CALIFORNIA
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers gave the green light to start building the nation's first continuous high-speed rail line, a multibillion dollar project to link Los Angeles and San Francisco. In a 21-to-16 party-line vote Friday, the state Senate approved a $2.6 billion bond issue to fund a 130-mile section of the line. The Assembly has approved the bill, and Governor Jerry Brown has promised to sign it.
TENNESSEE
Rangers to reopen parkhit by storms
TOWNSEND — Rangers shifted their focus Saturday from rescue efforts to reopening a popular section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after violent storms led to two deaths and several injuries. A crew of 44 removed hundreds of fallen trees to allow public access to the park.
UTAH
4-year-old killed by falling tombstone
A 4-year-old Utah boy was helping his father by trying to make other children smile for a picture when a 6-foot-tall tombstone that weighed hundreds of pounds fell on the boy and killed him, family members said. Carson Dean Cheney was with his family in Park City on Thursday when the headstone toppled onto him after some metal connecting it to its pedestal broke, said his grandmother Geri Gibbs.