National Roundup

New York
NY official looks to rename ­building for Ruth Bader Ginsburg
NEW YORK (AP) — The borough president of Brooklyn says he will mark the upcoming birthday of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg as part of his push to rename a municipal building for the jurist.

Democratic Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams says he will be marking Ginsberg’s 86th birthday on March 15 with a large party and rally to demand the city rename the Brooklyn Municipal Building for Ginsberg. The Daily News reports Adams first made his pitch to have the municipal building named after the Brooklyn-born Ginsburg in September.

So far, Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio has not endorsed the measure. A spokesman for City Hall says the administration is reviewing Adams’ proposal.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Supreme Court says Ginsberg is aware of the proposal and “honored.”

Connecticut
Court overturns restitution order against gang leader
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A federal appeals court has overturned a restitution order imposed against a Connecticut man who admitted his involvement in violent gang activity including four murders.

A three judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York overturned the order against Jeffrey Benton on Friday and sent the restitution issue back to a federal judge in New Haven.

Federal prosecutors say Benton was the leader of the New Haven-based Red Side Guerrilla Brims, a Bloods gang affiliate that trafficked cocaine and firearms from Connecticut to Maine. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2017.

The appeals court judges ruled that Judge Janet Hall was wrong to order Benton and other defendants to immediately pay restitution of nearly $14,500 for funeral expenses for several victims, saying Benton has no assets.

Iowa
Prosecutors alerted to day care concerns, took no action
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Records show prosecutors were informed about allegations that a day care operator in a Des Moines suburb was caring for too many children but didn’t take action, raising concerns after a child was found unresponsive at the residence and later died.

The Des Moines Register reports that 47-year-old Trina Mazza is charged with operating a home child care facility in Johnston without a license. Mazza’s attorney says she’s fully cooperating with the investigation into the child’s February death.

The Iowa Department of Human Services sent Mazza and the Polk County Attorney’s Office notices that she was caring for too many children following complaints filed in 2011 and 2017.

County Attorney John Sarcone says his office didn’t take action because the department didn’t specifically seek a criminal charge or include details of abuse in the notice.

Florida
Jury acquits dad whose baby choked on a ­lollipop
MIAMI (AP) — Jurors in Miami have acquitted a man who was charged with manslaughter after his 6-month-old son choked on a lollipop.

The Miami Herald reports a jury decided late last week that the death of Jermaine Marcell Levy’s son Marcell Jr. was accidental and not the result of reckless behavior.

Miami-Dade Assistant Public Defender Adam Saper says the “tragic accident” should have never been charged as a crime. He says the baby died on Father’s Day 2018 as his father tried to resuscitate him.

Levy, now 20, was arrested after police said he hit the baby’s mother in the mouth before kidnapping the boy who he had never taken care of. An arrest warrant says Levy was homeless and couldn’t provide formula for the child and gave him a lollipop.

New York
Agents seize $77 million of cocaine from ship at port
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Customs agents have seized the biggest shipment of cocaine recovered at the ports of New York and New Jersey in 25 years.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says 3,200 pounds of the drug in 60 packages were seized at Port New York/Newark on Feb. 28. The street value is estimated at about $77 million.

It’s the biggest cocaine seizure at the ports since 1994.

A Customs spokesman says the container was recovered from a ship that originated in South America.

Customs officers turned the drugs over to federal Homeland Security officials for investigation.

Florida
Mom arrested after pulling up to hospital with dead daughter
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Sheriff’s investigators say a woman pulled up to a hospital in Orlando asking for help for her 11-year-old daughter, but she was already dead from multiple stab wounds.

Then, they say she pulled a knife on hospital workers.

Officials say 28-year-old Rose Alcides Rivera was arrested Sunday morning and charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Aleyda Rivera.

Hospital workers told investigators the mother became “argumentative” with hospital staff before producing a knife. Hospital security detained her.

The Orlando Sentinel reports Winnie Palmer Hospital was briefly locked down and the main entrance remained closed during the incident.

Officials are trying to determine when and where the child was killed.

Florida
Coach, wife ­electrocuted while installing new scoreboard
BRISTOL, Fla. (AP) — Officials say a high school baseball coach and his wife were electrocuted while installing a new scoreboard at a Florida baseball field to replace one that had been destroyed by Hurricane Michael.

Liberty County School Board member Kyle Peddle tells the Tallahassee Democrat that Coach Corey Crum and a few baseball players and parents were putting up the scoreboard Sunday afternoon. He says Crum was in “some kind of lift and he got into an electrical line.”

Peddle, whose son is also on the team, says Crum’s wife Shana came to her husband’s aid and was also electrocuted. The couple’s son Chase was also injured.

Liberty County Sheriff’s officials said in a Facebook post that team members were taken to the gym, where grief counselors were available.