NewsUpdate Legal tangle on abortion pill goes to Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday stepped into the tangled legal thicket of abortion drugs by leaving in place – for five days – the status quo on the federal government’s rules on the pills.

According to the Associated Press, Associate Justice Samuel Alito issued the stay. The matter began on April 7 when U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk blocked the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone. However, a federal appeals court modified that action and the matter now goes to the high court.

The New York Times reports that the pause will preserve the “broad availability” of the pill while the issue is being settled. The Biden administration has made an emergency request to uphold the FDA’s approval.

At present, abortion pills are widely used and probably exceeds the number of surgical procedures for termination of pregnancy.

Guardman is arrested in secret document leak

Jack Teixeira, 21, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, has been charged with illegal possessing and disclosing classified national security documents.

According to United Press International, he was arrested by FBI agents on Thursday.

If convicted, he faces a federal prison sentence of up to 10 years.

The leaked documents were found on a computer gaming site and reportedly included “sensitive” information about the war in Ukraine and other secret military information, the federal Justice Department alleges.

Retorts: Other uses for support dogs in our lives

Continued from page 3 you were expecting went to the boss’ idiot nephew (or niece), the presence of a German Shepherd keeps you from going medieval on the copy machine.

•Endless phone conversations: We all know someone who traps you into listening to a agonizingly detailed tail of woe to the point where you wish Alexander Graham Bell had never been born, so you give your Australian Shepherd a signal and he/she begins a piercing and mournful howl that allows you to exit the call with “The dog’s upset about something. Let me call you back.” And don’t.

The ways that dogs can help people are endless. As for cats, well, their perspective is “If dogs get into Heaven, I’d rather not go.”

Jim Tortolano’s Retorts column appears Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Biden concludes visit to his roots in Ireland

President Joe Biden concluded his trip to Ireland on Friday, according to USA Today. “Being here does feel like coming home– it really does,” he said in remarks in County Mayo, where his greatgreat-grandfather lived before leaving for the U.S. His audience there was estimated at 27,000 people, who called him “Cousin Joe.”

Weather: Sun’s big cameo

After all these cloudy days, the sun will make a brief appearance on Saturday in the West Orange County area. The forecast is for a daytime high of 73 and an overnight low of 53. Partly cloudy conditions should return on Sunday and Monday, with highs of 73 and 69.

Huntington Bch. city council meet has been cancelled

What if they gave a city council meeting and not enough people showed up?

Not enough members of the council, that is.

Due to the lack of a quorum, the Tuesday, April 18 meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council has been cancelled, according to the city clerk’s office.

A public hearing scheduled for that meeting on an action plan for Federal Community Block Grants and related matters will be moved to the Tuesday, May 2 meeting.