NRA lawsuit accuses ad firm of smears
The National Rifle Association sued its most prominent contractor on Wednesday, even as the gun group declared that it was "now moving forward" from an ugly power struggle that had consumed its leadership at the highest levels.
In the lawsuit, the group accused Ackerman McQueen, its longtime advertising firm, of breaching its contract by orchestrating a smear campaign against the NRA and its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre.
The legal action came about a month after the NRA filed a separate lawsuit against Ackerman, asserting that the company had concealed details about how it spent the roughly $40 million that it and its affiliates receive annually from the association. The previous lawsuit touched off a power struggle that pitted Oliver North, an employee of Ackerman McQueen who also served as the NRA's president, against LaPierre. The dispute unfolded at the NRA's annual convention last month in Indianapolis and culminated in North's ouster.
Ackerman McQueen, based in Oklahoma, continues to operate NRATV, the NRA's online streaming service, and has defined the group's voice, going back to the "I'm the NRA" campaign in the 1980s.
"For decades, the NRA trusted [Ackerman McQueen] to shape and disseminate authorized public communications on its behalf," the NRA wrote in the lawsuit. "Unfortunately, in a remarkable, material breach of that trust, AMc undertook a campaign to tarnish and ultimately destroy the public image of the NRA and its senior leadership."
In a statement, Ackerman McQueen said, "Once again the National Rifle Association leadership's new lawsuit is another reckless attempt to scapegoat Ackerman McQueen for the NRA's own breakdown in governance, compliance and leadership."
Facebook's account purge hits 3 billion
SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook removed more than 3 billion fake accounts from October to March, twice as many as the previous six months, the company said Thursday.
While most of these fake accounts were blocked "within minutes" of their creation, the use of computers to generate millions of accounts at a time meant not only that Facebook caught more of the fake accounts but that more of them slipped through.
The company estimates that 5% of its 2.4 billion monthly active users are fake accounts. This is up from an estimated 3% to 4% in the previous six-month report.
The increase shows the challenges Facebook faces in removing accounts created by computers to spread spam, fake news and other objectionable material.
Facebook also said Thursday that it removed 7.3 million posts, photos and other material because it violated its rules against hate speech. That's up from 5.4 million in the previous six months. The company said it found more than 65% of hate speech on its own, before people reported it, during the first three months of 2019.
Hurricane season looking mostly normal
WASHINGTON -- Despite the Atlantic hurricane season getting off to an early start, U.S. weather officials Thursday predicted a near-normal year for hurricane activity.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting nine to 15 named storms. It expects four to eight of them will become hurricanes and two to four of those will become major hurricanes with 111 mph winds or higher.
Hurricane season traditionally starts June 1, but this week subtropical storm Andrea briefly popped up, marking the fifth-straight year a named storm appeared in May or earlier.
Acting NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said a current El Nino, a periodic natural warming of the central Pacific that changes weather worldwide, suppresses hurricane activity in the Atlantic. But other forces, including warmer-than-normal seawater, counter that.
Last year had 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and two major ones, Florence and Michael. The Atlantic basin averages 12 named storms a year, with six becoming hurricanes and three major storms.
Florida executes '84 killer of 10 women
STARKE, Fla. -- A serial killer who terrorized Florida with a rampage that claimed 10 women in 1984 was put to death Thursday.
Bobby Joe Long, 65, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. Thursday after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison. Long had no last words, simply closing his eyes as the procedure began, witnesses said.
The killer terrified the Tampa Bay area for eight months in 1984 as women's bodies began showing up, often left in gruesome poses. Most were strangled, some had slit throats, and others were bludgeoned.
Law enforcement officials had few clues until the case of Lisa Noland, who survived one of Long's attacks. She witnessed Thursday's execution from the front row.
Just 17 in 1984, Noland was abducted by Long outside a church. He raped her but ultimately let her go free. She left evidence of his crimes at the scene and gave police details leading to his capture. Long confessed to the crimes, receiving 28 life sentences and one death sentence for the murder of 22-year-old Michelle Simms.
A Section on 05/24/2019