3rd Colorado lawman killed in 5 weeks
A Colorado sheriff's deputy was shot and killed on Monday, the third officer to be gunned down in the line of duty in the state in the past five weeks.
El Paso County Deputy Micah Flick, 34, was killed while he and other officers were investigating a stolen vehicle in Colorado Springs, about 70 miles south of Denver, authorities said. Four others -- two sheriff's officers, a police officer and a bystander -- were wounded in a shooting near an apartment complex. The suspect also was killed.
Colorado Springs Police Chief Pete Carey said the officers were struggling with the male suspect when shots were fired.
One of the wounded officers, Deputy Scott Stone was shot in abdomen and was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday. His injuries did not appear life-threatening, authorities said. Sheriff's Sgt. Jake Abendshan was treated and released Monday night.
The conditions of the police officer and the bystander have not been released.
Adams County Deputy Heath Gumm was fatally shot Jan. 24 while chasing a suspect. On Dec. 31, Douglas County Deputy Zackari Parrish died after he was shot in suburban Denver by a man with a history of mental illness.
Multistate tsunami warning only a test
A tsunami alert buzzed phones across multiple states Tuesday morning, but it was missing a critical piece of information: This was a test.
The message, issued by the National Weather Service as part of a monthly exercise, was passed along as a real warning by AccuWeather, a private weather company with its headquarters in State College, Penn.
The government said it was investigating the erroneous alert, which it said resulted in widespread reports of tsunami warnings across the East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. AccuWeather meanwhile blamed the weather service for sending out a "miscoded" warning, saying "only they know if the message is correct or not."
While the word "TEST" appeared in the header of the tsunami warning, associated code that is read by AccuWeather's software indicated that the alert was real, the company said.
Baker's cake refusal upheld in California
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A California bakery owner can continue to refuse to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples because it violates her Christian beliefs, a state judge ruled.
The decision came after a lawyer for Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield argued that owner Cathy Miller's right to free speech and free expression of religion trumps the argument that she violated a state anti-discrimination law.
Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe agreed but said Monday his ruling was tied closely to the fact that Miller was being asked to make a cake for an event and that the act of creating it was protected artistic expression.
Lampe cautioned that freedom of religion does not give businesses a right to refuse service to groups protected by the civil rights laws in other circumstances.
"A retail tire shop may not refuse to sell a tire because the owner does not want to sell tires to same sex couples," Lampe wrote. "No baker may place their wares in a public display case, open their shop, and then refuse to sell because of race, religion, gender, or gender identification."
The decision comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule in the high-profile case of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
Alabama sued over licenses' gender rule
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Three transgender individuals filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Alabama saying the state won't allow them to change the gender listing of their driver's licenses without proof that they've undergone surgery.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the plaintiffs in federal court, said the requirement to show proof of sex-altering surgery is an unconstitutional violation of privacy, free speech and a person's ability to make their own medical decisions.
A Section on 02/07/2018