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In the Nation

Landslide traps woman in Calif.

WATSONVILLE, Calif. - Authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order last night for dozens of homes in a rural area near Watsonville, in central California, after a landslide trapped a woman in her home. She was not injured, a Santa Cruz County spokeswoman said.

Residents across the state were preparing for possible flash floods and mudslides yesterday as a Pacific storm began showering foothill areas devastated by wildfires.

Sandbagging and other preparations were being made in neighborhoods under threat, while heavy rains caused more than 260,000 power outages and dozens of voluntary evacuations.

People living around burn areas near the 250-square-mile Station Fire in Angeles National Forest were warned to brace for possible flows of mud, ash, and debris with rainfall of up to 4 inches.

- AP

Florida family is electrocuted

PALM BAY, Fla. - Police in Florida say a mother and father and their 15-year-old son died after being electrocuted while putting up a ham-radio antenna at their Palm Bay home.

The victims were identified yesterday as Melville Braham, 55; his wife, Anna, 49; and son Anthony.

Authorities say the Brahams were attempting to raise the antenna when they lost control of the pole and it hit an overhead power line. The impact sent 13,000 volts of electricity through the pole.

- AP

5 teens set fire to youth in Fla.

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. - Five teenagers were charged with aggravated battery yesterday for dousing a 15-year-old with rubbing alcohol and setting him on fire because he stopped someone from stealing his father's bicycle, authorities said.

Michael Brewer was hospitalized with burns on more than three-quarters of his body after the attack at an apartment complex Monday.

The Broward County sheriff's office said that three 15-year-olds and a 13-year-old were charged with aggravated battery. The 13-year-old was also charged with attempted second-degree murder because authorities say he flicked the lighter.

The victim's brother-in-law, Danny Martinez, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Brewer was in serious condition but that he was doing well.

- AP

Elsewhere:

A vast collection of broken dinosaur bones unearthed in southeast Utah indicates they were smashed underfoot by other dinosaurs shortly after they died, scientists say. Brigham Young University scientists spent years analyzing more than 4,000 bones from a quarry. They say the collection - 67 dinosaurs representing eight species - suggests a mass die-off, likely from drought.

A U.S. citizen of Somalian descent has been charged with making false statements to federal officials investigating the disappearance of as many as 20 Somalian men from Minnesota. The FBI in St. Paul said Abdow M. Abdow, 26, was related to the investigation of the missing men, who are thought to have gone to join a terrorist group fighting in their homeland.

A Michigan woman accused of starving her adopted quadriplegic daughter and stashing the 9-year-old's body in a storage unit must stand trial on charges including murder, a judge ruled yesterday. Lorrie Thomas, 40, of Flint, is to be arraigned Monday. Officials believe Shylae Thomas was dead for six weeks when her body was discovered.