QUICK HITS

1 Senator wanted father’s ashes, charges say:

A Minnesota state senator and former broadcast meteorologist told police that she broke into her stepmother’s home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to burglary charges filed Tuesday. Democratic state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, 49, was arrested early Monday at the home in Detroit Lakes. The arresting officer wrote in the complaint that he heard Mitchell tell her stepmother “something to the effect of, ‘I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore.’”

2 Houston-area income program on hold:

The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Harris County, which includes Houston, to put on hold a guaranteed income program that would provide $500 monthly cash payments to roughly 2,000 residents. The program has become a target of Republican Texas Attorney General Paxton, who accused local Democratic leaders of trying to “score political points” through the initiative and filed a lawsuit this month. The program is the latest rift between state and local leaders in the Houston area, where Democrats have gained political ground.

3 Woman who crashed into building arraigned:

A 66-yearold Michigan woman has been arraigned on second-degree murder and other charges after prosecutors say she drunkenly crashed her SUV into a boat club that was hosting a birthday party, killing a boy and his sister and injuring several other people. Marshella Chidester didn’t enter a plea Tuesday to the eight counts she faces in Saturday’s crash at the Swan Boat Club in Monroe County. She has been jailed since the crash and the judge set her bond at $1.5 million.

4 Longtime civil rights activist and scholar has died:

William Strickland, a longtime civil rights activist and supporter of the Black Power movement who worked with Malcolm X and other prominent leaders in the 1960s, has died. He was 87. Strickland, whose death April 10 was confirmed by a relative, first became active in civil rights as a high schooler in Massachusetts. Strickland worked alongside Malcolm X and others in New York on rent strikes, school boycotts and protests against police brutality.

5 Stellantis to lay off factory workers in the coming months:

Jeep maker Stellantis is planning to lay off an unspecified number of workers at its U.S. factories in the coming months to deal with a rapidly changing global auto market, the company said Tuesday. The statement comes as the company faces increased capital spending to make the transition from gasoline vehicles to electric autos. It also reported declining U.S. sales in the first quarter, and higher costs due to a new union agreement reached last year.