LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY “You tell me what will attract
Republican votes,
and I will tell you.” Vice President Joe Biden, asked what the Obama administration is seeking in a potential budget plan Article, 1A
Hawaii’s Schatz takes Senate oath
Brian Schatz, Hawaii’s lieutenant governor, was sworn in Thursday to take the seat of the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Democrat, who died last week of respiratory complications.
Schatz, 40, was selected for the post Wednesday by Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who said his decision was “in the best interest of the party, the state of Hawaii and the nation.”
Schatz accompanied President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One on an overnight flight to Washington and took the oath of office, administered by Vice President Joe Biden, on Thursday afternoon.
Obama returned to the White House after spending Christmas in Hawaii.
A special election to fill the remainder of Inouye’s term, which expires in January 2017, will be held in August 2014, according to Scott Nago, a state elections office spokesman.
Officer’s husband held in her killing
MILWAUKEE - Prosecutors on Thursday charged a suburban Milwaukee police officer’s husband with killing her while she was out on patrol alone early on Christmas Eve.
Ben Gabriel Sebena, of Menomonee Falls was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the predawn Monday slaying of his 30-year-old wife, Jennifer Sebena, according to online court records. Ben Sebena, also 30, was arrested Wednesday, and made his initial appearance Thursday.
A criminal complaint said Jennifer Sebena was found lying on the pavement outside the Fire Department. She’d been shot five times in the head.
Justice won’t halt birth-control rule
WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has denied a request to block part of the federal health-care law that requires employers to provide employee insurance that covers emergency contraception, including the morning-after pill.
Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby Stores and a sister company, Mardel Inc., sued the government, contending the mandate violates the religious beliefs of its owners.
In an opinion released Wednesday, Sotomayor said the stores fail to satisfy the demanding legal standard for blocking the requirement on an emergency basis. She said the companies may still challenge the regulations inthe lower courts.
Company officials say they must decide whether to violate their faith or face a daily $1.3 million fine beginning Tuesday if they ignore the law.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 12/28/2012