DOT: Bus company involved in deadly wreck tried to change name

Four people were killed Tuesday when a Sky Express bus ran off I-95 near Fredericksburg, Virginia, and overturned.DOT says Sky Express attempted to use a new name to sell ticketsAgency issued a cease-and-desist order against the N.C.-based carrierIt had been placed out of service for violating multiple safety regulations

(CNN) -- The company that operated a commercial tour bus involved in a deadly crash this week has been issued a cease-and-desist order after the U.S. Department of Transportation said it tried to resume operations under a different name.

Four people were killed and 53 others injured Tuesday when the Sky Express bus ran off Interstate 95 near Fredericksburg, Virginia, and overturned.

Investigators have blamed the wreck on driver fatigue.

The 37-year-old driver of the bus, Kin Yiu Cheung of Flushing, New York, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sky Express Inc. had been placed out of service Tuesday by the transportation department's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for multiple federal safety violations, which prohibited it from operating interstate transportation services.

The department issued the cease-and-desist order Friday after it said it found the company trying to operate and sell tickets under two new names: 108 Tours and 108 Bus.

"We are relentlessly targeting unsafe and illegal bus companies," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "This action sends a strong message that the U.S. Department of Transportation will utilize every legal and enforcement tool available to shut down unsafe bus companies and protect passengers and motorists."

The transportation department also subpoenaed Friday the records of three websites that have sold tickets for the company as the DOT seeks to crack down on "unsafe, reincarnated bus companies."

A call to Sky Express was not immediately returned Saturday, and its website had been taken offline.

CNN's affiliate in Charlotte, WCNC, tried to contact the business Friday, but its building was closed.

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Body found in Air France wreck

Search teams retrieved a body from the wreckage of the Air France airbus Flight recorders recovered and are being "dried"Air France flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009, killing 228 people It took nearly two years to locate the bulk of the wreckage

Paris (CNN) -- Search teams retrieved a body from the wreckage of the Air France airbus that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009, the French Interior Ministry said.

The body was still attached to a seat and "appeared degraded," the ministry added in a written statement.

"The attempts to bring up the bodies were made in particularly complex conditions. Considerable uncertainties still remain regarding the technical feasibility of recovering the bodies," the French Ministry statement said.

DNA samples from the remains -- recovered from a depth of 3900 meters (12,700 feet) - will be sent to a laboratory for analysis, the statement added.

Thursday's announcement came days after the flight recorders were located.

All 228 people aboard the Airbus A330 Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris were killed on June 1, 2009. Until now, 50 bodies had been recovered on the surface after the crash.

However, some relatives of those who died have expressed reservations about remains being brought to the surface.

Last month Robert Soulas, head of a support group for families of flight victims, said: "For me, personally I would like to leave the bodies of my children, my two children, on the seabed."

Other relatives have called for the bodies to be recovered.

The Airbus A330's pilots lost contact with air traffic controllers while flying across an area of the Atlantic Ocean known for constant bands of severe turbulence, officials said. But exactly what caused the plane to plunge into the sea has remains a mystery.

France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) said on Thursday that the external casings of both the flight recorders -- which record data and cockpit voices -- were in good condition and that they had started a "drying" process.

It would take a couple of days for the units to dry and then approximately a week or two before they could determine if both were still working, the BEA said.

Martine Del Bono, a spokeswoman for the Paris-based BEA said that even if there was some internal damage to the recorders, some data might still be recoverable.

"We must be very very careful... we are confident but it will take time for us to know whether we can retrieve all the data."

Phil Seymour, chief operating officer of the International Bureau of Aviation, a British aviation consultancy, said: "I remain skeptical about how useful this device (memory unit) will be. If you were to throw a computer into the ocean, imagine how all the parts would eventually split up. You also have the corrosive effects of seawater and the immense depths involved."

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Racing boat driver killed in wreck

Washington man dies in boat accident By the CNN Wire Staff STORY HIGHLIGHTSHis boat flipped over during a high-speed boat raceThe man reportedly came to the surface and wavedHe died right after he was pulled out of the water (CNN) -- A 55-year-old Tacoma, Washington, man died Saturday during a high-speed race after his boat became airborne and flipped over, an official said.

Lt. Cliff Ziesemer of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office said the operator of the boat reportedly came to the surface and waved his hand after the accident.

"A rescue team got there within 15 seconds and pulled the man on board," he said.

But, within moments of his rescue, the man died, Ziesemer said.

The high-speed boat race was held in Yelm, Washington, which is located in Thurston County.

CNN's Greg Morrison contributed to this report.

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Deal needed to avoid spending train wreck

Associated Press

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WASHINGTON –  Political ideologies and government spending realities are speeding trains headed toward a nasty crash in Washington this week barring a compromise between Republicans in the House and Senate Democrats aligned with President Barack Obama in the battle to contain America's soaring debt.

Failure to reach a deal for the rest of this budget year, which ends on Sept. 30, could lead to a partial shutdown of the government when spending authority expires at midnight on Friday. It is unclear which side would absorb public blame and anger for such a dramatic turn of events. But there was likely to be political damage, and mainstream members of both parties say they want to avoid a shutdown.

At issue are cuts to so-called discretionary programs, the cost of running various government agencies that use only 12 percent of the federal budget.

Republicans took control of the House in a landslide last November with much of their success built around tea-party-aligned candidates elected on the promise of lower taxes, less spending and smaller government. Nearly six weeks ago, the House passed a bill calling for $61 billion in cuts in discretionary spending for the remainder of the year.

The Senate, which also must approve such a measure, never took it up.

Instead both houses of Congress have passed two short-term spending laws to keep government open while cutting $10 billion out of this year's budget. That appropriation runs out Friday. Late last week, Obama said that compromise was close with Republicans on $33 billion in cuts, and he warned that without a deal the ensuing government shutdown would "jeopardize our economic recovery" just as jobs are finally being created.

There are indications the $33 billion figure may truly be in play, with sufficient votes lined up among mainstream House Republicans and Democrats. But House Speaker John Boehner is denying a deal is in the works, apparently fearing he would alienate the Republican tea party conference and damage party solidarity in advance of the coming 2012 presidential election. Many of the 87 new Republican House members say they will not go for a compromise.

What's more, the huge political divisions may only harden on Tuesday when Republicans reveal their plans to further slash government outlays for the next fiscal year, a spending outline that was expected to call for profound changes in funding for U.S. social safety net programs, particularly government-funded health care for the elderly and the poor.

Those programs, known as Medicare and Medicaid, along with Social Security pension benefits and defense spending consume the vast majority of government spending. None of them is under consideration in the current battle over cuts for the remainder of this fiscal year, even though a special Obama commission on the debt has recommended dramatic changes in all that spending and in the American tax laws.

Obama has said little about the commission recommendations and sought to remain publicly above the fray, instead focusing his message on repairing the recession-ravaged economy and reducing unemployment.

He weighed in, however, after good news on the jobs front last Friday.

"Given the encouraging news we received today on jobs, it would be the height of irresponsibility to halt our economic momentum because of the same old Washington politics," he said.

"It can't be 'my way or the highway politics,'" said the president. "We know that a compromise is within reach. And we also know that if these budget negotiations break down, it could shut down the government and jeopardize our economic recovery."

Shortly before Obama spoke, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shifted the Democrats' position on one key element of the talks, in apparent deference to environmentalists angered by an earlier concession.

House Republicans included provisions in their $61 billion package of spending cuts that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing regulations on a variety of industries that would cut emissions of climate changing greenhouse gases.

"Neither the White House or the Senate leaders is going to accept any EPA riders," he said in a conference call with reporters.

The spending conflict also is playing out under the shadow of the upcoming requirement for Congress to vote on increasing the amount of money the government can borrow. Democrats cannot increase the debt ceiling without Republican support in both the Senate and House. The Treasury Department estimates the government will hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling sometime between April 15 and May 31. The administration has warned Congress that failing to raise the debt limit would lead to an unprecedented default on the national debt.

This pivotal week will test congressional abilities to compromise on a plan that moves some distance toward reducing deficit spending. Republicans warn the practice is leading toward the decline of American power and influence, and Democrats argue that cuts cannot be too Draconian in the face of a weak economic recovery and the needs of middle- and lower-income Americans.

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