LAWSUIT SETTLED IN BOY’S DEATH AT ALABAMA AIRPORT: BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A settlement over the death of a boy who was hit by a falling flight information sign inside Birmingham’s airport was approved Wednesday, and the family said they had forgiven the contractors involved.
Luke Bresette, 10, of Overland Park, Kansas, was crushed by a flight information sign that fell inside a renovated section of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in March 2013. His family, returning home from a trip to Destin, Florida, was walking by when the free-standing flight information board toppled over.
Luke’s mother, Heather Bresette, was seriously injured. Two of his younger brothers also were hurt. The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against contractors that were involved in designing, making and installing the sign.
BUS GETS STUCK IN SUBURBAN PHOENIX SINKHOLE: TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — A city bus got stuck in a sinkhole after a water main broke in suburban Phoenix, forcing the passengers and driver to evacuate through the windows.
Tempe police say the back right side of the bus fell into the hole at about 10 a.m. Wednesday. All 11 passengers and the driver got out safely.
It took about two hours for city crews to shut off all the valves and stop the flow of water in the area of Apache Boulevard and McClintock Drive.
Two tow trucks tried to pull the bus from the sinkhole, but authorities say the bus was too heavy. A crane was brought in and hoisted the bus out of the sinkhole around 5 p.m.
Some residents in the area reported water damage in their homes, and the operators of a motel said some guests had to be moved out after water covered the bottom floor.
Authorities say the cause of the water main break hasn’t been determined, but it likely was due to the age of the infrastructure.
2 KAYAKERS ATTACKED BY POSSIBLE GREAT WHITE SHARK: PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Authorities say two women in kayaks taking photographs of seals were attacked by what appears to be a great white shark off Plymouth, Massachusetts. They were not injured.
The women, both in their 20s, were about 150 yards off White Horse Beach in Plymouth Wednesday night when the shark bit one of the kayaks. Both kayacks overturned and the women swam away, as did the shark.
Officials believe a bite mark on one of the kayaks was from a great white shark. The sharks hunt seals off the Massachusetts coast each summer.
CHILD FOUND DEAD IN VEHICLE AT NAVAL AIR STATION: PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (AP) — Navy officials say a 17-month-old boy was found dead in a vehicle at a naval station in southern Maryland.
Public affairs officer Connie Hempel said in a news release that the child was found unresponsive in the back of a vehicle about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Hempel said emergency workers from the station performed CPR but the boy was pronounced dead at 4:15 p.m.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating. NCIS spokesman Ed Buice said in an email late Wednesday that the boy was left in his car by his father, who works at the base.
JUDGE ORDERS ATTORNEY TO WEAR SOCKS IN COURTROOM: HARTFORD CITY, Ind. (AP) — An attorney who habitually appears in court without socks faces sanctions including possible fines if he shows up without them again in one Indiana courtroom.
Blackford Circuit Judge Dean Young issued an Aug. 25 order directing attorney Todd Glickfield of Marion to wear appropriate business attire, including socks and a tie, in future proceedings in Young’s Hartford City courtroom.
Glickfield appeared without socks in Young’s court on Aug. 22. The order says that during a break in proceedings, the court advised Glickfield that he wasn’t appropriately dressed as required by court rules. The order says Glickfield replied, “I hate socks.”
The order also states Glickfield previously appeared in court without a tie and with an open-collared shirt.
PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL SUED OVER GIRL’S ASTHMA DEATH: PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The family of a girl who died of an asthma attack after attending a public school without a nurse has sued the Philadelphia School District.
The wrongful-death lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, said that 12-year-old Laporshia Massey remained at school despite complaining late in the day about breathing problems. She was driven home after school by a staff member Sept. 25, 2013, and died later that day, the lawsuit said.
Bryant Elementary School officials should have called 911, especially with no nurse on duty, lawyer Michael Pomerantz said. The West Philadelphia school had a nurse just two days a week.
“They have a phone there. ... Call 911. Play it safe, especially when you know there’s no one else on the school grounds who was able to assess the situation,” said Pomerantz, who filed the suit on behalf of the girl’s estate.
Students were not allowed to use inhalers or take medicine without a nurse present at Bryant, so Laporshia apparently did not try to use her inhaler at school, the lawsuit said.
SEATTLE PAYS AFTER STUN GUN USE ON PREGNANT WOMAN: SEATTLE (AP) — The city of Seattle has agreed to pay $45,000 to settle a lawsuit with a woman who was stunned with a Taser when she was pregnant because she refused to sign a traffic citation.
In announcing the settlement with Malaika Brooks on Wednesday, City Attorney Pete Holmes said the city and police admit no wrongdoing in the case stemming from her 2004 arrest. Trial was set for November.
Brooks’ baby was born healthy two months after the incident.
Holmes’ office says the Taser was used on Brooks because she resisted arrest after refusing to sign the ticket.
The Legislature has amended the law to say people who refuse to sign a ticket no longer are subject to arrest.
