Calif. passes ‘sanctuary state’ bill
Compiled from news services
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Legislature Saturday passed a “sanctuary state” bill to protect immigrants without legal residency in the U.S., part of a broader push by Democrats to counter expanded deportation orders under the Trump administration.
The legislation by Democratic state Sen. Kevin de Leon, the most far-reaching of its kind in the country, would limit state and local law enforcement communication with federal immigration authorities, and prevent officers from questioning and holding people on immigration violations.
Afterdebate in both housesof the Legislature, staunchopposition from Republicansheriffs and threatsfrom Trump administration officials against sanctuary cities, thebill was approved on a 27-11 vote along party lines.
Atlantic oil exploration
WASHINGTON— State and federal lawmakers from both parties have joined East Coast business interests to persuade the Trump administration to halt its plan for fossil fuel development in the Atlantic Ocean.
It’s a surprisingly diverse collection of power players: members of Congress, dozens of lawmakers from both red and blue states, nine attorneys general, six governors and thousands of business owners from Florida through the Carolinas and up to New Jersey.
They hope that mix and their economic, not environmental, argument will sway the Interior Department.
Time is running out for them to make the case. The Interior Department is now reviewing whether to allow the first-ever seismic tests in the Atlantic.
Ky. AG sees overdose
LEXINGTON,Ky.—As Kentucky’s chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Andy Beshear spends a good deal of time warning people about the dangers of heroin and pain pills, but he hadn’t seen an overdose in person until Sept. 7.
That afternoon, Mr. Beshear helped pull a man dying of a drug overdose out of a car in downtown Lexington.
The man, who remains unidentified, survived after he was administered several cans of naloxone and taken to the hospital. Mr. Beshear said he plans to instruct all his staff on how to administer the overdose antidote.
A total of 1,404 people died in Kentucky last year from drug overdoses, according to the state Office of Vital Statistics. That compares to 1,248 deaths in 2015.
Long Island serial killer
MINEOLA,N.Y. — For years, the skeletal remains of 10 people on a hidden walkway at a Long Island beach was a mystery.
Thena veteran county prosecutorpublicly named asuspect in at least one of the deaths: John Bittrolff, a LongIsland carpenter who wassentenced to consecutive 25 years-to-life terms in prisonthis week for beatingtwo prostitutes to death in1993 and 1994.
Robert Biancavilla, an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, said after the sentencing that some of the remains found near Gilgo Beach “may be attributed to the handiwork of Mr. Bittrolff.”
Any suggestion that Bittrolff had anything to do with the dead women is “laughable,” said his lawyer, Jonathan Manley. Even a lawyer for the family of one of those linked to the case expressed skepticism.