56 illegal immigrants abandoned in truck

Texas

LAREDO -- Sheriff's deputies found 56 illegal immigrants locked inside a refrigerated trailer with no driver in sight and no way for the shivering human cargo to escape. Two suspected immigrant smugglers from Mexico were later arrested. The 43 men, 11 women, and two children had been in the truck for about six hours, officials said. They weren't injured, but all were very cold, officials said. (AP)

California

LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles woman in a wheelchair who has repeatedly filed lawsuits over access for the disabled got up and ran after police arrested her for fraud, authorities said yesterday. Laura Lee Medley, 35, had sued in at least four California cities over injuries she claimed she sustained while trying to navigate her wheelchair before she was suspected of fraud. Medley was tracked to Las Vegas, where police there took her into custody and then, when she complained of medical issues, to a hospital, officials said. At the hospital, Medley got up from her wheelchair and tried to run away. She was quickly apprehended and is facing fraud and attempted grand theft charges. (Reuters)

Alabama

BIRMINGHAM -- State investigators yesterday were searching for the source of an early morning fire that destroyed a rural Alabama church, the state's 15th church fire since February. Ragan Ingram, a spokesman for the state fire marshal's office, said it was too early to tell whether the latest fire was an accident or possibly a copycat of an earlier arson spree. Thirteen of the fires have been ruled arson, including nine in which Birmingham-area college students have been charged. Tubbs Church of Christ in Oakman, about 30 miles northwest of Birmingham, burned yesterday. (AP)