NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Cosby case: A Pennsylvania judge on Friday set a new date for Bill Cosby’s retrial on charges he drugged and molested a woman more than a decade ago. Judge Steven O’Neill ordered the retrial to begin April 2. The retrial was initially set for November, but last month O’Neill granted a request by Cosby’s new lawyers to delay it so they could get up to speed on the case. The 80-year-old comedian’s first trial in June ended in a hung jury. “The Cosby Show” star is charged with sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. He has said the sexual encounter was consensual.
2 Homeless emergency: Over the past two years, a trail that cuts through the heart of Southern California’s Orange County has become the site of a ballooning homeless encampment that officials say has been fueled by exorbitant housing costs, mental illness and drug use. Amid an uproar from residents, the city of Anaheim declared an emergency this week in an attempt to cope with the crisis and speed the addition of shelter beds. The county recently opened a year-round homeless shelter and is expanding it but more housing options are needed, said Carrie Braun, a county spokeswoman.
3 Kidnapping charge: A Missouri day care provider accused of taking a baby to Arkansas to arrange for her adoption without the knowledge of the girl’s parents has been charged with attempted kidnapping. Lasonya Poindexter, 30, of Joplin was charged Thursday. Her plot fell apart in July when the would-be adoptive parents became suspicious and reached out to the baby’s birth parents, Ashley and Christian Still, on Facebook, according to an affidavit in the case. The Stills confirmed that they hadn’t put the girl up for adoption and didn’t know that Poindexter had taken their baby to Arkansas at least four times to meet the Partons. The affidavit doesn’t say how Poindexter planned to explain the disappearance of the baby girl to her parents.
4 Travel inspections: Last spring, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security that challenged the authority of Customs and Border Protection officers to search returning travelers’ electronic devices without a warrant. Now the ACLU has taken that fight a step further by filing a lawsuit in Boston against DHS. The suit “seeks to establish that the government must have a warrant based on probable cause to suspect a violation of immigration or customs laws before conducting such searches,” the ACLU said.
5 Statue removed: Crews have removed a statue of Robert E. Lee from a Dallas park named for the Confederate general. In an unannounced but expected move, a crane was brought through the city by a police escort to Lee Park, where it lifted the large statue from its pedestal Thursday. The statue will be stored at an abandoned naval air station until city officials decide its future. The City Council voted Sept. 6 to remove the statue.