USA TODAY International Edition
Tenn. lawmaker slammed for posing with guns
After Nashville shooting, 2021 photo resurfaces
WASHINGTON – U. S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R- Tenn., whose district includes the site of Monday's mass shooting in Nashville, received widespread criticism from gun control advocates for a Christmas photo he posted in 2021 of his family posing with guns.
The photo, which remained on the congressman's Facebook page as of Monday night, shows his wife and two of his three children smiling and holding firearms in front of a Christmas tree.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS! The Ogles Family," the post reads, adding in quotes: "The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."
Gun control advocates resurfaced the photo Monday after a gunman killed three students and three adults at The Covenant School, a private school in Nashville.
The suspect, identified as 28- year- old Audrey Hale, a transgender man, was killed by police. The suspect used two "assault- type" firearms and a handgun, according to police.
"The tragedy of the latest mass shooting is listening to Tennessee politicians who refuse to call it a shooting but who engaged in behavior that caused this to be more likely when they glorify guns," said Fred Guttenberg, whose 14year- old daughter Jamie was killed in the Parkland, Florida, shooting in 2018. "Tennessee Rep @ AndyOgles, is this you with your family?"
Rep. Veronica Escobar, DTexas, whose district includes the site of the 2019 El Paso Walmart shooting that killed 23, shared the photo on Twitter.
"How much more bloodshed will it take?" Escobar wrote. "It’s. The. Guns."
A spokeswoman for Ogles did not return a message seeking a response.
Ogles, in a statement earlier in the day, said he and his family are "devastated" by the shooting.
"As a father of three, I am utterly heartbroken by this senseless act of violence. I am closely monitoring the situation and working with local officials. Thank you to the brave first responders who have provided support throughout this tragedy."
Ogles, a conservative freshman congressman elected in 2022, is the former mayor of Maury County, Tennessee, south of Nashville. Tennessee's 5th congressional district, held by Ogles, was previously represented by Democrat Jim Cooper, who opted not to run for reelection last year after 32 years in Congress.
Cooper served a district made up almost entirely of Democratic- leaning Nashville. But Tennessee Republicans redrew the lines last year to include conservative suburbs and towns around Nashville in a successful bid to add an additional Republican seat in the conservative state.
Ogles has been under fire this year over questions about his educational and career history, including mispresenting his college degree.
ALABAMA Montgomery: The St. Peter Catholic Church, the oldest Catholic church in the city, caught fire Monday after lightning hit its bell tower, its priest said. Assistant Fire Chief Stanley Cooper said that there are no reported injuries from the fire.
ALASKA Anchorage: Repairs and security improvements are part of a $ 37.8 million bond for the Anchorage School District that voters will be deciding on April 4 during the municipal election, Alaska Public Media reports.
ARIZONA Prescott: The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that all cases currently assigned to a Yavapai County Superior Court judge recently arrested on suspicion of extreme DUI will be reassigned to other judges.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders called for setting aside $ 470 million for new prison beds and imposing sentencing changes to keep violent offenders incarcerated longer as part of a public safety package lawmakers expect to take up starting this week.
CALIFORNIA Oakland: Oakland Zoo has recovered all but one of six birds that flew the coop last week when a tree fell during a storm and damaged an aviary.
COLORADO Lakewood: A girl suspected of robbing a postal carrier at gunpoint was fatally shot by police after police said she pointed a gun at officers. The girl died after being taken to the hospital, the Lakewood Police Department said in a written statement.
CONNECTICUT Norwich: A 63- yearold man was arrested and is accused of impaired driving after police said he struck a vehicle that in turn crashed into a restaurant.
DELAWARE Milltown: Delaware State Police have identified a 47- year- old man who was killed after a car struck him. Police said Larry Mills entered the pathway of an Acura ILX that was traveling west on Kirkwood Highway past Farrand Drive.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: A hospital employee is accused of making unwanted sexual contact with a patient, WUSA- TV reports.
GEORGIA Calhoun: Sheriff ’ s deputies shot and wounded a motorcyclist following a high- speed chase, authorities said. The shooting happened in Gordon County, where a motorcyclist sped away when deputies tried to pull him over for allegedly not having a license plate, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
HAWAII Honolulu: More than 1,000 humpback whale sightings were reported during a volunteer whale count, Hawaii News Now reports.
IDAHO Boise: A bill that would have provided free menstrual products in girls bathrooms in public schools failed in the state House, with at least one Republican lawmaker calling the proposal “very liberal.” The measure advanced earlier this month from the House Education Committee with a “do pass” recommendation.
ILLINOIS Peoria: A group of teens accused of vehicular theft were taken into custody after a short pursuit. Officers responded to the 600 block of West Hillyer Place on Sunday regarding four male juveniles attempting to break into a vehicle, according to a news release.
INDIANA Indianapolis: House Republicans approved a bill that would ban all gender- affirming care for minors in the state, sending the measure to the Republican governor.
IOWA Johnson County: Two sets of coyote carcasses were found in roadside ditches, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is seeking information about who may have dumped them there.
KANSAS Topeka: The U. S. Supreme Court won’t review a congressional redistricting law enacted by the Republican- controlled Kansas Legislature that some voters and Democrats saw as political gerrymandering.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: Former GOP lawmaker Bob Heleringer blasted the GOP’s push for transgender legislation, calling it “a bad look for the party of Abraham Lincoln” in a radio ad coming days before lawmakers could vote to override the governor’s veto of the bill. The bill would ban access to gender- affirming health care and restrict the bathrooms that transgender youth can use.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Two police officers who were killed in a helicopter crash over the weekend were identified. Sgt. David Poirrier, 47, and Cpl. Scotty Canezaro, 38, died in the Sunday morning crash, the Baton Rouge Police Department said. Poirrier had served the department for 17 years; Canezaro for 16 years.
MAINE Madawaska: A van crashed into a house, and both the motorist and an occupant of the home died, police said. Both people were pronounced dead at the scene after first responders were told that a vehicle spun out of control on a curve and crashed into the home.
MARYLAND Annapolis: Acting Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler told lawmakers he is committed to moving the agency “into a new era,” as some senators have questioned whether someone who has spent nearly three decades in the department is the right choice to lead reforms in an agency under a federal discrimination probe.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The stalled effort to come up with alternatives to the state motto and seal, condemned as racist by many for its depiction of the state’s Indigenous peoples, is regaining momentum. The panel that was established in 2021 by the state Legislature to review and suggest changes missed its deadline at the end of last year and sought an extension. Lawmakers gave it until Nov. 15 to finish its work and forward its recommendations to the Legislature.
MICHIGAN Detroit: Wayne State University suspended a professor over a social media post that allegedly advocated killing people instead of “shouting down” those with whom one disagrees.
MINNESOTA Monticello: A faulty pipe that allowed water containing a radioactive isotope of hydrogen to leak at a nuclear power plant has been repaired and the plant will return to service in the next week, a spokesman for the energy company said.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Residents are less than one week away from the prospect of their trash not being collected, as an emergency contract issued by the mayor but never approved by the city council is set to expire at the end of the month. During a news conference, City Council President Ashby Foote could not say what would happen next week, calling on Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba to present the council with a plan to prevent garbage from piling up.
MISSOURI St. Louis: A federal lawsuit filed by the city of St. Louis accuses automakers Kia and Hyundai of failing to install industrystandard anti- theft technology, resulting in thousands of vehicle thefts in the city. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $ 75,000 plus punitive damages.
MONTANA Helena: A Senate committee advanced a measure that would create an organ donor memorial at the Capitol Complex, the Independent Record reports.
NEBRASKA Omaha: Three people were displaced after a fire damaged their home in the Hanscom Park neighborhood, the Omaha WorldHerald reports.
NEVADA Carson City: Two proposed bills are aiming to limit the impacts of rising temperatures in the state. Senate Bill 169 and Assembly Bill 131 look to address growing impacts of warming climates on urban Nevadans.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Manchester: An 18- year- old man who was shot and wounded by a police officer had pointed what looked like a black handgun at the officer following a short vehicle chase, police said. Police later determined the weapon was a BB gun, police said in a news release.
NEW JERSEY Paterson: The state’s attorney general said that his office has taken control of the police department in the state’s third- largest city, less than a month after officers there fatally shot a well- known crisis intervention worker during a tense standoff.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation to provide free school meals to all students regardless of family income, as New Mexico and several other states look to fill the gap left by lapsed federal pandemic- era benefit programs and address the strain to family budgets caused by food prices.
NEW YORK Syracuse: A man who spent 16 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of raping writer Alice Sebold when she was a Syracuse University student has settled a lawsuit against the state for $ 5.5 million, his lawyers said. The settlement comes after Anthony Broadwater’s conviction for raping Sebold in 1981 was overturned in 2021. It was signed last week by lawyers for Broadwater and New York Attorney General Letitia James, David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys, said.
NORTH CAROLINA Brevard: At least seven people were hurt when wind gusts picked up two inflatable rides, throwing children from the structures and striking several people who were nearby as they flew across a sports complex during a little league opening day, officials said.
NORTH DAKOTA Wyndmere: A Canadian Pacific train derailed in rural North Dakota and spilled hazardous materials, but local authorities and the railroad said there is no threat to public safety. There were no injuries and no fire associated with the derailment.
OHIO Cleveland: Two men accused of stuffing fish with lead weights and fish fillets in an attempt to win thousands of dollars in a fishing tournament last fall pleaded guilty to charges including cheating.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Oklahoma’s top prosecutor and attorneys for death row inmate Richard Glossip both asked a court to once again delay Glossip’s upcoming execution while his attorneys seek to have his conviction overturned.
OREGON Silverton: State environmental regulators have fined the city $ 42,130 for exceeding permitted effluent limits at its wastewater treatment facility, endangering aquatic life in Silver Creek.
PENNSYLVANIA Indiana: A dozen people were injured in the collapse of a second- story floor inside an apartment complex, authorities said. Seven people were taken to hospitals and five others were treated at the scene after the collapse at Elm by Traverse Commons about a mile from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, state police told the Tribune- Review.
RHODE ISLAND Cumberland: An Army sergeant from Rhode Island who was captured during the Korean War and died of starvation in a POW camp in May 1951 has been accounted for, military officials said. Sgt. Lawrence J. Robidoux 22, of Cumberland, will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on a date to be determined, the Defense POW/ MIA Accounting Agency said in a statement.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The state is expected to have nearly 6 million residents by 2030, and a significant portion of that population is expected to be seniors as more retirees move into the state.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: The House failed to override Gov. Kristi Noem’s recent veto of a bill that would have created government regulations for the use of cryptocurrency in the state.
TENNESSEE Pleasant View: Authorities revised the number of youths killed over the weekend in a highway crash, saying that four girls ages 1 to 12 died instead of the six they originally reported.
TEXAS Fort Worth: Six people, five of them children, were hospitalized in critical condition after being exposed to carbon monoxide, apparently from a running vehicle at their home, according to fire officials.
UTAH St. George: The state added an estimated 46,000 jobs over the past 12 months, maintaining an unemployment rate well below the national average. Non- farm employment grew an estimated 2.8% in February compared to the same month in 2022, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 2.4%, according to figures released by the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
VERMONT Middlebury: Former Gov. James Douglas has sued Middlebury College, his alma mater, accusing it of cancel culture behavior for removing the name of another former governor and Middlebury graduate from the campus chapel for what the school said was his role in eugenics policies in the early 1900s.
VIRGINIA Chesterfield: The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy at the funeral of a 28- year- old Black man who died after he was pinned to the floor by seven sheriff ’ s deputies and several others while he was being admitted to a mental hospital.
WASHINGTON Olympia:
People who were sexually abused as children may soon be able to bring lawsuits against the state, schools or other institutions for failing to stop the abuse, no matter when it happened. House Bill 1618 would remove time limits that have stymied lawsuits by some people who frequently do not fully confront childhood trauma until years later, The Seattle Times reported.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: West Virginia International Yeager Airport will now have flights with Breeze Airways, the Charleston Gazette- Mail reports. Travelers can take direct Breeze Airways flights to Charleston, South Carolina, and Orlando, Florida, according to the news outlet.
WISCONSIN Waukesha: Administrators at Heyer Elementary School stopped a first- grade class from performing a Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton duet because the song “could be perceived as controversial.” Parents in the district say the decision was made because the song “Rainbowland” encourages LGBTQ acceptance and references rainbows.
WYOMING Yellowstone National Park: The National Park Service announced that four major road projects will begin this summer in Yellowstone National Park, the Casper Star- Tribune reports.
From USA TODAY Network and wire reports