MORGAN FREEMAN APOLOGIZES

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman apologized Thursday to anyone who may have felt “uncomfortable or disrespected” by his behavior, after CNN reported that women have accused the A-list actor of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior on movie sets and in other professional settings.

“Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy,” the actor, now 80, said in a statement sent to The Associated Press by his publicist, Stan Rosenfield. “I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent.”

Freeman won the 2005 Oscar for best supporting actor for “Million Dollar Baby.” He was nominated four other times, including for “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” and is renowned for his prolific voiceover work.

Brewery told to stop making beer with hempderived extract.

SAN

U.S. officials have ordered a San Francisco brewery to stop producing a specialty beer containing cannabidiol, the hemp-derived extract known as CBD, because it lacks the proper permitting.

The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is allowing Black Hammer Brewing to sell the rest of the CBD beer it has already brewed, including an IPA called Toke Back Mountain that was introduced in 2017 in honor of the 4/20 marijuana holiday.

Like marijuana, hemp is a cannabis plant. But it contains very little THC, the compound that gives pot its high. CBD is seen by many as a health aid, although scientific proof is lacking.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that the order to stop brewing cannabis beer was issued because the trade bureau requires special approval for nonstandard beer ingredients.

Bus driver charged in crash that killed student, teacher.

A school bus driver with a history of driver’s license suspensions caused a fatal crash on a New Jersey highway last week by crossing three lanes of traffic in an apparent attempt to make an illegal U-turn, according to a criminal complaint released Thursday.

Authorities charged Hudy Muldrow Sr., 77, with two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths of 10-year-old student Miranda Vargas and 51-year-old teacher Jennifer Williamson.

More than 40 others were injured, some seriously, in the May 17 crash between the bus and a dump truck.

The bus was one of three carrying students and teachers from a middle school in Paramus on a field trip to a historic site in New Jersey, about 30 miles away.

— Denver Post wire services