Alabama's Moore in U.S. Senate race
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama Republican Roy Moore announced Thursday that he is running for U.S. Senate again in 2020 after failing to win the seat two years ago amid sexual-misconduct accusations.
With his return to the political stage, Moore faces a crowded GOP primary field as he aims for an eventual rematch against Democratic U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, who bested him in the 2017 special election to fill the seat previously held by Jeff Sessions.
"I believe in America. I believe we've got to have politicians that go to Washington and do what they say," Moore said during his announcement.
Some state and national Republicans, worried that Moore is too polarizing and could jeopardize what should otherwise be a reliable GOP seat, have discouraged him from entering the race.
Moore brushed aside that criticism Thursday, saying the people of Alabama are angry and want Washington to stay out of their elections
During the 2017 race, six women accused Moore of pursuing romantic or sexual relationships with them when they were teenagers as young as 14 and he was an assistant district attorney in his 30s. Two accused him of assault or molestation.
Moore denied the accusations and has said he considered his 2017 defeat, when he lost to Jones by 22,000 votes out of 1.3 million cast, "a fraud."
Baby boomers raise U.S. median age
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday shows the median age in the U.S. increased by a year to 38.2 years from 2010 to 2018.
The change is attributed to the generation known as baby boomers -- the group of Americans born between the end of World War Two and the Beatles' American invasion in 1964 who have been hitting the retirement mark in the past eight years.
Among states, Maine had the greatest increase in median age, 2.2 years, going from 42.7 years to 44.9 years. For several years now, Maine's population has grown older, a result of stagnant growth where deaths outnumber births and few people are moving in.
The only state whose median age got younger was North Dakota, which has undergone a population boom driven by growth in the energy sector.
Georgia executes man for '96 killing
JACKSON, Ga. -- A Georgia inmate convicted of the 1996 shotgun slaying of a man who had agreed to give him and another man a ride outside a Walmart store was executed Thursday evening.
Marion Wilson Jr., 42, was pronounced dead at 8:52 p.m. after an injection of the sedative pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson, the office of the Georgia attorney general said in a statement.
Wilson and Robert Earl Butts Jr. were convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the shotgun slaying of 24-year-old Donovan Parks in Milledgeville, a community in rural Georgia about 90 miles southeast of Atlanta.
Wilson was convicted in November 1997 of malice murder, armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a sawed-off shotgun. Butts was found guilty of the same charges about a year later.
Butts, who was 40, was executed in May 2018.
Sacramento rookie officer killed on duty
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A rookie Sacramento police officer was shot during a domestic violence call and lay wounded for about 45 minutes as the gunman kept officers at bay with bursts of fire, authorities said Thursday. She was finally rescued with an armored vehicle but died at a hospital.
"We are devastated," Deputy Chief Dave Peletta said. "There are no words to convey the depth of sadness we feel or how heartbroken we are for the family of our young, brave officer."
Officer Tara O'Sullivan, 26, was shot Wednesday evening while helping a woman collect her belongings to leave her home.
O'Sullivan graduated from the police academy in December and was working with a training officer.
She and other officers arrived at the home at 5:41 p.m. A half-hour later the first shots were fired, and O'Sullivan was hit, authorities said. The gunman continued firing a rifle-type weapon. At 6:54 p.m., additional officers responded with an armored vehicle to rescue O'Sullivan.
Five minutes later, O'Sullivan was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where she died. The standoff lasted about eight hours before the gunman surrendered.
The woman O'Sullivan was helping was not hurt.
Police identified the suspect as Adel Sambrano Ramos, 45, of Sacramento.
His younger brother, Orlando Ramos, told The Associated Press that Adel Ramos is estranged from his family and has a long record that includes convictions for driving under the influence, drug use and domestic violence.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 06/21/2019