NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
Methane restrictions: The Trump administration was ordered by a federal judge Wednesday to immediately enforce new restrictions on the release of potent methane emissions at oil and gas drilling operations on public land. The ruling came at the behest of California and other states, which charged the administration is required by law to enforce the new rules intended to cut the release of 175,000 tons of the potent greenhouse gas annually, as well as reduce the emission of associated toxic pollutants. The ruling was the latest in a series of legal setbacks for the Trump administration, as the courts find flaws in its plans for dismantling executive branch actions taken to confront climate change before President Trump took office.
Protesters arrested: Police say 143 people were arrested following a protest that shut down a busy highway near downtown St. Louis. The department on Wednesday did not say what charges those arrested during Tuesday night’s protest will face, but a spokeswoman for the Circuit Attorney’s office says they likely will face charges in municipal court. Protesters gathered and marched to Interstate 64, where some of them walked onto the roadway and blocked traffic for several minutes. Police arrested protesters after they left the highway. Demonstrators have been protesting since mid-September over the acquittal of a white former police officer, Jason Stockley, in the 2011 killing of a black drug suspect, Anthony Lamar Smith. More than 300 people have been arrested during demonstrations since the judge’s verdict.
Affair sinks congressman: Republican congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday that he would not run for a ninth term, amid tawdry revelations of an extramarital affair in which the antiabortion lawmaker urged his mistress to get an abortion when he thought she was pregnant. Murphy said in a brief statement through his office that he will “take personal time to seek help as my family and I continue to work through our personal difficulties.” Murphy’s decision came a day after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published text messages between Murphy and Shannon Edwards. A text message from Edwards told the congressman he had “zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options.” Mom jailed: A suburban Detroit woman has been ordered to jail for seven days for failing to have her 9-year-old son vaccinated. An Oakland County judge told Rebecca Bredow on Wednesday that she violated an agreement to have the procedure done. Her ex-husband wanted their son vaccinated, but Bredow is the primary caregiver. Judge Karen McDonald says the boy has two parents and “Dad gets a say.” Bredow, a Ferndale resident, says vaccinations go against her beliefs and she should have raised her objections sooner. In response, McDonald reminded Bredow that she had agreed to the immunizations.