Articles by Russ Bynum

Rains Nearly Extinguish Vast Georgia Wildfire Burning Since April

A wildfire that burned vast acreage and at one point threatened hundreds of homes near the Georgia-Florida state line has been nearly extinguished after steady rains soaked the Okefenokee Swamp over the past week. The team fighting the blaze now …

Evacuations Continue in Georgia Wildfire Zone But Many Defy Orders

Jessica Boldin and her family evacuated 15 horses, six dogs and other animals from their ranch in rural Georgia as a vast wildfire emerging from the Okefenokee Swamp blackened trees behind their home. Flames that pushed within 3 miles (5 …

Official Says Georgia Wildfire Could Go On For 6 Months

A wildfire in Georgia that has scorched more than 70 square miles (180 square kilometers) of public lands near the Georgia-Florida state line could burn for the next six months unless heavy rains snuff out the flames sooner, fire officials …

Officials Warn of Possible Evacuations in Georgia as Okefenokee Wildfire Spreads

Georgia residents on the western edge of the Okefenokee Swamp have been warned to prepare for potential evacuations from an approaching wildfire that has burned more than 30 square miles (80 square kilometers) of public lands nearby. A lightning strike …

Georgia-Based ConAgra to Finalize $11.2M Settlement Over Tainted Peanut Butter

Food giant ConAgra faces a court hearing to finalize an $11.2 million settlement – including the largest criminal fine ever in a U.S. food safety case – to resolve federal charges in a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds who ate …

A Decade After Salmonella Outbreak ConAgra Case Nears End

Nearly a decade after hundreds of Americans got sick after eating Peter Pan peanut butter tainted with salmonella, ConAgra Foods appears close to settling a federal criminal case stemming from the outbreak. After years of investigation and legal negotiations, federal …

Truck Driver in Deadly Georgia Crash Gets 5 Year Prison Sentence

A Louisiana truck driver charged in a fiery interstate crash that killed five nursing students in southeast Georgia was sentenced to prison Thursday – one year for each life lost – after he pleaded guilty to first-degree vehicular homicide and …

Trucking Firm Won’t Face Criminal Charges in Crash that Killed 5 Georgia Students

A Georgia prosecutor says he’s dropped the criminal case against a trucking company charged in a deadly interstate crash last year that killed five nursing students. Tom Durden is district attorney for southeast Georgia’s Atlantic Judicial Circuit. He said Wednesday …

Trucking Firm to Settle Fatal Crash of 5 Georgia Students for Millions

The employer of a tractor-trailer driver blamed for a fiery interstate crash that killed five Georgia nursing students has agreed to settle wrongful death lawsuits for large sums, with at least one victim’s family receiving $14 million, attorneys in the …

Georgia Peanut Execs Spared Having to Pay Restitution to Salmonella Victims

A former peanut company executive serving a 28-year prison sentence won’t have to pay money to victims of a deadly salmonella outbreak linked to his Georgia plant, a federal judge ruled. Former Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell and …