New York: West Nile virus suspected in deaths

West Nile virus is suspected in the deaths of an 81-year-old man on Long Island and a 65-year-old man in Michigan, health officials said.

If confirmed, the two cases would bring the number of deaths from the disease this year to 18.

So far this year, more than 370 human cases of West Nile have been confirmed in the country’s worst outbreak since the virus first appeared here in 1999. Seven people died in New York that year, and the virus has since spread throughout the East and Midwest.

In New York, preliminary blood tests indicated that an 81-year-old man from Melville died of the virus on Monday, a health agency spokesman said.

The Michigan victim died Tuesday after becoming ill about a week ago.

Oregon: Firefighters advance fire-line strategy

Firefighters on Saturday were within a mile of linking fire lines around the western and southern sections of the nearly 495,000-acre Biscuit fire in southwest Oregon.

Once connected, the two fire lines will form a minimal perimeter stripped of fuel to keep the blaze away from communities along the Oregon coast to the west and mountain towns to the northwest.

Crews should have the line connected within the next few days, said fire spokeswoman Betsy Coffee.

The blaze has become the largest in the nation this year, surpassing the acreage of a wildfire in eastern Arizona that burned parts of several small towns earlier this summer.

Officials said the Biscuit fire was 70 percent contained by 206 miles of fully reinforced fire lines.

Baltimore: Police leader apologizes for charity fund use

In the past 2 1/2 years, Police Commissioner Edward Norris has spent about $178,000 from a little-known, off-the-books account for expenses that have included trips, one of which turned into an interview for another job.

Norris issued a public apology on Friday, expressing regret for his use of the fund that was started decades ago, initially for charitable purposes.

“I have embarrassed and raised questions in the minds of many,” Norris wrote.

Norris, who was sworn in for a second six-year term on Monday, also wrote that he would reimburse the fund if an audit “finds personal or improper expenditures.”

Norris’ spending from the fund includes $20,000 on trips for himself, eight in the past year to New York where he and others spent about $2,500 on meals at one steakhouse.

San Diego: Marine major draws prison time for fraud

A Marine Corps officer was sentenced to five years in military prison for plotting to use credit cards to steal $400,000 from the government.

Maj. Darryl Phillips was also dismissed from the Corps on Friday and fined $400,000 after being convicted by a military jury a day earlier. For an officer, a dismissal is the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge.

Phillips had faced up to 60 years in prison, and his sentence was less than the 15-year minimum sought by Marine Corps prosecutors. But the 10-member jury of officers at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar effectively stripped Phillips, a former supply officer, of his retirement pay and benefits after a 22-year career.

Prosecutors said Phillips established five phony companies and arranged for several government credit cards to be charged for supplies without their authorization. The bogus companies reaped the profits and kicked back most of the money to Phillips, prosecutors said.