White House overhaul of troubled US air traffic control system will cost ‘lots of billions’

(AP) –The Trump administration on Thursday proposed a multibillion-dollar overhaul of a U.S. air traffic control system that it said still relies on floppy disks and replacement parts found on eBay and has come under renewed scrutiny in the wake of recent deadly plane crashes and technical failures. The plan calls for six new air traffic control centers, along with an array of technology and communications upgrades at all of the nation’s air traffic facilities over the next three or four years, said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “We use radar from the 1970s,” said Duffy, who compared the proposal with upgrading from a flip phone to a smartphone. “This technology is 50 years old that our controllers use to scan the skies and keep airplanes separated from one another.” How much it will all cost wasn’t immediately revealed. Duffy said he’ll work with Congress on the details. “It’s going to be billions, lots of billions,” he said.

Trump asks Supreme Court to allow him to end humanitarian parole for 500,000 people

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow it to end humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from four countries, setting them up for potential deportation. The emergency appeal filed Thursday asks the justices to halt a lower-court order keeping in place legal protections for more than 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The Republican administration argues the decision wrongly intrudes on the Department of Homeland Security’s authority. The order from U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston blocked the administration from putting an early end to the immigrants’ temporary legal status. Solicitor General John Sauer says the judge is wrong on the law.

Father of 15-year-old who killed 2 at Wis. religious school faces felony charges

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The father of a Wisconsin teenage girl who killed a teacher and fellow student in a school shooting was charged with felonies Thursday in connection with the case, police said. The shooting occurred at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison last December. The shooter’s father, Jeffrey Rupnow, 42, of Madison, was taken into custody around 3:45 a.m. Thursday, police said. He faces charges of contributing to the delinquency of a child and two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 resulting in death, police said. Rupnow’s daughter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, killing a teacher and a 14-year-old student before killing herself. Two other students were critically injured.