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Fla. home atop huge sinkhole to be razed after search fails to find man swallowed up by earth
• SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) -- Crews planned to begin demolishing a Florida home Sunday that is perched over a huge sinkhole, deeming it too dangerous to keep searching for the man swallowed into the earth from his bedroom.
• The search for Jeff Bush, 37, was called off Saturday. The 20-foot-wide opening of the sinkhole is almost completely covered by the house and rescuers feared it would collapse on them. Two neighboring homes were evacuated as a precaution.
• Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said heavy equipment would be brought in to begin razing the home Sunday morning.
• "At this point it's really not possible to recover the body," Merrill said, later adding "we're dealing with a very unusual sinkhole."
• Jessica Damico, spokeswoman for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, said the demolition equipment would be placed on what they believe is solid ground and reach onto the property to pull apart the house. The crew will try pulling part of the house away from the sinkhole intact so some of the residents' keepsakes can be retrieved.
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Philippine Catholics troop to church, pray for smooth rise of strong successor to Benedict
• MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Filipinos in Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation on Sunday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church.
• Benedict stunned the world when he announced Feb. 11 he would resign, citing his age and frail health. His resignation, which took effect Thursday, ushered in a period known as "sede vacante" or "vacant see" -- the transition period between papacies when a few Vatican officials take charge of running the church.
• All cardinals worldwide have been summoned to the Vatican for a conclave to elect Benedict's successor, who inherits a church facing a tide of secularism in Europe, as well as clergy sex abuse and corruption scandals that have underscored the need to pick a formidable successor to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
• Churchgoers and the clergy in the Philippines said they were not worried by the (Continued on page 20)
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