In brief: Boeing nears deal to open China operation

SEATTLE – Boeing is close to reaching a deal with the Chinese government to open a 737 jet completion and delivery center in China.

A person familiar with the details said an announcement could be made during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Seattle later this month.

Final assembly of the 737 airframes will remain in Renton, Washington, which employs about 12,000 people, about half of those production workers.

However, those jets destined for Chinese carriers – between a quarter and a third of all 737s built – will be flown empty to a new Chinese facility for installation of interiors, exterior painting, customer flight tests and delivery, according to the person familiar with the plan.

Such a deal would create Boeing’s most significant overseas commercial-aircraft venture, granting it new leverage in the world’s biggest aviation market.

Though Boeing has long had an extensive global supply chain, this would be the first time its jets are to be finished and delivered outside the U.S.

Boeing’s move is closely linked to its plan to greatly ramp up production from 42 jets to 52 jets per month by 2018 and possibly higher later, said the person familiar with the plan.

That planned ramp-up depends crucially on Boeing gaining market access to China at least equal to that of Airbus, he said.

Three dead, five injured at Oklahoma prison

CUSHING, Okla. – Three inmates were dead and five injured after a disturbance at an Oklahoma prison, a spokesman for a private company that owns and operates the facility said Saturday.

Staff at Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing quelled an inmate disturbance about 4:40 p.m. Saturday, said Steve Owen of Nashville, Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America. He said the incident lasted about 40 minutes and was contained to one housing pod.

No staff members were injured. The inmates who were hurt were taken to hospitals. It’s not clear what caused their injuries.

Owen said the prison was placed on lockdown and inmates confined to their housing areas. The facility about 50 miles southwest of Tulsa in northeast Oklahoma houses medium- and maximum-security male inmates for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

The incident occurred in a medium-security portion of the prison, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terri Watkins said. The prison houses about 1,600 inmates, she said.

Owen said the incident remains under investigation.

In June, between 200 and 300 inmates were involved in a brawl at the prison. Eleven prisoners were taken to hospitals after the fight and the facility was placed on lockdown. The fighting occurred among inmates in three housing units. No correctional workers were injured.

Boy, 13, faces assault charge in forced kiss

PIKESVILLE, Md. – A 13-year-old boy in Maryland has been charged with assault after police said he grabbed a fellow eighth-grader and kissed her.

Administrators at Pikesville Middle School notified the school resource officer of the incident on Wednesday morning.

Baltimore County police said the 14-year-old girl told the officer the boy grabbed her by her shirt near her stomach, pulled her toward him and kissed her against her will. The boy said someone dared him to do it, according to police.

The boy was charged as a juvenile with second-degree assault and released to his mother.

County schools spokesman Mychael Dickerson said the boy faces school disciplinary action for violating the code of conduct.