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

Since May 2013, there have been nine instances in which drones have been used in the Grand Forks area. They include searching a flooded river for drowning victims, photographing a train collision, photographing river bank erosion and damage to historic buildings, searching for two suspects accused of auto theft and child molestation and taking photos of an outdoor murder scene.   read more

Following the incident, DSS officials forced the Blackwater specialists to provide written statements of the shootings in exchange for full immunity from criminal prosecution. That decision by the State Department derailed the U.S. Department of Justice’s first attempt to prosecute the guards once they returned to the U.S. A federal appeals court then reinstated the charges, saying the lower court had erred in dismissing the case.   read more

In 2009, Orr helped found the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford. According to the institute’s website, its mission is to provide funding and associated support for cutting-edge energy research. In recent years, the focus of Orr’s research has been into carbon capture and storage, in which emissions from power plants and other pollution sources are injected into the earth.   read more

The United States has accused some of its leading European allies of endangering free trade agreements if they pursue the development of protected data networks to avoid American electronic spying operations. Government and corporate officials in Europe began discussing whether their nations should shield themselves from future NSA spying by keeping emails and other electronic information from passing through American-based networks.   read more

Burls, the knotty growth found on ancient redwoods, are the focus of the wanton destruction that has left massive scars on the trees and endangered their growth and reproduction. Poachers prize the burls because they contain intricate wood patterns sought by makers of tabletops, clocks and other home furnishings. Items made from burls can fetch hundreds if not thousands of dollars, making the collection of burls a lucrative—and often illegal—trade.   read more

Figures from the U.S. Department of Justice show Indiana led the nation last year in meth incidents, such as labs, chemicals and paraphernalia and dump sites: 1,797. Tennessee was second on the list with 1,616 reports, followed by Missouri with 1,496 and Ohio with 1,010. Ralph Weisheit, a criminal justice professor at Illinois State University and an expert on meth, told The Plain Dealer that most of Ohio’s labs are “mom and pop” operations.   read more

Rivkin is not the only member of his family to receive an appointment from Obama. His brother, Robert, was selected to be general counsel for the Department of Transportation, and Robert’s wife, Cindy S. Moelis, a close friend of Michelle Obama, was chosen to direct the Commission on White House Fellows. Rivkin’s mother, who died in 2002, and stepfather founded the American Refugee Committee, which helps relocate international refugees.   read more

In 2011, Selfridge was named special assistant to the President and deputy director of advance and later that year was named deputy assistant to the president and director of advance and operations at the White House. While at the White House, Selfridge has become one of President Obama’s regular golf partners. His wife was formerly a deputy director of public affairs in the Commerce Department, but now works for a public relations/lobbying firm.   read more

The illegal activities ranged from employees encouraging callers to vote for Obama to in-person conversations in which Republicans were disparaged. One IRS staffer allegedly encouraged taxpayers to reelect Obama by “repeatedly reciting a chant based on the spelling of [the president's] last name.” Workers at an IRS center in Dallas brought pro-Obama items to work, which violated workplace rules. More serious violations of this sort had occurred under President George W. Bush.   read more

President Barack Obama has nominated Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who is currently director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to be Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), replacing Kathleen Sebelius. Burwell was at OMB only about a year, being confirmed by the Senate on April 24, 2013. Her time there was busy, however, and included a government shutdown in October 2013. She also dealt with health policy issues during her tenure, including Medicare and Medicaid.   read more

The open fields of Afghanistan have become lethal for many of that nation’s children due to scores of unexploded ordinance left by U.S. military forces. Dozens of Afghan children have died after wandering into abandoned U.S. firing ranges filled with undetonated artillery shells, rockets and grenades. The U.N. says at least 70 civilians—62 of whom were children—have died since 2012 in and around U.S. or NATO firing ranges or bases.   read more

The British government spent more than $700 million stockpiling Tamiflu, while the U.S. paid $1.3 billion for a massive antiviral reserve. Yet the researchers found few if any benefits and, in fact, discovered negative side effects which were previously dismissed or never acknowledged. All the money spent by governments “have been thrown down the drain,” said lead investigator Carl Heneghan. This is because the drug firm withheld data from regulators, the medical community and the public.   read more

Nearly all of the top 10 most common jobs in America don’t pay well, according to new figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nine of the 10 largest occupations produced an average wage below the U.S. average of $46,440 annually. The lone exception among top jobs was registered nurses, who make an average of $68,910 per year. The average for the rest ranged from $18,880 for food preparation and serving workers to $34,000 for secretaries and administrative assistants   read more

Correctional facilities housed 356,268 inmates with severe mental illness as of 2012. Psychiatric hospitals, on the other hand, housed only 35,000 patients. Mentally ill Americans were routinely thrown together with prisoners until the mid-19th century, when reformer Dorothea Dix began a movement to create state hospitals for the mentally ill. The number of institutionalized mentally ill peaked at about 560,000 in the mid-1960s, but had dropped to 130,000 in 1980.   read more

The plaintiffs allege that Hearst made them work full-time hours while receiving no income. The lead plaintiff, Xuedan Wang, says she was at Harper’s Bazaar between 40 and 55 hours a week while performing a variety of duties that paid workers perform, like handling expense reports and managing other interns. Under Labor Department rules, unpaid interns can’t replace regular employees or do work that provides an “immediate advantage” to the business.   read more

The two highest-paid doctors listed in the Medicare data are being investigated by the government for improper billing. Salomon Melgen, the Florida ophthalmologist, and cardiologist Asad Qamar have both contributed heavily to the political campaigns of Democratic candidates in Florida.   read more