The nation in brief

Ryan’s ex-driver to seek his seat

MADISON, Wis. — A former driver for House Speaker Paul Ryan who has been active in Wisconsin Republican politics for years announced Sunday that he is running to succeed Ryan in Congress.

Bryan Steil, an attorney from Ryan’s hometown of Janesville and a member of the University of Wisconsin board of regents, becomes the likely Republican front-runner after the field of better-known potential candidates cleared for his entry.

“I want to take my problem-solving skills to Congress. I think they need problem solvers, doers … not talkers,” Steil said in prepared remarks announcing his candidacy.

Steil, 37, entered the race less than two weeks after Ryan said he would not seek re-election. Ryan said Friday that he had no immediate plans to endorse anyone.

Georgia tackles rape-kit backlog

ATLANTA — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab is making progress in a yearslong effort to test thousands of backlogged sexual assault evidence packages, authorities said.

The agency’s goal is to clear out the old rape kits by the first of next year, allowing it to then concentrate on new criminal cases coming in for analysis.

The push to test a backlog of almost 10,000 sexual assault kits began after 1,351 untested rape kits were discovered in storage in 2015 at Grady Memorial Hospital, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The 2016 Georgia Legislature responded by passing a law requiring all Georgia law enforcement agencies to send stored rape kits to the bureau’s headquarters in Decatur for testing.

The backlog has since been cut by more than two-thirds and is now less than 2,900.

Syracuse U. expels group over video

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse University expelled a fraternity over an offensive video that members say was intended as satire, but the controversy is continuing with the emergence of more video simulating a sexual assault of a disabled person.

Chancellor Kent Syverud called the latest video clip of crude behavior at Theta Tau “appalling and disgusting” in a statement Sunday.

“I am deeply concerned about how the continuing exposure to hateful videos is causing further hurt and distress to members of our campus community,” he said, while acknowledging that the New York school had known about the latest clip since the first one emerged and sparked anger Wednesday. The chancellor said he hadn’t spoken specifically about the additional video earlier because of ongoing police and student disciplinary investigations.

He and other administrators planned to meet with students to discuss the matter Sunday evening.

Theta Tau’s Syracuse chapter, part of a national engineering fraternity, didn’t immediately respond to emails Saturday and Sunday.

Ex-lawmaker faces murder trial in Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska — A trial is set to begin this week for a former Arizona state lawmaker accused of killing a man on a hunting and fishing trip in Alaska.

Prosecutors say Mark Desimone shot and killed Duilio Antonio “Tony” Rosales in May 2016 outside of Juneau after a day that included drinking. Authorities have not disclosed an alleged motive.

Rosales appeared to have been shot twice in the back of the head as he sat on a picnic bench removing his boots at Excursion Inlet, about 40 miles northwest of Juneau, according to court documents filed by prosecutors.

A man who was nearby when the shooting occurred, Seth Bradshaw, told an Alaska State Trooper he heard the shots and ran into Desimone when he walked to the front of the cabin. Desimone told him, “I shot Tony. I shot him. It’s my fault,” according to the charging documents.

Desimone faces charges of murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

A Section on 04/23/2018

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