In the news

Larry Seabrook, 61, a New York City Democrat and longtime city councilman, has been found guilty of orchestrating a broad corruption scheme to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars in city money to his relatives, friends and a girlfriend through a network of nonprofit organizations he controlled.

Necia Rasmussen, 34, who lost her diamond wedding ring four years ago at Rigby Lake near Idaho Falls, Idaho, has it back after it washed up on the lake’s shore and was found by a kayaker.

Rodney Dwayne Valentine, 37, was released from jail and locked back up hours later on a trespassing charge because he refused to leave North Carolina’s Rockingham County jail after authorities wouldn’t give him a ride to a motel, police said.

Kerry Kennedy, daughter of the late-Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, had traces of a sleeping aid in her blood after her July 11 traffic accident and drugged-driving arrest in New York, according to toxicology results that contradict her doctors’ findings but support her initial statement to police that she might have accidentally taken an Ambien pill instead of her thyroid medication.

Raul Castro, Cuba’s president, said his government is willing to sit down with the United States as equals and discuss any issues, adding: “Any day they want, the table is set.”

Kirk Johnson, a paleontologist who is currently chief curator and vice president of research at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, has been named the next director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Leon Panetta, defense secretary, said a new Pentagon website will list the names of those Americans who have earned the Medal of Honor since 9/11, in response to a Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a law making it a crime to lie about receiving military honors.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/27/2012

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