Trump pardons DeBartolo Jr.
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WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner convicted in a gambling fraud scandal who built one of the most successful NFL teams in the game's history. DeBartolo, who owned the San Francisco 49ers during their 1980s-1990s dynasty, was involved in one of the biggest owners' scandals in the sport's history. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony when he paid $400,000 to former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards in exchange for a riverboat gambling license. The White House announced the surprise decision to reporters on Tuesday, with NFL greats Jerry Rice, Jim Brown, Ronnie Lott and Charles Haley in attendance. "You know what, we all make mistakes and today the president cleared that mistake from him," said Haley, an NFL Hall of Fame defensive end who played on two of DeBartolo's Super Bowl winning teams. DeBartolo, whose San Francisco 49ers won five Super Bowls under his leadership, stepped down as owner in 1997 after two Louisiana newspapers reported he would be indicted for gambling fraud. Ohio Pastor Darrell Scott, an early supporter and longtime ally of the president, said that he submitted the package advocating DeBartolo's case more than a year ago, and said a long list of "NFL greats" had submitted character references on his behalf. Scott had also encouraged Trump to intervene on behalf of the New York rapper A$AP Rocky after he was detained in Stockholm in last summer after getting involved in a street fight in the Swedish capital. "It's something DeBartolo… he's been wanting that stain removed from his legacy for a long time," said Scott, who attend Tuesday's announcement. Scott said that he submitted the package advocating DeBartolo's case more than a year ago, and said a long list of "NFL greats" had submitted character references on his behalf. "He thought about it, he considered it," Scott said of Trump. "I think it's long overdue."
Trump goes on clemency spree
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump went on a clemency blitz Tuesday, commuting former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's 14-year prison sentence and pardoning former New York City police commissioner Bernie Kerik, among a long list of others. Those who got a break from Trump include financier Michael Milken, the "junk bond king" who served two years in prison in the early 1990s after pleading guilty to violating U.S. securities laws, and Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner convicted in a gambling fraud scandal after building one of the most successful NFL teams in history. But Trump also commuted the sentences of several women with more sympathetic cases to balance out the men convicted of corruption. In all, Trump took clemency actions related to 11 people. Trump made clear that he saw similarities between efforts to investigate his own conduct and those that took down Blagojevich, a Democrat who appeared on Trump's reality TV show, "Celebrity Apprentice." "It was a prosecution by the same people -- Comey, Fitzpatrick, the same group," Trump told reporters. He was referring to Patrick Fitzgerald, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted Blagojevich and now represents former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired from the agency in May 2017. Comey was working in the private sector during the Blagojevich investigation and indictment. Blagojevich was convicted on charges of political corruption, including seeking to sell an appointment to former President Barack Obama's old Senate seat and trying to shake down a children's hospital. But Trump said the former governor had been subjected to a "ridiculous sentence" that didn't fit his crimes.
Sanders wants Iowa recount
WASHINGTON -- Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign plans to ask for a partial recount of the Iowa caucus results,after the state Democratic Party released results of its recanvass late Tuesday that show Sanders and Pete Buttigieg in an effective tie. Sanders campaign senior adviser Jeff Weaver told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that the campaign has had a representative in contact with the Iowa Democratic Party throughout the recanvass process. "Based on what we understand to be the results, we intend to ask for a recount," he said. A Sanders spokesman confirmed that the campaign still planned to pursue a recount after the party released its updated results. In the new results, released by the Iowa Democratic Party, Buttigieg has 563.207 state delegate equivalents and Sanders has 563.127 state delegate equivalents out of 2,152 counted. That is a margin of 0.004 percentage points. The AP remains unable to declare a winner based on the available information, as the results may still not be fully accurate and are still subject to the recount.
Kids throwing snowballs shot
MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee man is charged with firing shots at children who threw snowballs at his car, injuring two of them. William Carson, 24, was charged Sunday with two counts of first-degree reckless injury and five counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, all felonies. Prosecutors allege Carson fired nine shots at seven children in early January. A 13-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl were injured, suffering gunshot wounds to the thigh and forearm, while a bullet also grazed a third child.
Flash-flood warning in Miss.
RIDGELAND, Miss. -- Forecasters expected more heavy rains in parts of the flood-ravaged South on Tuesday, prolonging the misery for worried people who still can't get back in homes surrounded by water. Some of the hardest-hit areas were under a flash flood watch, as the National Weather Service said as much as 2 inches of rain, and even more in some spots -- was expected to fall in a short amount of time in central Mississippi. The national Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, projected the greatest likelihood of heavy rains in a band from eastern Louisiana across central parts of Mississippi and Alabama and into far west Georgia. Authorities around Mississippi's capital city of Jackson warned hundreds of residents not to return home until they get an all-clear following devastating flooding on Monday. The receding flood left muddy water marks on the sides of cars at the Harbor Pines Mobile Home Community in suburban Ridgeland, not far from where managers of the Ross Barnett Reservoir have been trying to contain the swollen Pearl River. Water still surrounded dozens of trailer homes on Tuesday, but the water level had fallen 2 feet (0.6 meters) or more since Monday.
West Virginia hospital to close
FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- A northern West Virginia medical center is shutting down, the latest in a string of hospital closings in the state. In a letter Tuesday, Fairmont Regional Medical Center CEO Bob Adcock notified more than 600 employees that the 207-bed hospital will close, news outlets reported. "Our plans to reorganize some administrative functions and develop other revenue sources were insufficient to stop the financial losses at FRMC," according to the letter. "Our efforts to find a buyer or new source of financing were also unsuccessful." Adcock said he planned to hold forums with employees to further discuss the closing. Fairmont Regional Medical Center is owned by California-based Alecto Healthcare, which closed hospitals last year in Wheeling, West Virginia, and Martins Ferry, Ohio. Del. Mike Caputo, a Marion County Democrat, said on the House floor Tuesday that "it's just not right" for the workers to lose their jobs. "Not only is it devastation to their way of life and the way they earn their living, it's devastation to the health care of our region," he said. Fairmont Regional had announced the layoffs of 25 employees in September because of a reduction in patients and revenue.
Girl, 6, was killed by neighbor
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A 6-year-old girl who disappeared from her front yard after school was killed by a neighbor who then killed himself. Faye Marie Swetlik died of asphyxiation just hours after she was abducted, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher told reporters Tuesday, refusing to say if she was strangled or suffocated. Faye's body was found nearly three days later in woods near her home and had been put there just hours earlier, Fisher said. Between that time, investigators had spoken with the suspect. Coty Scott Taylor let them search his home a few doors down from the girl. They saw nothing to suggest the girl was ever there, Cayce Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove said. Shortly after the girl's body was found, authorities said, they were called to Taylor's home where he was found dead on his back porch, covered in blood. Taylor, 30, slit his own throat. Snellgrove didn't talk about why Taylor, with no criminal record, would have kidnapped the girl.
Cruise ship quarantine failed
TOKYO -- As an extraordinary two-week quarantine of a cruise ship ends Wednesday in Japan, many scientists say it was a failed experiment: The ship seemed to become an incubator for a new virus instead of an isolation facility meant to prevent the worsening of an outbreak. The viral illness that emerged last last year in central China has sickened tens of thousands of people, but the 542 cases confirmed among the ship's 3,711 original passengers and crew are the most anywhere outside of China. The Diamond Princess cruise ship is also the only place where health officials have seen the disease spread easily among people beyond China. The question is: Why? The Japanese government has repeatedly defended the effectiveness of the quarantine. But some experts suggest it may have been less than rigorous.
Canadians protest pipeline
TORONTO -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged patience and warned against using force zas his government works to end nationwide rail blockades and protests over a British Columbia pipeline project. Demonstrators have set up blockades in British Columbia and Ontario in solidarity with opponents of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project that crosses the traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation in northwestern British Columbia. Hereditary chiefs in the Wet'suwet'en First Nation oppose the natural gas pipeline through their traditional territory, though it's received approval from elected band councils. Since the Royal Canadian Mounted Police moved in to enforce an injunction and keep the hereditary chiefs and their supporters away from the pipeline work sites, protests by indigenous people and supporters have shut down the CN Rail network in eastern Canada and suspended most Via Rail passenger service. CN Rail said with over 400 trains cancelled during the last week and considering protests at strategic locations on their mainline they had to temporarily lay off about 450 workers in Eastern Canada. Dennis Darby, chief executive of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said the government needs to act as some $425 million Canadian (US$320 million) worth of goods are being held up for every day the blockade goes on.
Woman accused in baby theft case
TACOMA, Wash. -- A Washington state woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to drugging a mother after authorities say she posed as a photographer in a complex plot to kidnap the mother's newborn baby. Juliette Parker, 38, entered her plea to attempted kidnapping and assault in Pierce County Superior Court. Parker posted $50,000 bail over the weekend and was released. New bail of $150,000 was set Tuesday after prosecutors described her as a flight risk and she was booked again into jail. Parker moved to Washington last year after losing a mayoral election in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On Friday, deputies arrested Parker, who lives south of Tacoma, and her 16-year-old daughter. Parker connected with mothers through a Facebook group and offered to do free photo shoots of newborns to build her portfolio, according to court documents. Investigators said at least a dozen women have contacted them with stories of interacting with Parker, who also has gone by the names "Juliette Noel" or "Juliette Gaines." Parker drugged one mother whose Spanaway home she visited earlier this month with her daughter. Detectives said they've found text messages between Parker and an ex-boyfriend dating back to November, when Parker "talked about how they should get a kid from a homeless person and raise the child together in a nice house," records said. The ex-boyfriend joked about kidnapping a baby and Parker said she'd marry him immediately if he could find her a baby girl in the next five weeks, documents said.
Shrine dedicated to Romulus
ROME -- Archaeologists excavating the Roman Forum have discovered an underground shrine dedicated to Romulus, the founder of the ancient city. The monument includes an underground chamber with a 1.4-meter (55-inch) high sarcophagus and what appears to be an altar. The sarcophagus dates from the 6th Century B.C. The Colosseum Archaeological Park, which oversees the ongoing excavations of the Forum, is to unveil the discovery Friday. The Forum was the center of public life in ancient Rome. The location of the monument to Romulus is near the main complex of public buildings, which include the senate and the rostra -- the speaker's podium where all important pronouncements were made. According to Roman mythology, Romulus and his twin brother Remus were founders of the ancient city of Rome and the Roman kingdom. Mayor Virginia Raggi praised the discovery, tweeting: "Rome always marvels with its treasures."
Court reverses trooper firing
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A North Carolina state trooper shouldn't have been fired for losing his hat and lying about it, an appeals court ruled Tuesday in a case that's spanned a decade and multiple trips through the courts. The case of the lost hat began in 2009 when former Trooper Thomas Wetherington mislaid his signature round-brimmed hat during a traffic stop. The matter has gone all the way to the state Supreme Court once before, generating more than 1,000 pages of legal briefs, rulings and evidence. "It is unlikely so many lawyers have ever before written so many pages because of a lost hat," wrote North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Donna Stroud in an opinion joined by the two other judges. Stroud added that the case is not just about a hat: "It is about the tension between the statutorily protected rights of a law enforcement officer and proper discipline to protect the integrity and reliability of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol."
Elton John battles pneumonia
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Elton John canceled his two remaining New Zealand shows late Tuesday as he continued to suffer from a bout of pneumonia. The shows have been rescheduled for next year. Earlier this week, John needed to cut short a performance in Auckland after he lost his voice and needed medical help on stage. John said in a statement Tuesday he was 'incredibly disappointed' and sent his sincerest apologies to his fans. He said that at this stage, he is planning to play his scheduled shows in Australia, which is where his farewell tour moves to next. Video clips posted online by fans at Sunday night's performance showed John breaking down in tears as he told the cheering crowd he couldn't go on any longer. The 72-year-old singer said he had walking pneumonia and was assisted off stage.
New cases fall for 2nd day
BEIJING -- New virus cases in China continued to fall Wednesday, with 1,749 new infections and 136 new deaths announced after China's leader said disease prevention and control was at "a critical time." Japan also confirmed more infections of the new coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, bringing the total to 542 people among the 3,700 crew and passengers initially on board. The infections have led to heavy criticism of the decision to quarantine passengers on the vessel. The quarantine ends later Wednesday. The updated figures on the COVID-19 illness for mainland China bring the total for cases to 74,185 and deaths to 2,004. New cases have fallen to under 2,000 daily for the past two days. Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke about the efforts to control the outbreak in a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described in state media. Separately, the U.N. secretary general told The Associated Press that the virus outbreak "is not out of control but it is a very dangerous situation." Antonio Guterres said in an interview in Lahore, Pakistan, that "the risks are enormous and we need to be prepared worldwide for that."