Regional news in brief

7/20/2008 1:03 AM



Military blows up bus at Ft. Jackson

FORT JACKSON (AP) -- Law enforcement and military officials planned to blow up a bus as part of a training exercise at Fort Jackson.

The training exercise was scheduled for Saturday morning and will be part of a joint antiterrorism training video by the South Carolina Department of Education, South Carolina Educational Television and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Fort Jackson officials said residents in nearby neighborhoods heard one very loud boom much like a clap of thunder.

Wildlife area opens on Edisto Island

CHARLESTON (AP) -- If you're looking to get away this weekend, you could get back to nature at South Carolina's newest wildlife management area.

The Botany Bay Plantation Wildlife Management Area, a 5,000-acre oceanfront tract on Edisto Island, opened earlier this month to visitors.

The Post and Courier of Charleston, reports that the plantation offers visitors a look at wildlife, 19th century structures and marsh and ocean vistas.

There are also 20 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. The management area is open dawn to dusk seven days a week.

Tractor-trailer side swipes inmate van

ANDERSON (AP) -- A tractor-trailer caught fire and sideswiped a Department of Corrections van on Interstate 85, injuring four inmates and trapping four other inmates inside the vehicle.

The Anderson Independent-Mail reported firefighters said that a tire blowout led to the fire at exit 19 on I-85 on Friday.

A spokeswoman for the South Carolina Highway Patrol said a spark ignited the blaze after a small rupture developed in the fuel tank.

Service held for N.C. slain mother

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Family members have planned a public memorial service to remember a North Carolina mother found slain near her home in a Raleigh suburb.

WRAL-TV reports that relatives of Nancy Cooper were hosting a public memorial service Saturday afternoon in Cary, where Cooper lived.

Her body was found Monday at a construction site about three miles from her home.

Cooper's husband, Bradley Cooper, told police that she went jogging on July 12 and he had not seen her since. No suspects have been named.

The wife's parents won temporary custody of the children, claiming in court filings that the husband was having an affair, was emotionally unstable and posed a danger to the girls.