Senate panel OKs immigration bill

Senate panel OKs immigration bill

washington

Far-reaching legislation that grants a chance at citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a solid bipartisan vote Tuesday night after supporters somberly sidestepped a controversy over the rights of gay spouses.

The 13-5 vote cleared the way for an epic showdown on the Senate floor on legislation that is one of President Barack Obama’s top domestic priorities — yet also gives the Republican Party a chance to recast itself as more appealing to minorities.

IRS official plans to plead the Fifth

washington

Summoned by Congress, a key figure in the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups plans to invoke her constitutional right against self-incrimination and decline to testify at a congressional hearing today.

Lois Lerner heads the IRS division that singled out conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 election campaigns. She was subpoenaed to testify today before the House oversight committee.

In a letter to committee leaders, Lerner’s lawyer said she would refuse to testify because of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

Victim progresses

miami

A homeless man whose face was mostly chewed off in a bizarre attack last year appeared Tuesday to be mostly at peace with his disfigurement, strumming a guitar, making jokes and thanking people for their donations to help pay for his care.

Ronald Poppo doesn’t like to leave his hospital room, though, and he won’t allow anyone to visit him, other than his doctors and nurses.

Poppo lost his left eye, his nose and most of the surrounding skin when a naked man attacked him for no reason alongside a Miami highway a year ago.

Gay Fla. cheerleader faces sex charges

miami

An 18-year-old Florida cheerleader is facing felony charges that she had sexual contact with her underage, 14-year-old girlfriend, leading gay-rights advocates to say the teen is being unfairly targeted for a common high- school romance because she’s gay.

The criminal case against Kaitlyn Hunt is unusual because it involves two females, not an older male and a younger female.

But advocates say older high-schoolers dating their younger counterparts is an innocuous, everyday occurrence that is not prosecuted — regardless of sexual orientation — and not a crime on par with predatory sex offenses.

Hunt played on the basketball team with her younger girlfriend and shared the same circle of friends, said Hunt’s mother, Kelley Hunt Smith.

Photos released from 2011 attack

phoenix

Photos taken in the aftermath of the attack that killed six people and wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords show the handgun, high-capacity pistol magazines and knife that Jared Lee Loughner carried with him as he carried out the January 2011 attack.

The 600 photos, released Tuesday, also show images of a credit-card record showing earplugs Loughner bought, and dozens of vehicles that were in the parking lot of the shopping center where the shooting unfolded.

Associated Press