Governor: Arkansas will block funding for organization

October 3, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

Arkansas will block most Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday, after a judge ordered the state to continue paying for services only to the three women who are suing over the governor’s decision to end payments to the organization.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction requiring the state to pay for the services for three unidentified women, referred to in the suit as Jane Does, challenging the contract’s termination. Baker last month reinstated the contract for all Planned Parenthood for two weeks, and that order expired late Friday afternoon.

“At this stage of the proceedings, the court finds that the threat of irreparable harm to the Jane Does, and the public interest, outweighs the immediate interests and potential injuries to [the state],” Baker wrote.

Education Secretary Duncan steps down

WASHINGTON

Arne Duncan, who followed President Barack Obama to Washington to serve as his education secretary, announced Friday he will step down after a seven-year tenure marked by a willingness to plunge head-on into the heated debate about the government’s role in education.

Sidestepping a confirmation fight in Congress, Obama tapped John King Jr., a senior Education Department bureaucrat, to run the department while leaving the role of secretary vacant for the remainder of his presidency.

Vatican: Pope met with gay student and his partner

VATICAN CITY

The Vatican on Friday distanced Pope Francis from Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk at the center of the U.S. gay-marriage debate, saying she was one of dozens of people the pope greeted as he left Washington and that their encounter “should not be considered a form of support of her position.”

And in a new twist, the Vatican revealed that the “only real audience” Francis had in Washington was with a former student and his family, who later identified himself as Yayo Grassi, an openly gay Argentine who met the pope with his longtime partner and some friends.

The revelations turned the table on the narrative of Davis’ encounter, making clear that Francis wanted another meeting to come to light: that of an old student and his “family,” who happens to be gay.

Cleveland officials ask public to help solve, stop violence

CLEVELAND

A 5-month-old girl in a car with her mom is shot dead in Cleveland; a 5-year-old boy playing football is killed by crossfire police blame on two teenagers; and a 3-year-old boy riding in a car is fatally wounded during a drive-by.

In a span of four weeks, three children were shot to death in Cleveland, and city leaders are making an emotional plea for the public to help police solve and stop the violence.

At a news conference Friday, the police chief was visibly emotional and appeared angry. The prosecutor offered a $25,000 reward for useful information to investigators.

“It’s been hard to stomach,” Police Chief Calvin Williams said, the day after he broke down in tears while talking to reporters at a crime scene, and decried how “innocent babies” were being killed as the result of meaningless disputes.

Associated Press