QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Although our investigation is ongoing, today’s charges bring a successful end to a tragic week for the city of Boston and for our country.” Attorney General Eric Holder, after charges against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were announced Article, 1AObama takes in ‘cool’ science projects
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama had high praise for science projects from some high-achieving students, telling them, “This stuff is really cool.”
Obama spoke at the third White House science fair, which highlighted projects by student winners of science, technology, engineering and math competitions.
About 30 student teams were invited to show their projects. Rockets and robots were among the exhibits, as well as a pedal-powered emergency water-filtration system and a fully functioning prosthetic arm made mostly with parts generated using a 3-D printer.
The president said the students make him hopeful about the nation’s future. He said the annual science fair is “one of my favorite events during the course of the year.”Man questioned in ‘pot’ rally shootings
DENVER - Denver police on Monday interviewed a man wanted in connection with a shooting at a weekend marijuana rally that wounded two people, but authorities did not arrest him.
The man was shown in a video posted on YouTube and had been believed to be an accomplice to the primary shooter at the Saturday event, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
Jackson said Monday afternoon that the man went in voluntarily to speak to detectives. Jackson declined to elaborate further or say whether the man was a suspect or person of interest in the case.
Saturday’s shooting happened at the end of the first 4/20 public marijuana smoking event since Colorado legalized the drug, the numerals being a code term for the weed. A man and a woman suffered gunshot wounds that weren’t life-threatening. A youth grazed by a bullet was treated at a nearby hospital, police said.
GI pleads guilty in killing of 5 in ranks
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. - An Army sergeant pleaded guilty Monday to killing four other soldiers and a Navy officer in 2009 at a mental-health clinic in Baghdad during the Iraq war.
The plea at a military court at Joint Base Lewis-Mc-Chord means Sgt. John Russell will avoid the death sentence. His maximum sentence will be a life term.
Russell - who is from Sherman, Texas - went on a shooting rampage at the Camp Liberty Combat Stress Center near Baghdad in May 2009.
Russell was nearing the end of his third tour when his behavior changed, members of his unit testified in 2009.
They said he became more distant in the days before the May 11, 2009, attack and that he seemed paranoid that his unit was trying to end his career.
Two evaluations presented during a 2009 hearing said Russell suffered from severe depression with psychotic features and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder.
Online sales tax bill advances in Senate
WASHINGTON - States would have the ability to force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes under a bill that overwhelmingly passed a test vote in the Senate on Monday.
The bill would allow states to require online retailers to collect state and local sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. The sales taxes would be sent to the states where shoppers live.
The Senate voted 74-20 to begin debating the bill.
Arkansas’ Sens. John Boozman, a Republican, and Mark Pryor, a Democrat, voted to advance the bill, which is expected to be passed by the Senate as early as this week.
Supporters say the bill is about fairness for businesses and lost revenue for states. Opponents say it would impose complicated regulations on retailers and doesn’t have enough protections for small businesses. Businesses with less than $1 million a year in online sales would be exempt.
President Barack Obama supports the bill, but its fate is uncertain in the House, where some Republicans regard it as a tax increase.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 04/23/2013