Georgia: Day of prayer honors crematory victims

Ministers in the rural county where hundreds of decomposing corpses have been found at a crematory led a day of prayer Wednesday, assuring family members that the souls of the dead were not defiled.

“Father, we come before you with our hearts heavy and our minds full of confusion,” said the Rev. Gary Bruce of LaFayette Church of God, not far from Tri-State Crematory.

At a modest service, 21 ministers from northwestern Georgia said prayers one by one, asking for wisdom for authorities, strength for the recovery workers and mercy for Ray Brent Marsh, the crematory owner now charged with 118 felony counts.

For the first time in 13 days of searching, recovery teams found no new corpses Wednesday on the Tri-State grounds. Authorities said they found a small amount of cremated human remains.

Florida: Car bomb leaves driver critically injured

A bomb blew apart a car Wednesday morning at an intersection in the Florida Keys, critically injuring the driver.

The explosion blew a hole in the car’s undercarriage, blasted away chunks of pavement and damaged a nearby vehicle, said Becky Herrin, a Monroe County Sheriff’s spokeswoman.

Officials initially suspected that a second bomb might still be in the car, but no other devices were found, Herrin said.

The driver, Evon Leach, 51, of Marathon, was hospitalized in critical condition, said Jackson Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Lorraine Nelson.

Herrin said Leach appeared to have been targeted, but she would not elaborate. She said the explosion was not related to terrorism.

The blast shut down part of U.S. Highway 1, the only highway linking the Florida Keys south of Key Largo.

Kentucky: Miss Congeniality assaulted at pageant

A college beauty pageant turned ugly when a dress rehearsal ended in a scuffle between “Miss Congeniality” and a school official.

Georgetown College freshman Keaton Lynch Brown, who had earlier been voted Miss Congeniality by the contestants, claims in a complaint that the student activities director grabbed her by the arm during a talent rehearsal Friday and dragged her down some steps until she hit a door.

The school official, Kathy Wallace, was charged with assault.

Contestants in the annual Belle of the Blue pageant in Georgetown said there was some tension between the two women over Brown’s chosen talent  a dance segment that drew on her love of horses and included a lasso routine in which she roped a stuffed pig.

“There was some controversy over whether her talent was ladylike,” said contestant Suzanne Lunsford, 20. “It had never really been done before.”