Judge declares mistrial in shooting near campus

Judge declares mistrial in shooting near campus

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.

A murder case against a former Northern Arizona University student in a 2015 shooting that killed one person and wounded three others ended in a mistrial Tuesday after a jury deadlocked on the charges.

Steven Jones, 20, was charged with first-degree murder and lesser counts in the shooting near campus that rattled the normally serene school and forested city of Flagstaff.

The attack came days after a rampage at an Oregon community college left nine people dead and brought heightened anxiety nationwide over campus violence.

Measure refers to abortion as ‘child abuse’

JUNEAU, Alaska

A conservative state lawmaker has successfully tacked an anti-abortion message onto an otherwise innocuous resolution in the Alaska House aimed at raising awareness about sexual assault and child abuse.

The amendment from Republican Rep. David Eastman of Wasilla refers to abortion as “the ultimate form of child abuse.”

He said it would be wrong to discuss child abuse without mentioning abortion.

The amendment was approved by a divided House Rules Committee. The vote Monday followed an about-face by Anchorage Republican Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, the committee chairwoman who last week refused to hear amendments.

Clinton blames loss on misogyny, FBI, Russia, herself

NEW YORK

Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that she’s taking responsibility for her 2016 election loss but believes misogyny, Russian interference and questionable decisions by the FBI influenced the outcome.

The former Democratic presidential nominee offered extensive comments about the election during the Women for Women International’s annual luncheon in New York. She said she’s been going through the “painful” process of reliving the 2016 contest while writing a book.

“It wasn’t a perfect campaign. There is no such thing,” Clinton said in a question-and-answer session with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “But I was on the way to winning until a combination of [FBI Director] Jim Comey’s letter on Oct. 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off.”

Unrest in Venezuela over rewriting of constitution

CARACAS, Venezuela

People blocked streets in Caracas with broken concrete, twisted metal and flaming piles of trash Tuesday to protest the socialist president’s bid to rewrite the constitution amid a rapidly escalating political crisis.

The barricades came a day after President Nicolas Maduro signed a decree to begin the process of rewriting the charter. Opposition leaders called the planned constitutional assembly a ploy to put off regional elections scheduled for this year and a presidential election that was to take place in 2018.

Polling suggests the socialists would lose both those elections badly at a time of widespread anger over triple-digit inflation and shortages of food and other goods.

Associated Press