Massachusetts
2 men charged after $20M of cocaine seized
BOSTON – Federal prosecutors in Boston say two men face drug charges after the Coast Guard allegedly found them transporting about $20 million in cocaine on a sailboat in international waters about 400 nautical miles east of the U.S.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said 27-year-old Hicham Ramzi Nahra of Canada, and 49-year-old Benjamin Celma-Sedo of Spain, were charged in a criminal complaint Friday with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Prosecutors say the men had about 621 kilograms on the boat Callisto, bound for Montreal. It’s not immediately known if the men have attorneys.
The Coast Guard Cutter Dependable found the 49-foot boat, carrying the name Elegrance and flying a Candian flag, on Monday. Canadian authorities discovered wasn’t a Canadian vessel. Prosecutors say it was identified as Callisto, whose last port of call was Venezuela.
California
Utility asks public to pay $800M for nuke plant
SAN DIEGO – The San Diego power utility that co-owns a recently shuttered nuclear power plant wants to recover its investments by collecting more than $800 million from customers.
The California Public Utilities Commission is evaluating the request from San Diego Gas & Electric, which owns a 20 percent stake in the San Onofre power plant on Southern California’s coast.
San Onofre was initially shut down in 2012 after a small radiation leak led to the discovery of heavily damaged tubing in its virtually new steam generators. The plant was formally retired in June.
New York
Towers scrape new heights with mounting ‘vanity’ spires
NEW YORK – Tall buildings aren’t what they used to be.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat says the developers of many new super-skyscrapers have been sticking huge, useless needles on top of them, so they can be marketed as being among the world’s tallest.
The trend means that many towers now appearing on lists of super-tall buildings actually have fewer floors than the old behemoths they are knocking out of the top ranks.
New York’s unfinished One World Trade Center is among the top offenders, because of the 408-foot needle installed on its roof.
But it’s hardly the worst in terms of “vanity height.”
The Chicago-based council says 44 of the world’s 72 tallest buildings got over the symbolic 300 meter mark by adding a decorative spire.
Utah
Lynn DeBruin, former writer for Colo. paper, dies at 51
SALT LAKE CITY – Lynn DeBruin, who worked for The Associated Press covering sports since 2010 and had been a writer with the Rocky Mountain News and the East Valley Tribune, has died. She was 51.
DeBruin died in a Denver hospice early Saturday, said her sister, Linda Luther-Veno, who was present along with friends. DeBruin had been battling cancer.
DeBruin joined the AP in 2010 to cover the Jazz, college athletics and winter sports in Utah. She reported on the surprise resignation of Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan in 2011 after 1,127 wins. She was the lead reporter for the AP when Brigham Young University made its run to the Sweet 16 behind rising star Jimmer Fredette.
Her professional career also included coverage of the World Series, six Super Bowls and golf’s majors. She spent 10 years as an NFL beat writer, first in Arizona, then with the Broncos for John Elway’s final Super Bowl.
Associated Press
