and pleasantly twisted nonsense." It has published a disclaimer saying it copied the video after learning it was being talked about in Internet chat rooms.

"We didn't make the video, but it is an integral part of the discussion by our viewers. It's not illegal and we don't intend to remove it from the site," said Oscar van Wijland, one of the Web site's writers.

According to the Dutch Complaints Bureau for Discrimination on the Internet, the video's maker is a 22-year-old Dutch student. Six weeks ago, the bureau received a complaint about the video and had it pulled from three Web sites.

Later, when the Geenstijl site posted the film, the complaints bureau went to the Amsterdam Public Prosecutor but was told the video was "not illegal enough" to prosecute, the bureau said. It plans to appeal.

Associated Press Writer Arthur Max in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

Company to sell trips around the moon — for $100 million

NEW YORK (AP) — The company that pioneered commercial space travel by sending "tourists" up to the International Space Station is planning a new mission: rocketing people around the far side of the moon.

The price of a round-trip ticket: $100 million.

The first mission by Space Adventures could happen in 2008 or 2009 and is planned as a stepping stone to an eventual lunar landing by private citizens.

"For the first time in history, a private company is organizing a mission to the moon," Space Adventures CEO Eric Anderson said at a Manhattan news conference Wednesday, a day after space shuttle Discovery safely returned to Earth. "This mission will inspire countries of the world, citizens … our youth."

Anderson said he already has prospective "private explorers" who are interested in the trip and could afford the ticket.

The initial travelers would be the first to orbit the moon in more than 33 years, according to the Arlington, Va., company. Only 27 people have ever made such a journey.

The trip, aboard a modified Russian spacecraft, will offer the chance to see the Earth rise from lunar orbit and a view of the far side of the moon from an altitude of 62 miles.

The far side of the moon has a special appeal, Anderson told The Associated Press in an interview, because it takes most of the hits from asteroids, meteorites and other objects from deep space. That results in many more craters than on the side seen from Earth.

"It's much more interesting to look at than the near side," he said, adding that the lunar orbits will be done when the far side is illuminated by the sun.

Space Adventures plans to offer multiple trip itineraries aboard Russia's Soyuz TMA spacecraft. One possibility is a 5.5-day lunar flight and up to 21 days at the International Space Station; another is a nine-day mission with three days of free flight in low-Earth orbit and the rest flying around the moon. In both cases, the spacecraft would dock with a booster, carried up by a separate launch vehicle, to propel it to the moon.

The Soyuz was originally designed for lunar missions, although none ever occurred. Anderson called it the most reliable craft in the history of space travel.

It has 10 cubic meters of crew space, about the size of a large SUV. The cosmonaut and two passengers will sleep in reclining chairs, said Nikolai Sevastyanov, president of rocket maker Rocket and Space Corporation Energia.

Space Adventures has a partnership with the rocket maker and the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation, through which they have sent American businessman Dennis Tito and South African Mark Shuttleworth on a Soyuz for stays on the space station.

The next mission is slated to send a team up to the space station for 10 days starting Oct. 1. One of the crew members is Gregory Olsen, a New Jersey scientist who has been training for the mission in Russia on and off since 2004.

"Who wouldn't want to go to the moon?" said Olsen, 60, a surprise guest at the news conference. "I'm really interested, but one flight at a time."

Modifications to the Soyuz will include altering its docking system and installing an 18-inch window so passengers can take high-resolution photos of the lunar surface.

On the Net:

http://www.spaceadventures.com

Promoter dubbed 'Grinch' sentenced to 7 years for Christmas pageant scam

MIAMI (AP) — A show promoter labeled a "Grinch" by prosecutors for selling tickets to thousands of children for a nonexistent Christmas pageant was sentenced Wednesday to more than seven years in prison.

The judge told David Lee Ellisor his actions were "reprehensible."

Ellisor, 52, was convicted in February of eight counts of mail fraud for a December 2003 scam in which he sold $10 tickets to more than 2,700 Miami-Dade County schoolchildren and parents for a "Christmas Around The World" show. He claimed it would be attended by ambassadors from 28 countries and even feature live reindeer.

Hundreds of children were left crying outside the Coconut Grove Convention Center when they learned there would be no show.

Trial evidence indicated that Ellisor emptied the show's bank account to buy a Jaguar luxury car on the day the show was to begin.

"Mr. Ellisor, what you did was reprehensible, to take money from young, vulnerable and impressionable children," U.S. District Judge Richard Goldberg said. "I am convinced that given the chance, you would do it all over again."

Ellisor insisted he was wrongly convicted and that the show turned out bad for reasons beyond his control.

He was sentenced to 87 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $38,000 in restitution.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Shipley said the severe sentence was partly a reflection of evidence that Ellisor had pulled similar scams in Utah, California, Missouri, Colorado and Arizona.

Film, stage star Barbara Bel Geddes, Miss Ellie Ewing of TV's "Dallas," dies at 82

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Barbara Bel Geddes, the winsome actress who rose to stage and movie stardom but reached her greatest fame as Miss Ellie Ewing in the long-running TV series "Dallas," has died. She was 82.

The San Francisco Chronicle said Bel Geddes, a longtime smoker, died Monday of lung cancer at her home in Northeast Harbor, Maine. Jordan-Fernald Funeral Home in Mount Desert, Maine, confirmed the death Wednesday, but owner Bill Fernald said the family asked that no further information be given out.

Bel Geddes was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress for the 1948 drama "I Remember Mama" and was the original Maggie the Cat on Broadway in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

But she was best known as the matriarch of the rambunctious Ewing oil family on "Dallas," which hurtled to the top of the ratings despite negative reviews. Bel Geddes won an Emmy in 1980 as best lead actress in a drama series and remains the only nighttime soap star to be so honored.

"She was the rock of 'Dallas,"' Larry Hagman, who played J.R. Ewing, told The Associated Press. "She was just a really nice woman and a wonderful actress. She was kind of the glue that held the whole thing together."

Bel Geddes called "Dallas "real fun," but it was also marked by tragedy. In 1981, Jim Davis, who played Miss Ellie's husband, Jock Ewing, died.

"It was like losing her own husband again," said "Dallas" producer Leonard Katzman. "It was a terribly difficult and emotional time for Barbara."

In March 1984, Bel Geddes was stricken with a major heart attack. Miss Ellie was played by Donna Reed for six months, then Bel Geddes returned to "Dallas," remaining until 1990, a year before CBS canceled the show.

Hagman said he had encouraged Bel Geddes to give up the smoking habit, but it was doctors who got her to quit after the heart attack, he said. He recalled the makeup room on the "Dallas" set as being so filled with her cigarette smoke that he would ask to be made up in his dressing room.

Of the lung cancer deaths of Peter Jennings and Bel Geddes, Hagman said: "I hope it's a wake-up call to a lot of people."

"Dallas" came late in her career. She had retired to take care of her husband, Windsor Lewis, after he fell ill with cancer in 1966. He died in 1972.

Her earnings depleted by his long illness, she found work scarce for a middle-aged actress and said she was "flat broke" in 1978 when she accepted the role as Miss Ellie.

In 1945, Bel Geddes made a splash on Broadway at 23 with her first important role in "Deep Are the Roots," winning the New York Drama Critics Award as best actress.

She announced to a reporter: "My ambition is to be a good screen actress. I think it would be much more exciting to work for Frank Capra, George Cukor, Alfred Hitchcock or Elia Kazan than to stay on Broadway."

Hollywood was quick to notice. In 1946 she signed a contract with RKO that granted her unusual request to be committed to only one picture a year. In her first movie she costarred with Henry Fonda in "The Long Night," a disappointing remake of a French film.

Her second film was a hit playing a budding writer in George Stevens' "I Remember Mama," the touching story of an immigrant family in San Francisco starring Irene Dunne as Mama. With her delicate features and patrician manner, Bel Geddes became a popular leading lady in films.

"I went out to California awfully young," she remarked. "I remember Lillian Hellman and Elia Kazan telling me, 'Don't go, learn your craft.' But I loved films." After four movies, Howard Hughes, who had bought control of RKO in 1948, dropped her contract because "she wasn't sexy enough."

Bel Geddes was devastated. But it turned out to be a good happenstance. She had time to return to the stage, and she scored a triumph in 1955 as Maggie the Cat in Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Yet her biggest Broadway success was "Mary, Mary," a frothy marital comedy by Jean Kerr, which opened in 1961 and ran for more than 1,500 performances.

In her film career, Bel Geddes was able to work with great filmmakers such as Kazan ("Panic in the Streets") and Alfred Hitchcock ("Vertigo"). She also costarred with Danny Kaye in "The Five Pennies" and with Jeanne Moreau in "Five Branded Women."

"By Love Possessed" in 1961 was her last film for 10 years. She made her final films in 1971 — "Summertree" and "The Todd Killings."

Among Bel Geddes' other major theater credits were roles in Terence Rattigan's "The Sleeping Prince" (1956); Robert Anderson's "Silent Night, Holy Night" (1959), which co-starred Henry Fonda; and Edward Albee's "Everything in the Garden" (1967). She was born in New York City on Oct. 31, 1922, the daughter of renowned industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes.

"I didn't see much of my father," she said, "but I absolutely adored him." After her education in private schools, he found her a job at a summer theater and used his connections with stage people to help her get work.

Early in her stage career Bel Geddes married Carl Schreuer, an electrical engineer, and they had a daughter, Susan. The marriage ended after seven years in 1951, and that year she married director Lewis. They had a daughter, Betsy.

Associated Press writers Clarke Canfield in Portland, Maine, Michael Kuchwara in New York, and Lynn Elber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Malaysia haze crisis worsens as air turns hazardous, schools closed

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A noxious haze blamed on forest fires in Indonesia reached dangerous levels in Kuala Lumpur and nearby areas Wednesday, closing schools, halting some flights and keeping residents indoors.

Environment Minister Adenan Satem said the haze, which appeared last week, is concentrated over the Klang Valley — site of Malaysia's main city, Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital and a sprawling residential area.

"The situation is not getting better. It is getting worse," the minister said. He said he was going to Indonesia for talks with officials in hopes of finding a solution.

Flights at the Subang airport near Kuala Lumpur, used primarily by charter and private aircraft, were suspended after visibility plunged to less than 1,300 feet, said Daud Hosnan, senior operations manager for Malaysia Airports.

Visibility was better at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and no flights were affected, Daud said. In downtown Kuala Lumpur, where the smoke even filtered into air-conditioned offices, nothing could be seen beyond 1,500 feet.

Northport, one of Malaysia's key western harbors facing the Malacca Strait, announced it was suspending operations until visibility improves.

An Environment Ministry statement said air quality in three places, including the Kuala Lumpur suburb Shah Alam, has become "hazardous." The air in the administrative capital, Putrajaya, and another Kuala Lumpur suburb, Petaling Jaya, was categorized as "very unhealthy."

Hospitals reported a spike in respiratory and eye ailments from the dust and smoke.

Health Minister Chua Soi Lek urged people to drink more water, cut down on outdoor activities, wear protective masks and refrain from smoking cigarettes.

The Kuala Lumpur Education Department said schools would be closed Thursday and Friday because students were having breathing problems, the Star newspaper reported.

The haze compounded the stifling heat and humidity. People walked around Kuala Lumpur with masks over their noses and mouths, or used handkerchiefs to shield themselves from the acrid, throat-burning smoke.

The environment minister said an emergency would be declared if the air pollution index, which measures harmful particles in the air, rises above 500. In some places, the index already was 410.

It was the first time the government released air pollution index statistics in six years. It stopped revealing the index in 1999, saying the reports were scaring away tourists as they did in 1997 and 1998 when Malaysia was hard-hit by haze.

The Meteorology Department said no respite was expected until October, when rains would help wash away the haze, a cocktail of dust, ash, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide.

Officials blamed the haze on hundreds of fires in Indonesia. Some have been burning for more than a week.

But Gurmit Singh, who heads an environment watchdog group, questioned that claim, saying the haze could also come from unreported fires in Malaysia. He said the haze in Kuala Lumpur has the smell of smoke, indicating the source was nearby. "We make things worse by our vehicle emissions and the local fires," he said.