NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The man who fatally shot retired NFL star Will Smith during a confrontation following a car crash in 2016 is scheduled for sentencing Thursday in a New Orleans courtroom. It's the second time Cardell Hayes, 36, has faced sentencing in Smith's death. He was convicted of manslaughter in December 2016 and later sentenced to 25 years. But the jury vote had been 10-2 and the conviction was later tossed after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed such non-unanimous verdicts. Hayes was released on bond after having served more than four years of the original sentence. He remain ..read more

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. “We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes," the court's 4-3 decision said. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.” The state Court of Appeals ru ..read more

DETROIT (WOOD) — The nation is seeing a renewed Detroit on NFL Draft day. Motor City has always been innovative, but downtown hasn't always been that way. There was a lot of neglect until a shiny, new Ford Field finally got to host the Super Bowl in 2006, kicking off a new era for the city. It forced a transformation. "I'm very excited to see all those people downtown and get the whole world to see Detroit maybe in a different way than they perceive right now," Lions CEO Rod Wood said. Now, the city is alive, thriving and buzzing as the eyes of the entire nation are on it for the NFL Draft. L ..read more

NEW YORK (AP) — For millions of American workers, the federal government took two actions this week that could bestow potentially far-reaching benefits. In one move, the Federal Trade Commission voted to ban noncompete agreements, which bar millions of workers from leaving their employers to join a competitor or start a rival business for a specific period of time. The FTC's move, which is already being challenged in court, would mean that such employees could apply for jobs they weren’t previously eligible to seek. In a second move, the Biden administration finalized a rule tha ..read more

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — With graduations looming, student protesters doubled down early Thursday on their discontent of the Israel-Hamas war on campuses across the country as universities, including ones in California and Texas, have become quick to call in the police to end the demonstrations and make arrests. While grappling with growing protests from coast to coast, schools have the added pressure of May commencement ceremonies. At Columbia University in New York, students defiantly erected an encampment where many are set to graduate in front of families in just a few weeks ..read more

(The Hill) -- Anthony Fauci, former chief medical advisor to President Biden, will testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on June 3, making it the first time he will appear before a congressional panel since leaving government work at the end of 2022. Subcommittee Chair Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) announced the hearing on Wednesday. Fauci had committed to testify late last year along with agreeing to two days of interviews which took place in January. The closed-door interviews focused on gain-of-function research, alleged federal records violations, conflicts of i ..read more

At 78, John Lithgow's acting career is not slowing down. He appeared in the best picture nominee “Killers of the Flower Moon” and starred with Jeff Bridges in the FX series “The Old Man." Recently, the two-time Academy Award nominee and multiple Emmy, Tony and Golden Globes-winning actor played the new kid in school. He learned dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz ensemble with Los Angeles-area high school students. It was filmed for “Art Happens Here with John Lithgow,” airing Friday on PBS with the goal of promoting arts education. Lithgow, who has an undergraduate degree fro ..read more

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona grand jury has indicted former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyer Rudy Giuliani along with 16 others in an election interference case. The indictment released Wednesday names 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election. It shows seven other defendants whose names were not immediately released because they had not yet been served with the charges. The Associated Press was able to determine the identities of the unnamed defendants based on their descr ..read more

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Federal money will be used to help fund the Page/Rice Camera Initiative in Baton Rouge. "When we hear the names Devin Page Jr. and Allie Rice, we aren't solely hearing the names of the young lives falling victim to gun violence, but we also hear their name along with action to contribute public safety in Baton Rouge," said Alex Byo, Operation Report, Thirty-Three Strategies said. Community leaders and elected officials addressed the ongoing issue that many parts of Baton Rouge face, which is violent crime. "We drove through the area in East Brookstown and Gus Young ..read more

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Tiger fans have been celebrating all week after the LSU gymnastics team brought home their first national championship in program history. The LSU gymnastics team claimed the national championship with a score of 198.225. The Lady Tigers beat the California Golden Bears (197.850), Utah Utes (197.800) and the Florida Gators (197.4375). Tiger fans will gather inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 24 to celebrate the team. The celebration will include the presentation of the national championship trophy and remarks from LSU ..read more