Florida
8 charged in theft of 23,000 Apple iPhones at airport
MIAMI (AP) - Eight people have been charged in the theft of 23,000 Apple iPhones using a disguised tractor-trailer to steal the cargo at Miami International Airport.
The FBI said in a news release Tuesday that the suspects were arrested in the Miami area. They face conspiracy to possess stolen goods and other federal charges. The stolen phones are valued at $6.7 million.
According to a grand jury indictment, the group used false identification and a tractor-trailer altered to appear like it belonged to a legitimate company to steal the iPhones in April.
The phones were hidden in a rental storage unit and many were sold to unidentified buyers, often dozens at a time. It's unclear if any stolen phones have been recovered.
Washington
Court-martialed colonel gets 4 years for kid porn
WASHINGTON (AP) - An Army colonel who worked at the U.S. Army War College faces up to four years in military prison after pleading guilty to three child pornography counts during a court-martial at Fort McNair in Washington.
The Military District of Washington says in a statement that Col. Robert Rice was convicted and sentenced Monday. The sentence also includes dismissal from the Army after his confinement.
The findings and sentence will be reviewed by the district commander, Maj. Gen. Bradley Becker.
Rice was convicted of similar charges in civilian court in May. He is scheduled for sentencing in December for those convictions in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
He was arrested in 2013.
Mississippi
Judge issues stay in lawsuit over new solar plant
ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP) - A civil case over a planned solar plant to be built on the north end of Aberdeen has been postponed.
Circuit Court Judge Jim Pounds stayed the case for 30 days to give National Energy Partners time to secure new attorneys.
NEP sued the city for breach of contract in April. A hearing was scheduled Monday but NEP's three attorneys withdrew as counsel on Friday.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports the city and NEP signed an agreement in December 2012 where NEP would build a solar power system and sell electricity to the city over a 25-year period. In September 2014, NEP was assigned the rights for the project. When little progress was made over the next 12 months, the city and then-mayor Cecil Belle canceled the contract and looked to another company to build the generating plant.
NEP argued that the signed agreement required the city to make any complaints in writing and allowed NEP time to correct any problems.
The city countered that the agreement was invalid.
As mayor, Belle signed the document but it was never formally approved by the board of aldermen. According to the city charter, for it to be an official binding document, it must be approved by the board and spread over the board minutes.
While waiting for that motion to be heard, the case took several twists. In early October, an NEP representative offered a settlement agreement that would give the solar group 30 days to remedy any problems. Two weeks later, the board voted 4-1 against the settlement.
Because NEP went against the advice of its counsel by offering the settlement, the three attorneys asked to withdraw.
West Virginia
Police: High on heroin, mom crashed car with son in backseat
DUNBAR, W.Va. (AP) - Police in West Virginia say a woman was overdosing on heroin when she crashed her car into a restaurant with her 2-year-old son in the backseat.
News outlets report 28-year-old Kristin Tippett is charged with child neglect creating risk of injury.
On Tuesday, Dunbar police found Tippett passed out in the driver's seat after her car went across a Wendy's drive-thru lane before crashing into the building in reverse.
Her son was in the backseat. Police say Tippett was unresponsive for nearly 15 minutes until she was given a dose of Naloxone, an overdose reversal drug.
Tippett told police she had taken heroin minutes before and didn't know what happened.
Ohio
Advocates for the homeless appeal state voting rules
WASHINGTON (AP) - Advocates for the homeless and the Ohio Democratic Party filed a longshot appeal with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking the justices to block election rules that could disqualify thousands of absentee and provisional ballots because of minor mistakes or omissions.
The high court typically is reluctant to impose last-minute changes on election procedures. But the lawyers filing the appeal with less than two weeks until Nov. 8 election said the ballots in question would only be counted after polls close in any case, so a court order would not interfere with the election.
The emergency appeal was filed with Justice Elena Kagan, who oversees such appeals from Ohio and neighboring states.
Earlier this month, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted ordered elections boards to count provisional ballots with some minor mistakes if voters' identity and eligibility can otherwise be verified.
But the appeal to the Supreme Court said Husted's order did not go far enough and could itself be overturned by a state court.
Texas
Better security proposed a year after judge shot
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Experts looking at safety of Texas judges nearly a year after an Austin jurist was shot have suggested removing some personal information of the elected officials from public databases.
After the 2015 incident, members of the Texas Judicial Council panel, a special committee made up of judges and lawmakers, were tasked to make recommendations to the Legislature aimed at keeping judges safe at home and work. The group's 19-page report was finalized Monday.
The report emphasizes the need to create a security director to work with the state's 254 counties on court safety. Committee authors emphasized that this individual could provide "a centralized resource to learn of best practices in court security."
Among other recommendations, the committee also calls for specialized training for courthouse security and judges, the creation of local security panels and increases in funding for to improve security measures.
Judge Julie Kocurek was shot Nov. 6 as she sat in a car outside her home. She recovered and has returned to work.
Three men have been arrested on allegations they conspired to have the judge killed.
Published: Thu, Oct 27, 2016
