Flint to get more state, federal aid for water bills, pipes

Flint to get more state, federal aid for water bills, pipes

LANSING, Mich.

State and federal officials acted to send more help to Flint to deal with its lead-contamination crisis, as the Michigan House approved $30 million Thursday to help pay residents’ water bills and Gov. Rick Snyder announced a $2 million grant to help the city replace some of its pipes.

The federal government is giving $500,000 to two health centers that are treating and testing Flint residents exposed to the lead-tainted water.

Oregon approves landmark increase in minimum wage

SALEM, Ore.

Oregon lawmakers have approved landmark legislation that propels the state’s minimum wage for all workers to the highest rank in the U.S., and does so through an unparalleled tiered system based on geography.

The state House of Representatives on Thursday passed Senate Bill 1532, which now heads to Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, who said in a statement she will sign it into law.

Oregon’s new plan imposes a series of gradual increases over six years. By 2022, the state’s current $9.25 an hour minimum – already one of the highest in the nation – would climb to $14.75 in metro Portland, $13.50 in smaller cities such as Salem and Eugene, and $12.50 in rural communities.

Cop put on leave for role in racially charged video

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

A white Missouri police officer has been placed on unpaid leave after he appeared in a racially charged music video wearing his uniform and carrying a sign reading “cops lives matter.”

St. Joseph patrolman Zackary Craft also is seen reaching for his gun in the video for “Before This Bomb Blows Up [Racism Goes Both Ways]” by Josh Smith, a white rapper from the Kansas City suburb of Independence who performs as J.Smitty. The sign is a reference to the “Black Lives Matter” movement that has focused attention on the killing of blacks by police.

Helicopter crashes into Pearl Harbor, 1 critically hurt

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii

A private helicopter with five people on board crashed Thursday into Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor, leaving a teenage passenger in critical condition, officials said.

The Bell 206 aircraft made a hard landing and sank near the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, a popular tourist destination on Oahu, U.S. Navy spokeswoman Agnes Tauyan said.

The names of the five people on board were not immediately released.

Syrian government not given GPS data of clinic hit by strike

GENEVA

Doctors Without Borders said Thursday that it took the wrenching decision not to formally inform Syria’s government or its Russian allies about the location of some medical facilities such as the one hit by a deadly airstrike this week, amid concerns that doing so could open them up to targeting amid recent violence that has killed many civilians.

The charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, says repeated attacks against health facilities during Syria’s five-year civil war have led medical staffers to ask the group not to provide the GPS coordinates of some sites. This was the case of the makeshift clinic run by the charity in the Syrian town of Maaret al-Numan, which was hit four times in attacks Monday, killing at least 25 people.

Associated Press