10,000 pages of records about Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 assassination are released, on Trump’s order

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Approximately 10,000 pages of records related to the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were released Friday, continuing the disclosure of national secrets ordered by President Donald Trump.

Kennedy was fatally shot on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles moments after giving his victory speech for winning California’s Democratic presidential primary. His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving life in prison.

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration posted roughly 229 files containing the pages to its public website. Many files related to the senator’s assassination had been previously released, but others had not been digitized and sat for decades in storage facilities maintained by the federal government.

“Nearly 60 years after the tragic assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the American people will, for the first time, have the opportunity to review the federal government’s investigation thanks to the leadership of President Trump,” Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said in a statement.

Gabbard also said the files release “shine a long-overdue light on the truth.”

The release of the RFK files comes a month after unredacted files related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were disclosed. Those documents gave curious readers more details about Cold War-era covert U.S. operations in other nations but didn’t initially lend credence to long-circulating conspiracy theories about who killed JFK.

Trump, a Republican, has championed in the name of transparency the release of documents related to high-profile assassinations and investigations. But he’s also been deeply suspicious for years of the government’s intelligence agencies, and his administration’s release of once-hidden files opens the door for additional public scrutiny and questioning about the conclusions and operations of institutions such as the CIA and the FBI.

Trump signed an executive order in January calling for the release of governmental documents related to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., who were killed within two months of each other.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a son of the Democratic New York senator who now serves as the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, commended Trump and Gabbard for their “courage” and “dogged efforts” to release the files.

“Lifting the veil on the RFK papers is a necessary step toward restoring trust in American government,” the health secretary said in a statement.

AP writer Eric Tucker contributed.

Students at Florida State gather at memorials, prepare to retrieve belongings after deadly shooting

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By KATE PAYNE and DAVID FISCHER, Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — When a 20-year-old opened fire at Florida State University, terrified students barricaded doors and fled across campus, abandoning chemistry notes and even shoes, in a shooting that investigators said killed two men and wounded at least six others.

By Friday morning, memorials of candles and flowers dotted the campus and students and professors began returning to retrieve their belongings as they tried to start healing from the previous day’s shooting, which sent shockwaves of fear across the campus. A pair of vigils were planned for the afternoon.

“I heard some gunshots and then, you know, just blacked out after,” said Carolina Sena, a 21-year-old accounting student who was inside the student union when the shooting started. “Everyone was crying and just panicking. We were trying to barricade ourselves in a little corner in the basement, trying to protect ourselves as much as we could.”

The shooter, identified by police as Phoenix Ikner, is believed to be a Florida State student and the son of a sheriff’s deputy who opened fire with his mother’s former service weapon, investigators said. Authorities have not yet revealed a motive for the shooting, which began around lunchtime Thursday just outside the student union.

Officers quickly arrived and shot and wounded the gunman after he refused to comply with commands, said Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell.

The two men who were killed were not students, said Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower, who did not release additional information about the victims.

The shooter obtained a weapon that belongs to his mother, who has been with the sheriff’s office for over 18 years and has been a model employee, said Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil. Police said they believed Ikner shot the victims using his mother’s former service handgun, which she had kept for personal use after the force upgraded its weapons.

Five people who were wounded were struck by gunfire, while a sixth was hurt while trying to run away, Revell said. Two were expected to be discharged from Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare on Friday, three have been upgraded to good condition and one remained in fair, a hospital spokesperson for Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said Friday morning.

The shooter was a long-standing member of the sheriff’s office’s youth advisory council, the sheriff said.

“He has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have,” McNeil said. “So it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”

As of Thursday night, Ikner was in the hospital with “serious but non-life-threatening injuries,” according to Revell. The hospital declined to provide an update on the shooter’s condition, saying it cannot comment on the identity of patients.

Witness says the suspect’s shotgun jammed

Ambulances, fire trucks and patrol vehicles raced toward the campus just west of Florida’s capital as the university issued an active shooter alert.

Aidan Stickney, a 21-year-old studying business management, was running late to class when he said he saw a man get out of a car with a shotgun and aim at another man in a white polo shirt.

The gun jammed, Stickney said, and the shooter rushed back to his car and emerged with a handgun, opening fire on a woman. Stickney ran, warning others as he called 911.

“I got lucky today. I really did. I really, really did,” he said.

Trumbower said investigators have no evidence that anyone was shot with the shotgun.

Shots sent students scattering

Holden Mendez, a 20-year-old student studying political science and international affairs, said he had just left the student union when he heard a series of shots. He ran into a nearby campus building, where his previous emergency response training kicked in.

“There was a lot of fear. There was a lot of panic. There was a lot of misinformation that was being spread around. I was doing my best to kind of combat that,” he said. “I told people, ‘Take a deep breath. This building is secure. Everything is going to be ok.’”

Andres Perez, 20, was in a classroom near the student union when the alarm sounded for a lockdown. He said his classmates began moving desks in front of the door and police officers came to escort them out.

“I always hang out in the student union,” Perez said. “So the second I found out that the threat was there, my heart sank and I was scared.”

Shooting shocks campus and the nation

President Donald Trump called the shooting “a horrible thing” while also suggesting that he would not be advocating for any new gun legislation. “The gun doesn’t do the shooting, the people do,” he said from the Oval Office.

University President Richard McCullough said he was heartbroken by the violence. “Our hearts go out to our students and the victims of this terrible tragedy,” he said.

Another shooting a decade ago at Florida State

Florida State has about 44,000 students. In 2014, the main library was the site of a shooting that wounded three people. Officers shot and killed the gunman, 31-year-old Myron May.

The university canceled classes for the rest of the week and canceled home athletic events through Sunday.

Fischer reported from Fort Lauderdale. Associated Press reporters Stephany Matat in West Palm Beach, Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Michael Schneider in Orlando, Mike Balsamo in New York, Eric Tucker and Christopher Megerian in Washington, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.

Wisconsin governor can lock in 400-year school funding increase using a veto, court says

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By SCOTT BAUER

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Democratic governor of Wisconsin’s creative use of his uniquely powerful veto can lock in a school funding increase for 400 years, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The 4-3 ruling from the liberal-controlled court affirms the partial veto power of Wisconsin governors, which is the broadest of any state and has been used by both Republicans and Democrats to reshape spending bills passed by the Legislature.

Wisconsin is the only state where governors can partially veto spending bills by striking words, numbers and punctuation to create new meaning or spending amounts. In most states, governors can only eliminate or reduce spending amounts.

The court’s four liberal justices ruled Friday that the state constitution allows the governor to strike digits to create a new year or to remove language to create a longer duration than the one approved by the Legislature.

“We are acutely aware that a 400-year modification is both significant and attention-grabbing,” Justice Jill Karofsky wrote for the majority. “However, our constitution does not limit the governor’s partial veto power based on how much or how little the partial vetoes change policy, even when that change is considerable.”

Justice Brian Hagedorn, writing for the three-justice conservative minority, said Wisconsin was now in a “fantastical state of affairs” that allows the governor to write new law through the use of his partial veto.

“One might scoff at the silliness of it all, but this is no laughing matter,” Hagedorn wrote. “The decision today cannot be justified under any reasonable reading of the Wisconsin Constitution.”

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislative leaders did not immediately return messages seeking reaction.

The ruling came in a case against Evers that was supported by the Republican-controlled Legislature. It is one of two lawsuits pending before the court dealing with vetoes by the governor. Republicans this year also introduced a constitutional amendment intended to curb veto powers.

Evers’s partial veto in 2023 increased how much revenue K-12 public schools can raise per student by $325 a year until 2425. Evers took language that originally applied the $325 increase for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years and instead vetoed the “20” and the hyphen to make the end date 2425, more than four centuries from now.

Evers told lawmakers at the time that his partial veto was intended to give school districts increases in funding “in perpetuity.”

The Legislature, along with the state’s largest business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, argued that the court should strike down Evers’ partial veto and declare it unconstitutional. They argued that the Evers veto was barred under a 1990 constitutional amendment adopted by voters that removed the ability to strike individual letters to make new words — known as the “Vanna White” veto, named the co-host of the game show Wheel of Fortune who flips letters to reveal word phrases.

Finding otherwise would give governors unlimited power to alter numbers in a budget bill, they argued.

But Evers countered that the “Vanna White” veto ban applies only to striking individual letters to create new words, not vetoing digits to create new numbers. Evers said that he was simply using the longstanding partial veto process allowed under the law.

Wisconsin’s partial veto power was created by a 1930 constitutional amendment, but it’s been weakened by voters over the years, including in reaction to vetoes made by former Republican and Democratic governors. The Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2020, then controlled by conservatives, undid three of Evers’ partial vetoes, but a majority of justices did not issue clear guidance on what was allowed.

Reshaping state budgets through the partial veto is a longstanding act of gamesmanship in Wisconsin between the governor and Legislature, as lawmakers try to craft bills in a way that is largely immune from creative vetoes.

Republican legislative leaders have said they were waiting for the ruling in this case and another pending case affecting the governor’s veto powers before taking up spending bills this session, including the two-year state budget.

The other case centers on whether Evers properly used his partial veto power on a bill that detailed the plan for spending on new literacy programs. The Legislature contends that Evers’ partial veto was unconstitutional because the bill did not appropriate money. Evers contends the Legislature is trying to control how the executive branch spends money and limit his partial veto power.

If the court sides with Evers in that case, it could greatly expand the kinds of bills subject to partial vetoes in the future.

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St. Paul: Music festival gets higher sound level limit for Allianz Field

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When the Breakaway Music Festival rolled into the lots just outside Allianz Field last year, window-rattling dance music and F-bombs from the mic followed, with noise carrying for miles away. Organizers called the event a commercial success, but ensuing noise complaints flooded St. Paul Police lines, as well as the phone lines of the city council.

Music festival organizers promised the touring electronic dance music series would return to Allianz Field this year with sound-shielding improvements. On Wednesday, following an hour-long city council discussion, their sound level variance requests for June 6 and June 7 won the support of the majority of the council with a 4-2 vote, over the objections of city staff.

Rather than turn down the volume, the council voted to allow the Breakaway Music Festival an even higher decibel limit than they were approved for a year ago.

To mitigate the noise, the music festival plans to reorient its speakers away from Cub Foods and toward Allianz Field, and use a different speaker system, as well as an online feedback portal so organizers can assess complaints in real-time and conduct sound testing in any problem areas as the event unfolds.

“We are going to dispatch a team physically to that location,” said festival president Jarrod Fucci, addressing the city council on Wednesday.

The Breakaway Music Festival drew thousands of fans of electronic dance music to the stage set up outside Allianz Field in St. Paul June 28 to June 29, 2024. It also drew plenty of noise complaints from as far away as Highland Park and even outside the city. The festival, which ended at 11 p.m. both nights, drew patrons to bars like the Midway Saloon for after-parties. (Frederick Melo / Pioneer Press)

Monitoring decibel levels

The city’s Department of Safety and Inspections will maintain a staffer at the event, and festival organizers will be required to monitor the decibel levels from an approved distance from each noise source and create a report that records the general operating levels within 15 minutes of the start of each act, as well as at intervals no greater than 60 minutes apart after that.

Fucci said the event might be canceled if organizers did not get their requested variances, and that they were looking for different concert venues within the capital city for future years.

“Candidly, honestly, it depends how this goes,” he told the council. “We want to stay within the city of St. Paul.”

“It is not lost on me that our event was disruptive,” Fucci added, emphasizing that the festival has been working with the Union Park District Council and city officials to consider any neighborhood impacts, including noise. “Dance music fans are really unique. They have a really high expectation for the execution of these events. … In order for this event to be sustainable, we want to continue to deliver an excellent audio experience.”

Two noise resolutions generate confusion

The council was presented Wednesday with two versions of a potential sound level variance resolution, each with different decibel limits and other conditions, generating some confusion and protracted discussion.

Council Member Anika Bowie, who represents the stadium area, attempted to fuse aspects of each version, drawing concerns from three fellow council members who urged her to hold off on a vote for a week. She chose to push forward anyway.

Bowie said the festival organizers had been “really transparent and honest” about past challenges and how they would mitigate those issues going forward. “I appreciate them promoting our city. … It seemed like the organizer really took into consideration all of our concerns.”

Last year, the festival asked to be allowed a sound level variance with a limit of 103 decibels at 125 feet from the main stage, but the council approved only 97 decibels at 50 feet. The festival likely operated at 103 decibels anyway, according to city staff. Festival organizers this year again requested — and were approved for — sound level variances for 103 decibels at 125 feet from the main stage, as well as a limit of 101 decibels at 100 feet from their secondary stage.

Both limits are above the noise levels associated with a typical outdoor concert, or even a construction site, DSI staff said.

The city’s Department of Safety and Inspections had recommended a 30-minute earlier end time — 10:30 p.m. — and that the festival compensate the city up to $640 for 10 hours of staff overtime to have a DSI inspector monitoring sound on-site throughout the event. The council and festival organizers agreed to both conditions.

The request for a higher decibel limit, however, was not supported by DSI, and drew probing questions from council members.

Last year, “community members literally had buildings shaking,” said Council Member Cheniqua Johnson, who voted against the sound level variance. “If the orientation of the stage has changed, but the sound level has not, and we’re recommending a higher sound level this year than what we allowed last year, is the hope that the staff presence would gain compliance? … I just want us to make sure we’re being consistent with festivals, no matter what the genre.”

DSI recommends lower limit

DSI had recommended a sound limit of 100 decibels at 100 feet from the main stage, and 99 decibels at 75 feet from the secondary stage.

The city council appeared poised to approve the second version of the resolution until Bowie realized that it included the lower limits recommended by DSI. She then asked for amendments joining the two versions, incorporating the higher decibel limits, the earlier end time and compensation for the DSI staffer in one resolution.

Council Member Nelsie Yang joined Council President Rebecca Noecker and Johnson in urging Bowie to delay a vote for another week, which would give the council more time to consider her suggested amendments.

“It just seems like there’s just a lot of back and forth right now, and I would motion for a layover,” Johnson said.

Added Yang later, “This is just an example, for me, of something that could have been done behind the scenes. It sounds like there’s room for negotiation and compromise.”

Bowie, after receiving reassurance from staff that a “no” vote would still allow her to introduce the original version of the resolution if need be, pushed forward.

“It just seems like it makes sense to give them a threshold they can work with, and they’re not going to be at the max of 103 (decibels) the entire time,” she said. “I think the proper adjustments have been made.”

The vote

Bowie, Yang, Saura Jost and Matt Privratsky then voted to support the amended noise variance at the 103 decibel limit, and Noecker and Johnson voted against it. Council Vice President HwaJeong Kim was absent.

Fucci told the council performers will include the American DJ John Summit, Dutch DJ Tiesto, Australian DJ Alison Wonderland, and about 20 national and 60 St. Paul-area performers. Some 12,000 visitors arrived each day of the two-day festival last year, for 24,000 in total, bringing with them $2 million in ticket sales and as much as $6 million in economic impact for the area.

Privratsky, who lives just north of the site, said, “I firmly believe having more events and more things going on in the city is better for the community, and also at this site, where we put significant public dollars into building out the Allianz Field district.”

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