Obama campus assault guidance gets scrapped

Obama campus assault guidance gets scrapped

WASHINGTON

The Trump administration Friday scrapped Obama-era guidance on investigating campus sexual assault, replacing it with new instructions that allow universities to require higher standards of evidence when handling complaints.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said that President Barack Obama’s policy had been unfairly skewed against those accused of assault and had “weaponized” the Education Department to “work against schools and against students.”

The change is the latest in Trump’s broader effort to roll back Obama policies. Women’s rights groups slammed Friday’s decision, saying it will discourage students from reporting assault.

The guidance released in 2011 and then updated in 2014 instructed universities to use a “preponderance of the evidence” standard when assessing and investigating a claim of sexual assault.

Official: Still no clue on US diplomat health mystery

UNITED NATIONS

Cuba so far hasn’t unearthed any information about who or what caused a mysterious series of health incidents that have affected U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Havana, its top diplomat said Friday.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla told the U.N. General Assembly that early results from its investigation have to date “found no evidence whatsoever that could confirm the causes or the origin” of the problems, though the inquiry is continuing.

At least 21 Americans and several Canadians in Havana’s diplomatic community have suffered hearing loss and other symptoms believed to have come from some sort of sonic attack.

Elderly deaths: Call for generators in Fla. nursing homes

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

After 11 nursing home residents died in the sweltering heat of hurricane-induced power outages, Florida’s nursing home industry is now on a collision course with Gov. Rick Scott.

Days after Hurricane Irma ravaged the state, Scott used his emergency powers to put in place new rules that require nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have generators capable of providing backup power for four days. Nursing home officials say they can’t.

They say it’s not just the multimillion dollar price-tag that will come with acquiring large generators for hundreds, maybe thousands, of homes. During a summit by the industry Friday, engineers and contractors and others who operate nursing homes said it will be practically impossible to purchase, install and get permits to put generators and supplies of fuel in place by the November deadline.

Ex-official: Disease seemed tied to Flint water switch

FLINT, Mich.

Michigan’s former director of disease control testified Friday that she believed a spike in Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area was related to a switch in the city’s water supply.

Corinne Miller said she felt “relieved” to take her concerns and statistics to the head of the Department of Health and Human Services in January 2015. But Nick Lyon apparently didn’t share them with his boss, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, until 12 months later. A public announcement followed.

Miller is a key witness for prosecutors in their criminal case against Lyon, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of an 85-year-old man and misconduct in office.

Associated Press