IN BRIEF

WINDS RULED OUT

Ski resort investigates man's chairlift death

A Lake Tahoe ski resort has determined high winds were not to blame for the death of a 51-year-old California man who fell from a chairlift.

Heavenly Mountain Resort spokesman Russ Pecoraro said the resort continues to investigate the cause of Monday's accident that killed Mark Dickson of Glendora, Calif.

But he said they have concluded wind speeds that day did not exceed the operating parameters of either the Tamarack Express chair lift or the adjacent Heavenly Flyer ZipRider.

Pecoraro said preliminary findings indicate the harness retrieval rope on the ZipRider became severed and came in contact with the chairlift.

Dickson's new wife, 47-year-old Rebecca Gonzaga, suffered non life-threatening injuries but did not fall from the lift.

DRIVER ESCAPES

Semitrailer crash fire makes wine corks pop

Battling an intensely hot fire after a semitrailer crashed on Interstate 80, emergency crews were surprised to find themselves suddenly fired upon, by corks from exploding wine bottles inside.

"The corks were popping out of the bottles like the old Jiffy Pop we grew up with," Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Keane said. "My trooper got hit in the arm with one."

The fire Thursday was so intense it burned the trailer down to its axles, melted the tires and damaged about 75 feet of pavement.

But Keane said no one was injured, and the truck driver, Cyndy Brown of Arkansas, escaped the fire. Keane said the wreck likely was caused by a locked brake or hub malfunction.

WOMAN ARRESTED

Group home residents boarded in coops

Police have arrested a woman suspected of boarding nearly two dozen residents of a group home in converted chicken coops in her backyard.

San Bernardino, Calif., City Attorney James Penman said Pensri Sophar Dalton, 61, was arrested Friday morning on 16 counts of elder or dependent abuse.

Penman told the San Bernardino Sun newspaper that 22 people were living in three dilapidated buildings, none of them with indoor plumbing. He said residents used buckets as toilets. The facility was not licensed by the city or the state, he said.

A city attorney investigator said most of the 22 residents were picked up by family members or taken to licensed care facilities.