Tennessee's House expels first of 3 Democrats for protest
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's GOP-dominated House has expelled the first of three Democratic members who were at risk of being thrown out of the Legislature for their role in a demonstration calling for gun control following the Nashville school shooting. The vote Thursday to oust Rep. Justin Jones was an extraordinary move the chamber has used only a handful times since the Civil War. The House was also considering ousting Reps. Gloria Johnson and Justin Pearson. The votes come a week after the trio chanted back and forth from the chamber floor with gun control supporters who packed the gallery days six people, including three children, were fatally shot at The Covenant School.
High court: Trans girl can run girls track in West Virginia
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing a 12-year-old transgender girl in West Virginia to continue competing on her middle school's girls sports teams while a lawsuit over a state ban continues. The justices refused to disturb an appeals court order that made it possible for the girl, Becky Pepper-Jackson, to continue playing on her school's track and cross-country teams, where she regularly finishes near the back of the pack. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have allowed West Virginia to enforce its law against Pepper-Jackson.
Ex-head of Michigan marijuana board admits he took bribes
The former head of a Michigan medical marijuana licensing board admits he accepted $110,000 in bribes to influence his decisions. Rick Johnson has agreed to plead guilty, according to documents filed in federal court in Grand Rapids. Charges against Johnson and three other men were announced Thursday. Johnson was chairman of the marijuana board for two years until spring 2019. Years earlier, he was a powerful lawmaker in the Michigan Capitol, serving as House speaker through 2004. A message seeking comment from Johnson's attorney wasn't immediately returned. The Michigan marijuana board reviewed and approved applications to grow and sell marijuana. U.S. Attorney Mark Totten says, "Public corruption is a poison to any democracy."
IRS pledges more audits of wealthy, better customer service
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS is outlining how it plans to use an infusion of $80 billion for improved operations. The agency is pledging to invest in new technology, hire more customer service representatives and expand its ability to audit high-wealth taxpayers. The money comes from the Democrats' landmark climate change and health care bill that was signed by President Joe Biden last summer. Some Republicans have suggested, without evidence, that the money would help create a mob of armed auditors to harass middle-class taxpayers. But new IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel says the plan won't include spending for new agents with guns.
Civil rights probe launched after fatal Park Police shooting
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights investigation after a U.S. Park Police officer fatally shot a 17-year-old who had driven away with an officer in the back seat after the teenager was found asleep in a suspected stolen car in Washington. The U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia is investigating along with the FBI's Washington field office. Body-camera footage shows teenager Dalaneo Martin asleep in the car in a Washington neighborhood on March 18. One officer climbed into the back seat to arrest him, but Martin woke and drove away. The officer told Martin to stop and to let him out, then threatened to shoot, just before opening fire.
Police: 4 dead in plane crash off Florida's Gulf Coast
VENICE, Fla. (AP) — Police say the bodies of two men and two women have been recovered following a small plane crash just off Florida's Gulf Coast. The plane had just taken off from Venice Airport when it crashed into the Gulf of Mexico west of the city's fishing pier, Venice police said in a news conference Thursday. Crews from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Sarasota Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Coast Guard were continuing to search the debris field Thursday morning. The victims were from Fishers and Noblesville, Indiana.
Justice Thomas reportedly took undisclosed luxury trips
WASHINGTON (AP) — ProPublica is reporting that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has for more than two decades accepted luxury trips nearly every year from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow without reporting them on financial disclosure forms. In a lengthy story published Thursday, the nonprofit investigative journalism organization catalogs various trips Thomas has taken aboard Crow's yacht and private jet as well as to Crow's private resort in the Adirondacks. The organization says a 2019 trip to Indonesia the story detailed could have cost more than $500,000 had Thomas chartered the plane and yacht himself.
Biden review of chaotic Afghan withdrawal blames Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration is laying the blame on his predecessor, President Donald Trump, for the deadly and chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that brought about some of the darkest moments of Biden's presidency. The White House publicly released a 12-page summary of the results of government reviews, taking little responsibility for its own actions and asserting that Biden was "severely constrained" by Trump's decisions. The administration said detailed reviews conducted by the State Department and the Pentagon, which were transmitted privately to Congress on Thursday, were highly classified and would not be released publicly.
Report details 'staggering' church sex abuse in Maryland
BALTIMORE (AP) — More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused more than 600 children over the past 80 years. That's according to a state report released Wednesday that accused church officials of decades of cover-ups. The disclosure marks a significant development in an ongoing legal battle over their release and adds to a growing pile of evidence from parishes across the country as numerous similar revelations have rocked the Catholic Church in recent years. Former Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh launched the probe in 2019 and announced its completion last November.
Idaho governor signs 'abortion trafficking' bill into law
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed a bill into law that makes it illegal for an adult to help a minor get an abortion without parental consent. The law is the first of its kind in the U.S. and creates a new crime of "abortion trafficking," barring adults from obtaining abortion pills for a minor or "recruiting, harboring or transporting the pregnant minor" without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian. Meanwhile, health care providers are suing over the state's interpretation of another abortion ban because the attorney general says it prohibits doctors from referring patients across state lines.
