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Police responded around 6:50 p.m. to a report of an individual who “jumped off or fell from” the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure... Officers found an adult woman on the ground and rendered aid until Anaheim Fire and Rescue arrived on the scene. The woman was rushed to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The woman’s identity was not released. It was unclear whether she was a guest at the theme park. The seven-story Mickey & Friends Parking Structure was built in 2000. The garage was the biggest of its kind at the time it was built and...

Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it would dismiss about 160 of the 800 employees in its feature animation unit as the company slowed production at what once was its crown jewel. The 20% cutback comes nearly a year after Disney purchased Pixar Animation Studios, maker of such computer-animated hits as "Cars" and "The Incredibles." Pixar executives including creative guru John Lasseter took control of the Disney group, aiming to revive an operation that was a crucial profit center before it lost ground to other studios. "With John Lasseter from Pixar being put over the division, and the much brighter...

A Telluride, Colo., family sued Walt Disney World Co. for injuries suffered in a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad collision at Disneyland, a report said. The Orange County, Calif., suit brought last week claims Gerald Cope suffered a major back injury requiring surgery and incapacitating him for months. It also claims the injury forced Cope to sell his jewelry business.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) A 7-year-old boy vacationing with his family drowned in a hotel pool and remained unnoticed for a couple of hours as deputies and others searched for him, authorities said. A tourist wearing goggles found Tad Williams, of Wadesboro, N.C., Sunday at the bottom of the 8-foot-deep pool at the Howard Johnson's Enchanted Land Resort, Osceola County sheriff's spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said. The sheriff's office ruled the death an accident. An autopsy was scheduled to confirm the cause of death. Tad had been reported missing after he raced to the pool area ahead of other family members. The...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- About 1,000 information technology workers throughout the Walt Disney Co. will have their jobs outsourced, but few layoffs are expected. Most workers would be moved into new jobs with two vendors, IBM Corp. and Affiliated Computer Services Inc., after negotiations are completed this month, the company told employees Thursday. The outsourcing is planned to occur in mid-July. About one-third of the division's overall work force would be affected. Some workers may be offered jobs elsewhere at Disney or be laid off, the company told employees, but no numbers were provided. The IT unit handles such...

LOS ANGELES -- A Walt Disney World employee who worked as the character "Tigger" was charged Friday with molesting a 13-year-old girl and her mother while posing with them for pictures. Michael Chartrand, 36, was arrested and charged with one count of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child between 12 and 15 and one count of simple battery.He was booked at the Orange County Jail on a $2,500 bond. A Disney spokeswoman said Chartrand has been suspended without pay. The sheriff's office received a complaint that a costumed character at Disney World had touched a girl and her mother...

Orlando, Fla. _ A Walt Disney World employee in a Tigger costume was arrested Friday on charges of groping a 13-year-old girl and her mother while posing with them for pictures. Michael Chartrand, 36, was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child and simple battery and was jailed on $2,500 bail. A Disney spokeswoman said he was suspended without pay. Chartrand was accused of fondling the breasts of the girl and her mother at the Magic Kingdom on Feb. 21. The girl and her father reported the incident Feb. 29.

In the past year, even as news of Al Qaeda's maneuvers and of Iraq's possible harboring weapons of mass destruction have dominated headlines, the Saudi royals have played a shadowy supporting role. Al Qaeda considers them its enemies, but are they unwittingly (or not so unwittingly) supporting it? Are they for toppling Saddam or not? Who are the Saudis, exactly? In truth, they are many and varied. The country's king is decrepit, his younger brother Prince Abdullah serves in his place and many of the three dozen sons of the nation's founder, King Abdul Aziz, are jostling for power and...

OTTAWA - There's growing frustration among supporters of William Sampson, the man who is facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, over the way Canada is handling his case. William Sampson Sampson was arrested nearly two years ago in Riyadh and accused of being involved in a bootlegging operation that mounted a series of attacks against Westerners. He confessed on Saudi television. He was sentenced to beheading. But there have been allegations Saudi officials tortured Sampson into that confession. Sampson's father says the Canadian government hasn't been any help. "He's completely innocent," said James Sampson speaking from his home in...