LITTLE CREEK, Del. -- A wet, gusty storm that lashed the mid-Atlantic states Monday forced evacuations, flooded roads, fanned the flames of a deadly New Jersey fire and wrecked a brand-new research vessel off the Delaware coast, killing a crew member.

A Coast Guard helicopter rescued the two crew members of the Russell W. Peterson research ship about 14 miles off Rehoboth Beach, but one crewman had no heartbeat and wasn't breathing, Petty Officer Nick Cangemi said.

The crewman was declared dead at a Salisbury, Md., hospital; the condition of the second crew member was not immediately available.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dry, windy weather fueled several wildfires on Florida's central Atlantic coast Monday, destroying at least three homes and driving hundreds of residents away as the governor declared a state of emergency.

The largest fire, a 3,000-acre blaze in Brevard County, destroyed at least two homes, including the house Butch Vanfleet built in 1980 and tried in vain to protect with a garden hose.

Vanfleet, 59, said the fire had reached the doorstep of the house in Malabar when he and his family fled Sunday evening. All that stood Monday was the chimney and a stone wall.

Vanfleet said he will rebuild.

"It's devastation," he said. "All you see is nothing but ash in between the palm trees and the palmetto. There's no grass. The fire just came so quickly, we barely got out of there."

REARDAN, Wash. -- Mom-and-pop service stations are running into a problem as gasoline marches toward $4 a gallon: Thousands of old-fashioned pumps can't register more than $3.99 on their spinning mechanical dials.

The pumps, throwbacks to a bygone era on the American road, are difficult and expensive to upgrade, and replacing them is often out of the question for station owners who are still just scraping by.

Many of the same pumps can only count up to $99.99 for the total sale, preventing owners of some SUVs, vans, trucks and tractor-trailers to fill their tanks all the way.

As many as 8,500 of the nation's 170,000 service stations have old-style meters that need to be fixed -- about 17,000 individual pumps, said Bob Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute of Tulsa, Okla.

At Chip Colville's Chevron station in this eastern Washington town, where men in the family have pumped gas since 1919, three stubby, gray pumps were installed when gas was less than $1 a gallon. They top out at $3.999, only 30 cents above the price of regular gas at Colville's station.

WASHINGTON -- Violent crime has increased in some cities in recent years in part because local police are too cash-strapped to fight it, the ATF chief said Monday.

The comments by Michael J. Sullivan, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, echo pleas by mayors across the country for more federal dollars to combat crime.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Sullivan called battling violent crime the No. 1 priority of ATF and said the agency is trying to help cities with federal task forces and technology.

Sullivan also said many cities no longer have the police manpower to respond to calls as quickly as they once did.

"Some of these jurisdictions that have seen an uptick with regard to violent crime -- it's coming at a time when their budgets have been pretty strapped," Sullivan told the AP.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Several foam manufacturers have agreed to pay $30 million to settle lawsuits brought by survivors and family members of those who died in a 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 people, according to court papers filed Monday.

The foam companies that agreed to settle include Leggett Platt Inc. based in Carthage, Mo., Wm. T. Burnett Co. based in Baltimore and several others.

More than $100 million has now been offered to victims of the Feb. 20, 2003, fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick from several companies, including past settlements with Home Depot, Clear Channel Broadcasting and fireworks makers.

The new settlements must be approved by the hundreds who have sued as well as the federal judge overseeing the case.

NEWARK, N.J. -- A small-time New Jersey actor accused of traveling to Thailand to have sex with underage boys was denied bail on Monday.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Schipp ordered Wayne Nelson Corliss of Union City to remain in jail, saying that he was a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Corliss, 58, was arrested Thursday at his Union City home after an international manhunt. Interpol released photos of him last week and asked for the public's help in identifying him.

Corliss is charged with producing child pornography. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Vartan said images show Corliss abusing at least three young Asian boys during three trips to Thailand between 2000 and 2002. Vartan said Corliss confessed to having sex with children during a 2002 visit.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A college student whose friend was being questioned in a hit and run found himself charged with assaulting an officer with a curious choice of weapons: M Ms.

Sean McGuire was arrested early Sunday at a convenience store after Drake University security guards noticed the colored candies falling on the ground around the officer. When the officer turned around, an M M hit his shoulder, according to a police report.

McGuire claimed he threw the candy because he was "sticking up for his friend," who apparently was the man suspected in the accident, the report states.

McGuire, of Glenview, Ill., was released from jail Sunday after posting $1,000 bond. A telephone call to his cell phone Monday wasn't immediately returned.

DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines says a passenger who refused to get off his cell phone during a flight found Dallas police waiting for him.

The Dallas Morning News reports that police were summoned by Southwest officials and met the jet Monday when the plane arrived at Love Field from Austin.

Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King says flight attendants had repeatedly asked the man to get off the phone while airborne.

Police say the passenger was cited for disorderly conduct. His name was not immediately released.

The Federal Aviation Administration bars use of mobile phones when planes are flying due to concerns about interference with navigation systems.

King says airlines can be fined up to $25,000 for allowing cell phone use, and passengers also can be fined.