Nation roundup for April 20

Wyo. town faces massive landslide

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — No one can say precisely when the mountainside collapsing into this Wyoming resort town will give way. But it appears increasingly likely that when it does, it’s going to take a piece of Jackson with it.

Workers and residents have watched helplessly in recent days as the slow-motion landslide spanning hundreds of yards split a house in two and inched ever closer to a cluster of businesses below.

Standing at the edge of the slide zone, its rocky slope rising sharply behind him, Jackson Fire Chief Willy Watsabaugh said the rate of movement slowed Saturday, giving crews a chance to get back in and reassess the damage.

Yet the fate of the businesses, houses and apartment buildings in the slide zone remained in doubt. Experts brought in to assist the town said it was unknown when the slide will come to a rest.

Efforts taken to stop it — including the erection of large concrete walls at the base of the slope — have proved futile.

The concrete walls had been pushed around by the shifting ground and were leaning away from the slope Saturday, when they were relocated to support a make-shift road being built to give heavy equipment better access to the site.

“We’re up against the Earth, and the Earth’s movement is an extremely powerful thing,” Watsabaugh said.

A sudden acceleration earlier in the week prompted authorities to suspend their efforts to shore up the slope as falling rocks created a hazard. The work that resumed this weekend focused on repairing some of the damage already inflicted, such as a break in a sewer line on Friday, town spokeswoman Charlotte Reynolds said.

What triggered the geologic event remains under investigation.

Authorities are looking into whether recent construction at the foot of East Gros Ventre Butte made the slope unstable. But they say there could be a variety of additional causes, including earlier construction at the site, warmer weather and a wet winter that put more water into the ground.

where it acts as a lubricant for unstable rocks and soil.

Town officials first noticed significant hill movement April 4. They evacuated 42 homes and apartment units April 9.

By Saturday morning, the shifting earth had caused bulges in a road and a parking lot at the foot of the hill that were as big as 10 feet. The groundswell pushed a small town water pump building 15 feet toward West Broadway, the town’s main drag.

Because of its more stable geology, the slope is unlikely to suddenly collapse like the March 22 landslide in Oso, Wash., that killed 39 people, experts said. More likely, large blocks of earth would tumble down piece by piece.

The ground had been moving initially at a rate of an inch a day. That is expected to speed up as time goes on, said George Machan, a landslide specialist consulting for the town.

Rockslides are common in the surrounding Rocky Mountains in the spring, when melting snow and warmer weather unleashes the region’s dynamic geology. In the early 1920s, a massive slide caused by heavy rains north of Jackson formed a natural dam across a small river. The dam gave way two years later, unleashing a flood that killed six people.

But other factors appear to be in play on East Gros Ventre Butte, a small mountain that looms over the west side of town, its base dotted with homes and businesses.

The area of the landslide has been graded for roads and businesses in recent years, including a new Walgreens. That could have weakened the hillside and set the stage for the landslide, although the precise trigger remains under investigation.

Jackson resident Rick Johnson lives less than a quarter-mile from the slide area along the same south-facing slope. He said a retaining wall on his property has been shifting in recent years, but he had not given it too much thought until the slide started just down the road.

As he watched workers at the top of the slide area taking measurements of the previous night’s movements, Johnson said he had no doubt that the natural geologic forces at work were amplified by the recent construction of a Walgreens at the foot of the slide.

“I think they are just messing with Mother Nature, and they didn’t think of the long-term consequences,” he said.

Unlike an earthquake or tornado, landslides typically are isolated and don’t affect large swaths of territory. Yet they consistently rate among the costliest, most frequent and deadliest natural disasters in the U.S., said David Montgomery, a geology professor at the University of Washington in Seattle.

They can occur in all 50 states, kill 25 to 50 people a year and cost $1 billion to $3 billion annually, he said, citing a 2004 National Research Council report.

Landslides in scenic, mountainous areas like Jackson are a lot like the wildfires that occur in the same areas. Both hazards are natural events that present more of a problem when people move in and build subdivisions or shopping areas.

“When you add it up, it’s actually a major geological hazard,” Montgomery said. “As more people move into more mountainous environments, the opportunities for interactions between human infrastructure and people, and landslides, increase.”

Ohio couple married 70 years die 15 hours apart

NASHPORT, Ohio (AP) — A couple who held hands at breakfast every morning even after 70 years of marriage have died 15 hours apart.

Helen Felumlee, of Nashport, died at 92 on April 12. Her husband, 91-year-old Kenneth Felumlee, died the next morning.

The couple’s eight children say the two had been inseparable since meeting as teenagers, once sharing the bottom of a bunk bed on a ferry rather than sleeping one night apart, the Zanesville Times Recorder reported (http://ohne.ws/1in7erG).

They remained deeply in love until the very end, even eating breakfast together while holding hands, said their daughter, Linda Cody.

“We knew when one went, the other was going to go,” she said.

According to Cody, about 12 hours after Helen died, Kenneth looked at his children and said, “Mom’s dead.” He quickly began to fade and was surrounded by 24 of his closest family members and friends when he died the next morning.

“He was ready,” Cody said. “He just didn’t want to leave her here by herself.”

Son Dick Felumlee said his parents died of old age, surrounded by family.

“At Dad’s bed we were singing his favorite hymns, reading scriptures and praying with him,” he told The Associated Press in an email. “It was a going away party, and we know he loved it.”

The pair had known each other for several years when they eloped in Newport, Ky., across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, on Feb. 20, 1944. At two days shy of his 21st birthday, Kenneth — who went by Kenny — was too young to marry in Ohio.

“He couldn’t wait,” son Jim Felumlee said.

Kenneth worked as a railroad car inspector and mechanic before becoming a mail carrier for the Nashport Post Office. He was active in his Nashport-Irville United Methodist Church as a Sunday school teacher.

Helen stayed at home, not only cooking and cleaning for her own family but also for other families in need in the area. She taught Sunday school, too, but was known more for her greeting card ministry, sending cards for birthdays, sympathy and the holidays to everyone in her community, each with a personal note inside.

“She kept Hallmark in business,” daughter-in-law Debbie Felumlee joked.

When Kenneth retired in 1983 and the children began to leave the house, the Felumlees began to explore their love of travel, visiting almost all 50 states by bus.

“He didn’t want to fly anywhere because you couldn’t see anything as you were going,” Jim Felumlee said.

Although both experienced declining health in recent years, Cody said, each tried to stay strong for the other.

“That’s what kept them going,” she said.

Body found by highway is missing Massachusetts boy

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The body of a small boy apparently cast off the side of a highway has been confirmed as a missing 5-year-old, authorities said Saturday.

The body found Friday off Interstate 190 has been positively identified as Jeremiah Oliver, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said. No charges were immediately announced related to Jeremiah’s death.

He was last seen by relatives in September but wasn’t reported missing until December. Authorities had said they feared the Fitchburg boy was dead.

Early said in a statement Saturday that the autopsy report is not complete. The investigation is continuing, he said.

“It appears to be a homicide,” the prosecutor said at a news conference Friday.

Early said the body was found at about 9 a.m. Friday by a police search team about 40 feet off I-190 near Sterling, which is about 12 miles from Fitchburg. He said it was wrapped in blanket-like material and packed in material that resembled a suitcase.

He would not say what led authorities to the location or how long the body may have been there. He said the site is near an area that is regularly mowed on the side of the highway but would not have been visible to passing cars.

Jeremiah’s mother, Elsa Oliver, 28, pleaded not guilty in March to charges including kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and reckless endangerment. Her boyfriend, Alberto Sierra, 23, pleaded not guilty to similar charges.

The family was being monitored by state social workers since 2011. And after Jeremiah’s disappearance, their case led to intense scrutiny of the state Department of Children and Families.

Three employees of the agency — a social worker, a supervisor and an area manager — were fired after an internal investigation. Officials said the social worker had not made required monthly visits to the family.

The governor asked the Child Welfare League of America to review DCF but resisted calls from some lawmakers to fire Olga Roche, the agency’s commissioner.

In an initial report filed by the league last month, it recommended that Massachusetts take a number of steps to shore up its child welfare system, including boosting staffing levels to reduce social worker caseload.

A separate report from the state’s Child Advocate, Gail Garinger, suggested that state social workers missed nearly one in five home visits during a recent 12-month period, though state officials said the figure was likely overstated.

Roche assured state legislators in January that DCF had accounted for the safety of all other young children in its care.

Oliver and Sierra, who were indicted by a Worcester County grand jury, are both being held on bail — $100,000 for Oliver and $250,000 for Sierra.

Three other people have been charged with interfering with a criminal investigation and misleading police in connection with the case.