Woman accused in mother’s overdose death sentenced
KALAMAZOO (AP) — A woman who entered a plea deal after being charged in her 87-year-old mother’s overdose death has been sentenced to 5-15 years in prison.
Susan Kubicek, 60, of Portage learned her punishment Monday after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the May 2017 death of Dorothy Allen.
Kalamazoo County authorities say Allen got a morphine dose 80 times greater than what was prescribed.
The Kalamazoo Gazette reports defense attorney Ronald Pichlik says Kubicek is remorseful. Kubicek told the court she was trying to follow a nurse’s instructions.
Kubicek, who’d been caring for her ailing mother, was initially charged with second-degree murder.
Stephen Salik, Allen’s son and Kubicek’s brother, said her actions “put a scar on my heart, on my family’s heart.”
Civilian officers get attention of agency
DETROIT (AP) — A state agency that certifies police officers says it will study the large number of civilian officers who operate with no oversight.
The Detroit Free Press says a three-member committee has been formed by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, weeks after the newspaper reported that the state hasn’t created training requirements for civilian officers.
Michael Wendling, chairman of the commission, says the issue will be a priority in 2019. He says reserve officers have a legitimate role in law enforcement.
The officers’ responsibilities range from directing traffic to assisting with patrols, raids and arrests.
Treasure hunter flip flops on returning missing gold coins
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A treasure hunter has taken back a pledge to turn over 500 missing coins minted from gold found in a shipwreck off the South Carolina coast.
The Columbus Dispatch reports Tommy Thompson agreed in early November to deliver the coins to a court-appointed receiver by Nov. 18 to settle a lawsuit brought by an investor.
The paper says the deal fell apart when Thompson said he has no idea how to obtain the coins.
Thompson found the S.S. Central America in 1988 after convincing more than 100 investors to fund the voyage for nearly $13 million.
Thompson never repaid the investors. He became a fugitive and fled to Florida.
Tutu awards prize to Florida school shooting survivors
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A group of young Americans who campaigned against gun violence after surviving a deadly shooting at their Florida school have received a prize from former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Tutu said the students showed that “children can move the world” and he compared the U.S. movement for gun control that they started to other big peace movements.
The Nobel laureate, who is 87 and has health problems, attended the ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa for the International Children's Peace Prize, an initiative of the Netherlands-based KidsRights Foundation.
The prize went to David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, Jaclyn Corin and Matt Deitsch, who were students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when 17 people were killed there on Valentine's Day.
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