POLICE: PROBLEMS FEW AT BURNING MAN FEST

More than 10,000 free spirits,artists and musicians gathered for a
counterculture celebration on the desert Saturday near Gerlach, Nev. Few
major problems were reported.

Washoe County sheriff's Lt. Larry McGee said he expects the crowd to
swell to 14,000 by the time the eight-day Burning Man festival
climaxes Sunday night with the torching of a 50-foot wooden effigy of
a man.

"It seems to be going pretty good," he said. "You always experience
problems whenever you have this many people together, but so far
they've been minimal."

Eight participants have been arrested, all on drug charges. Six people
were booked for selling LSD and hallucinogenic mushrooms, and two
others were arrested for selling marijuana, McGee said.

Four other participants were injured, one seriously, in a head-on
collision late Friday near the festival site, 120 miles north of Reno.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry