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ACROSS OUR STATE & NATION

Expert: Chauvin never took knee off Floyd’s neck area

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck area — and was bearing down with most of his weight — the entire 9 1/2 minutes the Black man lay facedown with his hands cuffed behind his back, a use-of-force expert testified Wednesday at Chauvin’s murder trial.

Jody Stiger, a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant serving as a prosecution witness, said that based on his review of video evidence, Chauvin applied pressure to Floyd’s neck or neck area from the time officers began pinning Floyd to the ground until paramedics began to move him to a stretcher.

“That particular force did not change during the entire restraint period?” prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked as he showed the jury a composite of five still images.

“Correct,” replied Stiger, who on Tuesday testified that the force used against Floyd was excessive.

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson countered by pointing out what he said were moments in the video footage when Chauvin’s knee did not appear to be on Floyd’s neck but on his shoulder blade area or the base of his neck. Stiger did not give much ground, saying the officer’s knee in some of the contested images still seemed to be near Floyd’s neck, though he agreed his weight might have shifted at times.

Biden open to compromise on

infrastructure,

but not inaction

President Joe Biden drew a red line on his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan Wednesday, saying he is open to compromise on how to pay for the package but inaction is unacceptable.

The president turned fiery in an afternoon speech, saying that the United States is failing to build, invest and research for the future and adding that failure to do so amounts to giving up on “leading the world.”

“Compromise is inevitable,” Biden said. “We’ll be open to good ideas in good faith negotiations. But here’s what we won’t be open to: We will not be open to doing nothing. Inaction, simply, is not an option.”

Biden challenged the idea that low tax rates would do more for growth than investing in care workers, roads, bridges, clean water, broadband, school buildings, the power grid, electric vehicles and veterans hospitals.

The president has taken heat from Republican lawmakers and business groups for proposing that corporate tax increases should finance an infrastructure package that goes far beyond the traditional focus on roads and bridges.

Virginia becomes first Southern

state to legalize marijuana

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia became the first Southern state to legalize marijuana Wednesday, as lawmakers voted to approve Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed changes to a bill that will allow adults to possess and cultivate small amounts of the drug starting in July.

Northam sent the bill back to lawmakers substantially changed from the version that squeaked out of the General Assembly in February. The amendments lawmakers agreed to Wednesday would accelerate the timeline of legalization by about three years, well before retail sales would begin, a move that’s been cheered by racial justice advocates.

“The time has come for our state to legalize marijuana. The amendments ensure that while we’re doing the complicated work of standing up a commercial market, we aren’t delaying immediate reforms that will make our Commonwealth more equitable for all Virginians,” House Majority Leader Charniele Herring said in urging her colleagues to approve the governor’s changes. Democrats said the bill was a matter of urgency, a necessary step to end what state figures show is a disparate treatment of people of color under current marijuana laws.

Northam’s amendments cleared the House 53-44 with two abstentions during a one-day session held for the purpose of putting the finishing touches on the year’s legislation. In the Senate, lawmakers deadlocked 20-20 and Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax broke the tie, voting to approve the changes.

Biden to unveil

actions on guns, new ATF boss

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will unveil a series of executive actions aimed at addressing gun violence on Thursday, delivering his first major action on gun control since taking office.

He’ll also nominate David Chipman, a former federal agent and adviser at the gun control group Giffords, to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to senior Biden administration officials.

Biden has faced increasing pressure to act on gun control after a spate of mass shootings across the U.S. in recent weeks, but the White House has repeatedly emphasized the need for legislative action on guns. While the House passed a background-check bill last month, gun control measures face slim prospects in an evenly-divided Senate, where Republicans remain near-unified against most proposals.

Biden will be joined by Attorney General Merrick Garland at the event, and most of the actions will come from the Justice Department.

Biden is expected to announce tighter regulations requiring buyers of so-called “ghost guns” to undergo background checks. The homemade firearms — often assembled from parts and milled with a metal-cutting machine — often lack serial numbers used to trace them. It’s legal to build a gun in a home or a workshop and there is no federal requirement for a background check.

Ohio student’s

alcohol-related

hazing death

ruled accident

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The alcohol-related hazing death last month of a Bowling Green State University student has been ruled an accident.

The Lucas County Coroner’s office announced Tuesday that Stone Foltz, 20, died from alcohol poisoning following the hazing incident.

Authorities have said members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity gave pledges bottles of alcohol on March 4 and encouraged each to finish an entire bottle. They included Foltz, who died three days later.

Foltz, a sophomore who was a business major, was found unconscious by a roommate after members of the fraternity dropped him off at his apartment, according to an attorney for Foltz’s parents. He was put on life support and died after his family arranged for his organs to be donated.

The university charged the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity with violating six code of conduct rules, including causing harm to others, hazing, and disrupting order or disregarding health and safety with alcohol. It also placed the chapter under interim suspension.

Alex Solis, the university’s spokesperson, told The Toledo Blade that during a meeting Tuesday with school administrators, Pi Kappa Alpha representatives “declined to move forward with a hearing” related to the charges. He said more information related to the waiving of the hearing would be released later this week.

The university brought on former U.S. Attorney David DeVillers to assist with the conduct investigation.

Judge temporarily blocks Ohio

telemedicine

abortion ban

COLUMBUS (AP) — A judge has temporarily blocked an Ohio ban on the use of telemedicine for medication abortions as a suit challenging the law’s constitutionality proceeds.

The two-week restraining order was granted by a Hamilton County judge late Tuesday in a case brought last week by Planned Parenthood against the Ohio Department of Health, the state Medical Board and prosecutors in the state’s three largest counties.

It was the second Ohio abortion law Common Pleas Judge Alison Hatheway has blocked this week. She delayed enforcement Monday of another law that would require fetal remains from surgical abortions to be cremated or buried, agreeing with a group of clinics that had sued that a lack of rules made complying unworkable.

The judge’s latest decision means the telemedicine abortion ban will not take effect as scheduled on Monday. The court will consider the law’s longer-term fate at a hearing April 19.

It marks the fifth Ohio abortion restriction passed by the state’s Republican-led Legislature to now be blocked by the courts. The others are bans on dilation and evacuation, or D&E abortions; on abortions in cases where a fetal Down syndrome diagnosis is a factor; and on all abortions after detection of the first fetal heartbeat, which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy before many women know they are pregnant.

Former VP Mike Pence memoir set for 2023 release

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence has a book deal. His autobiography, currently untitled, is scheduled to come out in 2023.

“I am grateful to have the opportunity to tell the story of my life in public service to the American people, from serving in Congress, to the Indiana Governor’s office and as Vice President of the United States,” Pence said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the outstanding team at Simon & Schuster to invite readers on a journey from a small town in Indiana to Washington, DC.”

According to Pence’s agent, David Vigliano, “all major publishers” competed for the book, and the deal was worth “well into seven figures.” A top editor from a rival publishing house confirmed that amount. The editor was not authorized to discuss negotiations and asked not to be identified.

Simon & Schuster announced Wednesday that it also signed Pence to a second book but did not immediately provide details. Pence is the first major Trump administration official to have an announced deal since the president left office in January, although former White House advisor Kellyanne Conway and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are among those reportedly working on books.

Several top publishing executives have told The Associated Press that they were not interested in a Trump memoir, citing the siege of the US Capitol on Jan. 6 by Trump’s supporters.

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