PENNSYLVANIA
Candy maker halts production of sweet
HERSHEY — The Hershey Co. is halting production of Ice Breakers Pacs, nickel-size dissolvable pouches with a powdered sweetener inside, in response to criticism that the mints look too much like illegal street drugs, the company's president and chief executive officer said Thursday.
Hershey CEO David J. West disclosed the decision during a conference call about the company's newly released fourth-quarter earnings report.
NORTH CAROLINA
Suspect gets deal in Marine's death
JACKSONVILLE — A prosecutor offered a deal Thursday to Mexican authorities and a Marine wanted in the killing a 20-year-old pregnant colleague: If he is arrested in Mexico, he won't face lethal injection in North Carolina, if convicted on first-degree murder charges.
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Investigators believe Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 21, has fled to his native Mexico, which refuses to send anyone back to the United States unless provided assurances the fugitive won't face the death penalty.
The remains of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, 20, were found with those of her fetus earlier this month in a fire pit in Laurean's back yard.
COLORADO
House OKs 1st-ever censure after kick
DENVER — The state House voted Thursday to censure a lawmaker who kicked a news photographer taking his picture — and refused to apologize.
The resolution, passed 62-1, was the first censure in the history of the Legislature. It says Rep. Douglas Bruce "failed to uphold the honor and dignity of the House of Representatives and reflects poorly on the state."
Bruce, a Colorado Springs Republican, kicked Rocky Mountain News lensman Javier Manzano for snapping his photo during the traditional session-opening prayer on Jan. 14. Bruce was sworn in as a midterm replacement hours later.
NEW JERSEY
OJ ship, dredge boat collide in icy bay
NEWARK — A 669-foot ship carrying orange juice collided Thursday with a dredging vessel in Newark Bay. No one was hurt, but a small amount of hydraulic fluid leaked into the frigid water.
The freighter, called the Orange Sun, and a dredging vessel carrying seven people collided just before 2 p.m. A third vessel got out of the way just in time, said Coast Guard spokesman Seth Johnson.
As a precaution, five people were evacuated from the dredging vessel, which was taking on water, and two remained on board, officials said.
LOUISIANA
Man with nooses faces federal charges
ALEXANDRIA — A white man accused of driving past a group of black civil-rights activists with two nooses dangling from the back of his pickup truck has been indicted on federal hate crime and conspiracy charges, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Jeremiah Munsen, 18, was arrested in September after driving past a crowd of people who had attended a civil rights march in Jena, about 40 miles northeast of Alexandria, police have said.
The Jena march drew an estimated 20,000 protesters, and many stayed in the towns and cities surrounding the tiny town, including Alexandria.
The indictment accuses Munsen of conspiring to threaten and intimidate the marchers and with having committed a federal hate crime.
"It is a violation of federal law to intimidate, oppress, injure or threaten people because of their race and because those people are exercising and enjoying rights guaranteed and protected by the laws and Constitution of the United States," said Donald W. Washington, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana.
Munsen was initially booked on state charges of inciting a riot, driving while intoxicated and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a 16-year-old boy who was with him. The boy has not been charged.
Activists attended the Sept. 20 rally in Jena to protest what they believed to be the unfair treatment of six black students charged with beating a white student at Jena High School.
The beating came months after three other white students were suspended, but not criminally charged, for hanging nooses in a tree at the school.
Five of the black students were originally charged with attempted second-degree murder. The charges have been reduced.
