By
Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Today’s mass shooting in Kentucky: “A gunman opened fire at a bank in downtown Louisville on Monday, leaving four dead — including a close friend of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear — and injuring nine others, authorities said. ... The shooter was killed not long after the attack started, Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said.”
* Saturday’s mass shooting in Delaware: “Three people were shot at a Delaware mall Saturday night and five others were injured, police said. Delaware State Police said authorities do not have a suspect in custody in the shooting at Christiana Mall, in a northern community near Pennsylvania, adding that there could be more than one suspect.”
* A closely watched appeal: “The Department of Justice on Monday filed a request in a federal appeals court seeking to block a ruling last week by a Trump-appointed judge that endangers access to the key abortion pill mifepristone. The Biden administration asked the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals to put on hold U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling late last week to allow more time for the case to go through the appeals process.”
* On a related note: “Senior executives of more than 250 pharmaceutical and biotech companies on Monday issued a scorching condemnation of a ruling by a federal judge that invalidated the Food and Drug Administration’s 23-year-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, and they called for the decision to be reversed.”
* It’s almost as if Trump has something to hide: “Former President Donald Trump is moving to block former Vice President Mike Pence from testifying before a federal grand jury investigating Trump’s role in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to a source familiar with the litigation.”
* Project Next Gen: “The Biden administration is launching a $5 billion-plus program to accelerate development of new coronavirus vaccines and treatments, seeking to better protect against a still-mutating virus, as well as other coronaviruses that might threaten us in the future.”
* Brenna Bird, Iowa’s Republican attorney general, “has paused its practice of paying for emergency contraception — and in rare cases, abortions — for victims of sexual assault, a move that drew criticism from some victim advocates. Federal regulations and state law require Iowa to pay many of the expenses for sexual assault victims who seek medical help, such as the costs of forensic exams and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Under the previous attorney general, Democrat Tom Miller, Iowa’s victim compensation fund also paid for Plan B, the so-called morning after pill, as well as other treatments to prevent pregnancy.”
* Classified docs: “A new batch of classified documents that appear to detail American national security secrets from Ukraine to the Middle East to China surfaced on social media sites on Friday, alarming the Pentagon and adding turmoil to a situation that seemed to have caught the Biden administration off guard.”
* When Republicans say they’re “tough on crime,” read the fine print: “Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to consider recommending a pardon for Daniel Perry on Saturday, one day after a Travis County jury convicted the U.S. Army sergeant in the 2020 murder of Austin protester Garrett Foster.”
* And if you missed Donald Trump’s Easter message yesterday, it’s worth taking a minute to check it out — while pausing to acknowledge his strong base of support among evangelicals.
See you tomorrow.