Fatal fall from festival ride under investigation

Police and federal investigators tried Sunday to determine why a teen fell from a festival ride and died.

Elizabeth K. Mohl, 16, of Neenah, was killed Saturday after falling 40 to 50 feet from a ride called Air Glory.

Winnebago County Deputy Coroner Chuck Hable said the ride hoists people in a sling, then at the top someone inside pulls a ripcord. That drops the riders, who swing back and forth.

Witness Brian Childers of Kenosha said two people went up in the ride, and that when the release was pulled he heard a snapping sound. One person fell, and the other remained swinging, he told the Oshkosh Northwestern.

Mohl died in surgery several hours later, Hable said. She was attending Lifest, a Christian music festival that features rides and sports. Workers shut down the ride after the afternoon accident.

A prayer service was held before the festival resumed about 7:30 p.m.

San Antonio

Keeper recovering after tiger mauling

A keeper who was attacked by a tiger at the city's zoo improved to stable condition Sunday, a hospital official said.

Jeff Tierney, 28, who specializes in large cats and has worked at the San Antonio Zoo for five years, was attacked by the male Sumatran tiger Saturday afternoon, zoo spokeswoman Dawn Campos said.

A critically injured Tierney was flown to University Hospital, where he remained in intensive care Sunday.

Campos said she didn't have details on Tierney's injuries.

He was alone in the tiger exhibit with the animal, named Berani, when the attack occurred, Campos said. The exhibit is separated from visitors by a moat and bars, but several people witnessed the attack.

The zoo was closed after the attack but reopened Sunday.

Berani is about 5 and has been at the zoo for three years, Campos said. He is one of two Sumatran tigers at the zoo.

Metairie, La.

Vitter plans to return to work in Senate

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who has been in seclusion since acknowledging dealings with an escort service, is returning to Washington for votes in the Senate, his office said Sunday.

The two-sentence advisory did not say when Vitter planned to return. On Friday, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said he had traded e-mails with Vitter and expected his colleague to return to the Capitol by Tuesday.

Vitter has been out of the public eye since releasing a statement July 9 apologizing for a "very serious sin," acknowledging that his Washington phone number was among those called several years ago by an escort service.

Prosecutors say that service was a prostitution ring.

Pine Bluff, Ark.

Mother, 4 kids die after truck hits car

A tractor-trailer crossed a highway center line and struck a car head on, killing a woman and her four young children, police said.

The truck driver, Roy Lee Jordan, 57, of Benton, Miss., was arrested and jailed after Saturday's crash, police and a jailer said.

"What it seems like right now is that the driver of the 18-wheeler fell asleep or lost consciousness before his rig crossed the center line," Trooper Oscar Bullard Jr. said.

Blood and urine samples were taken to the state crime laboratory for drug and alcohol tests, state police said.

LaKetria Wells, 26, of Monticello, was killed along with her children, LaKiyah Wells, 7; Kaleb Jarrell Stokes, 5; Keyshon Wells, 4; and LaKayla Wells, 2.

Seattle Times news services