Families affected by Oxford school shooting win key decision

DETROIT (AP) — A group of families won a key court victory Friday in an effort to pin some responsibility on a Michigan school district for a shooting that left four students dead and seven others wounded in 2021. The families can pursue claims that the Oxford district pushed Ethan Crumbley “closer to violent action” when it threatened to contact child-welfare authorities unless his parents quickly put the teenager into counseling, a federal judge said.

McDonald’s found liable for hot Chicken McNugget that burned girl

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — McDonald’s and a franchise holder are at fault after a hot Chicken McNugget from a Happy Meal fell on a little girl’s leg and caused second-degree burns, a jury in South Florida found in a case reminiscent of the famous hot coffee lawsuit of the 1990s. A second jury will determine how much McDonald’s USA and its franchise owner, Upchurch Foods, will pay the child and her mother, the South Florida SunSentinel reported.

Memphis ‘snake factory’ transplants slither into their new home in Louisiana

BENTLEY, La. (AP) — They were born and raised in captivity, but as they slowly slithered away from their handlers and disappeared into gopher holes in the Kisatchie National Forest, the group of Louisiana pine snakes appeared to be right at home. The five pine snakes bred at the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee were released into the Kisatchie in early May as part of an ongoing conservation effort involving zoos in Memphis, New Orleans and two Texas cities, Fort Worth and Lufkin. This year, more than 100 pine snakes — a species the federal government lists as threatened — will be released into the central Louisiana forest.

Congressional budget agency projects bigger deficits as debt talks continue

WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s projected government budget deficit has jumped by $130 billion, due in part to a proposed change to student loan repayment plans and a series of bank rescues organized by federal regulators, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday. Revenue collections through April were lower than the agency expected, resulting in a projected budget deficit of $1.5 trillion for 2023, the office’s update to the nation’s 10-year budget outlook says. Overall, the nonpartisan office expects deficits to increase by $20 trillion during the 2024 to 2033 period, with a caution that the projections are “subject to a great deal of uncertainty.”

Jury convicts Lori Vallow Daybell of murdering 2 children, romantic rival

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho jury has convicted Lori Vallow Daybell of murder in the deaths of her two youngest children and a romantic rival. The verdict marks the end of a three-year investigation that included bizarre claims of zombie children, apocalyptic prophesies and illicit affairs. Prosecutors charged Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, with multiple counts of conspiracy, murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s two youngest children: 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, in September 2019. Prosecutors also charged the couple in connection with the October 2019