President Donald Trump invited the Dodgers to the White House. Many of their fans feared that the team, by accepting, would humiliate themselves and betray the team’s large Latino, Asian and African-American fan base. Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, along with co-owner Magic Johnson, have proposed a solution. Trump has promised that if he can keep the championship trophy, the Commissioner’s Trophy, he will end all seizures and deportations of immigrants.   read more

The new law prohibits state or local governments from substantially burdening a person’s ability to exercise their religion, which opponents say is a veiled attempt to allow religious conservatives to discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals without the state intervening. “Not only is this law unnecessary, it unfortunately has already portrayed our state as intolerant, unfriendly, and backwards” Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane said.   read more

The reviewers concluded that there was “insufficient evidence” that adding white potatoes to the approved list would change food purchasing habits of WIC recipients, and that there was “no evidence” purchasing habits had changed since white potatoes were removed from the list in 2009. Furthermore, “The nutrient profile of white potatoes does not support their exclusion from the CVV [cash value voucher program] because their nutrient content is similar to that of other starchy vegetables."   read more

Most of the deaths came in the fighting in Gaza between July 7 and August 26. During those hostilities, 2,220 Palestinians were killed, 1,492 of them civilians, 551 of whom were children. This included 142 Palestinian families who saw three or more family members killed because of attacks on their residences. These attacks on residential buildings accounted for 742 deaths. During the Gaza fighting, 71 Israelis were killed, 66 of them soldiers.   read more

Munyenyezi was found to have “kicked off the killing frenzy there by telling the party’s devotees that all Tutsi ‘cockroaches’ must die.” According to the appeals court, “she personally inspected IDs at the checkpoint, separated those who would live from those who would die (and die gruesomely), and kept records of the ghastly going-ons.”   read more

Sutherland moved on to cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris in 2004 as counsel. In 2008 she was named a senior counsel for Philip Morris parent Altria in their client services group. She switched to government service in 2011 as chief counsel for the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, where she works as she awaits confirmation.   read more

Colombia appears to be a popular spot for R&R among federal law enforcement agents. A Justice Dept. inspector general report has disclosed that DEA agents participated in “sex parties”—in which the prostitutes were hired by Colombian drug cartels—from 2005 to 2008. The agents were also found to have allowed Colombian police officers to watch over their weapons and property during the parties. Three of the agents were also given money, expensive gifts, and weapons from drug cartel members.   read more

Investigations into chemical accidents had backlogged under his leadership and he was accused of getting in the way of the EPA’s inspector general’s investigations. Further, Moure-Eraso and two top executives were caught using personal email accounts to conduct official business. A congressional investigation concluded Moure-Eraso ruined CSB’s workplace, turning it into an “abusive, toxic and hostile” environment. Board members have left in disgust because of CSB’s “level of dysfunction.”   read more

The atomic blasts rendered the Bikini atoll uninhabitable for decades, if not centuries. That didn’t stop the U.S. government from trying to resettle the Bikinians back home in the 1980s, only to discover the island was still too “hot” for anyone to live there. Now the Bikinians have a new problem: rising sea levels brought on by global warming. The Bikini Islanders have told the Interior Department that they want to move to the U.S. permanently.   read more

Those drawing the lines packed supermajorities of black voters into those districts, diluting their votes and removing the possibility of black voters having influence in more heavily white districts. Although 26% of Alabamans are black, only 5 of 35 state senators, or 14%, are black.   read more

Matthew returned to Charleston in 2005 as director of the Historic Charleston Foundation, serving there until 2008. At that time, she rejoined the corporate world as a product manager for Blackbaud, which develops and markets fund raising and membership software for non-profit organizations. In 2014, Matthew was named chief science educator for Children’s Museum of Indianapolis   read more

Democrats in Congress have been the most vocal opponents, saying it would give foreign banks as well as pharmaceutical, tobacco and other companies the ability to undermine U.S. sovereignty. “This is really troubling,” said Sen. Charles Schumer. “It seems to indicate that savvy, deep-pocketed foreign conglomerates could challenge a broad range of laws we pass at every level of government." Most GOP lawmakers reportedly favor the agreement.   read more

Many of the troops never received proper treatment for their ailments related to the chemical exposure. The Army's Brad Carson said service personnel will now receive medical support for lingering health effects. “To me, the scandal is that we had protocols in place and the medical community knew what they were, and yet we failed in some cases to implement this across the theater. That was a mistake, and I apologize for that."   read more

The Surveillance State Repeal Act is the most far-reaching anti-surveillance legislation drafted to date. “This isn’t just tinkering around the edges, it’s a meaningful overhaul that makes sure the meaningless surveillance of emails and cell phones are done away with,” said bill co-author Rep. Mark Pocan. “All mass surveillance does is violate the rights and put a chilling effect on the American people," said CATO Insititute's Patrick Eddington.   read more

“If you don't pay for the license to the song they will notify you and let you know that you have to pay,” said case plaintiff Jennifer Nelson. “They've never actually sued anybody but they have strong-armed people into having to pay.” Warner/Chappell Music charges anywhere from $500 to upwards of six figures for the song's use in a major motion picture. Nelson says it's been in the public domain for 65 years, while Warner says it owns title to copyright registration dating back to 1935.   read more

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials decided to extend a public comment period on whether the agency should downgrade the classification of woodland caribou from endangered to threatened. The species has almost entirely disappeared from the lower 48 states, and currently numbers only 14 in areas near the Canadian border. Their numbers have dwindled in the face of habitat destruction by loggers and off-trail snowmobilers, and because of predation by wolves and mountain lions.   read more

Pentagon officials had asked for $51 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations. They got that, and more. Wednesday night, the Republican-controlled House passed a budget plan, authored by Rep. Tom Price, that added $45 billion to the request. Democrats, and even some Republicans, call the OCO a “slush fund” that allows the military too much freedom to spend taxpayer dollars. Democrats labeled the Republican padding of the fund an “abusive loophole.”   read more