Delta plane makes emergency landing

NEW YORK - A Delta Air Lines plane carrying 139 passengers made an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport yesterday, and officials said no one was hurt. A Delta Air Lines spokesman said the crew received an indicator light warning of possible problems with the airplane's hydraulics, which power its wings and landing gear. The MD-88 plane was headed from Orlando, Fla., to LaGuardia Airport. The spokesman says the five-member crew decided to land at Kennedy Airport as a precaution because it has a longer runway. The plane landed safely at 4:42 p.m. (AP)

ALABANY - A spokeswoman says Governor David Paterson expects to have cataract surgery this summer after operations for a different eye condition this week. Spokeswoman Risa Heller says the cataract - a clouding of the eye's lens - was found in Paterson's left eye during an examination after his recent glaucoma surgery. She said yesterday he probably will schedule an outpatient cataract procedure before taking an August vacation, and his recovery is expected to take less than a day. The legally blind governor had surgery on his left eye May 20 to relieve searing pain from acute glaucoma. Doctors operated on his right eye Friday to prevent the spread of the condition, which is a buildup of fluid pressure in the eye. (AP)

BARBOURSVILLE - A 12-year-old girl picking up a seedless watermelon from a bin at a Wal-Mart in West Virginia was stung Sunday by a tan, inch-long scorpion that had apparently stowed away in a shipment from Mexico. Megan Templeton of Barboursville was taken to the hospital as a precaution but later released. Her father, William, said the pain was a little worse than a bee sting. He initially did not believe his daughter when she said she had been stung by a scorpion, but then he saw the critter scurry underneath a box. It was captured by Wal-Mart employees. Most of the nearly 2,000 kinds of scorpions are not dangerous to humans. Richard Coyle, senior director of international affairs for Wal-Mart, said store employees believe the problem was restricted to a single shipment. (AP)

CHARLOTTE - A 2-year-old boy died over the weekend when he pulled away from his mother's hand and fell about 100 feet off a cliff at a state park, officials said. Giovani Chavez, of Spartanburg, S.C., ran under a boardwalk railing and fell Saturday at Chimney Rock State Park, state parks spokesman Charlie Peek told The Charlotte Observer. "She was on the dangerous side of the trail," Peek said of the mother. "She was holding her child's hand and that's exactly what we would recommend: Just watch them every minute." It took about 90 minutes to get to the boy, who was pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said. Trail maps at the park advise parents not to bring small children on the Skyline Trail because of the steep cliffs. (AP)