Texas

14 believed dead in refinery explosion

A thunderous explosion tore through a BP oil refinery Wednesday, shooting flames and billowing smoke into the sky and showering the area with ash and chunks of charred metal. At least 14 were believed dead and more than 100 were injured.

The cause of the 1:20 p.m. explosion in Texas City was not immediately known.

The explosion occurred in a part of the plant used to boost the octane level of gasoline. BP spokeswoman Annie Smith said terrorism “is not a primary focus of our investigation.”

Gasoline prices could rise slightly because of the explosion because the plant is such a large gas producer. Gasoline futures rose nearly 2 cents in late trading on news of the explosion.

Houston

Smuggler convicted in immigrant deaths

A truck driver was convicted Wednesday for his role in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants who clawed at the walls of his sweltering tractor-trailer and screamed for air as he smuggled them across Texas.

The 2003 journey was the deadliest human smuggling attempt in U.S. history.

Tyrone Williams, 34, was found guilty on 38 counts of transporting illegal immigrants but was spared the death penalty because the jury could not agree on whether he bore direct responsibility for the deaths.

The judge also declared a mistrial on 20 counts of conspiracy and harboring after the jury deadlocked on those charges during 2 1/2 days of deliberations. One of those charges also carried the death penalty.

Williams, who smiled when he learned he would not face the death penalty, could get life in prison.

Nebraska

Official resigns in hiring flap

The state official who offered a job to a man convicted in absentia in the murder of an American wildlife researcher in Africa has resigned.

Richard DeLiberty, administrator for behavioral health for the state Health and Human Services System, resigned late Tuesday, the governor’s office said.

The health department announced last week that Wayne Richard McGuire had been hired as program director of a mental health program. The job offer was withdrawn hours later after The Associated Press reported that McGuire had been found guilty in absentia in Rwanda in the 1985 slaying of Dian Fossey, the researcher whose work in Africa was the subject of the movie “Gorillas in the Mist.”

McGuire has denied any involvement in Fossey’s killing, but health department spokeswoman Kathie Osterman said agency officials rescinded the job offer because McGuire did not disclose his conviction.

Chicago

Killer-turned-poet returned to custody

As J.J. Jameson, he was a popular poet. As Norman A. Porter Jr., he was a convicted murderer who had escaped in 1985 from a Massachusetts prison.

On Wednesday, the two personas merged.

Porter, 65, appeared before Judge Kevin Sheehan in Cook County Circuit Court, a day after he was arrested at the Unitarian church where he both worshiped and worked as a handyman. Porter waived extradition and was ordered back to Massachusetts to face a felony indictment for prison escape.

“It’s been a good 20-year run,” he said to the Illinois state policeman who arrested him. Then he asked for a cigarette.

Massachusetts authorities got a tip about a month ago that Porter was living in the Chicago area.

Phoenix

American Indians honor former POW

An American Indian veterans group awarded a “warriors medal of valor” Wednesday to former POW Jessica Lynch in a ceremony on the mountain named after her best friend and fallen comrade, Army Spc. Lori Piestewa.

The ceremony on Piestewa Peak marked the two-year anniversary of the ambush on a convoy in Iraq in which Piestewa was killed and Lynch was taken prisoner. Piestewa, a Hopi, is believed to be the first American Indian woman killed while fighting for the U.S. military.

Lynch, 21, and Piestewa, 23, served together in the 507th Maintenance Company, based at Fort Bliss, Texas.

With proceeds from a book deal, Lynch created a foundation to help Piestewa’s two children, Brandon, 6, and Carla, 5.