WORLD & NATION || Cleveland ouncil OKs growing of medical marijuana

Council OKs growing of medical marijuana

CLEVELAND

The city council has reversed Cleveland’s moratorium on growing medical marijuana but is keeping bans on processing marijuana into medical products and establishing dispensaries.

Cleveland.com reports that the council rolled back the moratorium on cultivation Monday, after its president raised concerns that the city could miss out on substantial tax revenue if it banned cultivation as Ohio begins allowing and regulating it.

Ohio legalized medical marijuana last year. It is in the process of setting the related regulations and accepting applications from potential growers. The state plans to issue 24 licenses.

Army offers up to $90K to re-enlist

FORT BRAGG, N.C.

Military officials tell The Associated Press that the Army will triple the amount of bonuses it’s paying this year to more than $380 million, including new incentives to woo reluctant soldiers to re-enlist.

The officials said some soldiers could get $90,000 up front by committing to another four or more years.

That comes as the Army seeks to reverse some of the downsizing that occurred under the Obama administration after years of growth spurred by the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In just the last two weeks, the Army has paid out more than $26 million in bonuses.

Some Twitter users blocked by Trump cry censorship

New york

President Donald Trump may be the nation’s tweeter-in-chief, but some Twitter users say he’s violating the First Amendment by blocking people from his feed after they posted scornful comments.

Lawyers for two Twitter users sent the White House a letter Tuesday demanding they be un-blocked from the Republican president’s #realDonaldTrump account.

“The viewpoint-based blocking of our clients is unconstitutional,” wrote attorneys at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in New York.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment.

Utah police: 3 dead, 2 hurt in shooting

SANDY, UTAH

A shooting in the street of a Salt Lake City suburb Tuesday afternoon left three people dead, including the shooter, and wounded two children, according to Utah police.

Police Sgt. Jason Nielsen said the shooting took place outside a home in a middle-class neighborhood in suburban Sandy at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Nielsen did not immediately have details about the victims’ ages, the condition of the two people hospitalized, what may have precipitated the shooting or whether the victims and shooter knew each other.

The shooting occurred about half a mile from an elementary school, but it was unclear if any children witnessed the shooting or heard gunshots, Canyons School District spokesman Jeff Haney said.

Syrian force attacks IS-held capital

BEIRUT

A U.S.-backed Syrian force said Tuesday it has begun an offensive to capture the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group, after months of clearing operations. An American commander said the battle will be long and difficult, but success would deliver a decisive blow to the idea of IS as a physical caliphate.

By early afternoon, opposition activists said U.S.-backed fighters were trying to break into the city from the east, triggering intense clashes.

Raqqa was among the first cities captured by IS, in January 2014, and has been the home of some of the group’s most prominent leaders.

Associated Press