NATION/WORLD BRIEFING
Judge rules assault weapons ban doesn’t violate 2nd Amendment
BOSTON – Assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are not protected by the Second Amendment, a federal judge said in a ruling Friday upholding Massachusetts’ ban on the weapons.
U.S. District Judge William Young dismissed a lawsuit challenging the 20year-old ban, saying assault weapons are military firearms that fall beyond the reach of the constitutional right to “bear arms.” Plaintiffs are studying whether to appeal the ruling.
State Attorney General Maura Healey said the ruling “vindicates the right of the people of Massachusetts to protect themselves from these weapons of war.”
Press secretary to sit in for Trump at correspondents dinner
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump, who remains very much at war with most of the media, is skipping the second White House Correspondents Dinner of his presidency.
In a statement Friday morning, the White House Correspondents Association said it had been told that the president would not participate.
But unlike in 2017 when the entire administration boycotted the event, this year press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will attend and sit at the head table.
White House conducts ethics review of EPA chief Pruitt
WASHINGTON – The White House is conducting a review of ethical questions surrounding Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
But press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday that the president believes Pruitt has “done a good job at … carrying out the goals of the EPA.”
Pruitt has come under scrutiny for the cheap rental rate he received on a condo connected to a fossil fuels industry lobbyist as well as his expensive travel and big raises for two aides.
FEMA: $50 billion needed to rebuild Puerto Rico after Maria
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday that it will take up to $50 billion to help rebuild Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria and warned that the U.S. territory is not ready for another disaster.
Brock Long said his agency aims to make the island’s roads, homes, bridges and electrical grid as strong as possible but noted that the next hurricane season starts June 1.
Officials announced Thursday that 283 schools will close this summer amid the continuing departure of families from Puerto Rico after the devastating hurricane.
Ex-teacher pleads guilty to fleeing with Tennessee student
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A teacher who set off a nationwide manhunt last year after he fled with a 15-year-old student broke down in court after pleading guilty to crossing state lines to have sex with a minor.
Former forensics teacher Tad Cummins, 51, also pleaded guilty Thursday to obstruction of justice in federal court in Nashville. “I cannot be the man I need to be and not tell the truth,” he said before starting to weep.
Cummins faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison for crossing state lines for sex with a minor. He also faces up to 20 years for obstruction of justice. He will be sentenced later this year.
Lawyers seek independent monitor for Ohio fertility clinic
CLEVELAND – Lawyers are asking a judge to appoint an independent monitor for an Ohio fertility clinic that had a storage tank malfunction that destroyed more than 4,000 eggs and embryos.
The lawyers, on behalf of their clients, say in their motion filed Thursday they are seeking an expert in in vitro fertilization and storage of eggs and embryos to monitor the clinic run by University Hospitals in suburban Cleveland.
Attorney Joe Peiffer said they feel the storage system and the fertility facility at the clinic are “woefully inadequate.”
A hospital spokesman said they have been working with regulatory and accrediting agencies since the malfunction.