DETROIT — A federal appeals court on Thursday intervened to block the release of nine members of a Michigan militia accused of plotting to overthrow the government, dealing a setback to the defendants as they gathered in a courtroom hoping to rejoin their families. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati issued a temporary stay about 12 hours after a federal judge in Detroit said she would no longer freeze her Monday decision releasing the nine with electronic monitors and other restrictions. The militia members were returned to jail after a magistrate judge announced the appeals court decision.
West Virginia: Mines closed
Federal regulators temporarily closed six underground coal mines in Kentucky after turning up hundreds of violations during a mid-April inspection blitz following an explosion that killed 29 miners in West Virginia. The Mine Safety and Health Administration said Thursday it has since sued two of the operations for tipping off workers that federal inspectors were on the property. Overall, MSHA says it issued more than 1,300 citations during the five-day blitz.
D.C.: Palin endorses Fiorina
Sarah Palin endorsed former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina in the Republican U.S. Senate primary in California, a lift for the GOP hopeful in a three-way race with an ex-congressman and tea party-backed candidate. The former vice presidential candidate said on her Facebook page that Fiorina’s experience running a major corporation was sorely lacking in Washington. “Her fiscal conservatism is rooted in real life experience,” Palin said. “She knows that when government grows, the private sector shrinks under the burden of debt and deficits.”
Kentucky: Deadly accident
An Alabama truck driver was on his cell phone sending and receiving calls leading up to a crash that killed him and 10 other people in March, Kentucky State Police said in a report. The 28-page report also said that 45-year-old Kenneth Laymon of Jasper, Ala., was driving in excess of the 70 mph speed limit and did not have his tractor-trailer under control when he crossed the median on March 26 and struck a van carrying Mennonites to a wedding in Iowa. The report said Laymon tried braking 96 feet after entering the median, and a witness said Laymon may have been traveling 80 mph when the accident happened near Munfordville.
Illinois: Nail painting crash
After hearing two days of testimony, a Lake County jury has convicted a woman who was painting her nails while driving when she struck and killed a motorcyclist at a red light. Lora Hunt, of Morris, was found guilty of reckless homicide in the death of Anita Zaffke in Lake Zurich on May 2. Hunt’s lawyer said Hunt has admitted that painting her nails while driving was a “stupid, stupid thing.” But he argued that it was no different than eating a sandwich, talking on a cell phone or tending to a baby.
Holland: Boeing altimeter
A common malfunction with Boeing radio altimeters, compounded by several errors by pilots, led to last year’s fatal crash by a Turkish Airlines plane as it dropped short of the runway at Amsterdam’s airport, according to investigators’ final report released Thursday. Flight TK1951 — a Boeing 737 carrying 135 passengers and crew from Istanbul — crashed 1 mile from Schiphol Airport on Feb. 25, 2009. The three pilots were among nine people killed. The Dutch Safety Board investigation affirmed its initial findings that a faulty altimeter played a key role in the crash.
Ireland: Ash blocks flights
Iceland’s volcano has produced a 1,000-mile-wide ash cloud off the coast of Ireland that will force western Irish airports to shut down again today, the Irish Aviation Authority said. The authority said winds, currently coming from the north, had bundled recent days’ erupted ash into a massive cloud that is growing both in width and height by the hour. Eurocontrol said the ash accumulation is gradually climbing to 35,000 feet and into the typical cruising altitude of trans-Atlantic aircraft.
Grenada: 2 are decapitated
A man who allegedly carried two severed human heads into a police station was denied bail on Thursday after a large crowd gathered outside a courthouse and hurled insults at him. Steve Gorrie, 36, did not say anything in court or show any emotion, and he was not accompanied by an attorney. Police said Gorrie showed up at a precinct Monday night carrying the heads in a plastic bucket. Police said they found the headless bodies of a farmhand and the owner of a local tavern in a field.
From Herald news services
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