Falls

Regarding "Angling for Better Trail to Fish Canyon Falls" (Hiking, June 21): After having recently completed the strenuous hike to the falls, I couldn't agree with John McKinney's article more. The falls are certainly beautiful and well worth the effort. Without sounding like an elitist, however, maybe the design of the trail serves a useful purpose. It makes the falls accessible only to the highly motivated hiker, thus screening out casual hikers, who unfortunately bring trash, graffiti and congestion.

An aerialist performing during a holiday show at the Beverly Center mall was injured and hospitalized after falling to the shopping center floor, authorities said Sunday. One witness said the performer appeared to fall about 40 feet -- from the third level of the shopping center to the first. The 26-year-old woman slipped while hanging upside down from a solid metal hoop suspended from the ceiling during the finale of the show "Hunky Santa and the Candy Cane Girls" Saturday evening, said Ray Pierce, owner of Hollywood Aerial Arts, the firm putting on the performance.

Regarding "Roaring Splendor at Iguacu Falls" (April 6): No visit to Iguacu is complete without taking the short boat ride to San Martin Island, a free service leaving from the bottom of the Argentine side of the falls. It's just a 20-minute hike to the top of the island, and the result is the most spectacular view I have ever seen. James Fuhrman West Hollywood

A Texas businessman was found not guilty Tuesday of charges that he pushed a colleague to her death from a hotel's eighth-floor balcony. The prosecution alleged that Robert Lee Salazar, 39, had sexually attacked Sandra Orellana, 27, at the Industry Hills Sheraton in 1996 and then shoved her from the balcony when she resisted. Salazar feared losing his wife and new executive job if Orellana revealed the attack, the prosecution contended.

Coroner's officials have identified a 19-month-old girl who fell from a three-story balcony to her death Friday in Sun Valley. Maria Rosario Resendez slipped through the railing of a balcony overlooking the parking lot of Villa Monica, an apartment complex at 7655 Lankershim Blvd. Neighbors said the mother was nearby. "She fell through the railings because they're really far apart," said Josefina Matute, 17, who lives in the complex.

A woman was killed when she lost her footing on a rain-slicked ledge and fell from a 21-story window in a Westwood restaurant Tuesday, Los Angeles police said. Bridgette Lavonne Preston, 25, of Lakeport, Calif., accidentally tumbled out a window of Monty's Steak House about midnight and fell 14 floors to the top of a seven-story parking structure, said Los Angeles Police Det. Ron Phillips. Preston had been at a company Christmas party in the restaurant when she fell.

Larry Fortensky, an ex-husband of actress Elizabeth Taylor, was in critical condition Thursday after apparently falling down a flight of stairs in his San Juan Capistrano home, authorities said. Fortensky, 46, was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo after 3 a.m. with head and chest injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said. Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Hector Rivera said a woman called 911 at 3:06 a.m. to report that a friend had fallen down stairs.

A 30-year-old man suffered minor injuries at Disneyland on Sunday when he fell from a Skyway gondola, landing in a tree 20 feet below. The Highland, Calif., man, whom authorities and park officials declined to identify, was treated and released at Western Medical Center-Anaheim, a hospital spokeswoman said. Disney spokesman Lindsay Schnebly said the 10:25 a.m. incident took place as the aerial gondola was approaching the midpoint of a loop between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.

An 18-year-old rock climber fell about 30 feet down a cliff Tuesday, breaking a leg, authorities said. The incident occurred just after 5 p.m. at Stoney Point Park north of the intersection of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Chatsworth Street, said Bob Collis, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The Fire Department helicopter crew took the man to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, he said. The area is a popular spot for rock climbing, Collis said.

A toddler was critically injured Sunday after he fell from a balcony at a Los Angeles police station, authorities said. The accident occurred about 11:30 a.m. at the Rampart station after the 18-month-old boy wandered from his mother--who was at the station to make a crime report--and fell from a second-floor balcony, Officer Steven Manriquez said. The boy was knocked unconscious, but paramedics revived him on the way to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, said Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis.