Dick Gregory, groundbreaking comedian and civil rights activist, dies at 84
By Dennis McLellan | Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2017
Filed under National
Dick Gregory, who became the first black stand-up comic to break the color barrier in major nightclubs in the early 1960s, a decade in which he satirized segregation and race relations in his act and launched his lifetime commitment to civil rights and other social justice issues, died Saturday. He was...
Steve Bannon out as Trump’s chief strategist
By Noah Bierman and Jackie Calmes | Tribune Washington Bureau
August 18, 2017
Filed under National
Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's self-styled liaison to the far right, has departed the White House in the latest staff turmoil, the White House said in a statement. "White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve's last day," the White House...
For Dallas’ Holocaust survivors, the past has suddenly become painfully present
August 17, 2017
Filed under National
Monday afternoon I called a man I've known for years, Max Glauben, the 89-year-old son of Warsaw, Poland, made an orphan by the Nazis. "How did you know I was going to call you?" he said when his wife handed Max the phone. I asked about what. But I knew. "About the stuff that's happening right now,"...
Next up as Trump’s communications director: 28-year-old loyalist Hope Hicks
By Noah Bierman | Tribune Washington Bureau
August 17, 2017
Filed under National
Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump's most loyal and longest-serving aides, is taking on one of the most thankless jobs in politics: serving as his communications director. The job is only temporary, according to a White House official who confirmed the appointment to reporters while demanding...
Citing ‘safety and security,’ Baltimore mayor has Confederate monuments taken down overnight
By Colin Campbell, Talia Richman and Luke Broadwater | The Baltimore Sun
August 16, 2017
Filed under National
Mayor Catherine Pugh said she decided Tuesday morning to remove four Confederate-linked statues from public spaces in Baltimore, then watched as crews worked into early Wednesday to tear them from their pedestals. "We moved quickly and quietly," said the mayor, who had pledged this week to remove...
Mattis says N. Korean missile launch toward Guam could quickly ‘escalate to war’
By W.J. Hennigan | Tribune Washington Bureau
August 14, 2017
Filed under National
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary James N. Mattis warned Monday that if North Korea carried out its threat to launch missiles toward Guam, a U.S. territory in the western Pacific, it could escalate to war. "If they fire at the United States it could escalate into war very quickly," Mattis told reporters...
GOP activists scold Republicans for criticizing Trump over Charlottesville
By By Katie Glueck and Lesley Clark | McClatchy Washington Bureau
August 14, 2017
Filed under National
WASHINGTON — The Republican base is fiercely defending Donald Trump's response to a violent white nationalist rally, arguing that the president's dayslong refusal to explicitly condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis is a matter of splitting hairs. Trump has faced enormous backlash from his own...
McCain’s surprise vote doomed GOP health care bill, but did it open the door for Senate bipartisanship?
By Lisa Mascaro | Tribune Washington Bureau
July 28, 2017
Filed under National
WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain is usually happy to spar with reporters, but he ducked into an elevator ahead of the Senate health care vote late Thursday without saying a word about how he would vote. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, though, already knew the answer. The Democratic leader...
House Majority Whip, several others shot at congressional baseball practice
By David Lauter, Michael A. Memoli and Lisa Mascaro
June 14, 2017
Filed under National
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) was shot at a Republican congressional baseball practice Wednesday morning by a gunman who appeared to have targeted members of Congress. Police in Alexandria, Va., located just outside of Washington, D.C., said they were investigating a "multiple shooting"...
Comey agrees to testify in public as Trump-Russia probe heats up
By Matthew Schofield and Lesley Clark
May 20, 2017
Filed under National
Investigators into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential elections are now authorized to probe whether White House officials have engaged in a cover-up, according to members of Congress who were briefed Friday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. A Justice Department official, who asked...
Sex crimes increase on college campuses as all other offenses decline
By Max Filby | Dayton Daily News, Ohio
May 17, 2017
Filed under National
Crime on U.S. college campuses has declined in recent years, but the number of forcible sex offenses reported has actually increased, a new national study found. Around 27,000 "criminal incidents" were reported on campuses in 2014, representing a 2 percent decrease from 2013, according to a report...
Trump admits sharing information with Russia about terror threat
By David Lauter | Tribune Washington Bureau
May 16, 2017
Filed under National
In tweets Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump said he had shared "facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety" with Russian diplomats in an Oval Office meeting last week, confirming a key part of a news report his aides had denied the night before. Trump said he had shared the information...
