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ByEmeryP.Dalesio and Emily Masters The Associated Press OAK ISLAND, N.C. Beach- goers cautiously returned to the ocean Monday after two young people lost limbs in separate, life-threatening shark attacks in the same town in North Carolina. A 12-year-old girl lost her left hand and suffered a leg injury Sunday after- noon; then, about an hour later and 2 miles away, a shark bit off the left arm of a 16-year-old boy. Both were about 20 yards offshore, in waist-deep water. A shark expert says the best response after one of these extremely rare at- tacks is to temporarily close beaches that lack life- guards, but local officials said they did their best to warn people, and aren't sure they can force people out of the water. "We moved very quickly yesterday after the first at- tack. We were trying to get people on the beach with megaphones and ATVs to warn people to get out of the water," Oak Island City Manager Tim Holloman said at a news conference. Town employees drove along beaches urging people to get out, but the instruc- tions were voluntary and not mandatory. Holloman said officials are still research- ing whether they could le- gally force an evacuation if there were another attack. Earlier Monday, Mayor Betty Wallace told The As- sociated Press that infor- mation was too spotty af- ter Sunday's first attack to justify immediately clear- ing the water, but that after the second attack, they did warn swimmers to get out. Witnesses described a chaotic scene as the at- tacks disrupted one of the first busy weekends since public schools ended for summer. The victims — a girl from Asheboro and a boy from Colorado Springs, Colorado — were bleeding heavily, and other beachgo- ers applied makeshift tour- niquets. It was "quite night- marish," vacationer Steve Bouser told the AP. "I saw someone carry this girl (out of the water), and peo- ple were swarming around and trying to help ... It was quite terrible." Surgeons amputated the girl's left arm below her el- bow, and she has tissue damage to her lower left leg. The boy's left arm was am- putated below his left shoul- der. Both were in good con- dition Monday at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington. Nei- ther name was released. Dr. Borden Hooks, the surgeon who operated on both victims, said the boy was awake and talking to doctors on Monday but the girl's family asked that no more updates be provided. He said the boy will be at the hospital for several more days but doesn't need more surgeries. A surf camp scheduled for this week has been can- celed. "We just thought that was a prudent measure. A lot of inexperienced people out there flailing around is not necessarily a good thing," Holloman said. There were only 72 un- provoked shark attacks on human around the world in 2014, including 52 in the U.S., according to the Inter- national Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Nat- ural History. Three of them — all outside the U.S. — were fatal. Shark researcher George Burgess, who oversees the database, said he's aware of only two other multiple shark attacks on the same beach in one day. "It may be that there are big schools of fish out in the surf zone that are attracting the sharks," he said. The first emergency call came in about 4:40 p.m., followed by a call about the boy at 5:51 p.m. And just four days earlier, a 13-year-old girl suffered small lacerations on her foot from a shark bite on Ocean Isle Beach, about 15 miles from Oak Island. Both towns are on barrier islands just off the coast. Most beaches in North Carolina lack lifeguards, and without authorities keeping watch, the best ad- vice is to close the beach temporarily, Burgess said. "It would be my best judgment to shut down the beach for the day," he said. Deputies using boats and helicopters to monitor the water after the attacks did see a 7-foot shark between where the incidents hap- pened, Sheriff John Ingram said. Another shark was spotted Monday morning. NORTH CAROLINA Vacationingshark-attackvictims were swimming in shallow water STEVEBOUSER—THEPILOT,SOUTHERNPINES,N.C. Emergency responders assist a teenage girl at the scene of a shark attack in Oak Island, N.C., on Sunday. BRENNAN LINSLEY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Brandon Coats prepares to take questions from the media Monday a er the Colorado Supreme Court ruled against him, at his attorney's offices in Centennial, Colo. By Kristen Wyatt The Associated Press DENVER Pot may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it. The state Supreme Court ruled 6-0 Monday that a medical marijuana patient who was fired af- ter failing a drug test can- not get his job back. The case was being watched closely by employers and pot smokers in states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana. Colorado became at least the fourth state in which courts have ruled against medical marijuana patients fired for pot use. Supreme courts in Califor- nia, Montana and Wash- ington state have made similar rulings, and fed- eral courts in Colorado and Michigan also have rejected such claims. The Colorado worker, Brandon Coats, is a quad- riplegic who was fired by Dish Network after failing a 2010 drug test. The com- pany agreed that Coats wasn't high on the job but said it has a zero-tolerance drug policy. Coats argued that his pot smoking was allowed under a state law intended to protect employees from being fired for legal activ- ities off the clock. Coats didn't use marijuana at work, but pot's intoxicating chemical, THC, can stay in the system for weeks. The Colorado justices ruled that because mari- juana is illegal under fed- eral law, Coats' use of the drug couldn't be consid- ered legal off-duty activity. "There is no exception for marijuana use for me- dicinal purposes, or for marijuana use conducted in accordance with state law," the court wrote. Coats and his lawyers said the decision at least clarified the matter for workers. "Although I'm very dis- appointed today, I hope that my case has brought the issue of use of medical marijuana and employ- ment to light," Coats said in a statement. Dish Network and other business groups applauded the ruling. Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., al- low people to use medical marijuana. Alaska, Colo- rado, Oregon, Washing- ton state and Washington, D.C., have legalized recre- ational marijuana. The Colorado Consti- tution specifically states that employers don't have to amend their policies to accommodate employees' marijuana use. Court: Workers can be fired for using marijuana off-duty COLORADO By Sarah El Deeb and Lolita C. Baldor The Associated Press CAIRO A Libyan military spokesman said Monday that three foreigners were among a number of mil- itants killed in U.S. air- strikes in eastern Libya, but said it is too early to deter- mine if the target, an Alge- rian al-Qaida-linked leader, was among them. The U.S. military said it launched weekend airstrikes in Libya targeting Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a militant who once belonged to al-Qaida who is charged with lead- ing a 2103 attack on a gas plant in Algeria that killed at least 35 hostages, includ- ing three Americans. Penta- gon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said it was believed the strike was successful but "post-strike assessments" were still underway to de- termine whether the target was killed. "Our initial assessment is that it was a successful strike but we're not pre- pared to confirm that be- cause we haven't finalized our assessment," he said. Libya's internationally rec- ognized government, based in the country's east, said the strike was coordinated with the United States. A Libyan Islamist with ties to Libyan militants, however, said the airstrikes missed Belmokhtar, instead killing four members of a Libyan extremist group, linked to al-Qaida, Ansar Shariah, in Ajdabiya, some 530 miles east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. If confirmed, Bel- mokhtar's death would be a major gain for the U.S. Belmokhtar was con- sidered among the most wanted terrorists in the re- gion. There was no imme- diate proof provided for Belmokhtar's death, which requires a DNA test or an announcement by his group that he was killed. This isn't the first time authorities have claimed to have killed Belmokhtar, a militant believed to be 43 who reportedly lost his eye in combat and fought in Af- ghanistan. He was one of a number of Islamist fight- ers who have battled Alge- ria's government since the 1990s, later joining al-Qa- ida in the Islamic Maghreb, the group's North Africa branch. He then formed his own group, accused in the gas plant attack. He later emerged in Libya, and is believed to have been lo- cated there since based in the western and southern part of Libya. The Libyan government initially said Belmokhtar was killed and hailed the raid as a sign of interna- tional help it has sought against militants who run rampant in much of the country. Libya is split be- tween the international recognized government based in the east and an- other government in Trip- oli, backed by Islamist mi- litias. But highlighting the un- certainty of operating in chaos-plagued country, Libyan military spokesman Maj. Mohammed Hegazi said it was too early to confirm if Belmokhtar was killed. He said the govern- ment's statement was "too hasty," adding that tests are still under way. Hegazi said the bodies are charred from the raid, that killed 17, including two foreign militant lead- ers and a Tunisian fighter. "I don't confirm or deny. We are waiting confirma- tion," he told AP, speaking by telephone. WAR ON TERRORISM Li by a sa ys i t' s un cl ea r wh et her airstrikes killed al-Qaida leader 20815 Dalby Ln. Red Bluff 527-5314 Where Excellence Meets Affordable No Appointment Necessary FREE Is Your Check Engine Light On? We'll Code Check it Visit us on the web at www.eliteautomotiveredbluff.com Monday-Friday 7:30-5:30 SMOG CHECK ✓ norcaltreeexpert@yahoo.com www.norcaltreeexpert.com Eric Jablonowski Owner Phone: 530-416-0425 Fax: 530-527-2102 Lic#987325 Workers Comp Insured & Bonded • Shape • Trim • Lot Clearing • Fire Breaks • Hazard Tree Removal • Stump Grinding Select"Subscribe"tabinlowerrightcorner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! 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