Nation in brief: Prosecutor charges two 911 operators
Two 911 operators who authorities say wrongly assumed it was a prank when a 5-year-old boy called to report that his mother had collapsed have been charged with neglect of duty.
By the time an officer arrived, the boy’s 46-year-old mother was dead.
“I understand they get a quite a few crank calls, but you have to take it seriously when someone calls 911,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Wednesday in announcing charges against Sharon Nichols, 43, and Terri Sutton, 47.
They could get a year in jail if convicted of the misdemeanor.
Kimberly Harris, president of the dispatchers union, called the charges “absolutely ludicrous” and said the operators could not hear the boy’s call well because they use antiquated headsets.
Boston
JFK Library adding $22 million wing
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum plans to add a $22 million wing to house papers and other items from Sen. Edward Kennedy.
The new wing will also house artifacts from other Kennedy relatives and members of JFK’s administration.
The museum has run out of exhibition space and many items are kept off site. Officials hope to break ground next year on the two-story, 30,000-square-foot wing.
Washington
Oil refinery bill passes in House
The House approved legislation Wednesday that supporters said will make it easier for oil companies to build or expand refineries, although opponents said it could lead to more pollution and less local involvement in the siting of refineries.
The bill’s sponsors argued that refinery constraints have added to the tight gasoline market that has seen prices at the pump soar to more than $3 a gallon across most of the country. But they acknowledged the measure is not intended to address this summer’s high gas prices.
Earlier in the day at a House hearing, the head of the Energy Department’s statistical agencies said he expects crude oil prices – which have been hovering above $70 a barrel – to remain high into next year.
The House passed the refinery legislation by a vote of 238-179. But its prospects in the Senate are uncertain. Last year a similar bill failed to get out of committee amid solid opposition by Democrats and moderate Republicans.