SACRAMENTO, Calif.
Judge sides with website
A California judge rejected pimping charges Friday against the operators of a major international website advertising escort services that the state attorney general has called the “world’s top online brothel,” citing federal free speech laws. California Attorney General Kamala Harris had charged Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer and former owners Michael Lacey and James Larkin, but Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman ruled that the speech was allowed under a section of the federal Communications Decency Act that protects websites from content posted by third parties.
BROCKTON, Mass.
Immigrants offered sanctuary
Hundreds of houses of worship are offering sanctuary to people who could face deportation if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to remove millions of immigrants living in the country illegally. In Brockton, four churches have pledged to take in immigrants. “If you need a safe place, once you enter the doors of this building, you are safe,” said the Rev. Abraham Waya, pastor of Central United Methodist Church, who said his church can shelter as many as 100 people. About 450 houses of worship of various denominations nationwide have offered some form of help, including living space and financial assistance, said Alison Harrington, pastor of Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Ariz.
IOWA CITY, Iowa
Undercount of gun deaths
Government statistics released this week claiming that 77 minors in the U.S. were killed by unintentional gun discharges last year significantly understate the scope of the problem. A review of shootings by the Associated Press and USA Today Network found that at least 141 deaths of minors were attributed to unintentional or accidental shootings in 2015 — 83 percent higher than what the Centers for Disease Control reported.
MEDFORD, Ore.
Turkeys blamed for outages
Wild turkeys flying into power lines have been responsible for four morning outages in the last month, each time cutting off power for more than 1,600 residents and businesses, the Mail Tribune reports. Pacific Power spokesman Monte Mendenhall says the outages are definitely caused by the turkeys, though it’s unclear how the utility will resolve the issue.
Compiled from wire reports.