Nation briefs 12/22/03

San Francisco outage leaves 120,000 in dark

SAN FRANCISCO -- A third of San Francisco remained without power early Sunday after fire in an electrical substation triggered a massive outage that snarled traffic and forced frenzied holiday shoppers from malls. The fire broke out just before 6 p.m. Saturday at a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. substation that feeds smaller substations. After the substation was reopened, PG&E engineers were able to restore power to about half of the affected customers. The power went off again, however, when the engineers discovered the fire had not been contained and shut down the substation for safety reasons.

Firefighters from two states answer turkey call

POSTVILLE, Iowa -- Flames broke out in a turkey processing plant closed for renovation, bringing out firefighters from nearby Wisconsin and forcing holiday traffic from two highways to be rerouted, authorities said. The fire at Iowa Turkey Products started about 12:30 p.m. Saturday and took much of the afternoon to bring under control, officials said. Small flare-ups were still occurring early Sunday. Fire departments from about two dozen communities in northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin responded to the call. Postville is in the northeast corner of Iowa, about 25 miles from the Wisconsin border.

Defense trying to save Malvo from death penalty

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- The daughter of one sniper victim called Lee Boyd Malvo evil. Teachers and others who knew the convicted killer when he was younger described him as bright, courteous, sweet and lonely. Now Malvo's estranged father is expected to add his assessment today as the defense makes its last bid to persuade jurors who convicted the 18-year-old of capital murder to spare his life. Malvo was found guilty Thursday of two counts of capital murder in the killing of FBI analyst Linda Franklin on Oct. 14, 2002, during a three-week series of sniper attacks in the Washington area that killed 10 people and wounded three.

Up, down year for gas prices ends with stability

CAMARILLO, Calif. -- In a year of unpredictable shifts, retail gasoline prices ended with two weeks of stability. But that isn't expected to last into the new year, an industry analyst said Sunday. The average price Friday for a gallon of self-serve gasoline nationwide, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.51, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations. That was down 0.08 of a cent since Dec. 5, but 6.51 cents higher than the average on Dec. 20, 2002. For 2003 overall, retail gasoline prices averaged about $1.61, up 21.6 cents from the average price last year.-- From wire reports