Across the region

Couple is questioned for leaving son in car

DAWSON - Investigators are questioning a couple in the death of their toddler, who was left in a hot car.

Antonio Richardson, 28, told authorities his wife, Iseeta Prince, 32, started her Honda Accord on Tuesday afternoon to cool the car down before going to work and then put 19-month-old Antonio Richardson Jr. in his car seat, according to a report from the Dawson Police Department.

Police said Mr. Richardson said he and Ms. Prince were in a car next to the boy and that the toddler was in the car for at least 15 minutes as the heat index rose to more than 100 degrees.

Mr. Richardson went to open the car door 15 minutes later to find the vehicle had stopped running and was blowing hot air. The child was rushed to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

No charges have been filed.

Officer is fired after pulling gun in dispute

CHARLESTON - A State Ports Authority police officer who drew his gun on dockworkers during a parking ticket dispute last year has been fired.

Two weeks ago, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy banned Patrick Ashley O'Neal from working in law enforcement after reviewing his suitability for the profession.

Port officials have said they were unaware before hiring Mr. O'Neal in December 2003 that his former employer, the North Charleston Police Department, had investigated him for conduct in a 2000 Mount Pleasant bar brawl and a 2003 incident in which a friend fired Mr. O'Neal's city-issued pistol during a fight.

School board is under fire for land purchase

CUMMING - The Georgia Attorney General's Office has criticized the Forsyth County school board for spending $3.25 million this summer to buy 25 acres of land for a new elementary school without a public vote.

The public learned of the purchase at a school board meeting.

School officials say discussing real estate purchases in public can drive up the cost of the land.

The school district's attorney, Phil Hartley, said the school board is permitted to vote - or not - to buy land in a closed meeting.

Police dog turns up near wildlife area

GAINESVILLE - A runaway police dog was found Wednesday near the Allen Creek Wildlife Management Area, police said.

Aris, a 65-pound German shepherd, ran away from his handler during training Sunday.

Two men found the dog at a diesel repair shop, Gainesville police said.

Board has doctor's license suspended

SENECA - The state Board of Medical Examiners has temporarily suspended the license of a Seneca doctor specializing in psychiatry, accusing him of unprofessional conduct toward patients.

The board says Dr. Brenton Darrell Glisson, 45, had intimate relationships with at least two female patients in the past year at his Whole Family Behavioral Health Care practice.

The medical board will have a full hearing into the allegations later this year.

Homeless population to be put in database

ATLANTA - A five-member team of police officers began surveying the homeless population in downtown Atlanta on Wednesday as they prepared to begin steering them off the street and into a new homeless service center.

The officers will not issue citations to enforce a new ordinance banning panhandling, said their commander, Lt. Trudy Boyce. Instead, the police will develop a database of the panhandlers and homeless, she said.

Man's body is found under boat at lake

COLUMBIA - A 74-year-old Mount Pleasant man was found floating face down under a pontoon boat in Lake Murray, authorities said.

Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said Enoch Harding Jr. told his wife that he was working Monday afternoon to remove weeds from around the dock at the couples' Chapin lake house.

She asked neighbors to check on her husband and called police Monday night to report him missing.