PUBLIC SAFETY AND COURTS A true traffic...

PUBLIC SAFETY

AND COURTS

A true traffic jam halts Thursday commute

Traffic snarled along the San Diego Freeway on Thursday after a

big rig crashed into the center divider and burst into flames.

A SigAlert was issued and was in effect for more than three hours

for southbound lanes heading to the site of the crash, just south of

Harbor Boulevard.

A car involved in the accident was pinned beneath the big rig.

Drivers of both vehicles escaped without major injuries.

* One person was injured last week at The Wedge during the first

big south swell of the season.

Surf, combined with record hot temperatures, crowded the beaches,

making lifeguards’ jobs unusually busy.

Waves at The Wedge topped 15 feet and a rarely breaking spot, El

Morro, also did a passable imitation of Hawaii’s Pipeline.

* Elementary school students escaped without injuries after a

sport utility vehicle crashed into their bus Thursday morning.

The collision happened at the intersection of Newport Coast Drive

and Vista Ridge at about 8:15 a.m. as the 28 children were heading to

school.

No one on the bus, including the driver, was hurt. Paramedics

monitored the Newport Coast Elementary School children for about 20

minutes and then released them to school administrators. The children

were only a block away from the school, so they walked to their

classes, school district officials said.

* A jury has been selected in a high-profile gang rape case in

which three teens are accused of raping an unconscious 16-year-old

girl in a Corona del Mar home.

The jury consisting of eight men and four women will hear opening

statements from attorneys on Monday.

Four jurors -- three men and one woman -- were selected as

alternate jurors.

-- Deepa Bharath