US orders families out of south Turkey

US orders families out of south Turkey

WASHINGTON

The State Department and Pentagon ordered the families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel Tuesday to leave posts in southern Turkey due to “increased threats from terrorist groups” in the country.

The two agencies said dependents of American staffers at the U.S. consulate in Adana, the Incirlik air base and two other locations must leave. The so-called “ordered departure” notice means the relocation costs will be covered by the government.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said no specific threat triggered the order, but it was done “out of an abundance of caution” for the safety of the families in that region. He said he was not aware of a deadline for the families to leave, but said “this will move very quickly.”

Tenn. Senate to vote on making Bible state’s official book

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

A contentious bill seeking to declare the Holy Bible the official book of Tennessee is headed back for a vote in the full state Senate.

The measure narrowly passed the House last year, but the Senate sent it back to committee amid constitutional concerns raised by the state attorney general.

Republican Sen. Steve Southerland of Morristown revived the measure Tuesday, and it cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 7-1 vote. Southerland said it is aimed at highlighting the historical significance of the Bible in Tennessee, not as an official endorsement of a religion.

Flint official: State overruled plan for corrosion control

FLINT, Mich.

An official with Flint’s water plant said Tuesday he had planned to treat the drinking water with anti-corrosive chemicals after the city began drawing from the Flint River but was overruled by a state environmental regulator.

Mike Glasgow, then a supervisor at the plant and now the municipal utilities administrator, said he received the instruction from district engineer Mike Prysby of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality during a meeting to discuss the final steps before Flint switched from the Detroit water system as a cost-saving measure in April 2014.

Glasgow said Prysby told him a year of water testing was required before a decision could be made on whether corrosion controls were needed, which the state DEQ has since acknowledged was a misreading of federal regulations on preventing lead and copper pollution. The omission enabled lead to leach from aging pipes and fixtures and contaminate tap water that reached some homes, businesses and schools.

Swiss police suspend search for missing American

BERLIN

Authorities in Switzerland have suspended their search for an American extreme-sports enthusiast missing in the Alps since Saturday.

Harrison Fast from Boulder, Colo., was speed flying on the Jungfrau mountain in the Bernese Alps when the group he was with lost sight of him and alerted authorities.

A spokesman for Bern cantonal police said Tuesday that extensive air and surface searchers were undertaken for three days.

Christoph Gnaegi said the search was hampered by bad weather and dangerous terrain.

Gnaegi said “the active search has now been suspended.”

Associated Press