Nation briefs 4/21/16

Disappearance faked to escape charges

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A missing kayaker who was the focus of a two-day air and sea search off the Georgia coast staged his disappearance to escape prosecution on charges he sought sex with a child, authorities said Wednesday. Cody Magee, 38, of Savannah was being held Wednesday in Oklahoma City on an arrest warrant issued about 1,000 miles away after he missed a Monday court hearing in Georgia, said Savannah-Chatham County police spokesman Sonny Cohrs. His wife filed a missing-person report after he disappeared Sunday night, Cohrs said. "He was supposedly going kayaking and was supposed to be gone for an hour," Cohrs said. "He never came back." The Coast Guard launched a two-day search for Magee around Tybee Island. A few hours before midnight Tuesday, a police officer in Oklahoma City pulled Magee over after a routine license-plate check showed he had been reported missing, said Oklahoma City police Sgt. Gary Knight. Police found a handgun and rifle in his car, Knight said.

Nebraska licenses OK'd for immigrants

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska will allow thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to work in at least 170 professions that require state licenses including health care and education after lawmakers overrode conservative Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts' veto of the measure Wednesday. Senators took the vote on the last day of their legislative session, five days after Ricketts called it unfair to immigrants who followed the legal pathway to citizenship. Young immigrants and other supporters erupted in applause from the gallery of the chamber after the 31-13 vote. The new law applies to immigrants who received lawful status under President Barack Obama's executive action in 2012 that allowed them to stay. Nebraska had nearly 5,200 youths who qualified as of December, according to the latest data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Bid fails to make Bible state book

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee has a state reptile, a state rock and a state song in the moonshine-themed "Rocky Top." For now, however, the Bible will not be its official state book. Gov. Bill Haslam had vetoed a bill that would elevate the religious text's status, and lawmakers trying to override that fell seven votes short of the 50 they needed in the House on Wednesday. Only 43 members voted in favor of the bill after two hours of spirited -- and spiritual -- debate.

Minivan found with 317 pounds of pot

WARWICK, R.I. -- Police said a Philadelphia man was found with 317 pounds of marijuana in his minivan during a traffic stop in Rhode Island. State police said Wednesday 44-year-old Jian Zhi Li is charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. Police said an officer pulled over Li's minivan Monday in Warwick for a traffic stop. They said the officer detected the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. A search turned up 327 vacuum- sealed plastic bundles of marijuana packaged in 12 cardboard boxes in the minivan's rear.

-- From wire reports