Around the state

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 2, 2001

Plan to dump ash in Broward is dumped

POMPANO BEACH -- Plans to reburn and dump 3,000 tons of 15-year-old Philadelphia incinerator ash in South Florida were scrapped, and Florida officials are asking that the ash be moved out of the state.

The change of mind Wednesday by state regulators and Waste Management Inc. officials came less than a week after the state approved the company's plan to incinerate the ash again at its Pompano Beach plant and dump it at a Broward County landfill.

Angry Broward officials had warned the company Tuesday of economic reprisals.

The load, currently on a barge in Stuart, was originally part of a 14,000-ton ash shipment that began its journey from Philadelphia on a bulk cargo ship in late 1986. It has been rejected in ports worldwide.

Former coach gets 30 years in sex case

PALATKA -- A former assistant youth baseball coach was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for sex acts involving a male teenager.

George Charlie Johns, 36, of Interlachen was convicted last month of lewd or lascivious assault on a child and two counts of attempted sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority.

During the two-day trial, jurors heard testimony from the victim, an 18-year-old who was between 15 and 17 when the abuse occurred. The teenager had needed a place to live, and Johns had offered him a home, Assistant State Attorney Melissa Moore said.

Thrasher rates a presidential dig

WASHINGTON -- President Bush singled out former Florida House Speaker John Thrasher at a White House event promoting Bush's disabilities agenda Thursday. But it might not have been the recognition Thrasher was looking for.

Spotting the ex-speaker in the back of the room, President Bush shouted, "Thrasher! Glad to see you passed the security check."

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