In Other News: Biden’s agenda: What can pass and what faces steep odds; Trial of other cops charged in Floyd’s death to be broadcast

Published 12:28 pm Friday, April 30, 2021

Editor’s note: “In Other News” is a list of state, national and global headlines compiled by Daily Citizen-News staff from Associated Press-provided stories. Click on the headlines below to read the full stories.

Biden’s agenda: What can pass and what faces steep odds

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden laid out a long list of policy priorities in his speech to Congress — and some are more politically plausible than others. The two parties are working together in some areas, including on changes to policing and confronting the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans. But Republicans are likely to block other Democratic initiatives on immigration and voting rights. On some of Biden’s top priorities, Democrats may choose to find ways to cut out Republicans entirely. The president told lawmakers that “doing nothing is not an option” when it comes to his two massive infrastructure proposals, which would cost $4.1 trillion.

Trial of other cops charged in Floyd’s death to be broadcast

MINNEAPOLIS — Derek Chauvin’s murder trial was the first Minnesota criminal trial to be broadcast live on television. It won’t be the last. Some in the Minnesota legal system were apprehensive about allowing the live broadcast of Chauvin’s trial over the killing of George Floyd, but the video feed had no major problems and bolstered the public’s understanding of the trial, Minnesota Public Radio News reported. A spokesperson for the Hennepin County court system said an order from Judge Peter Cahill to allow the live broadcast will still apply to the August trial of the other three former Minneapolis officers charged in Floyd’s death, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao.

Eyeing 2024, Pence says he’ll push back on ‘liberal agenda’

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former Vice President Mike Pence, positioning himself for a possible return to elected office, told an audience in early-voting South Carolina that he will spend the coming months “pushing back on the liberal agenda” he says is wrong for the country. “We’ve got to guard our values … by offering a positive agenda to the American people, grounded in our highest ideals,” Pence told an audience of several hundred on Thursday at a Columbia dinner sponsored by a conservative Christian nonprofit. “Now, over the coming months, I’ll have more to say about all of that.”

Judge: Kushner’s apartment company violated consumer laws

BALTIMORE — A judge in Maryland has ruled that an apartment company co-owned by Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, repeatedly violated state consumer protection laws by collecting debts without required licenses, charging tenants improper fees and misrepresenting the condition of rental units. Administrative Law Judge Emily Daneker said in her 252-page decision Thursday that violations by Westminster Management and the company JK2 were “widespread and numerous,” the Baltimore Sun reports. Kushner and his brother, Joshua, each held 50% interest in JK2. Westminster is the company’s successor. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, a Democrat, sued Westminster and 25 related companies in 2019, claiming they took advantage of financially vulnerable consumers in the Baltimore area. The judge ruled tenants often were misled about apartment conditions and were not allowed to see their actual apartments until their move-in days.