NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
Confederate statue: Work crews have taken down a monument to Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, the third major statue to be cleared away in less than a week as the Confederacy’s former capital of Richmond, Va., rushes to remove symbols of oppression in response to protests against police brutality and racism. Crews used a crane to lift it from its granite base. The Stuart statue was installed on Monument Avenue in 1907, a time when white leaders across the South sought to glorify the “lost cause” of the Civil War and suppress attempts by Black people to assert their equality.
Lawmakers test positive: At least eight Mississippi lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus after working for weeks in a Capitol where many people stood or sat close together and did not wear masks. Among those who have publicly acknowledged having COVID19 are Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, and House Speaker Philip Gunn. The state health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, said Tuesday there are also at least 11 other suspected cases of the virus among legislators and Capitol employees.
Florida shooting: A disabled Army veteran convicted of shooting and wounding two people inside a Florida veterans clinic has been committed to a mental health care facility for 25 years. A federal judge in West Palm Beach ordered Larry Ray Bon’s commitment on Monday, according to court records. Bon, 60, was in the emergency room of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Palm Beach last year when he became frustrated with staff and pulled a firearm from his wheelchair, prosecutors said.
Defamation lawsuit: The Nevada Supreme Court was asked this week to reinstate a defamation lawsuit against The Associated Press and an AP reporter based on a story about accounts to Las Vegas police from two women who alleged sexual misconduct by former casino mogul Steve Wynn. In oral arguments, a lawyer for Wynn argued that an AP article in February 2018 citing police documents failed to fully describe “fantastical” elements of one woman’s account that would have cast doubt on her claim that Wynn raped her in the 1970s in Chicago and that she gave birth to their daughter in a gas station restroom.
Bank penalty: Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $150 million to settle claims that it broke compliance rules in its dealings with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, New York state announced Tuesday. “Despite knowing Mr. Epstein’s terrible criminal history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions,” said Superintendent of Financial Services Linda Lacewell. It’s the first enforcement action by a regulator against a financial institution for dealings with Epstein.