Firefighter David Ruhl Killed in California Wildfire (7/3/2015)

A firefighter killed by a wildfire in Northern California was scouting the area when he became trapped by the wind-stoked blaze, officials said Saturday.
U.S. Forest Service firefighter David Ruhl was driving down a Modoc National Forest road in a vehicle Thursday. The fire suddenly grew and trapped him, information officer Ken Sandusky said.
Ruhl was one of several firefighters exploring the area when the small fire suddenly expanded. An investigation is underway to determine exactly what happened, Sandusky said.
Crews fighting the blaze lost communication with Ruhl on Thursday evening. His body was recovered Friday.
By Saturday, the blaze about 100 miles south of the Oregon border, had burned 2.8 square miles and was 5 percent contained.
Erratic winds were challenging fire-containment efforts and moving the fire in all directions. Gusty winds were expected Saturday evening, when lightning storms are also forecast, the U.S. Forest Service said.

Source:
The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/firefighter-david-ruhl-killed-in-california-wildfire_55bd42d7e4b06363d5a27328

​Raising Floor for Minimum Wage Pushes Economy Into the Unknown (7/27/2015)

The fight for a $15 minimum wage has gained momentum in New York, California and other places around the country in recent months. But as a national strategy to raise incomes at the bottom of the pay scale, it faces major obstacles, both political and economic.
In many states, particularly those governed by Republicans in the South and in Midwest, there is little chance of raising the minimum wage above the federal level, which was stood at $7.25 since 2009.
Congressional Democrats have introduced a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020, but Republicans typically argue that raising the wage floor costs jobs and hurts the very people it is intended to help.
There could be quite large shares of workers affected, but there is too little research to be able to predict whether raising the minimum wage will have positive or negative results for the American people.
A number of researchers have found that modestly higher minimum wages can raise incomes for low-wage workers without reducing the number of jobs in an area, but the $15-an-hour proposal goes far beyond the modest increases of the past. Because of this, pre-existing research can’t determine the effects. Assuming that the proposal clears its final obstacles, the American people will have to wait to see the effects.

Source:
Noam Scheiber of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/business/economy/scale-of-minimum-wage-rise-has-experts-guessing-at-effect.html

New York Stock Exchange Suspends Trading (7/8/2015)

The New York Stock Exchange unexpectedly shut down trading in all of its listed stocks late Wednesday morning. The exchange did not immediately give an explanation for what caused the shutdown. In an alert on its website it wrote: “Additional information will follow as soon as possible.”
The New York Stock Exchange has been hit by technical difficulties in the past, but the scale of the problem has little precedent.
Nearly 45 min after the outage, there was still little clarity on what was causing the problem. Stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange continued trading on other exchanges, such as Nasdaq. A Nasdaq spokesman said: “Nasdaq systems are operating normally and are trading all symbols including Tape A (NYSE) securities.”
Other exchanges operated by the New York Stock Exchange, such as its options exchange, continued operating normally on Wednesday.
Law enforcement agencies with the federal government are monitoring the situation but as of midday Wednesday there was no indication of anything malicious with the troubles at the NYSE.

Source:
Nathaniel Popper and Mathew Goldstein of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/09/business/dealbook/new-york-stock-exchange-suspends-trading.html?_r=0

White House Solar Plan Aims at Low and Middle Income People (7/7/2015)

The Obama administration will announce an initiative to help low and middle income Americans gain access to solar energy, part of a series of steps President Obama is taking to tackle climate change, according to administration officials.
The administration will announce that it intends to triple the capacity of solar and other renewable energy systems it installs in federally subsidized housing by 2020, making it easier for homeowners to borrow money for solar improvements and start a nationwide program to help renters gain access to solar energy.
The actions are to be announced in Baltimore by Brian Deese, President Obama’s senior adviser for climate issues. Accompanying Mr. Deese will be Representative Elijah E. Cummings. There are a series of commitments totaling more than $520 million from charities, investors, states and cities to pay for solar and energy-efficiency projects for lower-income communities.
According to Representative Cummings, this initiative will lower electric bills by around $10 to $15.

Source:
Julie Hirschfeld of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/08/us/white-house-solar-plan-aims-at-low-and-middle-income-people.html?ref=us&_r=0

At Least 7 Killed in Chicago Shootings (7/6/2015)

The authorities said Sunday that a 7-year-old boy who was celebrating the Fourth of July with his family was among three people who were shot and killed overnight in Chicago during eight hours in which more than two-dozen other people suffered gunshot wounds.
The child was shot after someone opened fire Saturday just before midnight in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Sunday at a news conference that the boy’s father was a “ranking gang member” and had been the intended target.
The Chicago Tribune reported that as of late Sunday afternoon, seven people had been killed and 41 wounded by gun violence during the extended weekend.
Most of the violence occurred during an eight-hour period. From 9:20 p.m. on Saturday to 4:45 a.m. on Sunday. 30 people were shot across the city, three of them fatally.
During last year’s Fourth of July weekend in Chicago, 82 people were shot during an 84-hour span, 16 of them fatally.

Source:
The Associated Press via The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/06/us/at-least-7-killed-in-chicago-shootings.html?ref=us

BP to Pay $18.7 Billion for Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The federal government and the Gulf Coast states have reached a tentative deal with the British oil company BP for it to pay about $18.7 billion to compensate for damages from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
An American BP subsidiary, BP Exploration and Production, will pay at least $7.1 billion to the federal government and the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Florida, for damage to natural resources; $5.5 billion in penalties to the federal government for violation of the Clean Water Act; $4.9 billion to the states to compensate for harm to their economies; and up to $1 billion to more than 400 local governments.
The largest sums of the settlement would be paid out over 15 to 19 years, beginning a year after the settlement is finalized in federal court.
BP had already agreed to pay more than $4 billion in criminal fines in a plea agreement over the spill. The company had also reported spending $14 billion in a three-month effort to contain the spill. In all, the company said it will incur more than $40 billion in costs related to the spill.
The Deepwater Horizon rig, leased by BP and positioned less than 50 miles southeast of the tip of Louisiana, exploded and caught fire on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers, and then sank. Oil continued to gush from the ruptured well on the seabed until it was capped in July.

Source:
Campbell Robertson, Richard Perez-Pena, and Clifford Krauss of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/us/bp-to-pay-gulf-coast-states-18-7-billion-for-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill.html?ref=us&_r=0

Supreme Court Ruling Makes Same-Sex Marriage a Right Nationwide

The Supreme Court ruled by a 5-to-4 vote on Friday that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. “No longer may this liberty be denied,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority in the historic decision.
Marriage is a “keystone of our social order,” Justice Kennedy said, adding that the plaintiffs in the case were seeking “equal dignity in the eyes of the law.”
The decision, which was the culmination of decades of litigation and activism, set off jubilation and tearful embraces across the country. It came against the backdrop of fast-moving changes in public opinion, with polls indicating that most Americans now approve of the unions.
In dissent, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the Constitution had nothing to say on the subject of same-sex marriage.

Source:
Adam Liptak of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/us/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage.html

Charleston Church Shooting Leaves 9 Dead; Gunman Is Sought (6/18/2015)

The suspect in the shooting that killed nine people at a historic black church in this city’s downtown has been identified by city and federal law enforcement officials as Dylann Storm Roof, 21, of the Columbia area.
The identification came as an intense manhunt was underway for the gunman who opened fire on Wednesday night at a historic black church in the city’s downtown.
The chief of police of Charleston, Greg Mullen, called the shooting a hate crime, and an official with the Justice Department said that a federal investigation had been started and that it could be conducted in cooperation with the state inquiry.
The gunman walked into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and attended a prayer meeting for about an hour before opening fire. The attack left six women and three men dead. Among the dead was the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was also a state senator.

Source:
Jason Horowitz, Nick Corasaniti, and Ashley Southall of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting.html?_r=0

As Stress Drives Off Drone Operators, Air Force Must Cut Flights (6/17/2015)

After a decade of waging long-distance war through their video screens, America’s drone operators are burning out, and the Air Force is being forced to cut back on the flights even as military and intelligence officials are demanding more of them over intensifying combat zones in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
The Air Force plans to trim the flights by the armed surveillance drones to 60 a day by October from a recent peak of 65 as it deals with the first serious exodus of the crew members who helped usher in the era of war by remote control.
Air Force officials said that this year they would lose more drone pilots, who are worn down by the unique stress of their work, than they can train.
The cut in flights is an abrupt shift for the Air Force. Drone missions increased tenfold in the past decade, relentlessly pushing the operators in an effort to meet the insatiable demand for streaming video of insurgent activities in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, and Syria.
The reduction could also create problems for the CIA, which has used Air Force pilots to conduct drone missile attacks on terrorism suspects in Pakistan and Yemen. And the slowdown comes just as military advances by the Islamic State have placed a new premium on aerial surveillance and counterattacks.

Source:
Christopher Drew and Dave Philipps of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/us/as-stress-drives-off-drone-operators-air-force-must-cut-flights.html?ref=us&_r=0

House Republicans Seek Way to Revive Trade Bill (6/16/2015)

Congressional Republican leaders and White house officials explored ways to resurrect trade legislation that stalled last week when House Democrats objected and dealt President Obama a defeat at the hands of his own party.
In meetings around the Capitol and in telephone conversations with President Obama and administration officials, lawmakers ticked through a list of complicated procedural options that could circumvent House Democratic opposition to granting the president the power to expedite trade deals.
House Republicans took steps Monday night to give Speaker of The House Boehner until the end of July to try again to win approval of a bill to aid workers displaced by global trade agreements, a measure that was tied to the package that would give President Obama authority to advance trade negotiations.
The Republicans are supporting the trade deal because they feel it will improve the economy by increasing US exports. Democrats are against this deal because they feel that it will harm the US economy because it will expose domestic businesses to international competition. President Obama wants to make the deal because he wants the US to further the process of iteration with the pacific Asian countries to work against the Chinese. It would also bolster American influence in the region.

Source:
Carl Hulse and Gardiner Harris of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/us/politics/house-republicans-seek-way-to-revive-trade-bill.html?_r=0

​Families Languish in Texas Immigration Centers (6/15/2015)

Workers are putting the finishing touches on rows of barracks in a 50-acre camp in Dilley, Texas. This is the largest immigration detention center in the country. It houses thousands of women and their children who were caught crossing the border illegally and are seeking asylum in the US.
Women who had been in the camps for months said the time in detention with no defined end had taken a severe toll, leaving mothers despondent and young children worried and confused.
Federal officials say the center is a crucial part of the Obama administration’s strategy to avert another influx like the one last summer, when nearly 70,000 parents with children overwhelmed the authorities along the Southwest line.
That strategy has drawn intense criticism from lawmakers, advocates and religious leaders, who say confinement only compounds the suffering of women fleeing predatory gangs or domestic abuse at home.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson ordered changes to make it easier for more women and children to be released. Last week, several mothers who had languished in camps for six months or more were granted bond and let go.

Source:
Julia Preston of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/15/us/texas-detention-center-takes-toll-on-immigrants-languishing-there.html?ref=us

Many Clinics Likely To Close As Federal Appeals Court Upholds Texas Abortion Restrictions (6/10/2015)

A three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld some of the most onerous parts of a Texas abortion law, which is likely to cause most of the state’s abortion clinics close.
The ruling allowed provisions requiring clinics to meet hospital-level operating standards and requiring providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals to go into effects.
Abortion clinics must also meet ambulatory surgical center standards. These standards include minimum sizes for rooms and doorways, ventilation systems and other structural elements. Supporters of the law say it is meant to promote safety, its opponents say it places undue burdens on patients and is a veiled attempt to make the procedure inaccessible.
A different 5th Circuit panel had previously ruled that Mississippi could not enforce its admitting privileges law because enforcement would cause the state’s only abortion clinic to close. The court said the Texas and Mississippi cases were “distinguishable” because Texas wouldn’t be left with only one clinic if the admitting privileges provision was in effect.

Source:
Samantha Lachman of The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/09/texas-abortion-law-_n_7545710.html

Kentucky Governor Raises Minimum Wage With Executive Order (6/9/2015)

Governor Steven L Beshear of Kentucky signed an executive order on Monday, raising the hourly minimum wage for certain state employees to $10.10.
The change, which angered state Republicans and drew praise from the governor’s fellow Democrats, affects almost 800 employees. The previous hourly minimum wage was $7.25.
Mr. Beshear called on his fellow governors nationwide to follow suit with similar executive orders. In January, the departing Democratic Governor Quinn of Illinois signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for employees of state contractors. The new Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, rescinded the order.
Governor Beshear’s actions drew criticism from right-leaning groups who argued that the increase could strain the state’s budget and hurt its economy as it continues to recover from recession. Others praised the move, suggesting it would move the state forward.
The members of the state legislature tried to raise the minimum wage themselves, but failed to pass legislation through their bicameral legislature.

Source:
Nicholas Fandos of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/us/kentucky-governor-raises-minimum-wage-with-executive-order.html?ref=us

Obamacare Enrollees Anxiously Await Supreme Court Decision that Impacts Their Coverage (6/8/2015)

The supreme court will issue a ruling this month on a lawsuit engineered by conservative activists alleging that a brief phrase in the law means that subsidies can only be provided to individuals residing in states that set up their own health insurance exchanges.
The Affordable Care Act allows states to decide whether to establish health insurance exchanges to provide subsidized coverage to their residents or to let the federal government create them. Some states employ hybrid models that divide the responsibility with federal authorities.
6.4 million Americans are relying on health insurance purchased through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces to help cover the costs of their medical needs, from checkups to medical treatments.
Should the justices side with Obamacare’s critics, those 6.4 million Americans will lose their subsidies. Many will be forced to drop their health insurance because of the heightened cost.

Source:
Jeffrey young and Sam Stein of The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/07/obamacare-subsidies-supreme-court_n_7503600.html

EPA to Set New Limits on Airplane Emissions (6/3/2015)

The Obama administration is set to announce that it will require new rules to cut emissions from airplanes, expanding a quest to tackle climate change that has included a string of significant regulations on cars, trucks and power plants.
The EPA is expected to report its conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes endanger human health because they significantly contribute to global warming. This ‘endangerment finding’ will be the legal justification under the Clean Air Act for the EPA to issue new regulations to reduce airplane emissions.
Under the 1970 Clean Air Act, the federal government is required to regulate all pollutants that are found to endanger human health. The EPA put forth similar endangerment findings on emissions from vehicles and power plants before issuing new regulations on them, and those findings have held up in court.
The EPA is expected to limit the rule to commercial aircraft, leaving out small craft and military planes.

Source:
Coral Davenport and Jad Mouawad of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/business/energy-environment/epa-to-set-new-limits-on-airplane-emissions.html?ref=us&_r=0

Surveillance Bill Awaits Verdicts on Amendments From Hawks in Senate (6/2/2015)

The fractious debate over restarting the government’s sweeping surveillance program is expected to reach its final Senate showdown on Tuesday, when defense hawks will make an urgent appeal to preserve more power for security agencies to gain access to Americans’ phone records.
Many members of the House said they would reject the Senate approach if the hawks push too far.
The program lapsed at 12:01 a.m. Monday because opponents of surveillance refused to extend it through the legislative fight.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina plan one last attempt to amend the USA Freedom Act, which the House passed and which the two senators once denounced as an impediment to national security. They denounce the bill as an impediment to national security and a dangerous retrenchment from national security put in place after the 9/11 attacks. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the legislation, with backing from Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio and President Obama. The White House pressed for the Senate to refrain from making substantive changes to the legislation.

Source:
Jonathan Weisman and Jennifer Steinhauer of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/us/senate-bill-patriot-act-spying-nsa.html?ref=us

U.S. Accuses Ex-House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Paying to Hide ‘Misconduct’ (5/29/2015)

J. Dennis Hastert, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, has been charged with lying to the FBI and making cash withdrawals from banks in a way that was designed to hide that he was paying $3.5 million to someone for his “misconduct” from years ago.
Mr. Hastert, 73, the longest-serving Republican speaker, had worked as a lobbyist since leaving office. The indictment, announced by the US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said Mr. Hastert, who was once a high school teacher and wrestling coach in Yorkville, Illinois, had so far paid $1.7 million to the person, who had lived in Yorkville and had known Mr. Hastert for most of his life.
In 2010, during meetings between Mr. Hastert and the unnamed individual, the two discussed “past misconduct” by Mr. Hastert against the person, according to the indictment. In those meetings and in later discussions, Mr. Hastert agreed to provide money to the person “in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct,” the indictment said.
He was structuring the cash withdrawals in increments designed to avoid bank-reporting requirements. Each of the two charges carries a penalty of as much as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Source:
Monica Davey of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/29/us/ex-house-speaker-j-dennis-hastert-indicted-on-federal-charges.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Nebraska Governor Vetoes Bill to Abolish Death Penalty (5/27/2015)

Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska vetoed a bill on Tuesday that would abolish the death penalty in the state, testing the strength of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who said they would try to override his decision.
“This is a matter of public safety,” Governor Ricketts said at a news conference at the State Capitol in Lincoln. “It’s also a matter of making sure the public prosecutors have the tools they need to put these dangerous hardened criminals behind bars.”
The state of Nebraska has 10 inmates on death row at the moment. The governor finds this to be a small number and cites it as a testament to the restraint and prudency shown by the state in using the death penalty.
The governor urges all the state senators who are making the vote to sustain his veto. Lawmakers quickly scheduled a vote to try to override the governor’s veto for Wednesday afternoon.
If the lawmakers are successful, Nebraska will become the first largely conservative state in more than 40 years to strike down the death penalty.

Source:
Julie Bosman of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/us/nebraska-governor-vetoes-bill-to-abolish-death-penalty.html?ref=us

Charter Deal for Time Warner Cable Signals Shift in TV Industry (5/26/2015)

Trying to succeed where Comcast failed, Charter Communications has struck a deal to buy Time Warner Cable, an acquisition that would create a powerhouse in the consolidating American cable and broadband industry.
Charter plans to announce on Tuesday a $55 billion deal for its larger rival and an approximately $10 billion takeover of a smaller competitor. With those deals. Charter will become a significantly stronger rival to Comcast. Comcast sought to buy Time Warner Cable itself until the plan met resistance from federal antitrust regulators.
Time Warner Cable is the #2 cable operator in the country and has long been viewed as an important trophy for any company looking to dominate the American cable and broadband landscape.
Charter’s potential acquisitions will increase its customer base to 24 million. Comcast’s customer base is 27 million.
The flurry of deal making reflects the efforts of an industry grappling with a shift in how Americans watch and pay for television. With customers increasingly turning to the Internet for videos, cable companies have sought to combine to gain bigger scale and leverage in negotiations with content providers.

Source:
Michael J. de la Merced of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/business/dealbook/charter-time-warner-cable-deal.html?_r=0

Cleveland Reaches Settlement With Justice Department Over Police Conduct (5/26/2015)

Cleveland has reached a settlement with the Justice Department over what federal authorities said was a pattern of unconstitutional policing and excessive use of force.
The settlement comes days after a judge declared a Cleveland police officer not guilty of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a car’s two unarmed occupants, both of them black. The Justice Department opened an inquiry into the Cleveland police force months after this 2012 shooting.
The details of the settlement were not immediately clear, but in similar talks in recent years, the Justice Department has required cities to allow independent monitors to oversee changes in police departments. Settlements are typically backed by court orders and often call for improved training and revised policies for the use of force.

Source:
Mitch Smith and Matt Apuzzo of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/us/cleveland-police.html?ref=us

Flooding in Texas and Oklahoma Prompts Rescues and Evacuations (5/25/2015)

Record rainfall wreaked havoc across a swath of the Plains and Midwest on Sunday, causing flash floods in normally dry riverbeds, spawning tornadoes and forcing at least 2,000 people in Texas from their homes.
Tornadoes struck, severely damaging an apartment complex in Houston, Texas. A firefighter in Oklahoma was swept to his death while trying to rescue people from high water and a woman in Tulsa died in a traffic-related crash.
In Wimberley, fast growing area between San Antonio and Austin, 350-400 homes were destroyed.
Rovers rose so fast that whole communities woke up Sunday surrounded by water. Rescuers used pontoon boats and a helicopter to pull people out.
The weather is the result of a prolonged warming of Pacific Ocean Sea surface temperatures, which generally results in cooler air, coupled with an active southern jet stream and plentiful moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

Source:
The Associated Press via The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/24/us/ap-us-severe-weather.html?ref=us

​Obama Weight Strategy as Data Laws Run Out (5/25/2015)

The Obama administration is weighing what the looming expiration of three counterterrorism laws, including the provision that has been citied to allow the NSA to store data on Americans’ phone calls, would mean for future operations.
The three laws let the government collect business records for a counterterrorism investigation, continue wiretapping suspected terrorists as they shift from phone to phone in an effort to evade detection and tap “lone wolf” suspects who are not part of a broader terrorism group.
A divided Senate adjourned on Saturday for a week without passing legislation addressing the expiration. Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has said that he will reconvene the Senate on Sunday, which is one day before the deadline.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court had given the government a deadline of last Friday to file a new application to extend the bulk phone records program for 90 days. The Justice Department did not file.
The administration is holding to its decision not to invoke the grandfather clause to keep collecting bulk phone records past next Monday, but hasn’t made any comments regarding the business records provision or the other expiring measures.

Source:
Charlie Savage of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/us/politics/obama-weighs-strategy-as-data-laws-run-out.html?ref=us

​Cleveland Streets Are Calm, but Anger Lingers Day After Officer’s Acquittal (5/25/2015)

A judge had acquitted a Cleveland police officer of manslaughter for his role in a car pursuit that ended with two unarmed black people fatally shot.
The not-guilty verdict sparked demonstrations Saturday that began in orderly fashion but ended with dozens of arrests and prompted conversations across Cleveland about the city’s racial disparities.
The verdict came as the city awaits a decision from prosecutors on whether to charge the officer who last year shot and killed Tamir Rice, 12, who was playing with a replica gun near a playground.
Cleveland’s streets had calmed by Sunday morning, but many suggested that the verdict had only exacerbated tensions between the justice system and this city’s African-American population.

Source:
Mitch Smith of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/us/71-arrested-in-cleveland-protests-over-officers-acquittal-police-say.html?ref=us

9 Bikers Are Killed in Shootout in Waco (5/18/2015)

A shootout among members of several rival motorcycle gangs in a busy shopping plaza in the Central Texas city of Waco on Sunday left at least nine bikers dead and 18 others injured. This created chaos in a sprawling parking lot packed with afternoon shoppers and law enforcement.
The gunfire started at about 12:15 p.m. outside a Twin Peaks Restaurant, where members of the motorcycle clubs had gathered. The fight spilled into the parking lot, initially involving just fists and feet, but escalating quickly to chains, knives, clubs and ultimately, firearms.
Waco police officers were already at the scene when the confrontation unfolded because they had anticipated problems as hundreds of bikers from at least five groups gathered at the shopping plaza.
Several officers came under fire, but none were injured. No officers, shoppers or bystanders were injured.

Source:
Manny Fernandez, Liam Stack and Alan blinder of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/us/motorcycle-gang-shootout-in-waco-texas.html?_r=0

Duke Energy Agrees to pay $102 Million for Breaches (5/15/2015)

Duke Energy is the nation’s largest utility corporation. On Thursday it pleaded guilty to criminal violations of the federal Clean Water Act for the discharge of coal ash (which is toxic) and for a failure to properly maintain equipment at a number of power plants in North Carolina.
The company agreed to pay $102 million in fines and environmental fees. Of the $102 million, $68 million is a criminal penalty assessed under the Clean Water Act.
This was sparked by a massive coal ash spill in February 2014 in North Carolina. The spill sent up to 39,000 tons of coal ash and millions of gallons of coal ash wastewater into the Dan River, spreading 62 miles to the Virginia border.
Duke Energy is also involved in other litigation at the moment. The company is appealing a $25.1 million penalty levied by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources in March over alleged groundwater contamination from coal ash at one of their other plants.

Source:
Richard Fausset of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/us/duke-energy-agrees-to-pay-102-million-for-breaches.html?ref=us&_r=0

Amtrak Train Derailed Going 106 M.P.H. on Sharp Curve; at least 7 Killed (5/14/2015)

An engineer jammed on the emergency brakes just seconds before Tuesday’s fatal Amtrak derailment, but the train – traveling at 106 miles an hour, more than twice the speed limit – slowed only slightly before hurtling off its tracks, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 200.
Investigators say that it is too early to know whether speed alone caused the wreck and that they will examine other factors, such as track conditions, throttle and brake settings and alarms in the engineer’s cab. Officials say that trains are supposed to enter curves at 50 miles per hour, but the train was headed at more than twice that when it entered the curve.
The crash occurred on a stretch of the Northeast Corridor – the Washington-to-Boston route – that didn’t have a signal system known as Positive Train Control, which can dictate speeds and slow trains around curves. Officials say that Positive Train Control could have prevented the crash.
Even without the system, rail safety experts said Amtrak trains have multiple systems to alert train operators to excess speed, with warning lights and sound alarms. Whether or not those systems were functioning on the train is unknown.

Source:
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Jad Mouawad and Emma G. Fitzsimmons of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/us/amtrak-train-derails-crash-philadelphia.html

Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia, Killing at least 5 and Injuring Dozens (5/13/2015)

At least five people were killed and dozens more injured when an Amtrak train carrying 243 people derailed on Tuesday in Philadelphia. This has caused service in the Northeast region to shut down.
The train was headed from Washington to New York when it derailed around 9:30 p.m. 49 people, including 6 people in critical condition, were taken to area hospitals.
The cause of the crash was initially unknown. The train was carrying 283 passengers and five crewmembers. Firefighters and rescue workers carrying flashlights and ladders went from car to car helping passengers off the train. Firefighters had to use hydraulic tools to recuse people trapped inside the overturned cars.
Several of the train cars appeared to have flipped over. A steel utility pole had crashed onto one of them, and mangled and twisted track could be seen near the wreckage. Video from the scene showed several train cars laying on their sides and wreckage scattered about. The front car, believed to be the engine, was separated from the rest of the train.

Source:
Jon Hurdle and Ashley Southall of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/us/amtrak-train-derails-in-philadelphia-injuring-more-than-50.html?module=Notification&version=BreakingNews&region=FixedTop&action=Click&contentCollection=BreakingNews&contentID=34344486&pgtype=article

Administration Gives Conditional Approval for Shell to Drill in Arctic (5/12/2015)

The Obama administration gave conditional approval on Monday for Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. to start drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean this summer.
The approval is a major victory for Shell and the rest of the petroleum industry, which has sought for years to drill in the remote waters of the Chukchi seas, which are believed to hold vast reserves of oil and gas.
The Interior Department’s decision is a devastating blow to environmentalists, who have pressed the Obama administration to reject proposals for offshore Arctic drilling. Environmentalists say that a drilling accident in the icy and treacherous Arctic waters could have far more devastating consequences than the deadly Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill of 2010. In that oil spill, an oil rig explosion killed 11 men and sent millions of barrels of oil spewing into the water.
On some fronts, President Obama has pursued the most ambitious environmental agenda of any president, issuing new regulations intended to curb climate change, working toward an international global warming accord, and using his executive powers to put public lands off-limits from development. On the other hand, he has countered those measures by opening up untouched federal waters to new oil and gas drilling.

Source:
Coral Davenport of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/us/white-house-gives-conditional-approval-for-shell-to-drill-in-arctic.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

4 Arrested After 2 Mississippi Police Officers Are Killed During Traffic Stop (5/11/2015)

Law enforcement officials in Mississippi arrested four people after the fatal shooting of two police officers in Hattiesburg, and that two of the suspects had been charged with capital murder.
The officers were shot last Saturday during a traffic stop and died later in the hospital. The officers were Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate. One of their police cars was stolen after the shooting and was found abandoned a few blocks away.
Marvin Banks (29) and Joanie Calloway (22) have both been charged with two counts of capital murder. Marvin Banks’ brother, Curtis Banks (26), has been charged with two counts of accessory after the fact of capital murder. The brothers have been convicted in the past on felony drug and weapons charges. Cornelius Clark (28) was charged with obstruction of justice. Mr. Clark had been a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
The authorities have released only a limited amount of information about the case. Officer Deen pulled over Ms. Calloway for speeding and Marvin Banks was a passenger. Officer Tate arrived after Officer Deen called for backup, and they called for more backups just before shots were fired from the car. The suspects fled after the shooting. Ms. Calloway fled in her car while Mr. Banks fled in one of the police cruisers.

Source:
Ashley Southall of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/us/two-police-officers-are-shot-and-killed-in-mississippi.html?ref=us&_r=0

N.S.A. Phone Data Collection Is Illegal, Appeals Court Rules (5/7/2015)

A federal appeals court in New York on Thursday ruled that the once-secret NSA program that is systematically collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk is illegal.
The decision comes as a fight in Congress is intensifying over whether to end and replace the program, or to extend it without changes. It also comes amid a global uptick in controversy over electronic surveillance, including a push in France to increase domestic spying and a decision by Germany to reduce cooperation on surveillance with the US.
A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a provision of the Patriot Act (known as Section 215) cannot be legitimately interpreted to allow the bulk collection of domestic calling records.
This ruling isn’t good for the Republican Senator from Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, who has resolutely pressed to maintain the NSA’s existing program against bipartisan pressure to scale it back.
The House appears ready to pass a bill next week that would end the government’s bulk collection of phone records. That bill, known as the U.S.A. Freedom Act, would replace it with a new program that would preserve the NSA’s ability to analyze links between callers to hurt for terrorists, but keep the bulk records in the hands of phone companies, which would be free to dispose of them after 18 months. Under the current system, the NSA keeps them for five years.

Source:
Charlie Savage and Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/08/us/nsa-phone-records-collection-ruled-illegal-by-appeals-court.html?ref=us&_r=0

​Los Angeles Sues Wells Fargo, Alleging Fraud by Employees (5/6/2015)

Wells Fargo Bank employees, driven by strict sales pressure, issued unwanted credit cards and opened unauthorized accounts that charged customers fees and damaged their credit.
The civil complaint contends that the largest California-based bank violated state and federal laws by misusing confidential information and failing to notify customers when personal information was breached.
Frank Ahn, who owns a convenience store and coin-operated laundromat in the San Fernando Valley, said he was repeatedly pressured for over four years to open additional accounts at Wells Fargo. When he declined, the bank opened three savings accounts in his name anyway.
The bank has blamed the problems on a few rogue employees who have been disciplined or fired and said it would defend itself. “Wells Fargo’s culture is focused on the best interests of its customers and creating a supportive, caring and ethical environment for our team members,” Wells Fargo said in a statement.
The complaint was filed under a law that allows attorneys representing large California cities to seek relief for unfair business practices for customers statewide. The lawsuit seeks a court order ending the alleged practices along with penalties up to $2,500 for every violation and restitution for affected customers.

Source:
The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/05/us/ap-us-wells-fargo-lawsuit.html

​Rural Indiana Struggles to Contend With H.I.V. Outbreak (5/5/2015)

There has been a growing trend of intravenous drug use and the sharing of needles in Indiana. Because of this, there have been more than 140 cases in the largely rural region in the south of Indiana.
The virus is spreading very rapidly for many reasons. Many drug users refuse to get tested for the virus at all. The ones who do get tested often refuse to get antiretroviral treatment because they fear being spotted entering the clinic on Main Street. Many people in the area are misinformed about the virus. One patient said, “I thought it was just a homosexual disease… I didn’t ever think it would be in my small hometown.” Most of the victims are white, uneducated, and 20% of them are in poverty. Officials say the need for education is urgent and deep; even local health workers are learning as they go.
Attempts to curb the disease have been enacted, but haven’t been very successful. Gov. Mike Pence authorized a needle exchange program last month, but local officials are not running it.

Source:
Abby Goodnough of the New York Times
 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/06/us/rural-indiana-struggles-to-contend-with-hiv-outbreak.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

​‘Exceptional’ NYPD Officer Dies From Gunshot Wound to Head (5/5/2015)

A 25-year-old police officer shot in the head while attempting to stop a man suspected of carrying a handgun died Monday from his injuries.
Brian Moore, who was in a coma after undergoing brain surgery following the Saturday evening shooting, was pronounced dead at a Queens hospital with his family at his bedside.
Police Commissioner William Bratton said, “he proved himself to be an exceptional young officer,” noting that Moore had made more than 150 arrests in less than five years on the job and earned meritorious service medals.
Moore and his partner were in plainclothes and in an unmarked police car when they approached Demetrius Blackwell after they saw him adjusting his waistband, a move that made them suspicious he had a handgun. The officers pulled up next to Blackwell and exchanged words before the man suddenly turned, pulled out a weapon and fired on them. Blackwell has been charged with attempted murder and other crimes and is being held without bail. The prosecutors plan on charging him with first-degree murder now.

Source:
The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/04/us/ap-us-nypd-officer-shot.html

​In Baltimore, National Guard Pullout Begins as Citywide Curfew Is Lifted (5/4/2015)

The National Guard began to pull its troops from Baltimore and the mayor lifted the curfew after several days of relative calm.
Baltimore had lived under five consecutive nights of restrictions that were imposed in the wake of violent unrest connected to the death of Freddie Gray, who died of injuries he suffered while in police custody.
The deployment of thousands of soldiers and the curfew, which was enforced with few exceptions between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., had been central to the peace strategy that Governor Hogan and Mayor Rawlings-Blake stitched together in the hours after riots and looting erupted on Monday.
The mayor said in her statement that her No. 1 priority in instituting a curfew was to ensure the public peace, safety, health and welfare of Baltimore citizen.”

Source:
Alan Blinder, Richard Fausset and Nikita Stewart of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/us/baltimore-lifts-citywide-curfew-put-in-place-after-rioting.html?ref=us&_r=0

6 Baltimore Police Officers Charged in Freddie Gray Death (5/1/2015)

Baltimore’s chief prosecutor charged six police officers on Friday with a range of crimes including murder and manslaughter in the arrest and fatal injury of Freddie Gray.
The state’s attorney for Baltimore City, Marilyn J. Mosby, filed the charges almost as soon as she received a medical examiner’s report that ruled Mr. Gray’s death a homicide.
Ms. Mosby’s announcement on the steps of the War Memorial downtown drew cheers from the assembled crown while a nearby mass of officers in riot gear looked on. As word spread, people in parts of the city took to the streets in spontaneous celebration, and by nightfall a large demonstration was winding its way through the streets.
The city is still in a state of emergency after the Freddie Gray riots processed to tear the city apart just days ago. The city is still under curfew and patrolled by National Guard troops.
The officers, 3 white and 3 black, include an experienced lieutenant, 4 rookies, and a woman who had just been promoted to sergeant. The most serious charges were brought against Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., who was driving the van that carried Mr. Gray to a police station after his arrest. Along with involuntary manslaughter, Mr. Goodson was charged with “second-degree depraved heart murder,” which means indifference to human life. All six were arrested. Bail was set at $350,000 for four officers and $250,000 for the other two.

Source:
Alan Blinder and Richard Perez-Pena of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/us/freddie-gray-autopsy-report-given-to-baltimore-prosecutors.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=span-ab-top-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

​Bernie Sanders, Long-Serving Independent, Enters Presidential Race as a Democrat (5/1/2015)

Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, announced that the was running for president as a Democrat, providing Hillary Rodham Clinton with her first official rival for the party’s nomination.
Mr. Sanders issued a statement that laid out his goals for reducing income inequality, addressing climate change and scaling back the influence of money in politics. He’s also been staunch in his opposition to foreign military intervention and wants to reign in big banks.
Mr. Sanders plans to hold a formal campaign kickoff on May 26 in Burlington, VT, where he was once mayor, but he will hit the campaign trail this weekend, holding an event in Manchester, N.H., where the nation’s first primary is being held in February. Mr. Sanders wants to make accessibility the hallmark of his campaign and intends to run a “clean campaign.” Mr. Sanders prides himself of never running an “attack-ad” in his whole career as a politician.
Mr. Sanders knows that he can’t raise as much money as Mrs. Clinton, but he feels that he doesn’t need to in order to defeat her.
Mr. Sanders served for 16 years as Vermont’s sole congressman before he was elected to the Senate in 2006. He has built a reputation for being gruff, abrupt and honest.

Source:
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign-for-president.html?ref=politics

Patriot Act Faces Revisions Backed by Both Parties (5/1/2015)

After more than a decade of wrenching a national debate over the intrusiveness of government intelligence agencies, a bipartisan wave of support has gathered to sharply limit the federal government’s sweeps of phone and Internet records.
On Thursday, a bill that would overhaul the Patriot Act and curtail the so-called metadata surveillance exposed by Edward J. Snowden was overwhelmingly passed by House Judiciary Committee and was heading to almost certain passage in that chamber this month.
Under the bipartisan bills in the House and Senate, the Patriot Act would be changed to prohibit bulk collection and sweeps. The data would instead be stored by the phone companies themselves, and could be accessed by intelligence agencies only after approval of the secret Foreign intelligence Surveillance Act court.
The legislation would also create a panel of experts to advice the FISA court on privacy, civil liberties, and technology matters, while requiring the declassification of all significant FISA court opinions.

Source:
Jonathan Weisman and Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/us/politics/patriot-act-faces-revisions-backed-by-both-parties.html

U.S. Economy Grew as 0.2% Rate in First Quarter / Shrugging Off Slow Growth, Fed Predicts a Rebound (4/30/15)

The American economy slowed to a crawl in the first quarter of 2015 because of weaker trade performance, falling business investment and still-cautious consumers.
In the first quarter of 2014 the economy contracted by 2.1% so the situation isn’t at its darkest, but people would like things to be better than their current level. Still, even with the disappointing start to the year, most experts expect growth to rebound later in 2015. They expect consumers, with more money in their bank accounts from lower oil prices and an improving job market to spend more aggressively later in the year.
The Federal Reserve said that it expected growth to rebound, suggesting that it still intends to start raising its benchmark interest rate this year. The fed has been keeping interest rates low in order to stimulate the economy, if they raise interest rates, it shows their confidence that the economy is picking up and no longer needs the fed to support it as heavily. The fed has kept short-term interest rates near zero since December of 2008.
Experts are hoping that 2015 will be a repeat of 2014 where a slow economic first quarter was offset by a summer of strong economic growth.

Source:
Nelson D. Schwartz of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/business/gdp-q1-united-states-economy.html?src=mv
Binyamin Appelbaum and Nelson D. Schwartz of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/business/economy/federal-reserve-meeting-interest-rates.html?ref=business

Ford Recalls Nearly 600,000 Vehicles Over Steering and Stalling Problems (4/30/15)

Ford Motor Company is recalling almost 593,000 cars and trucks in North America, including 520,000 because the power-assist to the steering could be lost, making the vehicle harder to turn. About 554,000 of the vehicles are in the United States.
The steering problem affects the 2013-15 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ sedans and the 2015 Ford Edge sport utility vehicle. Ford said that bolts used in the steering system could rust and fracture, causing the loss of power steering, increasing the risk of a crash.
Ford said it was not aware of any accidents.
The areas most affected by this recall will be Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington D.C. because those are the areas that rely heavily on road salt in the winder because the salt can accelerate the corrosion of the steering components.
Ford said that it was recalling about 50,000 vehicles because of a possible stalling problem in the 2014 Ford Focus, Edge, Escape, Transit Connect, and the 2014-15 Ford Fiesta. The automaker blamed a problem with the fuel pump and said it was aware of an accident caused by this malfunction.

Source:
Christopher Jensen of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/business/ford-recalls-nearly-600000-vehicles-over-steering-and-stalling-problems.html?ref=business

A Landmark Gay Marriage Case at the Supreme Court (4/29/15)

The lawmakers defending state bans on same-sex marriage made their arguments on Tuesday.
Today 36 states and the Washington D.C. permit same-sex marriage, but 13 states have banned it. Couples from four of those states are asking the court to rule that the bans violate constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection.
For two-and-a-half hours – more than twice as long as a typical oral argument – the justices weighted two questions: Does the Constitution require states to license marriages between people of the same sex, and if not, must states at least recognize lawful same-sex marriages performed in other states?
There are currently four justices who normally support the state’s rights to ban same-sex marriage and four justices that support same-sex marriage. The person who will break this tie is Justice Anthony Kennedy, who so far has a track record for leaning slightly toward the side of the same-sex marriage movement. In 2013, when the court voted 5 to 4 to strike down the heart of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, Justice Kennedy emphasized the equality and dignity of same-sex couples, but also the importance of respecting states’ rights.
The federal Defense of Marriage was an anti-same-sex marriage law.

Source:
The Editorial Board of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/29/opinion/a-landmark-gay-marriagecase-at-the-supreme-court.html?_r=0

​Baltimore Enlists National Guard and Curfew to Fight Riots and Looting (4/28/15)

 Gov. Larry Hogan activated the National Guard on Monday and the city of Baltimore announced a curfew for all residents as a turbulent day that began with the funeral of 25-year-old Freddie gray ended with rioting by rock-throwing youths, widespread looting and at least 15 police officers injured.
Hours after the service ended, angry groups of people threw bottles, rocks and chunks of concrete at officers who lined up in riot gear with shields deployed.
Rampant vandalism ensued. By evening, he unrest was spreading, and the police said at least 27 people had been arrested.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced that a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew would be imposed for a week beginning on Tuesday.
The governor, at the request of the city of Baltimore, declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard and officers from neighboring counties were deployed to assist the crisis.

 Source:
Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-freddie-gray.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=span-ab-top-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

​Baltimore Police Clash With Youths After Funeral for Freddie Gray

Police officers in riot gear clashed with rock-throwing youths on Monday in a neighborhood in Northwest Baltimore, hours after Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who has become the nation’s symbol of police brutality, was laid to rest.
At least seven officers were injured and one was “unresponsive.” Groups of angry young people surrounded a police cruiser and smashed it in. Another cruiser was set on fire. Several businesses, including a drugstore, a liquor store and a check-cashing store, were looted.
The violence broke out in the Mondawmin neighborhood near the New Shiloh Baptist Church, where friends, neighbors, activists and government officials from the local level to the White House – as well as civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson and Dick Gregory – had gathered in the morning to eulogize Mr. Gray.
The authorities acknowledged that the marches and protests in Mr. Gray’s honor are mostly peaceful with “isolated pockets” of chaos.

Source:
Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/us/a-call-for-peace-before-freddie-grays-funeral-in-baltimore.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Obama Apologizes After Drone Kills American and Italian Held by Al Qaeda.

An American aid worker and another man held hostage by Al Qaeda were killed in an American drone strike in Pakistan in January, government officials disclosed.
When the CIA authorized an attack on a compound linked to Al Qaeda, they were unaware that the hostages were being held there despite hundreds of hours of surveillance.
The American government has caused a death of one of their own and caused skepticism of drone warfare.
The government is conducting two reviews of the drone strike to determine what went wrong. This could force President Obama to reconsider his methods for dealing with Al Qaeda. President Obama’s general policy on drone strikes is that drone strikes are to be authorized only when it can be concluded to a “near certainty” that there will not be civilian casualties.
The family of the American who lost his life blames Al Qaeda for his death and not the US government.

 Source:
Peter Baker of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/world/asia/2-qaeda-hostages-were-accidentally-killed-in-us-raid-white-house-says.html

Declassified Report Shows Doubts About Value of N.S.A.’s Warrantless Spying

The NSA’s post-9/11 warrantless surveillance and bulk data collection program hampered its effectiveness according to a newly declassified document.
Shortly after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush told the NSA that it could wiretap Americans’ international phone calls and collect bulk data about their phone calls and emails without obeying the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The government then took steps to make sure that cases that involved these wiretaps only went to specific judges who knew about the order.
After word got out about the illegal wiretaps, Congress made them legal in 2007.

Source:
Charlie Savage of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/us/politics/value-of-nsa-warrantless-spying-is-doubted-in-declassified-reports.html?ref=us&_r=0

Justice Dept. Opens Investigation Into Death of Freddie Gray

The Justice Department said that it had opened an investigation into the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in a hospital after suffering from a severed spinal cord which he allegedly received during his arrest. The Baltimore police department arrested him.
The investigation will look for possible civil rights violations by the officers involved. The investigation came shortly after the Baltimore Police Department identified the six officers who have been suspended in the death of Mr. Gray.
Witnesses captured parts of his encounter with the police on a cellphone video, in which screams can be heard as officers drag him into a van. An autopsy showed no wounds, except for the severed spinal cord, and the video does not show the police acting forcefully.
The officers arrested Mr. Gray while on patrol. While on patrol they encountered Gray, who after making eye contact with the officers, immediately fled. This prompted the officers to pursue him. Upon his arrest they discovered a switchblade knife on his person.

Source:
Richard Perez-Pena of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/baltimore-police-officers-suspended-in-freddie-gray-inquiry-are-identified.html?ref=us

Michele Leonhart, Top D.E.A. Official, Is Expected to Resign

The Obama administration’s top drug enforcement official is expected to resign soon after her agency’s reputation was tarnished by a scandal over sex parties with prostitutes.
Her five-year tenure has been marred by accusations of mismanagement.
The House Oversight Committee expressed outrage about her handling of reports that D.E.A. agents stationed in Colombia participated in sex parties with prostitutes paid for by drug cartels.
The White House press secretary refused to defend Ms. Leonhart or say that the president had confidence in her.

Source: Julie Hirschfeld Davis of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/michele-leonhart-top-dea-official-is-expected-to-resign.html?ref=us&_r=0

Civil Rights Groups in South Carolina Ask U.S. to Investigate Killings by Police

Civil rights groups in North Charleston, S.C., asked the United States Department of Justice to investigate all fatal shootings by the police.
Activists believe that the police had been working to conceal the circumstances surrounding the death of a black man, Walter L. Scott, on April 4 before a cellphone video emerged showing that a white police officer shot him in the back as he fled.
The groups said that in more than 200 shootings by the police in South Carolina “in recent history,” charges were very rarely brought.
The Justice Department, said in response to the civil rights groups’ move, “The department will review any requests that are submitted.”
State elected leaders and the Rev, Jesse Jackson held a meeting in North Charleston in support of quipping police officers with body cameras.

Source:
​Benjamin Mueller at the New York Times
​http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/18/us/civil-rights-groups-in-south-carolina-ask-us-to-investigate-killings-by-police.html?ref=us&_r=0

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