NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
_1 School shooting: A male student who was shot and wounded at a school in West Liberty, Ohio, was hospitalized Friday, and another student suspected in the shooting was in custody, officials said. School District Superintendent Kraig Hissong said the shooting occurred just as classes were getting under way at the school complex 45 miles northwest of Columbus. Authorities did not release information about the shooter. The victim — Logan Cole, 16 — was taken to a Columbus hospital, but neither details about the extent of injuries nor the circumstances of the shooting were disclosed. Senior Ashley Rabenstein said her teacher announced there was a shooter in the building and threw desks against the door to block it. Students fled through the windows and ran through a cornfield to regroup at nearby houses, she said.
_2 Gold theft: A man has been arrested in Ecuador in the brazen theft of an 86-pound bucket of gold flakes worth nearly $1.6 million from an armored truck in midtown Manhattan, New York City police said Friday. U.S. Homeland Security investigators and New York City and Ecuador police apprehended Julio Nivelo. The gold hasn’t been recovered. Surveillance cameras showed the thief swiping the 5-gallon bucket off the back of the vehicle on Sept. 29. A guard had briefly gone to the truck’s cab, apparently to retrieve his phone.
_3 Asbestos claims: The state of Montana has reached a $25 million settlement with more than 1,000 victims of asbestos-related disease over claims that health officials failed to bring attention to the hazards of a contaminated mine. The settlement stems from nearly 100 lawsuits brought against the state for failing to protect residents in the town of Libby. As many as 400 people have been killed and thousands sickened by asbestos exposure from Libby’s now-shuttered W.R. Grace and Co. vermiculite mine, which operated for decades just outside of town. The Libby mine closed in 1999 and nearly $600 million has been spent on a cleanup program.
_4 School closures: For the first time, the state of Michigan is planning to close public schools for academic reasons. The Michigan School Reform Office said Friday that 38 schools are failing and subject to closure. Some of the schools could remain open if state officials decide closure would pose an unreasonable hardship for students with no better available options. More than half of the 38 schools are in Detroit. The law allows for stateordered closures if chronically underperforming schools have not improved despite receiving other forms of intervention. The closure option has not been used before.
5_ Cash grab: Several people grabbed some quick cash when the back of an armored car opened on Interstate 40 in Raleigh, N.C., police said. By the time officers arrived Thursday, those who had grabbed the cash were gone. A Loomis armored car was on the road when the back door unexpectedly opened as an employee in the truck was trying to better secure the door. A brick of money fell out and scattered $20 bills. Chronicle News Services