The Nation in Brief

845 pot appeals filed in Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- More than 800 appeals have been filed by companies that were denied state permits to grow, sell or distribute medical marijuana in Missouri.

As part of the process to launch Missouri's new medical marijuana program, the state received 2,266 marijuana business applications filed by at least 700 different groups. It awarded 60 licenses to grow marijuana, 86 to make marijuana-infused products and 192 to open dispensaries.

The state's Administrative Hearing Commission had received 845 appeals of those denials by Friday, spokeswoman Vicki Hale said.

Many of the appeals say the state's scoring system for awarding permits was flawed. The state hired Nevada-based Wise Health Solutions to score applications. The company could receive up to $582,061 for its work.

Rejected applicants have said Wise assigned different scores for some of the same answers on applications.

"Applications that were largely identical received substantially different scores," attorneys for NGWMO LLC said in a Jan. 23 filing with the hearing commission. That company is appealing the denial of two cultivation applications.

State lawmakers have opened an investigation into the program and plan to hold hearings on it this spring.

Inmate who died in Mississippi ID'd

JACKSON, Miss. -- Authorities on Saturday released the identity of one of two inmates who died earlier in the week at a Mississippi penitentiary that is under U.S. Justice Department investigation.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections said Timothy Sharpe, who was serving a 20-year-sentence for sexual battery and child molestation, died Friday at the prison hospital at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. He was 61.

The statement said the name of another inmate who died Thursday at Parchman's prison hospital hasn't been released pending notification of relatives.

The statement didn't give any details about the deaths.

In a news release Friday, Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton said there was "no evidence of foul play" in either death."

At least 21 inmates have died in Mississippi prisons since late December. The U.S. Justice Department announced Feb. 5 that its civil rights division would investigate Parchman and other Mississippi prisons.

Man fatally shot by deputy in Texas

HOUSTON -- A man was fatally shot by a deputy during a Houston-area confrontation on Sunday after he ignored requests to put down a gun and instead pointed it at officers, authorities said.

The man had been stopped by deputies after he had been seen leaving a scene about a mile away where authorities found a heavily damaged vehicle around 10 a.m. just northeast of Houston, said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

Once he was stopped, the man began waving around a pistol he had and started pointing it at his head, saying he didn't want to go back to jail, Gonzalez said.

Deputies tried to deescalate the situation and get him to put down the weapon but he ignored the commands and pointed the weapon at officers, Gonzalez said.

One deputy, an eight-year veteran, fired his weapon three times, hitting the man. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Gonzalez said no deputies were hurt and officials are investigating the shooting.

The man's name was not immediately released by authorities.

A Section on 03/02/2020

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