US News Roundup: LGBTQ history in US public schools; law on marital rape

U.S. judges order Ohio to revamp Republican-drawn gerrymandered districts

A panel of three federal judges on Friday ruled that Ohio's Republican-drawn congressional map is an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander and ordered the state to revamp it before the 2020 presidential election. The ruling comes a week after another federal court ruled that Michigan's congressional maps were unconstitutionally drawn by Republican politicians to dilute the power of Democratic voters.

Boeing 737 slides off the runway into Florida river, 21 hurt

A Boeing jetliner with 143 people aboard from the U.S. outpost at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, slid off a runway into a shallow river in Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday while attempting to land at a military base there during a thunderstorm, injuring 21 people. There were no reports of fatalities or critical injuries. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said on Twitter that all 21 of the injured were taken to a hospital, where they were listed in good condition.

Former Trump staff chief Kelly joins the board of migrant shelter operator

John Kelly, former White House chief of staff, has joined the board of Caliburn International Corp, the parent of an operator of a shelter for unaccompanied migrant children, a company spokeswoman confirmed on Friday. Kelly left U.S. President Donald Trump's White House at the end of last year against the backdrop of changes to immigration policy.

Civil rights groups sue Tennessee over law imposing new penalties on voter registration

Civil rights groups in Tennessee have asked a federal court to block enforcement of a new state law that threatens to impose new penalties on voter-registration groups if they file too many incomplete forms. The state's Republican Governor, Mike Lee, signed the bill passed by the Republican-dominated legislature on Thursday, saying it would help ensure the integrity of elections.

ABCs of LGBTQ history mandated for more U.S. public schools

A picture book for second graders about a family with two moms. A lesson for fourth graders about Gold Rush era stagecoach driver Charley Parkhurst, who was born a woman but lived as a man. These are just some of the ways U.S. public school students will learn about LGBTQ - lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender queer - history in a growing number of states moving to mandate inclusive K-12 curriculum. It is the latest chapter in a decades-long push to teach students about the trials and contributions of marginalized communities - from suffragettes to black Americans - whose stories have often been absent from classrooms.

Minnesota governor signs law making marital rape illegal

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Thursday signed a law that repeals the state's marital rape exception, which protected rapists against prosecution if they lived and had an ongoing sexual relationship with the victim. Walz, a Democrat, signed the bill in St. Paul, saying that the "reprehensible exception should never have been part of our criminal statutes."

Mississippi River reaches record level in northern Illinois

The Mississippi River has reached record high levels in the area of Rock Island, Illinois, as melting heavy snowpack coupled with rain has caused widespread flooding, a national hydrologist said on Friday. Heavy rain in the central United States brought the river's level to a new peak of 22.7 feet at Rock Island, just topping the 1993 record of 22.63 feet, according to hydrologist Justin Palmer at the North Central River Forecast Center in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Trucker in deadly Colorado crash charged with 40 criminal counts

A Texas truck driver who police say caused a fiery multi-vehicle crash near Denver last week that killed four people and injured four was charged on Friday with 40 criminal counts including vehicular homicide, prosecutors said. Police in Lakewood, Colorado said they arrested 23-year-old Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos after he lost control of his tractor-trailer truck during the evening rush hour on April 25 and caused a crash on Interstate 70 that involved at least 28 vehicles.

Minneapolis to pay police shooting victim's family $20 million

Minneapolis city officials on Friday announced a $20 million settlement with the family of an Australian woman who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2017, just days after the officer was convicted of crimes associated with the killing. The settlement of a civil suit brought by the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, which came after two days of talks, includes $18 million for the family and $2 million to be donated to an anti-gun violence group, city officials said.

Exclusive: Trump administration proposal would make it easier to deport immigrants who use public benefits

The Trump administration is considering reversing long-standing policy to make it easier to deport U.S. legal permanent residents who have used public benefits, part of an effort to restrict immigration by low-income people. A Department of Justice draft regulation, seen by Reuters, dramatically expands the category of people who could be subject to deportation on the grounds that they use benefits.