U.S. PREPARING TO HOLD MIGRANT KIDS AT BASES

WASHINGTON» The Trump administration is making preparations to warehouse migrant children on military bases, according to Defense Department communications, the latest sign the government is moving forward with plans to split up families who cross the border illegally.

According to an email notification sent to Pentagon staffers, the Department of Health and Human Services will make site visits at four military installations in Texas and Arkansas during the next two weeks to evaluate their suitability for child shelters.

Judge: Special counsel had authority to prosecute Manafort.

» Special WASHINGTON counsel Robert Mueller was working within his authority when he brought charges against President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, a federal judge in Washington ruled Tuesday.

The decision was a setback for Manafort in his defense against charges of money-laundering conspiracy, false statements and acting as an unregistered foreign agent related to his Ukrainian political work. Manafort had argued that Mueller had exceeded his authority because the case was unrelated to Russian election interference.

Volcano’s ash plume reaches 12,000 feet.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says an ash plume from within Kilauea volcano’s summit crater has risen as high as 12,000 feet above sea level.

Ash has been wafting continuously from a vent in the crater, Halemaumau, and drifting southwest, causing ashfall and volcanic air pollution to be reported as far as 18 miles away.

Building explosion kills 1.

ALISO VIEJO,

CALIF.» An explosion rocked a Southern California medical office building Tuesday, killing a woman and injuring three other people, authorities said.

The blast involved a building under renovation but the cause was not immediately known.

Parkland parents who lost kids are running for school board.

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FLA.» Two LAUDERDALE, parents who lost children in February’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School announced their candidacies for county school board seats Tuesday, saying they want to improve safety and increase accountability.

Ryan Petty, a telecom and technology entrepreneur, said he wants to help restore the Broward County School Board to its proper function as an oversight body for the administration, saying he thinks that has been lost. He is running for an atlarge seat on the board, while Lori Alhadeff is running in the district that includes the city of Parkland, where Stoneman Douglas is located.

Nation’s most restrictive abortion law is challenged in Iowa.

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A lawsuit challenging the nation’s most restrictive abortion law was filed Tuesday in Iowa. If allowed to take effect on July 1 as planned, the law would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, around the sixth week of pregnancy. — Denver Post