Salon.com > Adrian Sainz

Family claims accused ricin mailer is mentally ill

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:17:00 +0000

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — The stories from family and acquaintances of a Mississippi man charged with sending ricin-laced letters to the president and other officials describe a caring father and enthusiastic musician who struggled with mental illness and pursued a conspiracy theory to its farthest reaches.

Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, wrote numerous Web posts over the past several years describing the event he said "changed my life forever": the chance discovery of body parts and organs wrapped in plastic in small refrigerator at a hospital where he worked as a janitor more than a decade ago.

He tried to talk to officials about and publicize what he claimed was an elaborate conspiracy theory to sell body parts on the black markets, but he thought he was being railroaded by the government. Authorities say the efforts culminated in letters sent to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a judge in Mississippi. "Maybe I have your attention now even if that means someone must die," the letters read, according to an FBI affidavit.

"He is bipolar, and the only thing I can say is he wasn't on his medicine," his ex-wife, Laura Curtis, told The Associated Press.

Historic flood begins to abate, but far from over

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 16:33:00 +0000

The Mississippi River flood of 2011 may seem like a thing of the past for people who fled rising waters that never came, yet the final toll is shrouded in murky water for thousands of people devastated as the flood made its way from the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico.

Thousands of acres of crops, timber and catfish farms are still flooded, mostly by tributaries that backed up because the Mississippi River was so high. Hundreds are still displaced from flooded homes. Some people had nothing to go home to.

In the Mississippi Delta, Tim Saxton is still praying for the levees to hold -- not the levees on the Mississippi River, but the ones on his 500-acre catfish farm. Saxton is not sure how bad Five Mile Fisheries was damaged because it's still under water. So he waits. And wonders.

"It's going to be tough on a 60-year-old man to start over, but I'm sure going to try," Saxton vowed.

The levees divided the farm into dozens of small ponds for different-sized fish. If he has to rebuild all of those levees, the financial blow will be crippling. Even if the levees survive, it could take Saxton a year or more to get back into production.

Historic flooding slams Memphis

Tue, 10 May 2011 13:02:00 +0000

The Mississippi River crested in Memphis at nearly 48 feet on Tuesday, falling inches short of its all-time record but still soaking low-lying areas with enough water to require a massive cleanup.

National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Borghoff says the river reached 47.85 feet at 2 a.m. CDT Tuesday and is expected to stay very close to that level for the next 24 to 36 hours. Hitting the high point means things shouldn't get worse in the area, but it will take weeks for the water to recede and much longer for inundated areas to recover.

"Pretty much the damage has been done," Borghoff said.

The crest is just shy of the record of 48.7 feet recorded during a devastating 1937 flood in Memphis.

The soaking was isolated to low-lying neighborhoods, and forced hundreds of people from their homes, but no new serious flooding was expected. Officials trusted the levees would hold and protect the city's world-famous musical landmarks, from Graceland to Beale Street.

"The levees are performing as designed I'm happy to report," Army Corps of Engineers Col. Vernie Reichling Jr. said Tuesday on CBS's "The Early Show."

Still, the corps' Memphis commander added: "I think we'll breathe a sigh of relief once this crest has passed and is in the Gulf of Mexico."

Mississippi River could crest Monday at Memphis

Mon, 09 May 2011 14:01:00 +0000

Forecasters say the Mississippi River could crest late Monday at Memphis -- hours sooner than previously predicted -- but the mayor says the city's ready for it.

Mayor AC Wharton said that despite the tightened timeframe, he's confident that precautions such as door-to-door warnings have prepared the city.

"We don't have as much time, but fortunately we're ready for it," Wharton told The Early Show on CBS Monday.

To the South, authorities in Louisiana stepped up their preparations by opening floodgates at a spillway northwest of New Orleans to take pressure off levees in populated areas. Inmates were also scheduled to be moved from a prison near Baton Rouge.

The Memphis mayor said disasters such as Katrina have shown that you can't simply get the word out by issuing warnings on TV. Authorities spent the weekend knocking on doors to tell a couple hundred people that they should abandon their homes before they are swamped by waters from the rising Mississippi. Wharton said officials are returning to some houses multiple times.

"Door-to-door is a key thing that we're doing," he said, adding there are stepped up patrols to prevent looting in areas where people have left their homes behind.

Elvis fan from Chilean mine gets trip to Graceland

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:24:00 +0000

Rescued Chilean miner and Elvis Presley fan Edison Pena has an invitation to Graceland, the music icon's longtime home in Memphis.

Pena, who is 34 and married, was pulled from the collapsed mine Wednesday morning.

After hearing that Pena was an Elvis fan, Elvis Presley Enterprises sent various gifts down to Chile, including CDs, DVDs, sunglasses and a book.

Now that Pena has been freed, he has been invited to visit the estate where Elvis lived for 20 years before he died on Aug. 16, 1977.

Kern says he does not expect an answer to the invitation any time soon, saying there are more important things Pena needs to take care of.

MTV awards tamer than past shows

Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:49:00 +0000

MIAMI (AP) -- There was no Madonna-Britney Spears kiss, no partially-clad Howard Stern coming down from the rafters, and certainly no wardrobe malfunctions. The MTV Awards show on Sunday featured typical frenetic energy and sexy style, and a few musical surprises, but it was mostly a kinder, gentler version of past shows.

Usher showed as much skin as anybody, preening in front of the camera barechested as simulated raindrops fell on his chiseled body during the opening performance of "Burn"' And the sometimes raunchy comedian Dave Chappelle even kept it relatively clean --despite teasing that he wouldn't.

"It's the biggest mistake you made since Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl," he jokingly warned, alluding to the MTV-produced Super Bowl halftime flesh show that created a firestorm earlier this year.

There may have been plenty of sex appeal on show in Miami -- cleavage was the main fashion trend for women, cool colors for men -- but little shock appeal on hand.

MTV was ready, though, using a several-second tape delay for the first time. The audio delay, used for years, was in heavy use during the hip-hop medley, which featured Lil Jon, Petey Pablo and Fat Joe.