NEWS OF THE DAY

_1 Assault probe: Police in Phoenix have opened an investigation into allegations that a woman in a vegetative state at a nursing facility was sexually assaulted and gave birth to a child last month. Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said detectives were looking into the case at the facility. A spokeswoman at the state Department of Health Services said the agency had sent inspectors to check on patients at the institution, which is part of Hacienda HealthCare. A company spokesman, David Leibowitz, said the organization “stands fully committed to getting to the truth of what, for us, represents an unprecedented matter.”

_2 Deadly shooting: Three men were fatally shot and four injured when a brawl at a popular bowling alley in Torrance (Los Angeles County) erupted into gunfire that had terrified patrons running for their lives. Police responded shortly after midnight Friday to calls of shots fired at the Gable House Bowl. They found seven people with gunshot wounds. Three men were pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities did not say what led to the shooting, but witnesses said it stemmed from a fight between two large groups. Investigators remained at the scene Saturday.

_3 Pot pardons: More than six years after Washington state legalized the use of marijuana, Gov. Jay Inslee says he plans to pardon thousands of people convicted of minor possession charges — the latest in a series of moves by states and cities to ease the burdens people face from having criminal records for using pot. The Democrat, who is mulling a 2020 presidential run, made the announcement Friday at a cannabis industry summit in SeaTac, south of Seattle. Inslee said he was creating an expedited process that would allow about 3,500 people to apply for and receive a pardon without having to hire a lawyer or go to court.

_4 Sorority case: A predominantly Latina sorority says it was wrongly punished for hazing by the University of Virginia after requiring its members to study 25 hours a week. Sigma Lambda Upsilon sued in September, saying the university in Charlottesville agreed with a recruit who complained that being asked study so much violates the school hazing policy. The school suspended the sorority in March. The university claimed immunity in a motion to dismiss the suit, but a judge last week allowed the sorority to add university officials as defendants. _5 Navy Seal plea: A decorated Navy SEAL has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in the stabbing death of a teenage Islamic State prisoner in Iraq last year and the shooting of unarmed Iraqi civilians. Edward Gallagher will stand trial Feb. 19. The case is unusual because of the seriousness of the allegations against an elite special warfare operator and because prosecutors’ case includes the accounts of fellow Navy SEALs, an extremely tightknit group even by military standards. Gallagher was arraigned Friday in San Diego. His attorney, Phil Stackhouse, said Gallagher is being falsely accused by disgruntled SEALs who wanted to get rid of a demanding platoon leader.