Georgia man facing prison for gun disguised as ink pen

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A supermarket company has agreed to reduce emissions of ozone-depleting gases from refrigeration equipment at more than 500 stores in seven southeastern states, federal authorities said Friday.

The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency reached the agreement with Southeastern Grocers Inc. and its subsidiaries to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, according to a DOJ news release.

The company, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, owns and operates BI-LO, Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-dixie grocery stores.

The supermarket company failed to promptly repair leaks of refrigerator coolants, failed to keep adequate service records and failed to provide information about its compliance record, the release says.

The company will spend about $4.2 million over the next three years to reduce coolant leaks and to improve compliance at 576 stores. It will also pay a $300,000 civil penalty.

The settlement will help assure the company’s “future compliance with the Clean Air Act’s ozone-depletion program — by requiring leak monitoring, centralized computer recordkeeping, and searchable electronic reporting to EPA,” Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of DOJ’S Environment and Natural Resources Division said in the release.

“These steps will not only help to prevent damage to the environment, but should also help save energy,” EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Susan Bodine said in the release.

The company did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment Friday.

The agreement says the company will maintain an annual, companywide average leak rate of 17% through 2022. The release says the grocery store sector average leak rate is 25%.

Under the Clean Air Act, owners and operators of commercial refrigeration equipment with more than 50 pounds of ozone-depleting refrigerants must repair leaks within 30 days.

The company’s website says its stores are found in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.

DOJ says the settlement is the fourth in a string of grocery refrigerant cases. Previous settlements were reached with Safeway Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., and Trader Joe’s Co.

A Georgia man faces a federal prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to carrying a homemade gun that was disguised as an ink pen.

U.S. Attorney Charles Peeler’s office said in a news release Friday that 28-year-old Billy Christopher Evans of Macon admitted he made the weapon, which fired a .22-caliber bullet from what appeared to be an ink pen measuring less than 5 inches long.

Federal prosecutors said Bibb County sheriff’s deputies found the pen gun when they searched Evans after being called to a hotel where he was acting erratically in November 2017. Investigators successfully fired the pen gun at a test range.

Evans pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of possessing an unregistered firearm. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

MACON — Candy suspected in student illnesses not drug-infused JACKSON —

Authorities in Georgia say candy that is believed to have sickened several students at a middle school was not drug-infused.

Henderson Middle School in Jackson said in a statement that several students reported feeling ill after ingesting the candy Friday.

The Butts County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that tests showed the candy did not contain drugs. The post also said that the packaging and the children’s symptoms seemed similar to those of cannabis edibles.

Investigators determined the candy had come from a food bank in Hampton. The post said it may have been contaminated.

Todd Simpson, the interim superintendent for Butts County Schools, told the AJC one child was taken to a hospital out of an abundance of caution.

Georgia man’s remains sent via Fedex have disappeared ATLANTA —

A missing man found dead is once again missing: His remains were shipped through Fedex and lost.

Fulton County Chief Medical Examiner Jan Gorniak tells reporters that Jeffrey Merriweather Jr.’s remains were shipped in June so an expert in St. Louis could determine a cause of death. But the package never arrived. Gorniak says package tracking shows the remains were last recorded at a Fedex warehouse in Austell, Georgia.

WSB-TV reports a Fedex representative says the remains weren’t found at the warehouse, and the company is investigating.

Merriweather’s father says the family held a funeral without his body. The 31-year-old man was reported missing in mid-june and found dead later that month. His death remains under investigation.

Mom: 12-year-old shooting victim may never walk again ATLANTA —

The mother of a 12-year-old shooting victim says her son is paralyzed and may never walk again.

Allison Wood told WSB-TV that her son Isaiah Payton was shot through his spine Saturday near an Atlanta high school football stadium. Wood says Payton dreamed of playing high school football and now isn’t sure if that dream will come true.

An Atlanta police news release says Payton and 16-yearold Damean Spear were shot and wounded after a football scrimmage.