KEYSTONE PIPELINE LEAKS 210,000 GALLONS OF OIL

TransCanada AMHERST, S. D.

Corp.’ s Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil in northeastern South Dakota, the company and state regulators reported Thursday.

Crews shut down the pipeline Thursday morning and activated emergency response procedures after a drop in pressure was detected resulting from the leak south of a pump station in Marshall County, TransCanada said.

Officials don’t believe the leak affected any surface water bodies or threatened any drinking water systems from the spill onto agricultural land.

Homeland Security official resigns over comments.

A Republican appointee in charge of a Department of Homeland Security center for outreach to faith and community groups has resigned after a report that he said black people had “turned America’s major cities into slums because of laziness, drug use and sexual promiscuity.” The Rev. Jamie Johnson, the head of the DHS’s Center for Faith- Based & Neighborhood Partnerships, made the remarks during appearances on conservative radio shows during the past 10 years, before he was appointed in April by John Kelly, then the head of the department.

Senator’s bribery trial ends in hung jury.

NEWARK, N. J.

» The federal bribery trial of Democratic Sen. BobMenendez ended Thursday with the jury deadlocked on all charges, a partial victory for him that could nevertheless leave the case hanging over his head as he gears up for re- election to a sharply divided Senate. U. S. District JudgeWilliamWalls declared a mistrial after more than six full days of deliberations failed to produce a verdict on any of the 18 counts against the New Jersey politician or his co- defendant, a wealthy Florida eye doctor accused of buyingMenendez’s influence by plying him with luxury vacations and campaign contributions.

Interior watchdog faults Zinke for incomplete travel records.

» Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has failed to keep complete records of his taxpayerfinanced travel, hampering an investigation into his use of private charter flights for government business, the Interior Department’s internal watchdog said. Although Interior employees have been cooperative, investigators have found that documentation and adherence to department policies are deficient. Investigators also have been unable to determine the full extent to which Zinke’s wife, Lolita, accompanied him on official travel.

Hawaii psychiatric hospital had 17 escapes.

HONOLULU

More than a dozen escapes have occurred during the past eight years at a Hawaii psychiatric hospital where a patient who admitted killing a woman decades ago walked off the grounds and made it to California before he was captured. Many of the 17 escapes between 2010 and this year happened when a patient broke “curfew” and didn’t return to the Hawaii State Hospital after being allowed to leave for a period of time, according to information from police and the state Department of Health.

City Council will be entirely LGBTQ.

PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.

Palm Springs has for decades been a mecca for the LGBTQ community. The city is ranked first in California and third in the nation among cities with the most same- sex couples per 1,000 households, according to U. S. census data. But now, the city is marking a new milestone in gay politics as well. When the two new members of the Palm Springs City Council are sworn in next month, every person on the panel will be a member of the LGBTQ community. Lisa Middleton, a transgender woman, and Christy Holstege, a woman who identifies as bisexual, each won about 30 percent of the citywide vote to beat four other candidates and fill two vacant seats on the council. The pair will join three gay men on the five- person body. — Denver Post wire services