Reuters

A South Carolina judge on Thursday extended a temporary order sealing court documents and silencing all participants in the Charleston church massacre case until next Wednesday.

The South Carolina Press Association is challenging the gag order by Ninth Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson last week banning the release of documents in the case, including 911 police dispatch calls, coroner’s reports and witness statements.   Continue reading “South Carolina judge extends order sealing court documents in church massacre”

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PennLive – by Matt Miller

The 499 criminal charges the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office lodged Tuesday morning against former Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed are a varied lot.

Essentially, they accuse Reed of running a criminal enterprise for roughly two decades. A conviction on nearly any combination of the accusations could send the ailing ex-mayor to prison for the rest of his life.   Continue reading “Ex-Mayor Stephen Reed facing 499 charges of racketeering, bribery and outright theft”

RT

Iran and six leading world powers signed a comprehensive plan for ending international sanctions against Iran in exchange for putting restrictions on its controversial nuclear program. RT takes a look at the groundbreaking document.

The deal signed in Vienna on Tuesday is meant to break a 12-year standoff over Iran’s nuclear activities, which some nations claimed involved military research. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) acknowledges Iran’s right for peaceful nuclear development on par with any other signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.   Continue reading “Key points of historic nuclear deal reached by Iran and 6 world powers”

Mint Press News – by Al Bawaba

There has been a steep increase in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic acts, online hate speech and xenophobic political discourse during 2014 in Europe, according to the Council of Europe’s Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).

The findings were made in the commission’s annual report released on Thursday.   Continue reading “Anti-semitism, Islamophobia On The Rise In Europe”

New York Daily News – Nicole Hensley

A rookie Scranton, Pa., patrolman died of a head injury early Sunday after falling 15 feet while chasing down three teenagers accused of robbing a man at gunpoint.

Scranton Police Department Chief Carol Graziano confirmed Officer John Wilding’s death Sunday “with deepest regret and sadness.”

The 29-year-old police officer leaves behind a wife and two children, ages 3 and 7. He joined the force in April 2014.   Continue reading “Pennsylvania cop dies after 15-foot fall while chasing armed teenagers”

ABC News

Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has escaped from a maximum security prison for the second time.

Guzman, who led the Sinaloa Cartel, escaped from a prison outside Mexico City shortly before 9 p.m. local time Saturday, the Mexican National Security Commission said in a statement today. He was last seen on video surveillance going to the showers. Having not seen him for some time, prison personnel checked his cell and realized Guzman was missing.   Continue reading “Mexican Drug Lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman Again Escapes From Prison”

Dispatch Times

The database that would have supported the background check system for ammunition purchases was never built because the technology for it to operate isn’t available, according to the memo, which was released by Senator James Seward, an Oneonta Republican.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo rammed through the NY SAFE Act after Sandy Hook, hoping that the hastily passed, virtually unread bill would help springboard him towards the 2016 Democrat Presidential nomination.   Continue reading “Cuomo administration, Senate GOP agree on 2 changes to NY’s gun control”

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The Daily Sentinel – by Charles Ashby

The Delta County Sheriff’s Office anticipates filing charges in relation to an illegal marijuana grow operation deputies discovered near Cedaredge late last month, but that may not happen for several more weeks, Sheriff Fred McKee said Friday.

That’s because the office that seized about 2,700 plants — far more than the 300 a medical marijuana caregiver is allowed to grow — has a lot more people to talk to and a lot more investigating to do, the sheriff said.   Continue reading “Colorado Sheriff Uses National Guard In Medical Pot Raid”

MSM – by Kevin McGill, AP

NEW ORLEANS — Noise from hundreds of chanting immigration activists outside a federal appeals court building competed at times Friday with lawyers arguing inside over President Barack Obama’s proposal to shield an estimated 5 million people from deportation who are in the U.S. illegally.

“The three judges felt the vibrancy and power of our movement,” said Marielena Hincapie, of the National Immigration Law Center, speaking to the crowd that rallied while a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case.   Continue reading “Appeals panel hears arguments on Obama immigration action”

New York Times – by James Risen

WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency’s health professionals repeatedly criticized the agency’s post-Sept. 11 interrogation program, but their protests were rebuffed by prominent outside psychologists who lent credibility to the program, according to a new report.

The 542-page report, which examines the involvement of the nation’s psychologists and their largest professional organization, the American Psychological Association, with the harsh interrogation programs of the Bush era, raises repeated questions about the collaboration between psychologists and officials at both the C.I.A. and the Pentagon.   Continue reading “Psychologists Shielded U.S. Torture Program, Report Finds”

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Before Its News – by SBoone

Update – According to local Denver news outlet reports, the emergency teams investigating the two reports of possible Ricin manufacturing did not find anything, and the HAZMAT teams have now cleared both scenes.

Here in Denver’s Adams County, authorities have descended on two properties because of reports Ricin was allegedly being manufactured.   Continue reading “Update: No Ricin Was Found – Denver HAZMAT Responds To Multiple Ricin Locations”

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Ammoland

Covington VA –-(Ammoland.com)- The Maine Governor has signed a Constitutional Carry bill into law, meaning Virginians won’t need a Maine permit to carry concealed when visiting Maine!

I have looked at the wording of the new law and, contrary to the article below, it DOES appear to apply to non-residents.   Continue reading “Maine’s New Constitutional Carry Bill Appears to Include Non Residents”

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KXAN

BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) – The U.S. military officials announced in March their plan for the largest military exercise to date, to take place in five southern states, including Texas.

The special operation training, known as Operation Jade Helm 15, is scheduled to launch next week in Bastrop and other Texas towns.   Continue reading “Bastrop mayor works to squash Jade Helm rumors”

Washington Examiner – by PETE KASPEROWICZ

More than two dozen Democrats have proposed legislation that would eliminate the words “husband” and “wife” from federal law.

Those “gendered terms” would be replaced by “gender-neutral” words like “spouse” or “married couple,” according to the bill from Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif.   Continue reading “Dems declare war on words ‘husband,’ ‘wife’”