NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
Health coverage: More than 8.7 million people signed up for coverage next year under the Obama-era health care law, as the program that President Trump has repeatedly pronounced “a disaster” exceeded expectations. Enrollment for the 39 HealthCare.gov states reached nearly 95 percent of last year’s level, outperforming projections in a show of consumer demand, despite a shortened sign-up season and big cuts in the ad budget. A complete national tally may not be available until March, as states running their own health insurance markets are continuing to sign up consumers. In California and New York, enrollment season ends Jan. 31.
Virginia vote: Republican leaders said Friday that Democrats are trying to “litigate their way to victory” in a tied state House race that could decide the balance of power in the House of Delegates. GOP House Leader Kirk Cox made his comments after lawyers for Republican David Yancey urged state elections officials to schedule a random drawing of the winner’s name before the legislature reconvenes Jan. 10 in Richmond. Yancey’s lawyers urged a recount court to deny Democrat Shelly Simonds’ motion to reconsider its ruling declaring the election a tie. If Simonds wins, the partisan split will be 50-50. If Yancey wins, Republicans will have a 51-49 majority. The drawing will take place next Thursday.
Kentucky politics: The wife of a state lawmaker who killed himself following a sexual assault allegation has been nominated by Republicans to fill the seat he held. Bullitt County GOP Chairman Paul Ham said a vote was taken Thursday night to nominate Rebecca Johnson. Gov. Matt Bevin set a Feb. 20 special election to find a replacement for Republican Dan Johnson, whose body was found this month with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He died a day after denying that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl in 2013. Johnson was in his first term representing a House district south of Louisville.
Skeleton found: The Sacramento County Sheriff ’s Department is investigating a human skeleton found in a yard. Workers helping renovate a vacant home northeast of downtown Sacramento found several bones surfacing from the ground this week. Investigators then unearthed an entire human skeleton. Deputies haven’t identified the buried person or the cause of death but they’re treating it as suspicious.
Los Angeles killings: Homicides in the nation’s most populous county have decreased by more than 20 percent compared to last year, sheriff ’s officials said. Total violent crime in Los Angeles County also dropped by nearly 5 percent, with reductions in nearly every major crime category, including rapes, robberies and assaults, Sheriff Jim McDonnell said. The number of homicides in the county with more than 10 million residents dropped from 210 killings in 2016 to 167 this year. Investigators attribute the drop to a “significant reduction in deadly gang violence throughout the county,” McDonnell said.
Chronicle News Services