Florida Sentinel Bulletin

VERMONT — The torment from Irene isn’t over as parts of the East Coast grappled Monday with still-dangerous flood waters, widespread power outages and stranded residents.

At least 21 deaths in nine states were blamed on Irene, which fizzled to a post-tropical cyclone and headed over eastern Canada on Monday.

About 3 million customers were without power across the path traveled by Irene.

But much of the remaining trouble centered on flooding from North Carolina through New England, with homes inundated and roads torn apart by floodwaters.

Some of the worst flooding since 1927 ravaged Vermont’s normally tranquil countryside, turning babbling brooks into turbulent rivers, knocking homes from their foundations and washing away a young woman who had been standing near the river in Wilmington.

Irene batters Long Island, New York Her body was recovered.

CHILMARK, Mass. — President Barack Obama said Monday that Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi’s “rule is over” although elements of his regime continue to resist rebels who have taken control of much of the capital.

He appealed to Gadhafi to prevent further bloodshed, and urged opposition forces to build a democratic government through “peaceful, inclusive and just” measures.

In his first appearance since a weekend push by the rebels into the Libyan capital, Pres. Obama said fierce fighting rages in some areas of the capital city of Tripoli.

“But this much is clear. The Gadhafi regime is coming to an end, and the future of Libya is in the hands of its people.”

WASHINGTON — A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia forced evacuations of all the monuments on the National Mall in Washington and rattled nerves from Georgia to Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts island where President Barack Obama is vacationing. No injuries were immediately reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was half a mile deep and centered near Louisa, Va., about 40 miles northwest of Richmond. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated.

Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in the same county as the epicenter were automatically taken off line by safety systems around the time of the earthquake, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Dominion-operated power plant is being run off of four emergency diesel generators, which are supplying power for critical safety equipment. Hannah said the agency was not immediately aware of any damage at nuclear power plants in the Southeast.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Some were locals who’ve watched for years as the memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. took shape on the National Mall.

Some were tourists who happened to be in Washington the day it opened. All felt honored as they gazed at a towering granite sculpture of the civil rights leader.

Hundreds of people slowly filed through the entrance to the 4-acre memorial site on a warm, sunny Monday morning in the nation’s capital. Before reaching the sculpture, they passed through two pieces of granite carved to resemble the sides of a mountain.

About 50 feet ahead stands the 30-foot-tall sculpture by Chinese artist Lei Yixin. King appears to emerge from a stone extracted from the mountain, facing southeast across the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial.

The design is inspired by a line from King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered during the March on Washington in 1963: “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”

LOS ANGELES, CA — On a September night in 2009, 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson vanished shortly after being released from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department.

“Nothing about that evening makes sense to me,” Latice Sutton said of her daughter’s disappearance.

Mitrice showed up at a seaside restaurant acting so strangely, the staff had to call 911. The staff said she appeared to be on drugs, but according to deputies she wasn’t. She wasn’t even drunk.

But they found Marijuana in her car with no money to pay her bill, so she was booked. Her mother called the jailer, and was relieved to learn at least her troubled daughter would be kept safe overnight.

“I would hate to wake up to a morning report, girl lost somewhere with her head chopped off,” Latice said to the Sheriff department.

Mitrice was released with no car, no phone and no money after her record came back clean. Nearly a year later, her half naked body was found in a remote canyon – partially mummified.

“I will never have peace until I have some understanding about what happened to her,” Latice said.

She’s now suing the sheriff’s department for “wrongful death” and “negligence” – saying officers “ignored her daughter’s strange behavior” and “did not take any action to evaluate her mental state.”

TRENTON, NJ — A Republican official says a freshman New Jersey lawmaker resigned because his wife sent “an offensive and racist” email to the Democratic state Senate campaign of nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis.

Burlington County Republican Chairman Bill Layton acknowledged Monday that Pat Delany stepped down from the Assembly this month because of his wife’s missive to Lewis’ campaign.

The Delanys are white. Lewis is black.

Jennifer Delany’s email said, “Imagine having dark skin and name recognition and the nerve to think that equaled knowing something about politics.”

MASSACHUSETTS –President Barack Obama says members of Congress should put country before politics, set aside their differences and act together to put people back to work.

The President is on vacation at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, but he recorded his weekly Saturday radio and internet address earlier in the week while in Illinois during an economy-focused Midwestern bus tour.

He said that lawmakers in Washington could learn something from the people in small towns in Illinois and Iowa. And if they did, Pres. Obama said there are some things they could get done right away, like passing a road construction bill or extending a reduction in the payroll tax.

“These are common-sense ideas – ideas that have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans,” Pres. Obama said. “The only thing holding them back is politics. The only thing preventing us from passing these bills is the refusal by some in Congress to put country ahead of party. That’s the problem right now. That’s what’s holding this country back.

MIAMI — Gov. Rick Scott says a massive South Florida prison privatization plan won’t fly if it doesn’t save the state money.

Scott on Friday also downplayed the cost of laying off state employees at those prisons.

The Republican governor discussed the plan for privatizing 29 facilities in 18 counties during an interview. Scott said a $25 million estimate for such expenses as unused vacation and sick time is based on all of the prison employees being laid off.

He said they can instead transfer to other state prisons that have about 2,000 openings. Scott said the deal won’t go through unless bids come back in compliance with a requirement for at least 7 percent in savings.

That would be about $22 million a year.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL — A central Florida woman is charged with child neglect after authorities say she rode in the bed of a pickup truck with an 8-month old child next to her in a stroller.

Daytona Beach police say 23-year-old Keyona Davis was arrested Wednesday and the driver of the truck was cited for careless driving.

Numerous drivers called 911 to report seeing the infant in the back of the pickup truck.