Across the Southeast

Roller coaster sold to N.C. tourism bureau

MEMPHIS, TENN. - Elvis Presley's favorite amusement park ride, a roller coaster called the Zippin Pippin, is zippin' off to North Carolina.

Two Nashville collectors who bought the coaster at an auction in June said Friday that they sold it to the tourism bureau in Roanoke Rapids, N.C.

Stephen Shutts, the president of a traveling collection called the Honky Tonk Hall of Fame & Rock-N-Roll Roadshow, said the North Carolina town wants the coaster for its Carolina Crossroads tourism project.

He said the wooden coaster, which was built in 1923, will be part of an amusement area that includes a 1,500-seat music theater in a 1,000-acre park.

Tornado leaves small town without power

APALACHICOLA, FLA. - This seaside town was without power Saturday after a tornado tore through the area, damaging several buildings and leaving two people with minor injuries, authorities said.

Some residents could have power by late Saturday, said Butch Baker, Franklin County's emergency management director.

"The best case scenario would be midnight, and that may not be all over the entire town," Mr. Baker said.

He said eyewitnesses confirmed that a tornado struck the town of some 2,500 people, 65 miles southwest of Tallahassee.

2 killed, 2 survive in small plane crash

STATESVILLE, N.C. - A private pilot's mother and brother-in-law were killed when he tried unsuccessfully to make a second landing attempt during bad weather, authorities said Saturday.

Rainy weather apparently led Edward Sasso, of Troutman, to abandon the destination listed on his flight plan - Lake Norman Air Park just north of Charlotte - in favor of Statesville Regional Airport about 40 miles to the north, federal investigators said.

But the weather in Statesville was not much better, cloudy with light rain and visibility of only 1 mile.

Mr. Sasso's mother, Josephine Tims, and his brother-in-law, Gary Lutman, were killed when the plane hit trees and went down in a field just north of the airport.

Mr. Sasso and his sister, Cecile Sasso - Mr. Lutman's wife and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service in West Palm Beach, Fla., - survived the crash.

She was critical condition and Mr. Sasso was in fair condition Saturday at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Family members at the hospital Friday told WCNC-TV of Charlotte that Mr. Sasso was devastated by the accident.

According to an online flight tracking site, the single-engine, four-seat Cirrus SR22 left North Palm Beach, Fla., at 9 a.m. on Friday.