Calif. Rescue Was a 'Miracle'

Nicole Kissel risked her own life to help Dale Ostrander

(NEWSER) - When Nicole Kissel heard fellow 12-year-old Dale Ostrander's cries for help, she turned her boogie board toward the deeper waters of the turbulent Pacific even as her father shouted for her to stop. She pulled Dale onto her board, and the two fought the rip current together, even as she thought, "We're going to die. I can't die like this." Then a rogue wave slammed into them; Nicole managed to climb back on the board, but Dale was pulled under, the AP reports. More»

Elderly woman also rescued from house after five days

(NEWSER) - From the devastation in Japan, a few miracles: Most notably, a 4-month-old baby pulled from the rubble in the coastal town of Ishinomaki, where she had been wrenched from her parents’ arms when the tsunami hit three days before. Soldiers, whose mission had turned from rescue to recovery after finding at least 2,000 bodies, at first thought they were hearing things. But when they heard the baby cry again, they pulled back wood, slate, and mud to find the little girl. Somehow, she had been spared not only from drowning, but from injury; she was simply cold and wet, and was quickly reunited with her family. More»

Initiative seeks to force Calif. schools to offer festive music

(NEWSER) - Members of the Tea Party movement are fighting to force California schoolchildren to sing Christmas carols. Substitute teacher Merry Hyatt has partnered with churches to gain signatures for the ballot initiative, which would require children to either sing or perform Christmas songs at school. Penalties would be imposed on schools that don't comply. More»

(NEWSER) - Cops near San Francisco made an unusual rescue today on a local expressway: They saved a wandering sea lion, the Chronicle reports. After a brief chase, they corralled the 30-pound confused critter, probably only about a year old. The sea lion, named Moody in honor of a fallen officer, is malnourished and will get a physical and a good meal before being released back to the ocean. More»

Some say image looks like Our Lady of Guadalupe

(NEWSER) - The faithful are flocking to a Mexican restaurant in California to see what some call a miracle: a griddle apparently imprinted with the Virgin Mary’s image, the Los Angeles Times reports. A cook first spotted it; “she started to cry” and stopped cleaning the griddle, said the restaurant’s manager. Viewers say it looks like images of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City's giant basilica. More»