Calif. man gets murder charge
A court hearing for a California man charged with the murder of a University of Pennsylvania student has been postponed.
Twenty-year-old Samuel Woodward’s initial hearing scheduled for Wednesday was continued to Feb. 2 along with a discussion about bail. He’ll remain jailed in the meantime.
Orange County prosecutors have charged Mr. Woodward with killing 19year-old Blaze Bernstein, a former high school classmate.
Mr. Bernstein was home from Pennsylvania on winter break when he disappeared Jan. 2. His body was found buried in a park a week later, and Mr. Woodward was subsequently arrested.
The district attorney says the case remains under investigation and there could be additional allegations.
Puerto Rico funds held
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A billion-dollar emergency loan approved by Congress to help Puerto Rico deal with the effects of Hurricane Maria has been temporarily withheld by federal officials who say the U.S. territory is not facing a cash shortage like it has repeatedly warned about in recent months.
Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Treasury Department said in a letter to the director of the island’s fiscal agency that Puerto Rico has had a central cash balance exceeding $1.5 billion in the nearly four months since the Category 4 storm. Federal officials also noted the local government released documents in late December showing it had nearly $7 billion available in cash. The letter was first published Wednesday by the newspaper El Nuevo Dia.
Federal officials said the U.S. government will create a cash balance policy to determine when the funds will be released via the Community Disaster Loan Program.
Trump, heart problem?
WASHINGTON — Cardiologists not associated with the White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s physical exam revealed serious heart concerns, including very high levels of socalled bad cholesterol, which raises the risk that Mr. Trump could suffer a heart attack while in office.
Ronny L. Jackson, a rear admiral and the White House physician, said Tuesday in his report on the president’s medical condition that Mr. Trump was in “excellent” cardiac health despite having an LDL cholesterol level of 143, well above the desired level of 100 or less.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, stood behind Dr. Jackson’s assessment of the president’s health, noting on Wednesday that he has been a White House physician for 12 years, treating former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama in addition to Trump.
Also in the nation...
Endeavor Content has acquired the rights to Michael Wolff’s No. 1 bestselling book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” and plans to develop it into a TV show or a feature film. ... Indianapolis health network Hancock Health said it paid a $55,000 ransom to hackers to regain access to hospital computer systems, making it the latest health system around the globe targeted by moneyseeking hackers.