Accidents Victims

Divers recovered a second body Friday as the difficult ocean-floor search continued for two other people still missing after a pair of light planes collided over the San Pedro Channel near Long Beach. The first body, recovered minutes after Thursday's accident, was identified as that of John Michael Chisolm, 56, of Huntington Beach, a flight instructor in one of the planes. The second body was that of Stephen Arlow, 42, a flight instructor trainee in Chisolm's plane.

More than a year after sustaining serious injuries in an off-season car accident, former top outfield prospect Alfredo Silverio will be back in spring training with the Dodgers. Silverio, who was sidelined for all of 2012, was re-signed to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to major league camp. The Dodgers have signed six other players to similar contracts: catcher Wilkin Castillo, infielders Ozzie Martinez and Nick Evans, right-handers Juan Abreu and Gregory Infante, and left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz.

Funeral services will be held this week for the five Antelope Valley-area victims of last week's car accident near Agua Dulce. Visitation will be held for Jovannie Solano, 20, from 3 to 9 p.m. today and 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Chapel of the Valley Mortuary in Palmdale. A Mass of the Resurrection will be said for Solano at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary Catholic Church in Palmdale, followed by burial at Desert Lawn Memorial Park, also in Palmdale.

Intravenous fluids given to a trauma victim at an accident site may not be the best treatment and in many cases may actually be counterproductive, increasing the risk that a patient will die, researchers said Tuesday. Taking the time to insert an IV line may delay getting the patient to the hospital where treatment can be initiated and administering fluids may not be the most appropriate treatment, according to the study, published online in the Annals of Surgery ahead of publication in the February issue of the journal.

A West Covina couple was killed and their young son injured Monday when their subcompact car was broadsided by a police car rushing to aid an officer who was being shot at. Johnny Daniels, 42, and his wife Barbara, 38, were pronounced dead on arrival at Queen of the Valley Hospital, less than a block from the accident, said Lt. Dan Leonard. Johnny Daniels Jr., 5, was in fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Women Against Gun Violence, a local group involved in a national effort to educate families about the dangers of having guns in the home and push for tighter restrictions on firearm sales, is collecting shooting victims' shoes for a Sept. 20 "Silent March" display in Washington.

The news arrived as a telephone call Tuesday morning to the principal's office at Capistrano Valley High in Mission Viejo. Six students had been inside a car that apparently was speeding to school that morning when it tumbled out of control and crashed. Parents, students and teachers heading to school passed the gruesome wreckage, many fearing that no one could have survived it.

Authorities Tuesday identified an 81-year-old Pasadena man who died on California 126 near Piru as Robert William Thompson. Thompson died of head injuries Monday when his car veered off a portion of the road known as "Blood Alley" and struck a stationary steamroller being used for highway construction. The roadway is being widened in part because of the succession of accidents that have claimed a large number of lives over the years.

A 19-year-old motorist who was killed in an early Saturday morning traffic accident was identified Sunday as Jose Saldana Nolasco, 19, of Garden Grove, a coroner's spokesman said. Nolasco bled to death from internal injuries after he apparently lost control of his car and it collided with another vehicle, said William King, deputy coroner. The accident occurred at 12:18 a.m. Saturday at Cypress and McFadden avenues. The 28-year-old driver of the other car was not identified nor charged.

I can empathize and sympathize and understand the grief and anguish of Samantha Bass's family--my husband was killed in an auto accident also. However, Samantha had the same opportunity that each one of us has, that is, to take responsibility for her own safety in an automobile. She should have had her seat belt buckled on. Her family must accept her part in her own fate, and move forward with their own lives. DIXIE MITCHELL Irvine

A Hawthorne driver who struck a 72-year-old pedestrian, forced the woman into her car and sped off has been sentenced to state prison, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Wednesday. Alexis Lewis, 27, got a five-year term after pleading no contest to one count of kidnapping. As a result of the May 26 plea bargain, one count of felony evading police and three counts of child endangerment were dismissed at the sentencing. Earlier that month, Lewis left her three children -- ages 2, 3 and 4 -- unattended at home and set off in her car. After hitting the woman at a Hawthorne intersection, Lewis stopped briefly, got out and pushed the woman into her car and drove off. As Lewis sped away, an undercover police officer arrived and notified other officers.

The message of the proposed freeway signs doesn't seem controversial, memorializing individuals killed in traffic accidents and urging California motorists to drive safely. But a proposal to allow families to pay the California Department of Transportation to put up dozens of such signs along state highways has been caught up in a revolt by environmentalists against what they see as the growing clutter of signs and billboards along California roadways. The latest flare-up involves plans to expand a program that allows families to pay $1,000 to cover the cost of signs that read, "Please Don't Drink and Drive -- In Memory of . . ."

A comatose 37-year-old woman at the center of a right-to-die case dividing Italy passed away Monday night amid an uproar over the government's last-ditch bid to keep her alive against the wishes of her family. The death of Eluana Englaro, who suffered massive brain damage in a car accident 17 years ago, occurred as the case was being discussed by the Senate in Rome.

A firefighter paramedic and an accident victim he was treating along northbound Interstate 15 were hit by a suspected drunk driver early Saturday, and the victim, a woman, later died, Riverside County officials said. Bob Genn was treating Lan Thi Le when they were struck about 2:45 a.m. Genn, 49, was admitted to Inland Valley Medical Center with a collapsed lung, several broken ribs and numerous scrapes and bruises.

Terry Wallis awoke from a coma-like state 19 years after tumbling over a guardrail in a Chevy pickup and falling 25 feet into a dry Ozarks riverbed. Now doctors armed with some of the latest brain-imaging technology think they may know part of the reason.

A pedestrian who suffered permanent brain damage after being struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk near the Hollywood Bowl in September 2002 won a verdict against the city of Los Angeles last week for $11.87 million, one of the larger jury awards in recent years against the city. Alice Mowatt, then a 19-year-old British student visiting the United States, was hit by a sport utility vehicle as she tried to cross busy Cahuenga Boulevard at night.

In the next few weeks, five men and seven women will secretly visit the Cleveland Clinic to interview for the chance to have a radical operation that's never been tried. They will smile, raise their eyebrows, close their eyes, open their mouths. Dr. Maria Siemionow will study their cheekbones, lips and noses. She will ask what they hope to gain and what they most fear. Then she will ask, "Are you afraid that you will look like another person?"

Administrators at JSerra High School have established a memorial scholarship in the name of the school's recently elected student body president who was killed in an automobile accident May 26. The Gillian Sabet Scholarship Fund, to be supported by donations, will be awarded to students exemplifying her "excellent leadership attributes," a school statement said. Sabet, 17, and her boyfriend -- Jonathan M.