NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Race controversy: Rachel Dolezal, the head of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Wash., says she will speak Monday night about the furor over racial identity sparked after her parents said she has falsely portrayed herself as black for years. KHQ TV reported that Dolezal sent a message to NAACP members saying she would address the situation at a meeting of the group. The city of Spokane is investigating whether Dolezal, 37, lied about her ethnicity when she applied to be on a police oversight board. Police said Friday they are suspending investigations into racial harassment complaints filed by Dolezal.
2 Plane evacuation: Some passengers on an Allegiant Air flight that landed in Boise, Idaho, opened emergency doors and evacuated after vapor and odor from a small fuel leak made them concerned about the possibility of fire, said Sean Briggs, an airport spokesman. Flight 330 from Los Angeles had reached the gate area Friday evening when fuel leaked from an auxiliary motor used for taxiing. Briggs said passengers popped the emergency doors and some climbed out onto a wing. A few jumped from the wing to the tarmac but no one was hurt. A luggage loader was used to lift others down to the tarmac. Briggs said the passengers apparently acted on their own, without being directed by the flight crew. The plane was grounded while officials investigate.
3 Minimum wage: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed into law Saturday an ordinance that makes the city the biggest in the nation to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He called the law “a major victory” at a signing ceremony and said the wage increases will enable working families to lift themselves out of poverty. The law will boost the minimum wage to $10.50 in July 2016, followed by annual increases to $12, $13.25, $14.25 and $15. Small businesses and certain nonprofits get an extra year to phase in the increases. Seattle and San Francisco also have laws that eventually require pay of $15 an hour.
4 Exxon fine: U.S. officials have rejected Exxon Mobil Corp.’s request to reconsider a $1 million penalty imposed against the oil giant over a 63,000-gallon crude spill into Montana’s Yellowstone River near Laurel in 2011. The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday ordered the Texas company to pay the penalty within 20 days. Safety regulators said Exxon Mobil failed to adequately heed warnings that its pipeline was at risk from flooding. They said the company lacked procedures to minimize the spill. _ Giffords tribute: Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was recognized Saturday with a Navy ship named in her honor at a shipyard in Mobile, Ala. The 419-foot Gabrielle Giffords, built at the Austal shipyard, is the Navy’s 10th littoral combat ship designed to operate in shallow waters near the coast. Giffords was badly wounded in a 2011 shooting in Tucson that killed six and injured 13. The Democrat left Congress and later founded an organization that advocates for gun control.