The nation in brief

Top court refuses death-row man's appeal

Surrounded by college students, President Barack Obama signs a Presidential Memorandum on reducing the burden of student loan debt, Monday, June 9, 2014, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. The president said the rising costs of college have left America's middle class feeling trapped. He says no hard-working youngster in America should be priced out of a higher education. Obama signed a presidential memorandum he says could help an additional 5 million borrowers.
Surrounded by college students, President Barack Obama signs a Presidential Memorandum on reducing the burden of student loan debt, Monday, June 9, 2014, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. The president said the rising costs of college have left America's middle class feeling trapped. He says no hard-working youngster in America should be priced out of a higher education. Obama signed a presidential memorandum he says could help an additional 5 million borrowers.

Obama plan eases student loan payments

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama expanded a program Monday that lets student loan borrowers pay no more than 10 percent of their income every month, and threw his support behind more sweeping Senate legislation targeting the issue.

Flanked by student loan borrowers at the White House, Obama said the rising costs of college have left America's middle class feeling trapped. He put his pen to a presidential memorandum that he said could help an additional 5 million borrowers lower their monthly payments.

"I'm only here because this country gave me a chance through education," Obama said. "We are here today because we believe that in America, no hard-working young person should be priced out of a higher education."

An existing repayment plan Obama announced in 2010 lets borrowers pay no more than 10 percent of their monthly income in payments but is only available for those who started borrowing after October 2007. Obama's memo expands that program by making it open to those who borrowed anytime in the past.

Christie chief testifies in bridge inquiry

The chief of staff for Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey testified Monday that he had no knowledge of the decision to close several traffic lanes at the George Washington Bridge last September.

The chief of staff, Kevin O'Dowd, the highest-ranking member of the Christie administration to testify over the scandal before a state legislative committee, also said he believed the assurances of his deputy, Bridget Anne Kelly, that she was not involved, a position later undermined by emails and text messages.

Christie had long maintained that no one in his administration was involved, but there were continuing reports that the lanes were closed as an act of political retribution. On Monday, O'Dowd testified that the governor asked him Dec. 12, to find out if Kelly was involved. As a member of a Christie department responsible for maintaining relationships with local leaders, O'Dowd said the governor's direction seemed "logical."

Kelly's response was unequivocal, according to O'Dowd. "Absolutely not," he said she told him.

Automakers pledge millions to Detroit

DETROIT -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are driving into Detroit's bankruptcy reorganization by pledging $26 million to help support retiree pensions while keeping the city's art treasures off the auction block, officials announced Monday.

The money will go toward city pensions and will be part of the Detroit Institute of Arts' $100 million commitment to what's being called the "grand bargain" to resolve the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history. It's helping keep city-owned pieces in the museum off the auction block as some creditors demand they be sold to pay off some of Detroit's billions in debt.

Of the $26 million, $10 million will come from Ford Motor Co., $6 million from Chrysler Group LLC, $5 million from General Motors Co. and $5 million from the General Motors Foundation.

Top court rejects death-row man's appeal

HOUSTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused an appeal from a Texas death-row inmate whose attorneys had demanded that state officials disclose the source of drugs intended to execute him.

Robert James Campbell, 41, had avoided execution May 13 when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stopped his punishment less than three hours before he could have been put to death. That court agreed to give Campbell's lawyers time to pursue claims that he's mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty. That issue is still pending.

At the time of the reprieve, Campbell's appeal seeking the identity of the supplier of the pentobarbital used by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for executions was before the Supreme Court.

Campbell was sentenced to death for the 1991 abduction, rape and slaying of a 20-year-old Houston bank teller, Alexandra Rendon.

The ruling was in line with similar rulings from the high court, which so far have not halted an execution based on a state's refusal to reveal its lethal injection drug supplier.

-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

A Section on 06/10/2014

Upcoming Events