NEWS OF THE DAY
_1 Building explosion: Prosecutors say federal agents found two improvised explosive devices while searching a home owned by the former boyfriend of a woman killed in an explosion at a Southern California office building. Stephen Beal was charged Thursday with possessing an unregistered destructive device. He has not been charged in connection with Tuesday’s explosion in the city of Aliso Viejo. Beal’s son, Nathan Beal, said his father had been in a relationship with the woman who was killed, 48-year-old Ildiko Krajnya. He said they had recently broken up. State documents show Beal and Krajnyak as officers in a skin care business called I&S Enterprises.
_2 Florida shooting: A fired Florida sheriff ’s deputy won’t spend any time in prison for shooting a handcuffed man during a traffic stop. The Tampa Bay Times reports 62-year-old Timothy Virden pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted manslaughter. The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office struck a plea deal with Virden that called for no prison time. He was sentenced to three years of probation. The shooting occurred Dec. 30, 2015. Records show Virden fired two shots into Dylan TompkinsHolmes after he was arrested for obstruction. Last month, Tompkins-Holmes settled with Virden. The agreement says he won’t collect damages from the exdeputy but could seek a judgment in a special claims bill filed with the state Legislature.
_3 Memphis Belle: Hundreds of visitors turned out to at the Air Force Museum to see the World War II bomber Memphis Belle, and the legendary aircraft rarely has looked better. The plane went on public display at the museum near Dayton, Ohio, for the first time on Thursday morning after a restoration project that required 13 years and 55,000 hours of work. The plane was celebrated for being the first B-17 to survive 25 missions and return to the U.S. _4 Railroad sued: Two Iowa women who lost limbs when they were struck while trying to climb through trains that were blocking the road are suing the railroad for allegedly ignoring a safety hazard that’s left a trail of horrific injuries. The lawsuits filed Thursday allege that trains operated by the Canadian National Railway and its subsidiaries routinely block street crossings in Waterloo, sometimes for hours. They say this leaves pedestrians trapped and facing bad options on a daily basis: wait for the trains to move, walk to an unblocked crossing that can be more than a mile away or risk crossing between stopped cars that can start moving without warning. The lawsuits, filed on behalf of 37-year-old and 67-year-old women, claim at least five people have lost hands, arms or legs in this way since 1991.
_5 Equal pay lawsuit: The University of Denver has agreed to a $2.6 million settlement in a lawsuit filed on behalf of female law professors who say they were illegally paid less than male colleagues. Court documents filed in April show the university, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the professors have agreed to the terms. According to the lawsuit, the mean salary of female professors at the Sturm College of Law was nearly $20,000 lower than male professors in 2013. The agreement requires the school to create a password-protected site listing faculty salaries, position, date of hire and demographics. Names will not be included. _6 Mueller probe: A former relative of ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded guilty to criminal charges earlier this year — and has reportedly met with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators, according to a person familiar with the matter. Jeffrey Yohai, Manafort’s former sonin-law, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges in California in January relating to real estate loans on properties in New York and California.
_7 Habitual drunks: A federal appeals court is weighing a challenge to a Virginia law that allows police to arrest “habitual drunkards” and send them to jail for up to a year for possessing alcohol. Virginia is believed to be one of only two states — the other is Utah — with laws that make it a crime for someone designated as a habitual drunkard to possess, consume or purchase alcohol. The law, which dates to the 1930s, is being challenged by the Legal Aid Justice Center, a nonprofit advocacy group that provides legal services to low-income people. The group accuses state prosecutors of using it to punish homeless alcoholics. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing the case.