Nation briefs 4/13/06

Mudslides hit homes in Calif.; one man missing

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- More heavy rain fell across parts of already soaked Northern California on Wednesday, triggering mudslides that forced some residents to evacuate and may have buried one man in his backyard. The National Weather Service posted a flood watch for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. Less than an inch of rain was likely along parts of the coast, but that would be on top of the up to 6 inches that fell in 24 hours Tuesday in the Santa Cruz mountains south of the Bay Area, meteorologists said. Firefighters in Mill Valley were searching for a 73-year-old man who was reported missing after leaving his house early in the morning to clear debris as a 12-foot wall of mud swept down a steep hillside about 3 a.m.

CDC eyes air travelers in mumps epidemic

ATLANTA -- Two infected airline passengers may have helped spread Iowa's mumps epidemic to six other Midwestern states, health officials said Wednesday, the latest example of how quickly disease can spread through air travel. "These people may have exposed other people on those planes or in these airports," said Kevin Teale, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Health. The mumps epidemic is the nation's first in 20 years. Health officials say 515 suspected cases have been reported in Iowa, and the disease also has been seen in six neighboring states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Monday, Nebraska has 43 reported cases; Kansas, 33; Illinois, four; Missouri, four; Wisconsin, four; and Minnesota, one.

Delta pilots picket outside headquarters

ATLANTA -- More than 300 Delta Air Lines Inc. pilots marched near the company's headquarters Wednesday and placed a giant inflatable rat on a street corner to symbolize what they see as corporate greed in management's effort to void their contract and impose pay cuts. The demonstration came even as there appeared to be progress in talks that were continuing between union and company negotiators at a hotel in New York. Spokesmen for the nation's third-largest carrier and the union declined to comment about the closed-door talks, which were said to be intensifying. Any deal on long-term pay and benefit cuts would have to be ratified by the Atlanta-based airline's 5,930 pilots.

Missing teen returns; police search for suspect

INDEPENDENCE, Kan. -- A teenager who called 911 saying she had been abducted at gunpoint showed up at a stranger's home about 15 hours later begging for help, police said. The 16-year-old was unharmed and talking to investigators Wednesday morning, police chief Lee Bynum said. He said authorities were searching for a suspect but had not ruled out the possibility of a false abduction report. "She doesn't know where she's been," said Lisa Wilson, an aunt of the teenager, Kelsey Lynn Stelting. Kelsey, a high school softball player, disappeared around dawn Tuesday after walking out of the house to get a bag of bats from the family car, said her mother, Kelly Cox. Cox said she found the car doors open and the keys on the ground. Bynum said the teen was approached by a man with a gun who told her to run about six blocks to a lumber store or she would be killed along with her family.

-- From wire reports