LA mayor proposes $24M pilot basic income program in budget

A federal appeals judge upheld a 20-year prison sentence for former police officer Michael Slager in the killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in South Carolina. The judge rejected Slager’s claims that his lawyer, Andy Savage, did a poor job. Slager claimed, in 2017, Savage misled him on apprising him of every plea offer. This made him plead guilty, which led to the long sentence.

Walter Mondale, who served as the vice president during President Jimmy Carter’s term and ran for the presidency in 1984, has died, his family said. He was 93. Mondale is credited with transforming the role of the US vice president while he was in office. Before becoming the VP, Mondale represented Minnesota in the Senate for 12 years. He was also President Joe Biden’s long-term mentor.

The US State Department said it will issue a Level 4 ’do not travel’ advisory to Americans for about 80% of the world’s countries due to Covid resurge in those nations. The current L4 advisory is for 33 countries. It is not known which other countries would be added to the list. The US has only three destinations under the L1 ’exercise normal precautions’ advisory – Taiwan, Macau and New Zealand.

Attorneys in the trial of a former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin are set to make their closing arguments Monday. Chauvin faces a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, second-degree murder. A conviction on any of the charges will require the jury to return a unanimous verdict. Minneapolis, among other US cities, have been heavily fortified ahead of the verdict.

Brandon Scott Hole, the Indianapolis gunman who killed 8 last week before killing himself, never appeared in a court under an Indiana ’red flag’ law, which was invoked after his mother called police fearing Hole might commit ’suicide by cop.’ A prosecutor said authorities had then seized Hole’s shotgun, and if they went ahead with the ’red flag’ process and lost, they had to return the gun to him.

A leader of a militia group revealed in an interview that active-duty police officers were part of the group and are helping in the training of the group members. ’...We can blend in with our law enforcement. In fact, in a lot of cases, our training is much more advanced because of our military backgrounds,’ said Jim Arroyo, vice president of the Oath Keepers Arizona chapter.

Carl Mock, a backcountry guide from Montana succumbed to injuries after he was mauled by a large grizzly bear just outside Yellowstone National Park. Mock died two days after he was attacked while fishing in a forested area along the Madison River several miles north of West Yellowstone. He had suffered significant scalp and facial wounds, and had managed to call 911 following the attack.

Prosecutor Steve Schleicher said that ex-police officer Derek Chauvin ’had to know’ that he was squeezing the life out of George Floyd, as Floyd cried out over and over that he couldn’t breathe and finally fell silent. Schleicher further sought to convince the racially diverse jury that Chauvin’s actions as he pinned Floyd to the pavement with his knee were reckless, unreasonable and criminal.

While closing their arguments in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, prosecutors told the jury that the ex-Minneapolis cop had ’betrayed the badge’ the day George Floyd died. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher said, ’That day, his badge wasn’t in the right place,’ adding, ’He knew better. He just didn’t do better. This was not an accident.’ The jurors also saw previously unseen photos of Floyd’s injuries.

The US Coast Guard rescuers searching for the missing people in the April 13 capsize of the commercial ship Seacor Power off the Louisiana coast have found the body of a fifth victim, NOLA.com reported. A relative of one missing man posted about the discovery on Facebook, and another confirmed the news to WGNO-TV. Of the 19 on board the ship, eight still remain missing.

Everyone in the US aged 16 years and above is now eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday, meeting the April 19 deadline set by President Biden for states to open vaccine eligibility up to all adults. More than 131 million people had received at least one shot as of Sunday and about 84.3 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Ahead of the George Floyd murder trial verdict, Minneapolis has been converted into a virtual fortress, with fears heightened by a drive-by shooting targeting some of the thousands of National Guard members trying to protect the city. Security has been increased dramatically in Minnesota as jury deliberations are set to start Monday in Chauvin’s murder trial.

A cold surge which is plunging southward from Canada is responsible for dropping temperatures and setting the stage for measurable snow this week. Weather forecasters have predicted that snow will spread from the Rockies through the Midwest and then into the Northeast in the coming days. More than a foot of snow is expected to pile up across the mountains of Wyoming into Colorado.

A 7-year-old girl was killed and her father was seriously injured in a shooting Sunday at a McDonald’s in Chicago. According to a witness, two people got out of a car in the drive-thru and started shooting at the car in which Jontae Adams and his daughter, Jaslyn, occupied. The girl was shot repeatedly. No arrests have been made and police have not offered a possible motive.

Stephen Broderick, a former sheriff’s deputy in Austin, Texas was booked on a capital murder charge after being captured following a manhunt. Police said Broderick, 41, fatally shot his ex-wife, teenage stepdaughter and another man during a weekend shooting that shut down a busy Austin shopping area. Cops found him about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the scene of Sunday’s shooting early Monday.

A pig’s head was left at the front porch of the former house of a former police officer who testified last week on behalf of Derek Chauvin, the officer accused of killing George Floyd, police said. Blood was also smeared on the house in Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco, that once belonged to Barry Brodd. Witnesses describe people dressed in black fleeing the scene as 911 was called.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said that even though more than two decades have passed since a truck bomb ripped through a federal building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, the same domestic extremism that led to the attack still exists today. The Attorney General had led the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 as a Department of Justice staffer.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that the Republicans who are refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19 are a hindrance to the efforts to lift the very coronavirus restrictions they insist are an infringement of their civil liberties. The US government’s leading infectious disease expert was citing studies showing that up to 45% of Republicans would not take the vaccine.

Two National Guard troopers sustained minor injuries when they were fired upon early Sunday during patrolling in Minneapolis following the police killing of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man, in a nearby suburb. The Minnesota Guard said the men were hurt when several shots came from a light-colored SUV around 4.19am. One was treated for cuts by shattered glass. Both have been discharged.

Two people were killed in Texas in the crash of a Tesla Saturday night. Authorities say there was no one in the driver’s seat at the time of the crash. There was a person in the front passenger seat and another in a rear passenger seat. Deputies said the car was traveling fast and failed to navigate a turn before running off the road, hitting a tree, and bursting into flames.

The 19-year-old FedEx employee who shot and killed 8 at an Indianapolis facility before taking his own life had purchased the guns used in the shooting legally. Police said the suspect, Brandon Hole, bought the weapons despite a state law that prevents people from purchasing a firearm if they are found ’an imminent risk’ to themselves or others. Hole’s suicidal tendencies were known to the police.

Under a ban on transgender students in sports passed in Florida, schools would have the power to subject students to ’physical examination’ if their gender is disputed. The HB 1475 bill passed the State House on Wednesday with a 77-40 vote largely along party lines. The bill allows for ’routine sports physical examination’ of the students’ genitals, genetic makeup, and testosterone levels.

Police in suburban Minneapolis shot and killed a man Sunday who was allegedly involved in a carjacking and fired shots at pursuing officers. No officers were injured and those involved have been placed on standard administrative leave. All officers wear body cameras, which will be part of the investigation. The suspect was described as a white man in his 20s.

Actor Jim Caviezel joined a right-wing conference on Friday in Oklahoma, and took to endorsing a QAnon conspiracy theory that claims children are being tortured by rich people in order to harvest their adrenaline. Caviezel spent part of his segment endorsing the theory regarding ’the adrenochroming of children.’ Other attendees to the event included, Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell.