NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
Tornado damage: Residents in central Illinois assessed the damage Sunday from rare December tornadoes that ripped roofs off homes, downed power lines and injured at least 21 people the day before. The hardesthit areas included the town of Taylorville, where Assistant Fire Chief Andy Goodall said at least 100 homes had major damage, including his own. A Taylorville Memorial Hospital spokesman said 21 people, from age 9 to 97, were treated Saturday. Most were discharged within hours. No deaths were reported.
Pot convictions: Prosecutors in Colorado’s Boulder County are preparing to dismiss and seal thousands of marijuana possession convictions after state voters legalized the use and sale of the drug six years ago. The District Attorney’s Office, as part of a “Moving on from Marijuana” program, has identified about 4,000 possession convictions dating to 2008 that would no longer be crimes under current law. The state Legislature last year passed a law that allows those convicted of misdemeanor use or possession to ask to seal, but not erase, criminal records if the past offense is not currently a crime. Boulder is taking that further, with clinics planned where people can have prosecutors look up their cases to see if they qualify.
Wind farm: Federal officials have decided to reject an application to build more than 200 wind turbines on public land in southern Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management found “multiple issues and concerns” with the Crescent Wind Energy Project, including disruption of aviation radar systems and potential impacts of mining claims. The turbines would cover 750 acres of a 32,500-acre study area southwest of Searchlight. Project officials previously said the wind farm would generate up to 500 megawatts of electricity for Nevada and California, enough for up to 125,000 homes.
Election turmoil: The fallout over Florida’s turbulent recount is escalating after the state’s outgoing Republican governor decided to oust a county elections official. Gov. Rick Scott late Friday suspended embattled Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes even though Snipes had already agreed to step down from her post in January. Snipes responded by rescinding her resignation — and will now be “fighting this to the very end,” her attorney said Saturday. Snipes came under criticism for her handling of this year’s elections. Teacher charged: A Los Angeles-area teacher captured on video punching a student who had repeatedly called him a racial slur has been charged with a misdemeanor count of corporal injury to a child. Video posted to social media last month shows Marston Riley, who is black, repeatedly hitting the student, who returns some of the blows. Before the scuffle, the video shows the student throwing a basketball at Riley, 64, and repeatedly calling him names. Riley, a music teacher at Maywood Academy High School, was charged Friday. A Gofundme page has raised more than $180,000 on Riley’s behalf.