NUCLEAR PLANT WORKER ARRESTED FOR BRINGING PIPE BOMB TO WORK
PHOENIX (AP) — Security officials at the nation’s largest nuclear power plant detained a contract worker with a small explosive device in the back of his pickup truck Friday, authorities said. The worker was stopped and detained at the entrance of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, said U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks. Security officials then put the nuclear station on lockdown, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving the facility. Authorities described the device as a small capped pipe that contained suspicious residue. Capt. Paul Chagolla with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said sheriff’s officials rendered the device safe and that investigators were interviewing the worker. The incident was considered an “unusual event” — the lowest of four emergencies the plant can declare, said Jim Melfi, an inspector with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. [via ASSOCIATED PRESS]
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THE ENDLESS SAGA OF THE BROTHERS REID: Thrills, Pills & Bellyaches
Additional drug charges against Garrett Reid were announced today in connection with the discovery of 89 pills in his jail cell, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor Jr. He said Reid is being charged with smuggling contraband into the county jail, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and attempted delivery of a controlled substance. Castor interviewed Reid’s cellmate, who told prosecutors that he saw Reid remove the pills from his rectal area. In order to verify the cellmate’s account, Castor said, detectives searched the Reid family home in Villanova last night and found prescription pills that matched the pills found in Reid’s cell. [via INQUIRER]
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BLITZKRIEG BOP: Ex-Ramones Manager Turned Celebrity Realtor Beaten To Death
NEW YORK — Linda Stein beat cancer, survived the Bowery’s seedy punk-rock scene and thrived amid the high-stakes world of Manhattan real estate. Her sudden death Tuesday came in an unexpected way and place: violently, inside her $3 million Fifth Avenue apartment. The brutal bludgeoning of the Stein, 62, dubbed the “Realtor to the Stars” in the years after she quit rock ‘n’ roll for real estate, left behind shaken friends and family as police searched yesterday for her killer. A team of detectives was interviewing employees at her posh doorman building, and reviewing security videotape. Friends like Madonna and Elton John recalled Stein’s indomitable personality, and her triumph against breast cancer. Other celebrity friends and clients included Sting, Billy Joel, Steven Spielberg and Angelina Jolie. Stein was at the epicenter of punk rock, co-managing the Ramones. [via ASSOCIATED PRESS]
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ROUGH JUSTICE: Ex-Seaport Museum Prez Gets 15 Years In The Brig
The former president of the Independence Seaport Museum, John S. Carter, who took more than $1.5 million in museum funds to finance a lavish lifestyle, was sentenced today to 15 years in federal prison. The sentence was among the harshest handed down in federal court in Philadelphia for a white-collar crime in recent years. It was longer than the seven-year sentence former City Councilman Rick Mariano received and the 10-year term issued to city treasurer Corey Kemp. U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick said such a long sentence was justified, in part, because Carter tried to steal another $1 million by converting a museum life insurance policy after the FBI raided his home, and, after his guilty plea, lied to the IRS about his assets. [via the INQUIRER]