A two-and-half-years old lawsuit finally came to a close Friday, when Judge Richard E. Moore ruled that two confederate statues of Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, must remain standing. Moore, however, did not award any damages after plaintiffs argued that the 188 days the statues remained covered by tarps encroached on a state law protecting war memorials and caused the plaintiffs emotional distress. He did say he would award attorney fees.

The city had said the law was unconstitutional because the war memorials send a racist message, The Guardian reports. But the argument was unable to sway Moore, even though he did acknowledge the authors of the historic preservation statute likely had more sinister intent.

"I don't think I can infer that a historical preservation statute was intended to be racist," Moore said. "Certainly, [racism] was on their minds, but we should not judge the current law by that intent."

The statues were covered by tarps following the death of Heather Heyer at a violent "Unite the Right" rally in the Virginia city in August 2017. Read more at The Daily Progress and The Guardian. Tim O'Donnell

Tom Jordan is several steps closer to living his dream of being a math professor.

The 15-year-old was awarded his associate's degree in general science from Stark State College in North Canton, Ohio, on Sunday, graduating with a 3.93 GPA. On Friday, he will receive his diploma from GlenOak High School, where he finished with a GPA of 4.625.

"What really feels good for me is that it's not really about the fact that I'm here, it's about all the experience and hard work it took to get here," Jordan, the youngest student in Stark State history, told Good Morning America. "If I were to go in and I just easily breezed through, this wouldn't really mean anything to me."

Jordan first enrolled at Stark State four years ago, signing up for a pre-algebra class. Last year, he enrolled full-time for independent study classes, and was able to receive high school credit as well. When he's not studying, Jordan enjoys playing chess, and he was singing in a choir and volunteering with Toys for Tots. This fall, he will attend the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, to study math, and hopes to earn his doctorate from either Harvard or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Catherine Garcia

When your criticism-sensitive boss falsely accuses a prominent critic of murder, then doubles down after the dead woman's husband publicly pleads for him to stop spreading these "horrifying lies" and "filth," you may not have great options when asked to respond. And White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany chose some bad responses at Tuesday's press briefing.

There is no "cold case" involving the 2001 death of Lori Klausutis, a constituent services staffer in a Florida congressional office of MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, then a Republican congressman. The authorities never had any doubt her death was an accident. "The President of the United States has taken something that does not belong him — the memory of my dead wife — and perverted it for perceived political gain," her widow, Timothy Klausutis, wrote in an open letter to Twitter on Tuesday. "My wife deserves better."

Most of the Scarborough-related questions McEnany fielded Tuesday were some variation on why Trump continues to falsely accuse him of murder, causing additional pain to Timothy Klausutis. McEnany's response was that Trump did not originate this false conspiracy theory and that Scarborough laughed when radio shock jock Don Imus apparently joked about those conspiracy theories in 2003.

"Joe Scarborough should be held to account for saying people will die by taking hydroxychloroquine," McEnany said. "Does that justify the president spreading a false conspiracy theory that suggests he's responsible for murder?" a reporter asked. "I would point you back to Joe Scarborough, who laughed and joked about this item on Don Imus' show," McEnany replied. "It's Joe Scarborough that has to answer these questions."

Pressed again later on why the president is falsely accusing Scarborough of murder despite the pain these lies cause the widow, McEnany replied: "Our hearts are with Lori, and I think the onus is on Joe Scarborough to explain his interaction with Don Imus." (It isn't.) Peter Weber

Singer Andrea Bocelli shared on his Facebook page Tuesday that he and some members of his family tested positive for coronavirus in March, but were "fortunate enough to have a swift and full recovery recovery" by the end of the month.

Bocelli shared that he had a mild case, and waited to tell fans because he did not want to "unnecessarily alarm" them. Bocelli also said he has donated blood to help researchers find a cure. Last week, Bocelli told The Wall Street Journal he had been infected and had a "fever" and "a little bit of a cough."

For Easter on April 12, Bocelli sang alone inside the Duomo in Milan, with his performance livestreamed on YouTube. He set a record for biggest audience to watch a classical livestream, with more than 2.8 million concurrent viewers at one point. Catherine Garcia

Health officials in Missouri and Kansas are calling on people who packed the Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend to go into self-quarantine for 14 days.

Lake of the Ozarks is a popular reservoir in central Missouri, and video posted online showed revelers standing shoulder to shoulder in the water, with most not wearing masks. On Monday night, the St. Louis County Department of Health issued an advisory saying anyone who was there and ignored social distancing guidelines should self-isolate for 14 days or until they test negative for coronavirus. On Tuesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment made the same recommendation.

"This reckless behavior endangers countless people and risks setting us back substantially from the progress we have made in slowing the spread of COVID-19," St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said in a statement. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) said during a press conference on Tuesday that "poor decisions were made and the social distancing was not followed," which is "potentially dangerous for everyone, especially our most at-risk individuals."

As of Tuesday evening, there are 12,291 confirmed coronavirus cases in Missouri, a 1.3 percent rise over the last 24 hours and an 8.3 percent increase over the last week, ABC News reports. Catherine Garcia

Former Vice President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that President Trump is "supposed to lead by example" when it comes to wearing a mask and social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, but has failed at both those things and keeping the death toll down.

The United States is close to reaching the grim milestone of 100,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths. During an interview with CNN's Dana Bash, Biden said it is as important as ever to stay safe by social distancing and wearing a face covering, as the COVID-19 threat is "not over."

Biden then appeared to reference a recent report by Columbia University researchers, who found that if federal social distancing measures had been enacted nationwide just one week earlier in March, about 36,000 coronavirus deaths would have been prevented, with even more lives saved if they were released on March 1. The first imported case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was reported on Jan. 20, with community transmission following a few weeks later.

"One hundred thousand deaths and at least 35,000 to 50,000 were avoidable, but for a lack of attention and ego," Biden said. Catherine Garcia

President Trump on Tuesday night accused Twitter of "interfering" in the 2020 presidential election after the company attached a fact check to two of his tweets that made false claims about mail-in ballots.

Trump declared that mail-in ballots are fraudulent, which led Twitter to include links in the tweets redirecting users to a page with facts on the issue. This was the first time Twitter has labeled Trump's tweets as being misleading, and he was quick to respond, claiming that the company is "completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!"

Twitter did not delete any of his tweets, despite calls to do so by people directly affected by his messages, nor did the company ban his account. In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said his tweets "contain potentially misleading information about the voting process and have been labeled to provide additional context." Trump dismissed Twitter's fact checking, saying the research was conducted by "Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post." Catherine Garcia