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MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 2006 • SAVANNAHNOW.COM
LIGHT OF THE COASTAL EMPIRE • 50 CENTS
Plane took off wrong runway
BY JEFFREY MCMURRAY • The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A commuter jet mistakenly trying to take off on a runway that was too short crashed into a field Sunday and burst into flames, killing 49 people and leaving the lone survivor — a co-pilot — in critical condition, federal investigators said.
Preliminary flight data from Comair Flight 5191’s black box recorders and the damage at the s. ene indicate the plane, a CRJ-lOO regional jet. took iff from the shortest runway at Lexington's Blue Gra" Airport, National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said.
The 3,500-foot-long strip, unlit and barely half the length of the airport’s main runway, is not inti inied for commercial flights. The twin-engine CRJ-IO' would have needed 5,000 feet to fully get off the ground, aviation experts said.
SEE PLANE PAGE 5A
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- The Associated Press
Iran test fires new submaririe-to-surface missile
BY ALI AKBAR DAREINI • The Associated Press
Hundreds of Coastal Georgia volunteers assisted following the disastrous hurricane season last year
Photos special to the Savannah Morning News
Volunteers stand outside the battered home of Patricia and Harry Wilson, seated center, in Pearlington, Miss, on March 16. The couple was among hundreds of families assisted by the Savannah charity Pickin' Up the Pieces.
RED CROSS: FASTER RESPONSE, MORE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Linda and	Ed - tt&i stand
on either side of» stud«nt from Culfview Elementary school in Lakeshore, Miss, during a December toy delivery event hosted by Pickin' Up the Pieces.
Savannah couple continues Pickin' Up the Pieces
BY DANA CLARK FELTY
(912) 652-0311
dana.felty@savannahnow.com
Since forming the local charity Pickin’ Up the Pieces just days after Katrina, Michael and Linda Edwards have returned to Hancock County, Miss., about a dozen times.
They have delivered 350 V of household essentials, his. a holiday adopt-an-an^- !; ■: + -
INSIDE
Their confidence shaken by Katrina, many Americans don't believe the nation is ready for another major disaster, a new AP-Ipsos poll finds. 8A
COMING TUESDAY
A look at the Gulf Coast one year after Hurricane Katrina.
ON THE WEB
Cc :c SAYOTnahnow .cc.iii end c::ck on KNOW So find our soc.al IfcjTKane KaOrcr* section.
to audio clips fea*;: swr^vors, view 3 fc*'e:.es of RiMsia's pjtr of
BY DANA CLARK FELTY
More than 4 million people receive? assistance" from the American Red Cross in the 2005
!r. ;;;; _ 04 season, which included h-.*rricane» Charley,_ Frdiut-'. Iv.n	.lnne. just
“(i.iif;i: pr iple v.vre aided
Rubin Wingate uso those figures to demonstrate the rapid improvements — and growing needs — the Red Cross and other disaster-relief groups are making to better serve a growing coastal population.
“I think people understood
—	as we all watched Katrina
—	this was a truly catastrophic event," said Wingate, director of the Red Cross' Savannah chapter. “But you always look for how you can do things better.”
A year after Hurricane Katrina, which brought about 800 evacuee families to Chatham and bordering counties, Wingate and other emergency responders say more help is needed locally to be ready for the next disaster.
This season, the Red Cross identified two areas of improvement: increasing services to emergency victims and speeding delivery of financial assistance to victims as thev mnvp nut nf chpltprs
Honor roll i
Six pages today car listings for the four 2005-06 school y< Chatham County P' private schools are Inside today's edit
COASTAL
Free week a Jepson endi on a high n<
Late last year the ci held onto more thai earmarked to under admission to the Je Telfair Museum of / weeks this year. Bu said almost 800 pe Saturday, and durin Sunda/ more than j enjoy the exhibits. 1
sports
Aquatic Cento to open Sept.
The day the Savannah Georgia Coastal Aqual have been waiting for A week from today, th Aquatic Center is sche in the morning hours.
EXCHANCi Christmas is c
You find it hard to mu: when you're wearing a bad. Retail stores are i their Christmas lists ar twice. 8D
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