Couple say innocent in gun-waving case
ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis couple celebrated in some circles and vilified in others for waving guns at protesters marching past their house on a private street pleaded innocent to two felony charges at a brief hearing Wednesday.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who are both attorneys in their early 60s, were indicted by a St. Louis grand jury last week on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence. They will appear in court again Oct. 28.
The June 28 protest was part of a national wave of racial injustice demonstrations that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. A few hundred marchers were on their way to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's home when they veered onto a private street in the city's Central West End.
The McCloskeys said the protesters not only ignored a "No Trespassing" sign but also broke down an iron gate. Protest leaders denied damaging the gate.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner originally first filed the weapons charge in July. The grand jury added the evidence-tampering charge.
The McCloskeys have blamed the "leftist" Democrats in St. Louis for their plight and have become folk heroes among some conservatives. They have received support from President Donald Trump, and they spoke on video during the opening night of the Republican National Convention.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has defended the couple's right to protect their home and said he will pardon them if they are convicted.
U.S. program's premium rise said to slow
WASHINGTON -- Federal employees will pay 4.9% more on average for health care premiums in 2021, an increase driven by long-running upward pressures that, perhaps surprisingly, were eased by the coronavirus pandemic, the government said Wednesday.
The average premium rise in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program will be slightly below the increase for 2020 and is on the low end of projections by many large private-sector companies of increases in the 4% to 10% range for 2021 for their employees, the Office of Personnel Management said.
With about 4.1 million enrollees and a similar number of covered family members, the federal health program is the largest employer-sponsored health insurance program in the country. Almost all federal employees are eligible, as are federal retirees if they were covered for at least the five years before retirement and if they remain enrolled continuously.
The government pays about 70% of premiums on average for retirees as well as for most federal employees.
LGBT-rights measure sought in Michigan
LANSING, Mich. -- A ballot drive has turned in more than 483,000 signatures for an initiative to prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people in Michigan by amending the state's civil-rights law.
If election officials determine that roughly 340,000 are valid, then the measure would be placed before the Republican-led Legislature, where similar legislation has long stalled. If lawmakers declined to adopt the measure within 40 days, then it would go to a statewide vote in November 2022.
"Michigan stands united to bring LGBTQ rights into law for the first time," said Trevor Thomas, co-chairman of Fair and Equal Michigan. He called the group's submission of petitions Tuesday a milestone "as we continue the work of making sure everyone has an equal chance to succeed."
The proposal would revise the state's 1976 law to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations. Religion-based discrimination, which already is barred, would be defined to include an individual's "religious beliefs."
GOP lawmakers have not embraced such measures or have insisted that they be paired with a religious-objections measure that is opposed by backers of LGBT rights.
Military contractor accused of fraud
SAN DIEGO -- A U.S. military contractor has been indicted in California, accused of faking quality control on construction projects in Africa that were so badly done that some buildings collapsed, including an aircraft hangar, authorities said Tuesday.
Micheline Pollock was named in a 98-count indictment by a federal grand jury in San Diego, the U.S. attorney's office for Southern California said in a statement.
Pollock was chief executive officer of Dover Vantage, which between 2011 and 2018 won contracts from the Army Corps of Engineers and Navy Facilities Engineering Command for military and humanitarian projects in Africa.
Pollock and others in the company are accused of submitting fraudulent quality-control plans; certifying quality-control work that was never performed; faking concrete-strength test results; and submitting claims for construction that was never performed or didn't meet requirements.
Pollock was arrested Sept. 22 in Tbilisi, Georgia, and remains in custody in that country while awaiting extradition, authorities said.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports