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WASHINGTON (AP) — Top House Republicans have been told that Democratic New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew is going to switch parties and become a Republican. That's according to a GOP official familiar with the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe confidential information. Van Drew is a freshman who has said he plans to vote against impeaching President Donald Trump. Only a small handful of Democrats are expected to oppose Trump's impeachment in a vote expected next week, Van Drew represents a southern New Jersey congressional district that Trump carried in 2016. Van Drew has been considered one of the more vulnerable House Democrats in next November's elections.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — A high school football team in Newtown, Connecticut, delivered a celebration on the seventh anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Newtown High School Nighthawks won the Class LL state championship Saturday on a 36-yard touchdown pass as time expired to beat Darien 13-7. Linebacker Ben Pinto's brother Jack was among the 20 first graders killed at the elementary school on Dec. 14, 2012. Six educators also died in one of the nation's deadliest school shootings.
ATLANTA (AP) — A shooting in a mall food court in suburban Atlanta has left one man wounded and sent shoppers fleeing in panic. The Cobb County Police Department says the wounded man underwent surgery and is expected to survive the shooting Saturday afternoon at Cumberland Mall. Police say they have identified a suspect and are looking for him. Witnesses tell The Associated Press they saw a man bleeding on the floor of the food court after the gunfire. Videos posted online showed people with shopping bags running in all directions from the food court, and some hiding under counters and tables.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The promise of reparations to atone for historical ties to slavery is new territory in a reckoning at U.S. colleges. Until now, schools have responded with monuments, building name changes and public apologies. Georgetown University and two theological seminaries have announced funding commitments to benefit descendants of the enslaved people who were sold or toiled to benefit the institutions. The actions show ways that colleges are looking to make amends as they confront modern issues of equality and historical entanglements. At least 56 universities have joined a University of Virginia-led consortium to explore their ties to slavery and share research and strategies.
UNDATED (AP) — Mississippi's governor says he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Mississippi's ban on abortion at 15 weeks. Republican Phil Bryant made the announcement on Twitter. The vow comes Saturday, a day after a federal appeals court ruled the ban was unconstitutional. But Mississippi has been aiming for the Supreme Court all along. Leaders hope conservative justices will spur the high court to overturn its 1973 ruling legalizing abortion rights nationwide. Mississippi's ban at 15 weeks of pregnancy has never taken effect. It was blocked by a lower court judge.
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