In the news

Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, toured the border with Mexico with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a likely Republican presidential contender, and was noncommittal on a timeline for pulling the National Guard off the border after hundreds of police officers recently applied for jobs as the state troopers who will replace the guardsmen.

Graeme Phillip Harris of Alpharetta, Ga., a former University of Mississippi student, was indicted on federal charges connected to last year's placement of a noose on a statue of James Meredith, the student who integrated the school in 1962.

Jerry Brown, the Democratic governor of California, signed legislation that speeds up $1 billion in water infrastructure spending as the state suffers the worst drought in a generation, although many of the projects will take time to make a difference.

Scott Kelly, 51, an American astronaut, and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Kornienko, 54, blasted off in a Soyuz space capsule on a mission to spend a year away from Earth while Kelly's identical twin, Mark, a retired astronaut, takes part in many of the same medical experiments as his orbiting sibling.

Edward Snowden, the ex-National Security Agency systems analyst who would risk arrest and extradition to the U.S. if he left Russia, met with three Swedish lawmakers in Moscow to discuss surveillance and privacy matters.

Nathan Deal, the Republican governor of Georgia, signed an executive document ordering state agencies to start preparations now for the enactment of the state's medical marijuana bill, which he plans to sign after the legislative session ends Thursday.

Grady Keith Concord, 42, a former sheriff's deputy in Winston County, Ala., who prosecutors say used methamphetamine, was sentenced to three years and nine months in federal prison for extorting a woman to cook methamphetamine.

Keith Foster, 51, the deputy police chief in Fresno, Calif., was among four people arrested on federal drug charges, including conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and heroin.

Jeffrey Bruner, 41, of Joplin, Mo., was convicted of fatally shooting Missouri Southern State University assistant football coach Derek Moore in an attack that prosecutors say was sparked by an image posted on Facebook showing the coach was on a date with the killer's estranged wife.

A Section on 03/28/2015

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