The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Anybody who’s operating in the northeast corridor is having a bad day today.”

Josh Marks, chief executive officer of airline data tracker MasFlight, as Thursday’s airline cancellations surged to the most since 2012’s Hurricane Sandy Article, 1A

N.C. coal ash spill leads to federal probe

RALEIGH, N.C. - Federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation of a coal ash spill into a North Carolina river, demanding that Duke Energy and state regulators hand over reams of documents related to the accident that left a waterway polluted with tons of toxic sludge.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Raleigh issued grand jury subpoenas seeking records from Duke and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The subpoenas seek emails, memos and reports related to the Feb. 2 spill into the Dan River and the state’s oversight of the company’s 30 other coal ash dumps in North Carolina.

The Associated Press obtained a copy Thursday of the subpoena issued to the state through a public-records request. The exact crime and precisely who is being targeted for potential prosecution is not stated in the document.

A Duke spokesman confirmed the nation’s largest electricity provider had also received a subpoena.

Thomas Walker, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said he could not comment on the subpoenas.

The spill at a Duke Energy plant in Eden spewed enough toxic sludge to fill 73 Olympic-sized pools, turning the river’s water a milky gray for miles. It was the third-largest coal ash spill in U.S. history.

State health officials have advised that people not eat fish from the river and avoid contact with the water. Coal ash contains arsenic, lead, mercury and a host of other chemicals that are highly toxic to humans and aquatic life.

Democrats push for minimum-wage vote

CAMBRIDGE, Md. - House Democrats are planning maneuvers meant to draw more attention to Republicans’ resistance to a higher national minimum wage.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that her party will push a discharge petition, which brings a bill out of committee to the floor for consideration, to force a vote on the minimum-wage matter when Congress returns from its recess Feb. 24.

Advocates for immigration changes want priority given to a discharge petition on that subject. Pelosi said an immigration discharge petition may come later this year.

Most congressional Republicans oppose a higher minimum wage. Democrats have said most Americans support it.

Democrats would have to persuade roughly two dozen House Republicans to sign a petition to force GOP leaders to bring minimum wage to a vote.

Son-in-law charged in explosion deaths

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The son-in-law of a Tennessee couple killed by an exploding package at their home has been charged with first-degree murder in their deaths.

Richard Parker also is charged with unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon, said state fire marshal’s office spokesman Katelyn Abernathy.

Federal agents said a package that had been delivered to the couple’s Lebanon, Tenn., home exploded around 5 p.m. Monday. Jon Setzer, 74, was pronounced dead at the scene. Marion Setzer, 72, was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she died two days later.

Abernathy said she did not have information on a possible motive for the bombing.

Jon Setzer had been a longtime lawyer in Nashville, mostly working on wills and trusts, but was in declining health in recent years, said Nashville lawyer George Cate Jr., who was in practice with Jon Setzer from 1979-1991.

Marathon bombings tribute set April 15

BOSTON - A tribute to victims, survivors and first responders will be held on the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260, race organizers announced Thursday.

The April 15 tribute will feature speakers representing families of those affected by the bombings, medical staff members who treated patients, responding government agencies and civic leaders. It will conclude with a flag-raising ceremony and brief moment of silence.

Prosecutors allege that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, built and planted two pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line of the marathon. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a shootout with police several days later.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded innocent to 30 federal counts, including using a weapon of mass destruction. He faces the possibility of the death penalty at a trial set for Nov. 3.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 02/14/2014

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