ORLANDO, FLA.
Slain sergeant honored
An Orlando police sergeant who was gunned down was remembered Saturday at her funeral service as someone who put everyone at ease with her infectious smile and made every effort to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community it served. Sgt. Debra Clayton, 42, read books to children at elementary schools, would clean the homes of elderly residents and was a motherly figure to young people lacking parental guidance, said Orlando Police Chief John Mina and U.S. Rep. Val Demings, a former Orlando police chief. Mina said at the service that he was posthumously promoting Clayton to the rank of lieutenant. The service was attended by Gov. Rick Scott, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and hundreds of officers and deputies.
FRASER, MICH.
Sinkhole is costly problem
The cost to fix a broken sewer line that caused a football field-sized sinkhole north of Detroit is estimated at more than $78 million, Macomb County’s new public works chief says. The project’s cost could rise above $100 million if more work is done to improve the rest of the sewer line, public works chief Candice Miller told Macomb County commissioners on Friday. The repairs could take about a year to complete.
FREDERICK, MD.
Employee fired over tweet
A school system employee in Maryland who had a lighthearted quarrel with a student on Twitter over the student’s spelling has been fired. Katie Nash, who ran the Twitter account for Frederick County Public Schools, said she was fired on Friday. On Jan. 5, a student tweeted to the account, asking that schools be closed “tammarow.” Nash responded from the district’s account, “But then how would you learn how to spell ‘tomorrow?’ ” She said she was told not to tweet anymore after the interaction.
NEW YORK
Man with screwdriver killed
Police fatally shot a man who threatened his mother with a screwdriver and wouldn’t drop it as he struggled with officers in a New York City home, a police official said Saturday. Officers arrived to the sounds of screaming at a Queens house around 3:30 a.m. and found the man holding his mother and threatening her with the tool in a stairwell to the basement, Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan said. Police say officers struggled with the man and freed his mother, then shot the man after a stun gun missed and he continued to wield the tool.
Compiled from wire reports