Nation in brief: Volcano shows signs of erupting

One of Alaska’s most active volcanoes could be working toward a massive eruption that could affect air travel but was not expected to threaten any of the towns in the area, scientists said Thursday.

Satellite images of Pavlof Volcano taken Thursday showed strong thermal readings, consistent with what the Alaska Volcano Observatory is calling a “vigorous eruption of lava” at the volcano about 590 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula.

The volcano is below the path of hundreds of daily international flight paths, and an explosive eruption could interrupt those operations, said Steve McNutt, a volcano seismologist with the observatory. Volcanic ash can enter an engine and make it seize up, he said.

Shelbyville, Ind.

Indiana woman, 114, is world’s oldest

A 114-year-old Indiana woman who became the world’s oldest person this week celebrated the distinction Thursday with a slice of her favorite cake.

Edna Parker, who has outlived her husband, children and siblings, was confirmed as the world’s oldest known person when Yone Mnagawa, a Japanese woman four months her senior, died Monday.

Dressed in a pink polka-dot dress and costume pearl jewelry, Parker was wheeled before television cameras and reporters Thursday in a dining room at the central Indiana nursing home where she lives. Clutching two old photographs – including one from the early 1900s of her and her sisters wearing floppy hats – she shook her head when reminded of her feat of longevity.

Parker said she never drank alcohol or tried tobacco and led an active life. But instead of tips on living a long life, her only advice to those gathered was: “More education.”

Kansas City, Mo.

Man charged in wife’s deadly fall

A man who told police he threw his ailing wife off their fourth-floor balcony because he couldn’t afford to pay for her medical care was arraigned Thursday on charges of second-degree murder.

Stanley J. Reimer, 51, appeared in Jackson County Circuit Court to hear the charge in the death late Tuesday of Criste Reimer, 47.

Reimer walked his wife to the balcony of their apartment Tuesday night and threw her over, according to court documents filed in Jackson County Circuit Court.

In the probable cause statement, police said Reimer told them he could no longer pay the bills for his wife’s treatment for neurological problems and uterine cancer.

Criste Reimer had been in ill health for several years, according to Jackson County Probate Court records. Her weight had fallen to 75 pounds, and she was partly blind. Court records also said she had no health insurance to pay for medical bills that ranged from $700 to $800 per week.

Nashville, Tenn.

Fatal heat wave shuts down reactor

Unrelenting heat that has baked the Midwest and South for the past 10 days has killed more than three dozen people, even forcing officials Thursday to shut down part of a nuclear reactor in Alabama because the river water used to cool it was too hot.

In Tennessee, the Shelby County medical examiner’s office confirmed Thursday that heat caused the death of a 53-year-old man found in his apartment the day before, bringing the death toll in Memphis alone to eight.

In all, 37 deaths in the South and Midwest have been confirmed as heat-related, and heat is suspected in 10 more, authorities said.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public utility, shut down one of three units at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Athens, Ala., because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90-degree average over 24 hours.