American Scene

WASHINGTON

Dad won’t be buried near two sons he killed

SEATTLE | The man who killed his two sons in an explosive house fire in Washington state will not be buried in the same cemetery as the children, his family said Thursday.

Josh Powell’s mother, Terri Powell, issued a written statement confirming that the family had given up a plot tentatively reserved at Woodbine Cemetery overlooking the boys’ grave.

“We have tried so hard to be loving and considerate and respectful in making Josh’s burial arrangements,” she said. “We love our little Charlie and Braden and want their resting place to be a place of peace and comfort.”

Powell, the husband of missing Utah woman Susan Powell, killed his 5- and 7-year-old sons and himself in a gas-fueled blaze Feb. 5 at a home he was renting in Graham.

More than 1,000 mourners attended the boys’ funeral Saturday. They were later buried in a single casket at Woodbine, a municipal cemetery in Puyallup.

Terri Powell realized early this week that no one else was planning for what to do with Josh Powell’s remains, said her son-in-law, Kirk Graves. She visited a funeral home and a few cemeteries, he said, and she “cluelessly” picked a grave site just up the hill from where the boys are buried.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Appalachian Trail hikers’ post office to close

CONCORD | Residents of a small village in New Hampshire’s White Mountains have lost their fight to save their post office, one of several catering to hikers walking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.

The independent Postal Regulatory Commission on Thursday upheld the U.S. Postal Service’s decision to close the office in Glencliff, a village of fewer than 100 residents.

The Postal Service is on the brink of bankruptcy. It estimates it will save $27,000 a year by closing the office and shifting business to nearby Warren. Residents argue doing so will erode the community’s identity and leave them no place to gather with neighbors.

The Postal Service has proposed closing thousands of offices nationwide but has agreed to wait until mid-May to begin closures so Congress can stabilize its finances first.

COLORADO

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