In the news

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York used his first State of the City address to press government to marshal its power to battle income inequality by increasing taxes on the rich to pay for pre-kindergarten, raising the minimum wage and providing ID cards for people in the country illegally.

President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande toured the sweeping Virginia estate of famed Francophile Thomas Jefferson, opening two days of events marking Hollande’s state visit to the United States.

Chris Kattan, 43, a Saturday Night Live cast member from 1996 to 2003 best-known for the character Mango, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after his Mercedes struck a state Department of Transportation vehicle on a Southern California freeway.

Susumu Ueda and Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, both sushi chefs who served whale meat at a now-shuttered Santa Monica, Calif., restaurant, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for their part in a scheme to import and sell cuts of whale including tail meat and “whale bacon.”

Ed Michalowski, a former employee in Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford’s office, filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the Republican gubernatorial candidate made inappropriate sexual advances and regularly forced him to do political work on state time, allegations Rutherford has denied.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., dodged a direct question at an education forum in Miami on whether he has ever smoked marijuana, saying, “If I tell you that I haven’t, you won’t believe me. And if I tell you that I did, then kids will look up to me and say, ‘Well, I can smoke marijuana because look how he made it.’”

Nobuya Michael Ochinero, a 38-year-old passenger on board a flight from Tokyo to New York that was diverted to Anchorage, Alaska, was arrested by the FBI over what All Nippon Airways said was “unruly behavior.”

President Traian Basescu of Romania was fined the equivalent of $185 for saying Gypsies avoid work and make a living by stealing.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/11/2014