NEWS OF THE DAY
_1 Birth control: The Supreme Court will weigh a Trump administration bid to allow more employers to deny insurance coverage for contraceptives to women. The justices agreed to hear yet another case stemming from President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, this time about costfree birth control. The high court will review an appeals court ruling that blocked the Trump administration rules because it did not follow proper procedures. The new policy on contraception would allow more categories of employers to opt out of providing nocost birth control to women by claiming religious objections.
_2 Chicago shooting: A man has been charged with attempted murder in a December shooting at a Chicago house party that wounded 13 people. Keilon Jones, 25, was arrested last week, officers said. Police have said the Dec. 22 shooting stemmed from a dispute at a memorial party being held in honor of someone killed in April. Authorities have said the shooting began inside a house in the city’s Englewood neighborhood and more shots were fired as people began fleeing. The victims ranged in age from 16 to 48. None of their wounds was fatal.
_3 Prison security: The federal Bureau of Prisons is moving some MS13 gang members into more restricted housing at highsecurity facilities across the U.S. after a gang stabbing in a Virginia prison, two people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. A brawl broke out last week at the prison in Jonesville between an MS13 leader and an inmate associated with the Mexican Mafia. The gang member was stabbed but is expected to survive. Fearing retaliation, officials have started moving some MS13 inmates into more secure units at the six federal high security prisons. It was unclear how long they would be separated from the general population.
_4 Campaign 2020: Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg made a pitch to African American voters the day before the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., visiting a black church in Tulsa, Okla., the site of a race massacre nearly 100 years ago that left hundreds dead. The former New York City mayor spoke against racial income inequality and outlined an economic proposal intended to increase the number of blackowned homes and businesses. The plan includes a $70 billion investment in the nation’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Bloomberg described the initiative Sunday as a “plan for righting what I think are historic wrongs and creating opportunity and ealth in black communities.”
_5 Couple die: A couple who had been together for nearly 65 years died on the same day at a St. Louisarea nursing home. Jack and Harriet Morrison’s beds were placed next to each other in their final hours, allowing them to hold hands, the St. Louis PostDispatch reported. Jack, 86, died first. Harriett, 83, died later on Jan. 11. The couple went on their first date on Halloween 1955. “They went to a little diner and never separated from that day on,” said Sue Wagener, a niece raised by the Morrisons. They married about six months later.
Chronicle News Services