LIBBY, Mont. — Paul Resch remembers playing baseball as a kid on a field constructed from asbestos-tainted vermiculite, mere yards from railroad tracks where trains kicked up clouds of dust as they hauled the contaminated material from a mountaintop mine through the northwestern Montana town of Libby. He liked to sneak into vermiculite-filled storage bins … Read more
Prosecutors and defense lawyers are exploring the possibility of a plea deal for the last of three men charged in the 2002 killing of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, both sides said Thursday, less than six weeks after two co-defendants were convicted. The talks just began, and it’s unclear what federal prosecutors might be willing … Read more
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Attorneys defending Tennessee’s sweeping abortion ban alleged Thursday that doctors challenging the law do not want any oversight when deciding to terminate a pregnancy and instead are improperly withholding care to women facing serious medical emergencies. The Tennessee Attorney General’s office laid out its arguments while attempting to persuade a three-judge panel … Read more
TRENTON, N.J. — Frustrated at having unsuccessfully agitated for over three years to get lawmakers to ban smoking in Atlantic City casinos, workers on Friday tried a new tactic. They filed a lawsuit to try to overturn a law that leaves casino workers as the only ones not covered by the protections of a clean … Read more
LOS ANGELES — A lawsuit that names Sean “Diddy” Combs as a co-defendant alleges that his son Christian “King” Combs sexually assaulted a woman working on a yacht chartered by his father. The suit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court says Sean Combs created the circumstances that led to the assault and paid to … Read more
LONDON — Senior doctors in England have accepted a pay offer from the British government that ends a yearlong dispute with unprecedented strike action. The British Medical Association and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, which represent the senior doctors, who are known as consultants, said Friday that 83% of those casting a vote backed … Read more
WASHINGTON — Anti-smoking groups sued the U.S. government Tuesday over a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes, which has been idling at the White House for months. The lawsuit is the latest effort to force the government to ban menthols, which are disproportionately used by Black smokers and young people. It comes amid growing concerns from … Read more
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed a legal challenge on Friday to some of Ohio’s abortion laws, now that Ohio voters have enshrined voting rights in the state’s constitution. The lawsuit filed on behalf of abortion clinics says that since Ohioans voted overwhelmingly to protect such rights in an … Read more
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico judge on Friday rejected an effort by a movie set armorer to challenge her conviction of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film “Rust.” After hearing brief arguments during a virtual hearing, Santa Fe-based Judge Mary … Read more
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court will hear an appeal of actor Jussie Smollett’s disorderly conduct conviction for staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019, then lying to Chicago police about it. The court on Wednesday accepted the appeal from Smollett, formerly a cast member of the television drama “Empire.” It … Read more
