U.S. news briefs: Test flight launched from Florida

Published 11:02 am Saturday, March 2, 2019

Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — America’s newest capsule for astronauts rocketed Saturday toward the International Space Station on a high-stakes test flight by SpaceX.

The only passenger was a life-size test dummy, named Ripley after the lead character in the “Alien” movies. SpaceX needs to nail the debut of its crew Dragon capsule before putting people on board later this year.

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This latest, flashiest Dragon is on a fast track to reach the space station Sunday morning, just 27 hours after liftoff.

It will spend five days docked to the orbiting outpost, before making a retro-style splashdown in the Atlantic next Friday — all vital training for the next space demo, possibly this summer, when two astronauts strap in.

‘The Killer’ suffers minor stroke

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis is recovering after a minor stroke, but he’s expected to make a full recovery.

A statement from his publicist says the 83-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer had a stroke Thursday night and is recuperating in Memphis. His publicist, Zach Farnum, said no scheduled shows have been affected.

Nicknamed “The Killer,” Lewis is known for his outrageous energy and piano skills on songs like “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’.”

He is scheduled to perform at the 50th anniversary of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in April and his publicist said he has plans to record a gospel album soon.

Sanctuary threat proving idle

MONTPELIER, Vt. — About 18 months after the Trump administration threatened to withhold law enforcement grants from nearly 30 places around the country it felt weren’t doing enough to work with federal immigration agents, all but one have received or been cleared to get the money, the Justice Department said.

In most cases, courts chipped away at the crackdown that escalated in November 2017 with letters from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to 29 cities, metro areas, counties or states it considered as having adopted “sanctuary policies” saying those policies may violate federal law.

Of those 29 jurisdictions — which include cities as large as Los Angeles and as small as Burlington, Vermont — only Oregon has yet to be cleared to receive the grants from 2017, a Justice Department spokesman told The Associated Press this week.

Airline poster paid tribute to killer

NEW YORK — JetBlue has taken down a poster of a convicted murderer that it had included as part of a Black History Month tribute at New York’s Kennedy Airport.

The New York Post reports that the airline removed a poster paying tribute to Assata Shakur last month after being alerted via Twitter that Shakur is “a convicted cop killer.”

Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, was convicted of murder for her role in a 1973 shootout that resulted in the death of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. She escaped from prison in 1979 and is living in Cuba.