Mayor reportedly proposes plea deal

Lawyers for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have proposed a deal in which he would resign, plead guilty to two felonies, make restitution and serve five years’ probation in exchange for avoiding jail time, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Detroit Free Press quoted “a source familiar with all aspects of the negotiations” as saying Kilpatrick’s legal team also said he would give up his law license, not run for office for two years and do 300 hours of community service.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy hadn’t accepted the offer, the newspaper said.

A person briefed on the talks told the Associated Press on Sunday that the prosecutor’s office would not agree to any type of plea that doesn’t involve jail time. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Kilpatrick, 38, is charged with 10 felonies in two cases. He also faces removal proceedings set to begin Wednesday.

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill.

Chemical spill sickens workers

One of two Missouri hospital emergency rooms reopened Sunday, a day after being shut down under quarantine when eight people sickened by a dangerous chemical’s release sought treatment.

Price McCarty, an FBI spokesman in Springfield, Ill., said the chemical release Saturday at the Ro-Corp. plant caused no deaths, countering a statement earlier Sunday by an East St. Louis’ city official that two people had died.

The chemical, which authorities said was likely the highly toxic material nitroaniline, was released when a barrel was dropped at the Ro-Corp. plant.

The eight people sickened – identified by the FBI as mostly Ro-Corp. workers – remained hospitalized Sunday.

Nitroaniline – commonly used in the synthesis of dyes, pharmaceuticals, gasoline and poultry medicines, and as a corrosion inhibitor – can cause vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions and respiratory arrest.