uPHOENIX (AP) — The state’s largest electric utility is telling its regulators that two more customers died after their power was disconnected for not paying their bills.
Arizona Public Service told the state Corporation Commission Wednesday that it settled lawsuits stemming from deaths last July and in 2011.
APS reviewed its records after questions from commissioners regarding the September death of a 72-year-old Sun City West woman. The commission last month barred all disconnections by regulated utilities between June 1 and Oct 15.
The letter from APS executive Barbara Lockwood didn’t identify the customers who died or reveal what the utility paid. She also noted two other claims by people who said their health was affected by disconnections.
Lockwood said in all four cases there were other factors affecting the customers’ health.
uSEVERAL STABBED AT BLOOD PLASMA CENTER IN VIRGINIA: PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) — A man stabbed several people at a blood plasma donation center in Virginia on Thursday before he was taken into custody, authorities said.
The stabbings took place inside the Octapharma Plasma center in Petersburg, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Richmond, WTVR TV quoted Petersburg Police Chief Kenneth Miller as saying.
An unknown number of victims were wounded by a “cutting instrument,” The Richmond Times-Dispatch quoted Petersburg police Lt. Dustin Sloan as saying. Sloan said earlier Thursday that the victims were “stable,” without elaborating.
Southside Regional Medical Center officials said in a news release Thursday that the facility had received three victims from the attack: one male who was in critical condition and was transferred to a different hospital; a female who was listed in fair condition; and a female who was listed in good condition.
Authorities have not identified the suspect. He was being questioned Thursday evening, the newspaper said.
uPOLICE: 2 ARRESTED IN KILLING OF INDIANA TEEN SELLING XBOX: GARY, Ind. (AP) — Authorities in northwest Indiana say two people have been arrested in connection with the shooting death of a 16-year-old who was attempting to sell an Xbox.
Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez tells the Post-Tribune a 17-year-old and 18-year-old were taken into custody Wednesday after the office’s tactical unit executed search warrants at two homes, one in Gary and one in Crown Point. Martinez adds the two are being held in the Lake County jail.
Gary officials previously said that Johnny Peluyera of Merrillville was shot June 12 after he and his father arranged to sell the gaming console to someone who had contacted them online.
Martinez says authorities will seek to charge the 17-year-old as an adult.
uSEVERAL STABBED AT BLOOD PLASMA CENTER IN VIRGINIA: PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) — A man stabbed several people at a blood plasma donation center in Virginia on Thursday before he was taken into custody, authorities said.
The stabbings took place inside the Octapharma Plasma center in Petersburg, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Richmond, WTVR TV quoted Petersburg Police Chief Kenneth Miller as saying.
An unknown number of victims were wounded by a “cutting instrument,” The Richmond Times-Dispatch quoted Petersburg police Lt. Dustin Sloan as saying. Sloan said earlier Thursday that the victims were “stable,” without elaborating.
Southside Regional Medical Center officials said in a news release Thursday that the facility had received three victims from the attack: one male who was in critical condition and was transferred to a different hospital; a female who was listed in fair condition; and a female who was listed in good condition.
Authorities have not identified the suspect. He was being questioned Thursday evening, the newspaper said.
uSWEET! FLORIDA MAN WINS JULY 4 KEY LIME PIE-EATING CONTEST: KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — A Key West man has won the Mile-High Key Lime Pie Eatin’ Contest on the subtropical island where the pie originated.
David Johnson plunged face-first into a 9-inch (23-centimeter) pie smothered with whipped cream during Thursday’s challenge. The rules forbid contestants from using their hands.
He consumed it in 58.2 seconds, besting 24 rivals in the kickoff of the annual Key Lime Festival.
Key lime pie was designated Florida’s official pie in 2006 by the state legislature. Ingredients are condensed milk, egg yolks and the juice of tiny yellow Key limes, typically with a graham cracker crust and whipped cream or meringue topping.
The festival ends Sunday after events including tasting strolls and an offbeat Key Lime Pie Drop.
uMOWER STRIKES, KILLS MAN SLEEPING ON SIDE OF OREGON HIGHWAY: SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say a man who was sleeping in the grass on the side of an Oregon highway died after he was hit by a mower.
The Statesman Journal reports a state Department of Transportation employee was mowing along the shoulder of state Highway 42 near the rural community of Tenmile on Tuesday morning. Tenmile is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Eugene.
Oregon State Police say the mower struck 49-year-old Keith Ericson.
Emergency personnel tried to give first aid to Ericson, but he did not survive.
uTRANSGENDER WOMAN ARRESTED AFTER BATHROOM DISPUTE ESCALATES: SHELBY, N.C. (AP) — The Denny’s restaurant chain wants its customers to know that they can use the bathroom of their gender identity, nationwide, after a transgender woman was arrested this weekend in North Carolina.
News outlets say a man called police when the transgender woman used the same bathroom as his wife at a Denny’s in Shelby, North Carolina.
Responding officers informed the man that the 22-year-old transgender woman broke no law. But their dispute escalated, and the transgender woman was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly spitting toward the man and his family.
A Denny’s statement says the company “does not tolerate discrimination of any kind” and expects customers to treat people equally.
