NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
Death penalty: Florida prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz in the fatal shooting of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The office of Broward County State Attorney Michael Satz filed the formal notice Tuesday. Cruz, 19, is scheduled for formal arraignment Wednesday on a 34-count indictment, including 17 first-degree murder charges. Cruz’s attorneys have said he would plead guilty if the death penalty was not pursued in the Valentine’s Day massacre. The action by prosecutors Tuesday does not necessarily mean a plea deal will not be reached. The only other penalty option for Cruz is life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Suspicious packages: Austin police say they have received more than 150 calls reporting suspicious packages after three package bombs exploded at homes in less than two weeks in the Texas capital. The police department tweeted the figure Tuesday. Authorities have urged people receiving unexpected packages to call 911 without handling, moving or trying to open them. A package bomb left on a doorstep in Austin killed a man March 2. Two similar packages left at separate homes Monday killed a 17year-old and wounded two others. Investigators originally suggested that the attacks could constitute a hate crime because the victims were all black or Hispanic, but they now say they are looking at all possible explanations.
Premier thanks tribe: The prime minister of Ireland visited members of a Native American tribe in Oklahoma to thank them for a gift the tribe sent 171 years ago. Members of the Choctaw Nation collected $170 in 1847, and sent the money to Dublin to help feed the Irish during a potato famine. The money would be worth about $4,400 today. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar met with tribal members on Monday in Durant in southern Oklahoma as part of a weeklong trip to the U.S. He said the gift is a sacred memory and bond. Choctaw Chief Gary Batton visited Ireland last year to attend the unveiling of a sculpture called Kindred Spirits that commemorates the relationship between the tribe and Ireland.
Sanctuary cities ban: A Texas crackdown on “sanctuary cities” took effect Tuesday after a federal appeals court upheld a divisive law backed by the Trump administration that threatens elected officials with jail time and allows police officers to ask people during routine stops whether they’re in the U.S. illegally. The ruling was a blow to Texas’ biggest cities — including Houston, Dallas and San Antonio — that sued last year to prevent enforcement of what opponents said is now the toughest state-level immigration measure on the books in the U.S. But for the Trump administration, the decision by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans is a victory against measures seen as protecting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions sued California over its so-called sanctuary state law. Bus crash: A bus carrying Texas high school band members home from Disney World plunged into a ravine before dawn Tuesday in Alabama, killing the driver and injuring many passengers, authorities said. First responders used ropes to rappel down the 50-foot ravine in the middle of Interstate 10 to reach them, and then had to cut some of the victims free from the wreckage, said Baldwin County Sheriff Huey Hoss Mack. About 45 people were on board, and were brought to 10 hospitals in Alabama and Florida, either by helicopter or ambulance. The person killed was the driver of the bus, Harry Caligone, said Capt. John Malone, who commands state troopers in the Mobile district. The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known.