President Donald Trump invited the Dodgers to the White House. Many of their fans feared that the team, by accepting, would humiliate themselves and betray the team’s large Latino, Asian and African-American fan base. Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, along with co-owner Magic Johnson, have proposed a solution. Trump has promised that if he can keep the championship trophy, the Commissioner’s Trophy, he will end all seizures and deportations of immigrants.   read more

It is a startling accusation: Did two major pharmaceutical firms, in an effort to protect their blockbuster drug, mislead editors at one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals? The claim carries echoes, some say, of an earlier era of drug marketing, when crucial clinical data went missing from journal articles, leading to ethics policies to limit the influence of drug companies on medical literature. “It just feels like it’s a real ethical breach,” said Dartmouth's Dr. Lisa Schwartz.   read more

A U.N. expert on torture, degrading and inhuman treatment is decrying "unsatisfactory results" following years of efforts to visit prisons in the United States. Special rapporteur Juan Mendez says U.S. officials continue to set what he considers excessively strict conditions for his visits, such as on which inmates he could see. Mendez told reporters Wednesday: "If I accept terms like that, every other government is going to demand the same treatment, and rightly so."   read more

The New Hampshire House on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have made it crime for women to expose their breasts or nipples in public. Bill supporters had cautioned that allowing women to go topless at beaches could lead to them also going topless at libraries and Little League games. But a report urging the bill's rejection said, "In a state with an average temperature of only 46 degrees, the risk of rampant nudity seems rather low."   read more

Pedestrian deaths surged by an estimated 10% last year as the economy improved, the price of gas plunged and motorists put more miles behind the wheel than ever before. The growing use of cellphones distracting drivers and walkers may also be partially to blame, states the report. Warmer weather and shorter winters along with a greater awareness of health benefits may also be encouraging people to walk more.   read more

The Washington Post reports that officials at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have said that one unidentified Washington resident was responsible for about three-quarters of last year's noise complaints. That's the equivalent of one person making about 18 calls every day of the year.   read more

Thousands of people have had their prepaid debit cards frozen when they try to direct their tax refund to their accounts, a result of financial industry efforts to combat an escalation in tax fraud. It's keeping people from their money, and delaying access to much-anticipated tax refunds. People who rely on prepaid debit card accounts are often poorer Americans who don't have traditional bank accounts. The IRS and industry representatives wouldn't say if freezes were requested or required.   read more

The closely watched case between Amarin and the Food and Drug Administration could strengthen the drug industry's hand in the ongoing debate over promoting drugs for uses that have not been declared safe and effective by regulators. Pharmaceutical experts said companies would likely pursue more aggressive legal action against FDA, in light of the settlement. "We would expect companies throughout the country to ask courts to provide the same legal reasoning," said attorney John Fleder.   read more

Christopher Jessop testified that church security ran his son off the road, and that the Marshal's Office helped cover it up. Nicknamed the "God Squad," church security is said to keep an eye out for outside law enforcement. Jessop also testified that the Marshal's Office failed to investigate dozens of incidents of vandalism against his vehicle. The jury awarded him $1 million. Another $1 million will go to John Cook, a man repeatedly denied a water connection on a property to park his trailer.   read more

“Basically we are being taxed for being women,” said Cristina Garcia, a California legislator. New York assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal called the taxes “a regressive tax on women and their bodies.” Now a growing number of advocates want periods put squarely on the public agenda, and are demanding that businesses and government take menstruation into consideration when they design facilities, develop budgets, supply schools or create programs. And they want free tampons in every public restroom.   read more

The Army concluded that a technicality in legislation passed in 1977 prevented the WASPs from being buried at Arlington. It didn't give them status with the armed services, and so did not confer the right to be buried there. “Think of the irony that at the same time the Pentagon is opening up all missions to men and women in the military they are closing the door to the women who were pioneers,” said Rep. McSally, referring to Defense Secretary Carter’s decision to open combat roles to women.   read more

Congress has mandated that the DNI produce and make public the reports on so-called recidivism by former detainees. They contain aggregate data based on intelligence assessments but do not give names or places. Intelligence analysts now believe that an additional former Guantánamo Bay detainee has engaged in terrorist activity after his release, while seven more have been added to a roster of those who might be causing problems, according to data disclosed on Monday.   read more

An American company that bills itself as a pioneer in tracking emerging epidemics made a series of costly mistakes during the 2014 Ebola outbreak that swept across West Africa — with employees feuding with fellow responders, contributing to misdiagnosed Ebola cases and repeatedly misreading the trajectory of the virus, an AP investigation has found. Emails obtained by AP and interviews with aid workers on the ground show that some of the company's actions made an already chaotic situation worse.   read more

While naturalizations generally rise during presidential election years, Trump provided an extra boost this year. He has described Mexicans as drug-traffickers and rapists. He has vowed to create a deportation force to expel the estimated 11 million immigrants here illegally, evoking mass roundups of the 1950s. “Donald Trump never! Never!” said Minerva Guerrero Salazar. “He has no conscience when he speaks of Latinos. And he is so rude. I don’t know what kind of education his mother gave him.”   read more

The issue has divided students, with classmates on both sides of the issue lobbying lawmakers, signing petitions and speaking out on social media. Faculty members have publicly opposed the measure, choosing to follow the lead of their school presidents, the chancellor and regents. Concerns from college officials that guns on campus would be dangerous for students and faculty and costly for schools are being countered by gun rights advocates and gun-friendly lawmakers.   read more

The judge disagreed with the argument that testing requirements for the helmet and gas mask would not burden Singh's religious rights. She also stated that the Defense Dept didn't explain how Singh's beard would pose a potential safety hazard when Special Forces members in war zones can grow beards. She said the Army "singling out" Singh was "unfair and discriminatory" and that such treatment "has a clear tendency to pressure the plaintiff, or other soldiers [seeking] religious accommodation..."   read more

With heroin cheap and widely available on city streets throughout the country, users are making their buys and shooting up as soon as they can, often in public places. Police officers are routinely finding drug users — unconscious or dead — in cars, in bathrooms of restaurants, on mass transit and in parks, hospitals and libraries. Nationally, 125 people a day die from overdosing on heroin and painkillers, and many more are brought back from the brink of death — often in full public view.   read more