30-year-old murder solved as 3 men are found guilty
BELZONI, Miss. (AP) -- Three white men were found guilty Saturday of killing a black sharecropper who was beaten by a mob and dumped off a bridge almost 30 years ago.The jury deliberated about six hours before returning the verdict. Earlier Saturday, they had reported that they were deadlocked. The judge urged them to continue deliberating despite the apparent impasse.
James "Doc" Caston, 66, his brother, Charles E. Caston, 64, and their half brother, Hal Crimm, 50, all were charged in the death of Rainey Pool, a one-armed man who was killed in 1970. They face a maximum of 20 years in prison each. Sentencing was set for Nov. 17
Pool was beaten by a white mob, his larynx crushed and his body dumped off a bridge into the Sunflower River. The pathologist who performed the autopsy said it was unclear whether Pool was alive or dead when he hit the water, but testified that the beating eventually would have been fatal.
The case was revived at the request of Pool's family.
911 dispatcher finally fired after ignoring emergencies
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A 911 dispatcher who allegedly ignored emergencies while taking lengthy personal calls has been fired.
Andrea Willingham, 35, had been suspended five times, reprimanded or counseled nine times and investigated 21 times in nearly nine years on the job, authorities said. She was fired Friday, officials said.
In July, Willingham interrupted a 48-minute personal call to send paramedics to a man who was in shock after severing a finger, officials said. Then, she went back to her conversation instead of following department rules requiring her to stay on the line and give medical advice to the victim until paramedics arrived.
During the same call, Willingham failed to get a phone number from a woman who feared there was an intruder in her home, officials said.
On-duty U.S. Marine is freed after 2 weeks in Mexican jail
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- An on-duty Marine who spent two weeks in a Mexican prison after crossing the border with a disassembled assault rifle was freed Saturday, to the relief of U.S. officials.
"This one had the promise of getting a lot more ugly than it did," said Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif. "This wasn't a kid down in Mexico having a lark and getting in trouble. This was a soldier on official duty acting under orders."
Carrying unauthorized weapons into Mexico is a serious offense punishable by as much as 12 years in prison.
Huge Florida fertilizer firm closes plants due to glut
MULBERRY, Fla. (AP) -- The nation's largest phosphate producer will close mines and plants in central Florida and Louisiana to cut output by more than 20 percent amid a global fertilizer glut, officials said.
Company officials at IMC-Agrico, the phosphate division of Northbrook, Ill.-based agricultural giant IMC Global Inc., said they do not know yet how many jobs will be lost to the reorganization.
IMC-Agrico employs 3,100 people in Florida, most in the phosphate-rich "Bone Valley" area south of Lakeland.
Coast Guard rescues 3 men; 1 missing in Gulf of Alaska
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- A Coast Guard helicopter plucked two brothers and another fisherman from the icy Gulf of Alaska early Saturday after their boat sank, and searchers were scanning the dark, windswept waves for a third brother.
A distress beacon from the 52-foot Becca Dawn was picked up by the Coast Guard stations in Juneau and Sitka at about 11 p.m. Friday, said Petty Officer Roger Wetherell.
The vessel went down in 20-foot seas in the Fairweather Grounds, a fishing area about 70 miles southeast of Yakutat known for its fierce storms.
About 80 minutes later, a helicopter found Lee Nash, 25, Song Nash, 26, and Jesse McGraw, 23, in the water, all wearing survival suits, Wetherell said.
"Three of them were clinging together, the boat was gone," Wetherell said. "There was just a huge debris field."
Olin Nash, 21, was also wearing a survival suit, his brothers told the Coast Guard, but he became separated from the rest as the crew abandoned the boat. Rescuers hope he managed to launch the Becca Dawn's life raft and remains adrift somewhere.
Herbalist charged in death of 8-year-old diabetic girl
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- An alternative medicine practitioner has been charged with manslaughter in the death of an 8-year-old diabetic after allegedly urging her mother to use herbs as treatment.
Helena Rose Kolitwenzew died Oct. 21 after her mother, Marion, stopped administering insulin, Lt. Sam Constance said Friday.
Lawrence Perry, 46, who operates the General Health Care Facility for Preventive and Alternative Medicine in Columbus, was being held on a manslaughter charge Friday at the Buncombe County Jail on $50,000 bond.
Auction of Hitler memorabilia called 'perverse' behavior
ATLANTA (AP) -- A branch of the Anti-Defamation League says it has received calls protesting the Internet auction of silver pieces believed to have been owned by Adolf Hitler.
Lobster forks, ice cream spoons and a cigarette box are among dozens of items being sold by a Georgia family that acquired them through a family member who was a soldier in World War II.
"We think it would be perverse if an individual bought a fork or a setting and invited people over so they can show them their Hitler plates or cigarette box," said Jay Kaiman, the league's southeast director.
Tobacco firm agrees to fine for N.Y. lobbying offense
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- The Philip Morris tobacco company has agreed to pay $75,000 for failing to report lobbying expenses involving New York lawmakers, a penalty the state attorney general called a "farce."
The deal allows the company to avoid public hearings and state prosecution. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Friday's settlement amounted to a "slap on the wrist."
The Temporary State Commission on Lobbying that joined the settlement with Philip Morris has not referred the issue for possible criminal prosecution.