Kidnapper of Elizabeth Smart to be freed
SALT LAKE CITY — Wanda Barzee, a 72-year-old woman convicted of helping a former street preacher kidnap Elizabeth Smart in 2002, will be freed from prison more than five years earlier than expected, a surprise decision that Smart called “incomprehensible.” Barzee will be released Sept. 19 after the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole determined it had miscalculated the time she was required to serve in prison, board spokesman Greg Johnson said. Smart, 30, said she plans to speak publicly in the coming days.
MGM Resorts offers $500 charitable donations for victims of mass shooting
LAS VEGAS — An unprecedented legal move by MGM Resorts International to sue surviving victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting took another unusual turn Tuesday when the casino-operator offered to make $500 charitable donations for each person who waives or has their lawyer accept legal notice of the lawsuits. The move is part of MGM’s attempt to have a federal judge hear the cases and declare that the casino-operator has no liability for the mass shooting at one of its properties under a law enacted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
N.Y. Times publisher defends running anonymous op-ed
AUSTIN, Texas — The publisher of The New York Times said Tuesday that the newspaper’s decision to run an anonymous opinion piece criticizing President Donald Trump’s leadership “added to the public understanding of this administration and the actions and beliefs of the people within it.” Publisher A.G. Sulzberger defended running the op-ed to a gathering of U.S. news leaders in Austin, Texas.