"Defendants used explosives, chemical agents (tear gas), flash-bang grenades, and other devices on and around the Lech home in an attempt to flush out Seacat. Sixty-eight cold chemical munitions and four hot gas munitions were launched. ... The interior of the Lech home was a mass of debris and destroyed belongings from the projectiles launched into the home... Chemical munitions or other projectiles were stuck in the walls." The house appeared to have suffered artillery bombardment.   read more

A 5-year-old Massachusetts boy may have a future in law enforcement. The Quincy Police Department on Wednesday posted to Facebook a recording of a 911 call the boy placed to report his father had run a red light. The boy tells a dispatcher: "Daddy went through a red light." He then describes the vehicle and says it was "in the brand-new car, my mummy's car."   read more

Forbes says its estimate of Elizabeth Holmes' wealth is based entirely on her 50 percent stake in troubled blood-testing startup Theranos. The company acknowledged in April that it's under investigation by several regulators and agencies following a series of reports by The Wall Street Journal in which former employees said the company's tests were unreliable. The tests use only a few drops of blood. Theranos said the articles were inaccurate when they were published.   read more

"What do you do if you get one? Throw it in the trash. Personally, I prefer to burn mine," said Rep. Holt. Holt is a longtime critic of traffic camera tickets and has previously called for banning them. In this year's legislative session, he sponsored a bill that requires citations to include the following statement: "Nonpayment of this (citation) cannot adversely affect your credit score or report, driver's license, and/or automobile insurance rates."   read more

If they can successfully reanimate parts of the upper spinal cord, where the lower brain stem is located, there’s a possibility that they could kick start vital body functions such as breathing and heartbeats. "This represents the first trial of its kind and another step towards the eventual reversal of death in our lifetime," said Bioquark CEO Ira Pastor. Once they’ve been granted permission from the families, the researchers will treat their 20 clinically dead patients over a six-week period.   read more

Donald Trump wants to build another huge wall, this time to keep out the rising seas threatening his luxury golf resort in Ireland. He has called climate change a "con job" and a "hoax." But Trump Golf Links cites global warming in seeking a permit to build the nearly two-mile-long stone wall. "Donald Trump clearly cares more about the fate of his golf courses than the health of the millions of families already affected by the climate crisis," said the Sierra Club.   read more

Federal laws will no longer include outdated and offensive terms used to describe minority groups. President Barack Obama signed a bill striking the several terms, including "Negro" and "Oriental" on Friday, the White House said. Those terms will be replaced with "African American" and "Asian American." The bill removing the terms passed the House in February and the Senate last week. No one in either chamber objected.   read more

"We simply cannot have men and women who have sacrificed for this country see their rightful benefits wrongfully terminated because the VA mistakenly declares them dead," Rep. Jolly wrote. Now, when officials think a veteran is dead, the department will send a letter to his or her address and request confirmation of the death from a surviving family member. If the VA doesn't hear from the family — or from a veteran erroneously believed dead — only then will the department terminate payments.   read more

Judge Block quoted legal scholar Michelle Alexander: “Today a criminal freed from prison has scarcely more rights, and arguably less respect, than a freed slave or a black person living ‘free’ in Mississippi at the height of Jim Crow.” Said Prof. Chin: “This is...the most careful and thorough judicial examination [of collateral consequences in sentencing]. It’s going to generate debate on a critical issue...the ability of people convicted of crimes to get on with their lives."   read more

Young men have consistently been more likely to live with their parents than young women have, and that remains true, generally because women marry younger and move out. But now living with parents is on the cusp of becoming the dominant arrangement for young women as well. “What you tend to see is that racial and ethnic minorities...especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, are the most likely to be living in their parent’s home and the least likely to have a partner,” Fry said.   read more

Why the smoking rate fell so much in 2015 — and whether it will fall as fast again — is not quite clear. About 50 years ago, roughly 42% of U.S. adults smoked. It was common nearly everywhere. The smoking rate's gradual decline has coincided with an increased public understanding that smoking is a cause of cancer, heart disease and other lethal health problems. Experts attribute recent declines to the mounting impact of anti-smoking ad campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans.   read more

When President Obama in 2011 announced he planned to establish an Atrocities Prevention Board, the mission of the board seemed straightforward: preventing atrocities. But faced with questions about atrocities that haven't been prevented, the administration had a curious response: That's not the point. Officials briefing reporters on a new executive order said the purpose of the board is to "look over the horizon" and identify potential conflicts that need to be kept on the government's radar.   read more

"People believe when they go to the grocery store or the hardware store (and) get a product, that that product has been tested and it's been determined to be safe. That isn't the case," said Sen. Tom Udall, a lead sponsor of the bill. "Today we are stepping forward and we are putting a law in place that will protect American families and protect children from chemicals." The legislation is named after the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who pushed for chemical reform before his death in 2013.   read more

The court is not deadlocked so much as diminished. Many of the justices' decisions will be modest and ephemeral. Opinions vary about whether a Supreme Court that does little is good for the nation. Roberts has said he favors narrow decisions endorsed by large majorities, and it turns out that goal is easier to achieve on an eight-member court. The next term is thus shaping up to be a thin and quiet one. For now, the Supreme Court will remain on the sideline of American life.   read more

Private lawyers appointed by a state attorney general to collect debts can use the attorney general's official letterhead, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. The underlying case centered on whether special counsel - those appointed by attorney generals to collect a debt owed to the state - are state "officers" under federal law. The unanimous Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit and ruled that special counsel's use of a state attorney general's letterhead does not violate the FDCPA.   read more

Blacks are still at a major health disadvantage compared with whites. But evidence of black gains has been building and has helped push up the ultimate measure — life expectancy. The gap between blacks and whites was seven years in 1990. By 2014, it had shrunk to 3.4 years, the smallest in history, with life expectancy at 75.6 years for blacks and 79 years for whites. Part of the reason has been the opioid crisis, which has hit harder in white communities, bringing down white life expectancy.   read more