The nation in brief

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

QUOTE OF THE DAY “It may not always attract a lot of attention and it doesn’t make for a good argument

on Sunday-morning shows, but it avoids errors.” President Barack Obama, defending his administration’s move away from the use of military force in foreign policy Article, 2AIndiana first to part with Common Core

INDIANAPOLIS - One of the first states to adopt Common Core State Standards became the first state to formally abandon the national benchmarks, as the Indiana Board of Education voted overwhelmingly Monday for a replacement that will guide student learning for years.

The board voted 10-1 to endorse the new benchmarks to guide what students in kindergarten through 12th grade should learn in math and English, which were created by a panel of faculty from Indiana universities and representatives from science and technology industries. The vote came ahead of the state’s July deadline.

Indiana adopted Common Core in 2010 along with 44 other states. But states’ rights advocates and Tea Party members later opposed the standards, saying they were created without adequate local input.

In response, Indiana lawmakers passed legislation pausing Common Core’s implementation and requiring a statewide review to find a replacement. Republican Gov.

Mike Pence in March signed legislation making Indiana the first state to drop the national standards, which are not federally required but became the virtual guidelines.

Judge orders 2 trials in driver’s beating

DETROIT - A judge on Monday ordered two separate jury trials for four men charged in the beating of a suburban motorist who accidentally struck a 10-year-old Detroit boy with his pickup.

Wayne County Circuit Judge James Callahan set Aug.

18 trials for Wonzey Saffold, 30, and 19-year-old Latrez Cummings. James Davis, 24, and 17-year-old Bruce Wimbush Jr. face Aug. 25 trials.

Each man is charged with assault with intent to murder in the April 2 attack on Steve Utash. Along with a 16-year old boy charged as a juvenile with assault and ethnic intimidation, they are accused of punching and kicking the 54-year-old Utash after he stopped to help the 10-year-old who stepped off a curb in front of the pickup.

Utash is white. Each of his attackers is black. Only the 16-year-old is facing a charge related to race, but authorities have not said what intimidation he used in the attack.

His trial is scheduled to start in June.

Utash, a tree trimmer, remains hospitalized after suffering severe head injuries.

Court told law a threat to abortion clinic

NEW ORLEANS - A Mississippi law requiring doctors at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at local hospitals effectively would shut down the state’s only abortion clinic and pose an unconstitutional burden on women seeking abortions, an attorney told a federal appeals court Monday.

Julie Rikelman argued on behalf of Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which says it has been unable to obtain such privileges for the doctors at its clinic. U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan let the law take effect in July 2012, after the clinic sued the state. But Jordan blocked the state from closing the clinic while it tried to comply.

In March, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a similar Texas law that requires admitting privileges.

However, during Monday’s arguments, members of a different three-judge 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel noted that the law in Mississippi could force women seeking abortions to travel to other states. The panel gave no indication when or how it would rule but did raise the possibility that the Mississippi law posed what it called an “undue burden” on women in the state.

Detroit strikes deal with some unions

DETROIT - Detroit has reached a five-year collective-bargaining deal with some of its unions, officials announced Monday.

The deal, with representatives for about 3,500 of the city’s 10,000 current workers, adds to a growing list of pacts with retirees, pension-fund leaders and several financial creditors and appears likely to move the city closer to a plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

Yet many issues remain as Detroit grapples with an $18 billion debt. The judge, who will decide whether the city’s plans are fair and realistic, urged those still involved in talks to proceed with negotiations.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 04/29/2014