In the news today: The 14-year-old boy accused of killing four people at a Georgia high school will appear in court today; Hunter Biden enters an unexpected guilty plea to avoid his tax trial; and abortion rights questions are on the ballots in 9 states. Also, a Japanese factory is committed to preserving the traditional way of making cast iron cookware.
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Brandy Rickaba and her daughter Emilie during a candlelight vigil at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
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Suspect of Georgia school shooting is expected in court a day after his father is charged
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The 14-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting four people at a Georgia high school was expected to make his first court appearance Friday, a day after his father was also arrested for allowing his son to possess a weapon. Read more. |
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The teen’s father, Colin Gray, 54, was charged Thursday with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said. “His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon,” Hosey said. It’s the latest example of prosecutors holding parents responsible for their children’s actions in school shootings.
Father and son have been charged in the deaths of students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, according to Hosey. Nine other people were injured, seven of them shot.
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The teen denied threatening to carry out a school shooting when authorities interviewed him last year about a menacing post on social media, according to a sheriff’s report obtained Thursday. Conflicting evidence on the post’s origin left investigators unable to arrest anyone, the report said.
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Hunter Biden enters surprise guilty plea to avoid tax trial
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President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal tax charges, a surprise move meant to spare his family another painful and embarrassing criminal trial after his gun case conviction just months ago. Read more. |
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Hunter Biden’s decision to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges without the benefits of a deal with prosecutors caps a long-running saga over his legal woes that have cast a shadow over his father’s political career. It came hours after jury selection was supposed to begin in the case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.
The president’s son was already facing potential prison time after his June conviction on felony gun charges in a trial that aired salacious details about his struggles with a crack cocaine addiction. The tax trial was expected to showcase more potentially lurid evidence as well as details about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, which Republicans have seized on to try to paint the Biden family as corrupt.
- The charges carry up to 17 years behind bars, but federal sentencing guidelines are likely to call for a much shorter sentence. He faces up to $1.35 million in fines. Sentencing is set for Dec. 16. He faces sentencing in the Delaware case on Nov. 13 — the week after the general election.
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Abortion rights questions are on ballots in 9 states. Will they tilt elections?
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Ballot measures on abortion access could attract voters to polls in November who otherwise might sit out the election — and even a small number of additional voters could make a difference in close races for offices from the state legislature to president. Read more. |
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Scholars and ballot measure experts are divided on the impact ballot measures have previously had on candidate elections. But in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, which ended the nationwide right to abortion, if any ballot measures have major effects on candidate elections, it’s expected to be those regarding abortion.
Ballot measures are most likely to drive voter enthusiasm and alter outcomes in races that are tight. For example, in a Montana race that could be crucial to determining whether Democrats keep control of the U.S. Senate, incumbent Jon Tester, a Democrat who supports abortion rights, is in a tight race against Republican Tim Sheehy, who has criticized the ballot measure.
- In New York, a judge last month declined to require the word “abortion” to appear in the ballot measure. Democrats were pushing for it to be included in a state where congressional races could be close. There are also measures on the ballot in Nevada and Arizona, presidential battleground states where control of the state government is split between the parties.
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Cast iron cookware is being made at the Oigen foundry in Oshu, northeastern Japan. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
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This 172-year-old Japanese factory preserves the traditional way of making cast iron cookware
Katsunori Suzuki is one of a few craftsmen in Japan still producing cast iron cookware by hand using laborious traditional techniques. The president of the 172-year-old foundry where he works says she wants to keep the tradition alive, even if it costs much more to produce. |
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Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Sarah
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