The Daily Collegian Crews work to untangle the four-vehicle crash that included two school buses, Mo. accident kills two By Jim Salter ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER GRAY SUMMIT, Mo. Two buses car rying high school band students to an amusement park Thursday slammed into a freeway wreck that happened right in front of them, crushing a pickup truck and killing its driver, as well as one of the stu dents. Dozens of other students were treated for injuries. The wreck near Gray Summit, about 40 miles west of St. Louis, happened when the pickup truck rear-encjed a semi cab that had slowed down because it was nearing a construction zone, state police said. The first bus, which was carrying female band members from John E Hodge High in St. James, slammed into the back of the pickup, then was launched on top of it after it was rear-ended by the second bus, State Highway Patrol Cpl. Jeff Wilson said. Kolby Griffith, 17, said he was chatting with a friend on the second bus when it crashed. “It was all very, very quick," Griffith said. “I was trying to get away, try ing to get everyone away from the bus because I could smell gas.” At least 42 students were taken to hospi tals, most with injuries not considered life threatening. Many of them were at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis when they were called into a room and informed of their band mate’s death. “There’s a lot of pain." Griffith said, choking back tears. Authorities have not publicly identified either of the people killed. The students were on their way to a Six Flags amusement park some 10 miles from the crash site. “My goodness. You send your children off to Six Flags, you don't expect this to happen," Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Dan Crain said. Being parents, we cannot imagine how difficult this is." Joy Tucker, the superintendent of the St. James school system, said the 3,700-resi dent town known for its wineries, natu ral splendor and trout fishing in nearby Maramec Spring Park was devastated. “It’s been a horrible, horrible day in our community, and we ll never get over this," Tucker said. “Anytime you have something like this, it is big tragedy for a community,” echoed Dennis Wilson, the mayor of St. James. He described the community as “one of those towns where you know just about everyone in town and know their kids,” including the nearly 600 children who attend Hodge high school. Ashley Wiehie. a spokeswoman for Cardinal Glennon. said 30 students were taken to that hospital. ,B. Forbes/Associated Press Appeal filed By Lisa Left and Paul Elias ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS SAN FRANCISCO Supporters of California's gay marriage ban have filed an appeal of a federal judge's ruling strik ing down the voter-approved law. The appeal late Wednesday to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was expect ed, as lawyers on both sides of the legal battle repeatedly vowed to carry the fight to a higher court if they lost. On Wednesday, a federal judge in San Francisco overturned California's Proposition 8. which restricts a marriage to one man and one woman. U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled the law violates federal equal pr a actions and due process law's. The ouu on w in the appeals court could force the i S Supreme Court to confront the question of whether gays have a constitutional rigid m wed. “This ruling, if allowed to stand, threat ens not only Prop 8 in California but the laws in 45 other stab-- ’hat define mar riage as one man and one woman," said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Man 5.,.,. Co >t helped fund the 2008 camp in Calif, law ban’s passage. Currently, same-sex cou ples can legally wed in the U.S. only in Massachusetts, lowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C. The appeal was filed by Protect Marriage, a coalition of religious and con servative groups that sponsored Proposition 8 and wound up defending it after California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Browm refused. Walker, meanwhile, said he would con sider waiting for the 9th Circuit to render its decision before he makes his opinion final and requires the state to stop enforc ing the ban. The judge ordered both sides to submit written arguments by Friday on the issue. California voters passed Proposition 8 five months after the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex unions and an estimat ed 18,000 same-sex couples already had tied the knot. Joe Briggs, 32, an actor who attended a West Hollywood gathering, said he was thrilled to hear about the ruling but was curbing his enthusiasm because of the legal fight still ahead. led to the Friday, Aug. 6, 2010 I
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