NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Gender equity: A prominent women’s rights advocacy group has recruited more than 70 attorneys from 15 states to form a national legal network intended to assist women and girls who are victims of sex discrimination. Fatima Goss Graves, president of the Washington-based National Women’s Law Center, announced the formation of the Legal Network for Gender Equity on Wednesday, depicting it as the first of its kind. She said the initiative was prompted by growing concerns that protections against sex discrimination were being weakened under the Trump administration. 2 Russia probe: A political research firm behind a dossier of allegations about President Trump’s connections to Russia has been subpoenaed by the House intelligence committee. Joshua Levy, a lawyer for Fusion GPS, said in a statement this week that the subpoenas were signed by Rep. Devin Nunes even though the Republican committee chairman stepped aside months ago from leading the panel’s Russia probe. He said the subpoenas reflected a “blatant attempt to undermine the reporting” of the dossier and came even as the firm was in the process of cooperating with congressional committees in their investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
3 White nationalist event: The University of Florida’s president is urging students to stay away from a speaking event on campus featuring white nationalist Richard Spencer. President Kent Fuchs wrote in an email that Spencer and his group seek only “to provoke a reaction” at their Oct. 19 event in Gainesville. Fuchs says “shunning” Spencer would limit any further attention. The university stated it will not be affiliated with the event in any way, but as a public institution, it is legally obligated to allow the expression of many viewpoints by external groups, such as Spencer’s National Policy Institute.
4 Fatal shooting: A North Carolina sheriff says a 4-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his grandfather. Pasquotank County Sheriff Randy Cartwright said 57-year-old Danny Patrick had been shooting a rifle with his grandson and at some point, the boy fired a shot, killing the man. The boy then walked to a nearby home, and told a neighbor that his grandfather was dead.
5 Sentence rejected: A Miami federal judge rejected a plea deal for an alleged Colombian drug kingpin because the proposed prison sentence was too lenient. Instead, 46year-old Henry De Jesus Lopez Londono, also known as “Mi Sangre” (My Blood), may stand trial on cocaine trafficking charges that carry a potential life prison sentence. Senior U.S. District Judge Donald Graham said at a hearing this week that he could not accept the proposed guilty plea deal that included 17 years behind bars since the allegations included importation of huge amounts of cocaine into the U.S. and links to drug-related killings. Lopez Londono was extradited last year after his arrest in Argentina.
Chronicle News Services