NEWS OF THE DAY
1 CNN boycott: CNN says it is boycotting the White House media Christmas party this year. The news network says in a statement that “In light of the President’s continued attacks on freedom of the press and CNN, we do not feel it is appropriate to celebrate with him as his invited guests.” The network adds that it will be sending a “reporting team” to Friday’s event to cover any news that develops from it. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded on Twitter: “Christmas comes early! Finally, good news from @CNN.”
_2 Shooting settlement: The Minnesota city that employed a police officer who fatally shot a black motorist during a traffic stop has reached a settlement with Philando Castile’s girlfriend and her daughter, who were in the car with him when he was killed. The St. Anthony City Council voted this week to pay $675,000 to Diamond Reynolds and her daughter, who was 4 when Castile was shot. Reynolds will also receive $125,000 from the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust and the city of Roseville, where Reynolds was detained by police. Castile was driving in Falcon Heights in July 2016 when Officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled him over and shot him after he said he was armed. Reynolds streamed the shooting’s aftermath live on Facebook. Yanez was acquitted of manslaughter and other charges.
3 University sued: California’s attorney general sued an online, for-profit university Wednesday, alleging officials made false promises to entice students and illegally tried to collect their overdue debt. The suit filed by Attorney General Xavier Becerra against San Diego-based Ashford University alleges the school and its publicly traded parent company, Bridgepoint Education Inc., used illegal business practices to deceive and defraud students, nearly threequarters of whom never graduated. The suit filed in Alameda County Superior Court says school representatives lied to prospective students over how much financial aid they could get, the costs of attending, how many academic credits from other schools would transfer to Ashford or from Ashford to other institutions, and about Ashford’s ability to prepare students for careers including teaching, medical billing and social work.
4 Bieber imposter: A Connecticut man who pretended to be pop stars like Justin Bieber and Harry Styles to entice young girls into performing sexual acts during online video chats has been sentenced to 17 years in prison. Federal prosecutors say 50-year-old John Eastman, of Waterbury, was also sentenced Tuesday to a lifetime of probation. Prosecutors say Eastman contacted girls through online video chatting services in 2012 using screen names such as justin.bieber727 and Harry.Styles888 and enticed them into sexually explicit conduct, which he then recorded and saved on his computer. Eastman has 31 past convictions, including for sex-related crimes.
Chronicle News Services