TVA opens spillways at its biggest dam
For the first time in any summer in five years, the Tennessee Valley Authority is spilling water at most of its major storage reservoirs, including through the spillway tunnels at Lake Fontana, its biggest lake.
TVA spokesman Travis Brickey said Friday that Lake Fontana rose nearly 5 feet above its normal summertime level this week after parts of western North Carolina were deluged with 13 to 15 inches of rain over the past week or so.
“We’re trying to bring our reservoirs back to normal summertime levels after heavy rains all week,” he said. “Usually at this time of the year, we are trying to reach our summertime lake levels, but we’ve had a lot of rain.”
TVA was spilling water at eight of its nine mainstream dams and at many of its upstream reservoirs, so Hickey cautioned boaters and others on the Tennessee River this weekend to be aware of the extra flow of the river because of the recent rains.
Five dead, 200 sick from lettuce outbreak
Four more deaths have been linked to a national food poisoning outbreak blamed on tainted lettuce, bringing the total to five.
Health officials have tied the E. coli outbreak to romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona. The growing season there ended six weeks ago, and it’s unlikely any tainted lettuce is still in stores or people’s homes, given its short shelf life. But there can be a lag in reporting, and reports of illnesses have continued to come in.
In an update Friday on the nation’s largest E. coli outbreak in a decade, health officials said 25 more cases have been added, raising the total number of illnesses to 197 in 35 states. At least 89 people were hospitalized.
Previously one death had been reported, in California. On Friday, health officials said they had learned of four more – one in Arkansas, one in New York, and two in Minnesota.
The first illnesses occurred in March, and the most recent began May 12, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Many of the new cases were people who became ill two to three weeks ago, when contaminated lettuce was still being sold. Some said they did not eat romaine lettuce but were in close contact with someone who got sick after eating it.
Tourists can now send distillery whiskey home
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Until recently, whiskey tourists in Kentucky had been allowed to sniff the aromas of bourbon-making and sip the finished product during distillery tours. But they couldn’t legally ship bottles home.
That modern-day prohibition came to an end earlier this year but was officially celebrated Friday, when Gov. Matt Bevin and other state officials presided over the ceremonial first shipments.
Kentucky produces about 95 percent of the world’s bourbon, and tourism targeting the spirit has become big business. The ability to ship whiskey bottles home after a tour is expected to boost sales at distilleries both large and small.
Industry leaders see it as a part of the experience. Many bourbon fans catch flights into the region and visit distilleries to experience a slice of Kentucky culture.
“Most all of them want to ship their bottles home as a matter of convenience versus lugging them back,” said Rob Samuels, chief operating officer at Maker’s Mark.
Each year, tourists make more than a million stops at distilleries along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail – which includes Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve and other venerable distilleries – and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour, which showcases up-and-coming micro-distilleries.
Fiat unveils plans for more electrics
In his last major presentation as CEO of Fiat Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne announced a big investment push to make more electrified cars, while acknowledging that traditional engines will continue to dominate production.
Unveiling the company’s plans through 2022, long after his planned retirement next year, Marchionne said Fiat Chrysler will invest $10.5 billion as it tries to catch up in the market for gas-electric hybrids and fully electric vehicles, without forsaking a core market that still wants internal combustion engines.
“Reducing our dependence on oil is one of the single, greatest challenges that our society faces,” Marchionne told financial analysts as he presented the business plan that will be a final legacy to the company he created through the merger of Fiat with failing Chrysler.
Nuclear plant prepares to close
LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – The owner of the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant said it will cost $1.4 billion and take 60 years to shut down a site due to close in October.
A subsidiary of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. recently filed its plan for the Oyster Creek plant. It will now be reviewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which must give its approval.
If the plan is accepted, the plant shutdown and defueling would start Sept. 17 and finish Sept. 30. That would be followed by about 1.5 years of preparation for 55 years of dormancy, a time when spent fuel rods would be stored in wet pools for five years, then moved to dry storage and ultimately removed to a federally approved facility.
Bourbon thief gets prison term
The ringleader of a whiskey theft operation in Kentucky was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday for his role in siphoning tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of bourbon from a pair of distilleries.
Having secured a place in Kentucky lore as “Pappygate,” the thefts included hard-to-get and pricey brands such as Pappy Van Winkle bourbon that were hauled under a tarp to potential buyers. The local sheriff estimated the recovered whiskey was worth at least $100,000.
The sentencing of former distillery worker Gilbert “Toby” Curtsinger on Friday means the celebrated case is close to winding down. Of the 10 people indicted after the scheme was uncovered in 2015, one case is still pending.
Curtsinger did not give a statement before being sentenced in Franklin County Circuit Court in Frankfort. The one-time Buffalo Trace distillery employee pleaded guilty last year to charges that included theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property.