10 things you need to know today: May 3, 2016

(Image credit: REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein)

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1. Indiana votes in potentially decisive primary
2. U.S. service member killed in Iraq during battle with ISIS
3. Colorado high court rejects local fracking bans
4. Justice Department slams South Dakota for treatment of people with disabilities
5. Ex-FBI agent pleads guilty to stealing $136,000 seized in searches
6. Pressure increases on Congress after Puerto Rico default
7. Supreme Court rejects challenge to Seattle's $15 minimum wage law
8. Teacher 'sick-out' closes nearly all Detroit schools
9. U.S. cruise ship arrives in Havana in landmark trip
10. Astronomers find three potentially habitable planets around tiny star

published 3 May 2016

1. Indiana votes in potentially decisive primary

Primary voters in Indiana go to the polls Tuesday to vote in contests that are considered crucial in determining whether the frontrunners, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, will clinch their parties' presidential nominations ahead of this summer's conventions. "If we win Indiana, it's over," Trump, who leads most polls in the state, told supporters. Clinton, who leads rival Bernie Sanders by four points in Indiana polls, has already turned her attention to the general election, although Sanders predicts the convention will be "contested."

A U.S. service member was killed in Iraq by "enemy fire" after Islamic State fighters penetrated territory held by Kurdish Peshmerga forces, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday. The American, who has not been identified, was serving as an adviser to Kurdish Peshmerga forces near Erbil and appears to be the first U.S. service member killed by ISIS during an advise-and-assist mission. The death comes as a buildup of U.S. advisers in the area puts U.S. troops closer to the fight against ISIS.

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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday struck down local bans on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, saying they are "invalid and unenforceable" because state law pre-empts them. In separate decisions, the court rejected a five-year moratorium on fracking in Fort Collins and a 2012 ban in Longmont. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association said the decision will let energy companies tap deposits "that have been off-limits for a number of years." Environmentalists said it would increase pressure for a statewide referendum on fracking.

South Dakota violated federal law by putting thousands of people with disabilities into highly restrictive nursing homes, according to a U.S. Justice Department investigation released Monday. The patients sought help from the state for manageable disabilities such as severe diabetes, blindness, and mental illness, and were put into homes or long-term care facilities to receive services. The Justice Department said that amounted to discrimination. The state government is reviewing the investigation's conclusions.

A former FBI agent, Scott M. Bowman, pleaded guilty Monday to stealing more than $136,000 seized in drug investigations. He admitted spending the money on everything from sports cars to plastic surgery for his wife. Bowman, once assigned to the FBI's Los Angeles field office, took money seized in 2014 searches while he was part of an anti-gang task force, filing false reports to cover up, prosecutors said. He will be sentenced in August.

Puerto Rico defaulted on $367 million in debt payments on Monday, increasing pressure on Congress to address the U.S. territory's debt crisis. Puerto Rico's Government Development Bank, which funds most of its public agencies, was due to make a $422 million debt payment on Monday, but instead paid just $22 million in interest and swapped $33 million in debt for paper with later maturities. Another $2 billion is due this summer, and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned Congress that a "taxpayer-funded bailout" could become its only option unless it approves proposed restructuring legislation.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to Seattle's $15 minimum wage law. The law, similar to those approved in several cities, requires companies with more than 500 employees nationwide to hike wages to $15 an hour by 2018, while smaller businesses have until 2021. The International Franchise Association and a handful of local businesses said the policy was unfair to franchises, because they are really small businesses but are being treated as parts of massive brands, such as McDonald's and Burger King.

Detroit teachers staged a massive "sick-out" on Monday, shutting down nearly all of the city's public schools, and the teachers' union called for its members to stay out on Tuesday, too. The Detroit Federation of Teachers is demanding a guarantee that the cash-strapped school system will have enough money through the summer to pay teachers who elected to have their pay spread over the full year, rather than just the school term. State lawmakers allocated $48.7 million to fund the district through June 30.

The first U.S. cruise ship to visit Cuba in decades docked in Havana on Monday. The vessel, Carnival Corp.'s Adonia, carried hundreds of tourists, including a handful of Cuban-Americans. The voyage was the latest in a series of steps toward normalizing relations since President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced a historic rapprochement between the former Cold War foes in December 2014. After an arrival ceremony, many of the tourists set out on walking tours of Old Havana.

A Belgian-led team of astronomers reported Monday that it had discovered three potentially habitable Earth-sized planets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star less than 40 light years away. The find opens up new possibilities in the search for extraterrestrial life, because previous hunts for exoplanets have focused on bigger and brighter stars more like the sun. "If we want to find life elsewhere in the universe," said the study's co-author, Julien de Wit of MIT, "this is where we should start to look."

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.