Thursday, April 28, 2016
State/Nation
Across the Nation Associated Press
Day care owner charged in death LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky police have charged a day care owner with manslaughter in the death of her greatnephew, who was found in a hot vehicle. News media outlets report that 70-year-old Jacquelin Thomas was arrested late Tuesday in connection to the death of 2-year-old Lavontae Swain. The Courier-Journal reports Thomas pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning. Police said in the arrest citation that Thomas picked the child up from his home on April 18 to take him to Lil’ Kings & Queens child care. He was found unresponsive hours later in the back of a vehicle. A coroner’s report says the child’s death was “consistent with hyperthermia,â€? or a high body temperature. Â
Pilot accused of flying drunk NEW YORK — A commercial pilot was under the influence of alcohol while flying a JetBlue airliner carrying 151 passengers last year from Orlando to New York City, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. A criminal complaint says Dennis Murphy Jr. was selected for a random alcohol test after Flight 584 landed at Kennedy Airport on April 21, 2015. The court papers allege that the test found that his bloodalcohol level was 0.11, exceeding the .04 legal limit for pilots. A co-pilot later told investigators he saw Murphy “drinking an unknown beverage from a cup before and during� Flight 584 and another flight earlier in the day from New York to Orlando, the complaint says. Murphy was to be arraigned later Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn. The name of his attorney wasn’t immediately available. In a statement, JetBlue said it has a “zero tolerance� drug and alcohol policy, and that Murphy no longer works there. The case follows that of an Alaska Airlines captain who is scheduled to go on trial in
July on federal felony charges that while drunk he flew a plane full of passengers from Portland, Oregon, to Orange County, California. And In March, an American Airlines co-pilot was arrested when he failed a sobriety test before a flight in Detroit. Under federal law, airlines can test pilots for alcohol and drug use at random. They also can be tested after an accident or when impairment is suspected. According to records from the Federal Aviation Administration, 225 pilots for commercial airlines have tested above the legal blood-alcohol limit since 1995. Â
GM investing at Tennessee factory SPRING HILL, Tenn. — General Motors is investing $790 million at its plant in Tennessee and another $118 million Michigan. The company said Wednesday that it will create nearly 800 jobs at the Spring Hill Manufacturing Plant as part of the new high-efficiency engine program and other modernization initiatives. The automaker’s 2015 contract with the United Auto Workers union said that Spring Hill would receive at least 700 new jobs as part of $1.9 billion in investments in U.S. facilities during the four-year agreement. The Spring Hill complex south of Nashville has about 2,300 hourly employees, according to GM’s website. It makes the new Cadillac XT5 midsize SUV and two four-cylinder engines. It will start producing the GMC Acadia midsize SUV later this spring. Â
Man in standoff had threatened suicide NORFOLK, Va. — Virginia State Police say a man who was fatally shot by snipers during a standoff last week said he was going to kill himself, threatened to kill police officers and fired eight rifle shots at an armored police vehicle. State police spokeswoman Sgt. Michelle Anaya tells The Virginian-Pilot that 30-yearold Eric Wakup of Norfolk fired an “assault-
Daily Corinthian • 7
Across the State
style weaponâ€? early Saturday at officers from inside a Norfolk home. State police say in court documents that snipers shot back, killing Wakup. Investigators say they recovered 14 guns and hundreds of bullets inside the home. Two officers are on paid administrative duty following the shooting. The court documents show Wakup was white. Police have not released the officers’ races. Â
Tiger cubs step out at San Diego Zoo SAN DIEGO — Three endangered Sumatran tiger cubs have made their debut at San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Visitors got their first glimpses Tuesday of Nelson, Cathy and Debbie as the 3-monthold cubs romped and munched on plants in their habitat. The trio was born in late January to Joanne, a Sumatran tiger that’s a popular attraction at the zoo. Zookeepers say Joanne is a doting mother. They say Nelson, the male, is the largest and calmest of the three cubs. His sister Cathy is the most vocal, and Debbie is the most adventurous. Fewer than 350 Sumatran tigers are thought to exist in the wild. Â
First lady appears with U.S. Olympians NEW YORK — First lady Michelle Obama received fencing lessons from Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad and took part in passing drills with members of the U.S. women’s basketball team at an event in Times Square celebrating 100 days to the Rio Games. With dozens of American athletes standing behind her Wednesday, Obama announced an initiative with the U.S. Olympic Committee and national governing bodies to introduce youngsters to different sports. Obama recalled crowding around neighbors’ televisions as a child in Chicago to watch the Olympics, then going outside to create makeshift hurdles or a balance beam.
Associated Press
Feds: Felon sold guns, offered meth GULFPORT — Federal agents said they used a “buy/bustâ€? operation to arrest a felon who’s been selling guns and offering his buyers a sample of crystal meth. Court documents say 34-year-old Russell Clack of Bay St. Louis was arrested on April 19 following a brief pursuit. The Sun Herald reports Clack is held for a detention hearing set for May 12 in U.S. District Court. Authorities say Clack was suspected of distributing crystal meth in Bay St. Louis before the investigation began. He had been convicted of manufacturing meth on Oct. 11, 2011. Federal agents said an undercover agent went to Clack’s Sycamore Street home and Clack sold the agent two .38-caliber handguns for $400. Â
Ryan named dean at Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi has appointed Dr. Maureen Ryan as dean of the College of Arts and Letters. Ryan’s appointment, effective May 1, is pending approval by the school’s board. Ryan has served as interim dean since May and is a professor of English who teaches modern and contemporary American literature. USM in a news release Tuesday said Ryan will provide academic and administrative leadership for the College of Arts and Letters, which consists of three divisions — humanities, social sciences and the arts. USM Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Steven Moser says Ryan has a distinguished track record as a scholar, teacher and administrator. Â
lion of the cost, customers could pay for $26 million in interest if the Mississippi Public Service Commission eventually approves. The utility is absorbing $2.7 billion in overruns so far, and Southern Co. will write off $53 million before taxes from its quarterly earnings, which will be announced Wednesday. After taxes, the write-off is projected to cost $33 million. The plant and associated lignite coal mine were originally supposed to cost $2.9 billion at most, and the earliest estimates were even lower. Customers could be asked to pay as much as $4.3 billion for the plant. The new overruns come because Mississippi Power is pushing back the plant’s projected completion date by an additional month to Sept. 30. Company spokesman Jeff Shepard said Tuesday that Mississippi Power is still working on relining pipes that control gas heated to 1,800 degrees. That gas, extracted from ground-up lignite coal at intense heat and pressure, is supposed to power the plant. Right now, it’s running on piped-in natural gas. The company found the problems after testing the coal gasifier unit. It’s the plant’s ability to turn soft lignite into a synthetic gas and extract carbon dioxide and other pollutants before burning the gas that makes it special. The reduced carbon dioxide output is supposed to make Kemper emit about the same amount of carbon dioxide as a similarly sized plant burning natural gas. Those lower carbon
emissions could help the company keep burning coal. Conventional coal plants emit much more of the greenhouse gas. In December, the commission agreed to let Mississippi Power raise rates on its 186,000 customers by $126 million a year to pay for $1.1 billion worth of assets at Kemper that are already in operation, burning natural gas and transmitting electricity to the grid. The company won the rate increase after warning that it was within months of running out of cash because of the costs of building the first-of-its-kind power plant. Â
Resort to host job fairs, hire 600 BILOXI — The Margaritaville Resort in Biloxi will host jobs fairs to fill 600 job openings. The first job fair will take place at the Biloxi Civic Center from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 1, and will continue from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. May 2 and 3. Applicants are being asked to bring a resume. The resort has job openings in numerous areas including hotel, retail, food and beverage and recreation. Some of the positions include front desk agents and supervisors, concierge, housekeeping, valet, security, water park attendants, restaurant hosts, servers, busers, bartenders, line and prep cooks, dishwashers and retail associates and supervisors. The resort is scheduled to open late spring. It will feature a family entertainment center with games, an adventure course for adults and kids and a roller coaster.
Kemper project to cost $61 million more GULFPORT — Mississippi Power Co. will spend another $61 million on its overrunplagued Kemper County power plant, pushing its total cost above $6.7 billion, the company said Tuesday. Although the unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. will absorb $35 mil-
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