Fremont, Calif.
Editor’s home raided: State and federal authorities this week raided the home of a technology-blog editor who dissected a next-generation Apple iPhone that he bought for $5,000 from someone who found it in a bar. Authorities took several computers, hard drives, digital cameras, cell phones, and financial documents from the home of Jason Chen, who posted details about the prototype smart phone on Gizmodo.com. Chen and his employer, Gawker Media, may face felony charges for buying the phone, which under state law is considered stolen property. Gawker protested that Chen is covered by California’s shield law, which protects journalists from having to turn over story materials to law enforcement. Apple, which recovered the phone, had no comment.
Oklahoma City
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Strict abortion law: Oklahoma’s Republican-led state legislature this week overrode vetoes by Democratic Gov. Brad Henry to enact two of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws. Under one measure, women seeking an abortion would not only have to undergo an ultrasound procedure, but also be in sight of the monitor and hear a detailed description of the developing fetus. The second law bars lawsuits against doctors who withhold information about possible fetal birth defects from pregnant women. “This is a good day for the cause of life,” said state Sen. Glenn Coffee, the Republican majority leader. Abortion-rights supporters immediately went to court to try to block the measures.
Yazoo City, Miss.
Twister kills 12: A powerful tornado packing winds as high as 160 mph tore through Mississippi and Alabama over the weekend, killing 12 people, including five children, and causing billions of dollars in damage. Nearly 700 homes were damaged or destroyed in the hardest-hit regions of Choctaw and Yazoo counties. The twister surprised many in its path because its funnel cloud was obscured by heavy rain. Essie Hendrix was in a Yazoo City department store when the storm hit. “It lasted about two minutes,” she said, “but it felt like it lasted an hour.” Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour asked President Obama to declare parts of the state a disaster area, making them eligible for federal assistance.
Beckley, W.Va.
Miners honored: Pledging improved safety at the nation’s mines, President Obama led a memorial service this week for the 29 miners killed in the April 5 collapse of Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch coal mine. Standing on a stage marked with 29 white crosses and 29 white roses, Obama praised the men who “put their lives at risk by simply showing up to work,” and asked, “How can a nation that relies on its miners not do everything in its power to protect them?” Before speaking, the president sat with Linda Davis, whose son and two grandsons died in the collapse. “He gave me his handkerchief to wipe my tears with,” she said.
Washington, D.C.
Supreme Court okays cross: A sharply divided Supreme Court this week ruled that a cross honoring dead war veterans was not a purely religious symbol and did not have to be removed from public land. Arizona resident Frank Buono had petitioned the government to remove the 6-foot-high cross, erected by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in California’s Mojave National Preserve, arguing that it amounted to a federal endorsement of Christianity. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing the lead opinion in the 5–4 ruling, disagreed, saying, “the goal of avoiding governmental endorsement does not require eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm.”
New York City
Malcolm X killer released: The only man to have admitted involvement in the murder of black activist Malcolm X was released on parole this week, 45 years after the killing. Thomas Hagan, 69, left a minimum-security correctional facility, located on Manhattan’s Malcolm X Boulevard, after expressing regret to the state parole board for shooting the controversial black leader in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom just as he was beginning a speech. Hagan said he committed the killing “out of rage on impulse and loyalty” to the Nation of Islam, the black Muslim movement from which Malcolm X had broken. Hagan is the last of three men convicted in the case to be released. The other two men, who were released in the 1980s, have always denied any involvement in the killing.
