Illinois lawmaker pleads guilty to tax charge; faces up to a year in prison
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Illinois state Representative La Shawn K. Ford, who was charged two years ago with bank fraud, pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to a substantially less serious misdemeanor charge of filing a false 2007 tax return.
N.J.’s high court rejects rap lyrics as evidence in attempted murder trial
(Reuters) – The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday ordered a new trial for a man whose attempted murder conviction was challenged because prosecutors used rap lyrics the man had authored as evidence against him.
Pennsylvania mother smells foul odor, finds son died 4 days earlier
HARRISBURG Pa. (Reuters) – A mother, alerted by a foul odor, found out her son died four days earlier in their Pennsylvania home, and on Monday an autopsy was under way and the boy’s father remained jailed in the case.
Guantanamo judge refuses to recuse himself in warship bombing trial
FORT MEADE Md. (Reuters) – A military judge refused on Monday to recuse himself from the death penalty case of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner accused of organizing the 2000 bombing of the U.S. warship Cole.
Syracuse, University of Iowa crowned as U.S.’s top party schools
BOSTON (Reuters) – New York’s Syracuse University edged out the University of Iowa for the crown of top party school in the United States, according to an annual ranking released on Monday by test-prep company the Princeton Review.
Florida same-sex marriage ban struck down in third case
TAMPA Fla. (Reuters) – A Florida judge on Monday struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban in a ruling centered around whether a woman who entered into a civil union in another state could get divorced.
A dozen Washington homes burn in aggressive West Coast wildfire season
SEATTLE (Reuters) – A newly sparked wildfire was burning unchecked on Monday in central Washington state, charring about a dozen homes and threatening wide evacuations as crews scrambled to contain the blaze in an unusually destructive fire season on t…
California’s new state budget emphasizes funding for education
(Reuters) – California’s newest budget package of $152.3 billion in state spending emphasizes large increases for education, pays down debts, and proposes a 32-year plan to fully fund the teachers’ pension system, the state’s nonpartisan fiscal and pol…
Detroit residents get more time to deal with unpaid water bills
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Detroit residents with unpaid water bills now have 21 more days to pay or set up a payment plan as the city reassesses its policy on how to deal with a $90 million backlog in unpaid bills, the mayor said on Monday.
Star witness back on stand in Virginia ex-governor’s corruption trial
RICHMOND Va. (Reuters) – Defense lawyers for former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell in his federal corruption trial on Monday wrapped up their cross-examination of the businessman alleged to have given McDonnell and his wife gifts and loans.
