The nation in brief

Georgia deputy recovering from shooting

ATLANTA — A sheriff’s deputy in Georgia is “doing much better” after being shot in the face during a traffic stop south of Atlanta, authorities said.

Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley said Sunday that deputy Jamie White’s condition has improved after he was shot by the driver of a vehicle that he had pulled over, though White may lose his left eye. Joe Lee Garrett, 24, was arrested in Alabama just hours after the shooting happened about 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

“Thank God the bullet didn’t hit his brain,” Jolley said.

Police said Garrett turned himself in to Phenix City, Ala., police and was transported to the Russell County jail. He was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer.

Police said three people were inside a 1994 blue Chevrolet Caprice on I-85 southbound, about 80 miles south of downtown Atlanta, when the deputy stopped them.

White took Garrett’s driver’s license and spoke with Garrett and the front seat passenger for about seven minutes. Garrett then pulled out a gun and shot White above the left eye, Jolley said. Once White was shot, Garrett got his license and drove away.

Exploding package burns N.Y. jail guard

NEW YORK — A New York state corrections officer was badly burned Sunday when a package he picked up outside his home exploded, authorities said.

Investigators said it was not clear whether the 52-yearold officer, whose name was not released, was targeted because of his work.

He suffered burns to his hands and arms and was in critical condition at State University of New York Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, officials said.

The Oneida County sheriff’s office was leading the investigation, with help from the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the New York State Police; the New York state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision; and the Utica Police Department.

The officer walked out of his home on Old Floyd Road in Floyd, N.Y., shortly before 8 a.m. and picked up the package near his mailbox, Robert Maciol, the Oneida County sheriff, said at a news conference.

The authorities searched the neighborhood for other explosive devices, but found none.

11 measles cases confirmed in Arizona

ELOY, Ariz. — An outbreak of measles that began with an inmate at a federal detention center for immigrants in central Arizona has now grown to 11 confirmed cases, officials said Monday.

Seven of those infected are inmates at the Eloy Detention Center, and four are workers at the facility, Pinal County Health Services spokesman Joe Pyritz said. The privately-run facility has stopped accepting new detainees or releasing those currently held there.

State and county health officials said they’re working to stop new transmissions by isolating patients, vaccinating people detained in the privately-run facility and trying to identify people who were at locations the four infected workers visited.

Health officials have identified 14 locations in Pinal and Maricopa counties where the infected workers may have exposed other people.Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable viral illness, and symptoms can appear up to 21 days after exposure.

Sewage plant’s radioactivity levels fall

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — A U.S. Department of Energy contractor says radioactivity levels have dropped at an Oak Ridge sewage treatment plant in the past two years.

Anne Smith, a spokesman for the department’s contractor, says it recently completed its 18th shipment of radioactive sludge to a treatment facility in Washington state.

As a result, levels of radioactivity at Rarity Ridge Wastewater Treatment Plant have fallen by 90 percent as 90,000 gallons of radioactive sludge were removed, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Radioactive technetium-99 infiltrated pipelines leading to the sewage plant during demolition work at the former uranium-enrichment facility. The technetium in the sewer system was discovered in early 2014. Officials have said the radioactivity doesn’t pose a threat to workers at the sewage treatment plant.

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