Weinstein to face 1st sex case charges
NEW YORK — Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is expected to surrender to authorities today to face charges involving at least one of the women who have accused him of sexual assault, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
It would be the first criminal case against Weinstein to come out of the barrage of sexual abuse allegations from scores of women that destroyed his career and set off a national reckoning that took down other powerful men in what has become known as the #MeToo movement.
The officials spoke Thursday to the AP on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation.
The two officials said the criminal case involves allegations by then-aspiring actress Lucia Evans, who was among the first women to speak out about the 66-year-old film producer. More than 75 women have accused Weinstein of wrongdoing, including several who accused him of criminal sexual assaults.
A grand jury has been hearing evidence in the case, and the precise charges against Weinstein weren’t immediately clear.
School bus driver charged in fatal crash
PARAMUS, N.J. — A school bus driver caused a fatal crash on a New Jersey highway by crossing three lanes of traffic in an apparent attempt to make an illegal U-turn, according to a criminal complaint released Thursday that charged the driver with vehicular homicide.
Authorities charged Hudy Muldrow Sr., 77, in the deaths of 10-year-old student Miranda Vargas and 51-year-old teacher Jennifer Williamson. More than 40 others were injured, some seriously, in the May 17 crash between the bus and a dump truck.
The bus was one of three carrying students and teachers from a middle school in Paramus on a field trip to a historic site in western New Jersey.
After missing a turn, Muldrow tried to merge onto Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, about 45 miles west of New York City, then turned sharply across the highway toward a U-turn area reserved for emergency vehicles, according to a police affidavit. The crash sheared the bus from its wheelbase and crushed the front end of the dump truck.
Gunman injures 2 at eatery, is shot dead
OKLAHOMA CITY — A man armed with a pistol walked into an Oklahoma City restaurant at the dinner hour Thursday and opened fire, wounding two customers, before being shot dead by a handgun-carrying civilian in the parking lot, police said.
The shooting happened about 6:30 p.m. at Louie’s On The Lake, a restaurant on Lake Hefner in the Oklahoma capital.
A woman and a girl were undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds but apparently “are going to survive,” said Capt. Bo Matthews, a police spokesman. A man suffered a broken arm while trying to escape the shooting.
A family member told KOCO-TV that her daughter and 12-year-old granddaughter were shot while entering the restaurant for the girl’s birthday dinner. Authorities have not identified the injured patrons.
The suspect’s identity also was not immediately known, Matthews said. The shooting appeared to be a random act.
“We have no reason to believe this is a terrorist type of incident,” Matthews said. The motive was unclear otherwise, and the on-site investigation was expected to extend into the early morning hours, he said.
Transgender student policy affirmed
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania school district can allow transgender students to continue using bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their sexual identities, a federal appeals court panel ruled Thursday.
A three-judge panel heard extended arguments in the case before conferring for less than 30 minutes and ultimately affirming a lower court decision refusing to halt the Boyertown School District’s transgender student bathroom policy.
A student at the school district about 45 miles northeast of Philadelphia, with the help of the conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom, filed a lawsuit alleging that the district is violating his constitutional privacy rights by allowing transgender students to use the same facilities he uses. Five students joined the lawsuit, two of them recently.
A Section on 05/25/2018