A former U. S. Postal Service mail carrier was sentenced Tuesday to 3 years probation for failing to deliver nearly 2,200 letters discovered in his home. Lance Shaviers, 38, who was assigned to the Irving Park station, said he was overburdened and couldn't deliver all the mail assigned to him, Assistant U. S. Atty. Lela Johnson said.

According to the U. S. Border Patrol, a group of stranded illegal immigrants facing death in the parched Arizona desert saved themselves by using a cell phone, left by their deserted guide, to call rescue services. The group got lost in the desert near Arivaca, south of Tucson, Arizona, Wednesday after their guide abandoned them during a four-day trek across the border from Mexico.