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© St. Petersburg Times, published December 6, 2002
Small plane crashes into bank building, killing pilot
MIAMI -- A small plane crashed into the Federal Reserve Bank Building on Thursday night, killing the male pilot and forcing the evacuation of more than 100 people attending a holiday season party, authorities said. No one in the building was injured.
The small single-engine plane, a Four Winds 192 experimental aircraft, struck the front of the one-story building at 8:37, officials said. A fire broke out, but there appeared to be no structural damage to the building, only some broken windows and some charring.
"When we first came out and walked around the side, it was really hard to determine that it was a plane," said vice president and branch manager Jay Curry, who was attending the party along with current and former bank directors.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown in Washington said the crash appeared to be accidental.
Based on communications between the pilot and air traffic controllers, the FAA thinks the plane was coming from Marathon in the Florida Keys and headed for New Smyrna Beach on the central East Coast, Brown said. "It appears the plane was not trying to land anywhere near Miami, just flying near the airspace."
The bank building also houses the Miami bureau of the Associated Press. It is just north of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military activities in 32 nations and 12 dependencies in Latin America and the Caribbean.
She was elected to Congress barely a month ago, but Katherine Harris has landed a leadership role in the U.S. House.
The chamber's third-ranking Republican on Thursday tapped Harris, R-Sarasota, as an assistant majority whip.
The job is to help the controlling GOP push through key legislation by rounding up votes.
In the past Congress, 40 to 50 members belonged to the Republican whip organization. Still, Harris now enjoys more clout than many freshmen, according to Larry Dodd, a professor of political science at the University of Florida.
House Majority Whip-elect Roy Blunt, R-Mo., announced Harris' selection during her orientation Thursday in Washington.
Harris could not be reached for comment. In a press release, she said: "Being appointed assistant majority whip will give the citizens in southwest Florida a much more active role in Congress."
LAKELAND -- A man has been charged with manslaughter after authorities allege he sold his prescription drugs to a man who died of a methadone overdose March 30.
David Schultz, 46, was charged in the death of Steven Morgan. He also was charged with two counts of the sale of methadone.
Officials linked Schultz to Morgan through a prescription bottle found during a search of Morgan's home, according to a Sheriff's Office report. Schultz told authorities he sold the painkiller to Morgan on March 29, the report said. Schultz said it was the second time Morgan bought the drug from him.
Schultz was being held Thursday at the Polk County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail.