| Chicago prosecutor asks for FBI help on police shootings Posted: 31 Dec 2015 01:00 PM PST  Chicago's top prosecutor on Thursday said she asked the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to help probe the fatal police shootings of two black residents over the weekend, as protesters renewed calls for the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The unusual step ramps up pressure on the Chicago Police Department, which is already the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice civil rights investigation over its use of deadly force, especially against minorities. Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said on Thursday she wants help investigating the shootings of Bettie Jones, a 55-year-old mother of five, and Quintonio LeGrier, a 19-year old college student, by a single Chicago police officer.
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| Oregon court reinstates patrolman who shot to death unarmed black man Posted: 31 Dec 2015 12:45 PM PST The Portland police must reinstate a white officer who was fired in 2010 after he fatally shot an unarmed black man in the back, an Oregon state appeals court has ruled, officials said on Thursday. Portland Police Bureau officer Ron Frashour was fired for shooting 25-year-old Aaron Campbell after the suspect's girlfriend had called police to her apartment over concerns that he was suicidal. The Oregon Court of Appeals sided with a labor dispute arbitrator in ruling on Wednesday that the city must rehire Frashour. |
| Court blocks Utah governor from stopping Planned Parenthood funds Posted: 31 Dec 2015 11:27 AM PST  A two-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late on Wednesday reversed a lower court decision that would have let Governor Gary Herbert, a Republican, halt funding to the women's health organization beginning on Jan. 1. Herbert ordered the cut-off in August, citing secretly recorded videos that anti-abortion groups have said showed Planned Parenthood officials in Texas and other states, but not Utah, discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood has said the videos were made to distort the issue of fetal-tissue donations made by the group for scientific research.
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| New Year's Eve revelers pack NYC's Times Square under tight security Posted: 31 Dec 2015 10:55 AM PST  More than a million people are expected to crowd into New York City's Times Square under heavy security on Thursday to celebrate the arrival of 2016 with the traditional dropping of the New Year's Eve crystal ball. With memories of the deadly attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, still fresh, police took extraordinary measures to assure security at an event that has come to define the New York experience for many visitors to the United States' largest city. "This is the center of the world on New Year's Eve," said Rick Milley, 60, who traveled from Boston with his wife, Debbie, 59, to ring in the new year in Times Square.
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| Why Clinton’s online persona doesn’t connect with minorities Posted: 31 Dec 2015 09:52 AM PST  On October 13, Saturday Night Live kicked off its show with a parody of the most recent Democratic debate. It was back when the stage had more candidates; Vice President Joe Biden had yet to decide whether he'd run for president and Bernie Sanders was having a moment. After the Vermont senator (played by Larry David) rattled off a few nonsensical promises, a worried Hillary Clinton (depicted by Kate McKinnon) interrupted:
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| Obama may act to expand background checks on gun sales: news reports Posted: 31 Dec 2015 08:48 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce executive action expanding background checks on gun sales, media outlets reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with White House proposals and planning.
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| Cosby sexual assault charge motivated by politics: lawyer Posted: 31 Dec 2015 08:01 AM PST  (Reuters) - Comedian Bill Cosby's lawyer characterized the sexual assault case against him as a "political football" and said on Thursday the entertainer will not consider any plea deals because he is not guilty of a crime. Washington-based lawyer Monique Pressley accused the district attorney's office in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, of playing with her client's life by making the case a focal point in a recent election and unjustly accusing him of a crime. Cosby, 78, was charged on Wednesday with sexually assaulting a woman after giving her drugs and alcohol in 2004.
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| Mother of Texas 'affluenza' teen arrives back in U.S. Posted: 31 Dec 2015 01:44 AM PST  The mother of a Texas teenager, known as the "affluenza" teen for using his family's wealth as a defense for killing four people in a drunk driving incident, was deported from Mexico and arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday, local media said. Tanya Couch, mother of Ethan Couch, 18, was to be handed over to the U.S. Marshals Service who would take her back to Texas.
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| 'Affluenza' teen remains in Mexico, mom deported to U.S. Posted: 31 Dec 2015 12:24 AM PST  Ethan Couch has been granted a three-day stay in his deportation case.
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| Chicago looks to other cities for guidance on police reform Posted: 30 Dec 2015 08:10 PM PST |
| Record flooding hits U.S. Midwest, threatens South Posted: 30 Dec 2015 06:37 PM PST  By Sue Britt and Kevin Murphy VALLEY PARK, Mo/KANSAS CITY, Mo (Reuters) - Swollen rivers in the U.S. Midwest and other regions brought flood warnings for over 12 million people on Wednesday as scores of buildings were submerged after days of intense rain in which 24 people have died. Two rivers west of St. Louis crested at historic levels, flooding local towns, disabling sewer plants and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Other major rivers including the Mississippi are expected to reach record highs as flood waters rush toward the Gulf of Mexico, the National Weather Service said.
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| Bill Cosby charged with felony sexual assault in Pennsylvania Posted: 30 Dec 2015 05:34 PM PST  By Daniel Kelley NORRISTOWN, Pa. (Reuters) - Bill Cosby was charged on Wednesday with sexually assaulting a woman after plying her with drugs and alcohol in 2004, the only criminal case against a once-beloved entertainer whose father-figure persona has been marred by dozens of similar misconduct accusations. A frail-looking Cosby, 78, walking with a cane and accompanied by two lawyers, appeared for his arraignment hours later at a courthouse just outside Philadelphia, where he posted a $1 million bond, turned over his passport and was ordered to avoid any contact with his accuser. Smiling and politely thanking District Court Judge Elizabeth McHugh at the end of the brief proceeding, Cosby left the Elkins Park courthouse and was driven to a nearby police precinct to be finger-printed and booked.
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| Chicago looks to other cities for guidance on police reform Posted: 30 Dec 2015 05:19 PM PST  Chicago might have one of the largest police departments in the country, but amid a series of high-profile police shootings and consistent calls for reform, the Windy City is turning to some smaller departments for guidance.
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| Neighbor of San Bernardino gunman indicted on terrorism charge Posted: 30 Dec 2015 04:47 PM PST  A former neighbor accused of supplying assault rifles to the couple who massacred 14 people in San Bernardino, California, was indicted Wednesday on charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. The indictment accuses Enrique Marquez, 24, with conspiring with San Bernardio gunman Syed Rizwan Farook in 2011 and 2012 to support a terrorist attack that was never carried out, as well as making false statements to federal authorities. Farook launched the Islamic State-inspired rampage in San Bernardino on Dec. 2 with his wife, Tashfeen Malik.
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| Mother of 'affluenza' teenager deported to Los Angeles: Mexico official Posted: 30 Dec 2015 04:29 PM PST  The mother of wanted Texan teenager Ethan Couch who fled with her son to Mexico, has been deported from the country on a flight to Los Angeles, a Mexican immigration official said on Wednesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Tonya Couch was arriving in Los Angeles because there were no more flights available to Texas. In Los Angeles, she would be in the hands of the U.S. Marshals service, the official said.
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| NAACP calls for civil disobedience in Cleveland after Tamir Rice ruling Posted: 30 Dec 2015 03:25 PM PST  Civil rights groups in Cleveland have unveiled their list of demands and are calling upon activists to join them in protest against the decision not to indict the officers who killed Tamir Rice.
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| San Bernardino shooter's visa file raised no red flags: U.S. government sources Posted: 30 Dec 2015 02:38 PM PST  State Department visa officers conducted all required security checks on Tashfeen Malik, one of two shooters in the San Bernardino massacre early this month, but found no "derogatory" information before granting her a visa to enter the United States in 2013, a person familiar with the documentation said. The standard security inquiries include interagency counter-terrorism screening, fingerprint checks, facial recognition analysis and checks against worldwide U.S. consular records, a State Department source said. Because there was no derogatory information in Malik's application, visa officers had no grounds for ordering deeper investigations into her background, let alone blocking her entry when she arrived in the United States in December 2013, officials have said.
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