WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has returned early from an overseas trip to try to comfort those shaken by recent shootings. Obama will travel to Dallas on Tuesday to deliver remarks at an interfaith memorial service for the five officers shot and killed Thursday. The White House says Obama will meet privately with relatives of the dead officers. George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, will also attend, and the ex-president will deliver brief remarks. Vice President Joe Biden will also be there.
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DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas police chief says police are taking all threats as credible in the wake of the shooting that killed five officers last week. Chief David Brown said at a news conference Monday that they have to do that for the sake of their families. He pointed to a threat he received from a private Facebook page to the Dallas Police Department’s page that is being investigated.
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BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) — Authorities made more than 160 arrests in Louisiana’s capital during a long hot weekend of protests over killings of black men by police. Officers in riot gear kept protesters from entering Interstate 110 in Baton Rouge on Sunday.
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UNDATED (AP) — A powerful labor union that previously supported Bernie Sanders is now backing Hillary Clinton for president. The Communications Workers of America formally endorsed Clinton Monday. The union represents 700,000 telecommunications and technology members.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is being criticized after calling the term “black lives matter” “inherently racist.” During a Sunday appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Giuliani said “when you say black lives matter, that’s inherently racist.” He went on to say “black lives matter. White lives matter. Asian lives matter. Hispanic lives matter. That’s anti-American and it’s racist.” Giuliani also says black children face a greater threat from other black children than from police. He says “the real danger to them 99 out of 100 times … are other black kids who are going to kill them. That’s the way they’re going to die.” In a New York Daily News column, the Rev. Al Sharpton says Giuliani’s comments reveal “an appalling lack of understanding” of the issue.
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CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Former Florida governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush is endorsing Congressman David Jolly for re-election. A news release sent Monday by Jolly’s campaign staff said Bush is throwing his “full support” behind the Pinellas County Republican and will campaign for him. If Jolly wins the Republican primary next month, he’ll face former Gov. Charlie Crist, who’s running as a Democrat.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Clinton’s campaign is making it official: Former Democratic rival Bernie Sanders will join her at a New Hampshire event on Tuesday where he plans to endorse her. Sanders’ endorsement will come a month after the final primary. He’s pushed for policy agreements on higher education, health care and a $15 an hour federal minimum wage. Some of those policies were included in a draft of the party’s platform in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend. Sanders has not yet said he will endorse Clinton but told reporters on Saturday that the two campaigns were coming together and to stay tuned.
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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Bernie Sanders has failed in his quest to include opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in a draft of the Democratic Party’s policy positions, where several amendments against the deal were voted down by Hillary Clinton supporters. During a combative meeting in a hotel ballroom, members of the Democratic National Convention’s full Platform Committee opted instead to endorse an amendment that included stronger language governing trade deals.
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown of Florida says she’s temporarily stepping down as ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs as she defends herself against federal fraud charges. Brown released a statement Friday afternoon saying that she was stepping down in accordance with House rules.
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A security guard is being held on multiple charges after allegedly firing his gun at two people during a confrontation in a Tampa parking garage. Tampa Police spokesman Stephen Hegarty said in an email that 31-year-old Everoy Farqharson was working for a private security firm when he confronted two victims early Sunday about urinating in the city parking garage. Farqharson was held Monday at the Hillsborough County jail on two counts of aggravated assault, among other charges.
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ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — Police say three bodies were found in a room of an Altamonte Springs motel. Altamonte Springs police Lt. Rob Pelton tells news outlets that maintenance crews at the Remington Inn and Suites discovered the bodies Sunday afternoon. Police say the deaths have been ruled suspicious.
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WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) — A 78-year-old man is dead along with the suspect in a home invasion robbery in Winter Haven, Florida. Police say 25-year-old Ricardo Garcia Gomez entered the home of Paul McLees with a butcher’s knife. Authorities say McLees shot Gomez. They speculate that Gomez then wrested away the gun and shot McLees.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Hundreds of people marched in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale as part of the Black Lives Matter movement in demonstrations that ended peacefully. Protesters in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday chanted “No justice, no peace” and “Hands up, don’t shoot.”
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The Tampa Bay Rays head into the All Star Break having lost 22 of their last 25 games. They dropped another game on the road yesterday, losing to the Red Sox 4 to 0. They have 34 wins and 54 losses on the season.
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MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — Experts are meeting in the Florida Keys this week to discuss the latest research on the lucrative spiny lobster. The Citizen reports that the crustacean is the top-grossing marine species in the Keys, generating $70 million in the local economy. The waters off the island chain account for nearly all the spiny lobster harvest in the U.S.
