Kentucky "Anthrax" Letters Contained Artificial Sweetener

Posted today on Global Security Newswire:

A powder found in threatening letters that reached a number of federal sites in Kentucky on Monday -- including the offices of four U.S. congressmen -- appears to have been artificial sweetener, the Lexington Herald Leader reported (see GSN, July 7).

U.S. Representatives Brett Guthrie, John Yarmuth, Geoff Davis, and Ed Whitfield received envelopes containing a powdery substance along with letters claiming the material was anthrax. Similar letters arrived at three federal courthouses in the state.

A courthouse and post office in Pikeville County were shut down for several hours, and several people underwent medical checks after coming into contact with the white material. The federal courthouse clerks' office and a U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau office in London also received suspicious envelopes, causing the temporary closing of the courthouse.

Authorities believe an inmate at Kentucky's Big Sandy federal prison mailed between 25 and 50 threatening letters, lacing them them with a popular sweetener rather than anthrax, according to U.S. Marshal Mike Klein.

It was not immediately known whether the same person sent all the letters that turned up this week (Estep/Hjalmarson, Lexington Herald-Leader, July 7).

Yarmuth offended by Michael Jackson tribute

Wow, I finally found something I disagree strenuously with Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth on. Mr. Yarmuth recently complained about the moment of silence held in honor of Michael Jackson last week on the House floor.

Yarmuth is quoted thusly on Politico:

"I thought it was outrageous," Yarmuth told a Los Angeles radio station Monday. "In my two and a half years, we’ve never done that for anybody else who’s a celebrity. We’ve done it for former members, and that’s about it, for former members who’ve passed away. … I basically got up and walked back to the cloakroom and got off the floor, because I just thought it was totally uncalled for and over the top."

Did I say "disagree strenuously"? Well, actually, I couldn't really care less if a bunch of old guys in Washington bow their heads in silence for MJ or not - it's mainly the principle of the thing, that Yarmuth felt it necessary to express umbrage about paying even this token respect to the most popular showbiz icon of our times since Elvis.

(Meanwhile, you can read my own cranky thoughts in defense of Michael Jackson's life and times here on the Transylvania Gentlemen blog.)