The U.S. at a glance ... NEWS^7
Barstow, Calif.
Stunt death: Daredevil stuntman “Mad”
Mike Hughes died last week when his
homemade, steam-powered rocket nose-
dived into the desert, ending his mission
to prove Earth is flat. Hughes, 64, hoped
to blast 5,000 feet into the sky and
parachute to safety, but his drag chute
tore off upon takeoff. He flew in a long
arc and crashed, witnessed by about
60 people on hand. His stunts were
sponsored by the Research Flat Earth
group and were meant to generate fund-
ing for Hughes’ dream of a “rockoon”—
a rocket-balloon—that would launch
him 62 miles to the edge of space, where
he hoped to photograph the shape of the
planet. Having set the Guinness World
Record in 2002 for jumping a stretch
limo 103 feet, Hughes moved to rock-
ets, soaring 1,875 feet in 2018. “I don’t
believe in science,” he said. “You start
finding these places that’s flat on this
planet. Kansas is flat, I’m telling you.”Salt Lake City
Legalize it: Utah lawmakers moved
closer this week toward decriminalizing
polygamy among consenting adults. A
bill to change polygamy from a felony
to an infraction akin to a traffic viola-
tion passed the state Senate unanimously.
Advocates for the change said victims of
spousal abuse in polygamous marriages
fear reporting crimes because bigamy is
currently a felony punishable by up to five
years in prison. Other supporters said the
ban persecutes Fundamentalist Mormons,
numbering about 30,000 across the
western U.S., who believe polygamy is
rewarded in heaven. “We need to stop
marginalizing a whole group of people in
our state,” Republican State Sen. Deidre
Henderson said, calling it a “human
rights crisis.” The church’s torment over
modernizing also played out last week at
Brigham Young University, where a ban
on displays of “homosexual feelings,” such
as holding hands or kissing, was lifted.Los Angeles
Helicopter suit: Vanessa
Bryant filed a wrong-
ful death lawsuit
this week against
the company oper-
ating the helicopter
that crashed into a
hillside last month,
killing her husband,
Kobe; daughter
Gianna; and seven
others. The suit was
filed on the same day
20,000 fans gathered
at a memorial for the Los Angeles Lakers
icon, 41, and Gianna, 13—featuring
eulogies from Vanessa, Kobe’s wife of
20 years, and Michael Jordan. It seeks
compensatory and punitive damages
from Island Express Helicopters and the
estate of veteran pilot Ara Zobayan, 50,
accusing him of recklessly flying in
dense fog to take the Bryants and
Gianna’s teammates to a basket-
ball game. Although Zobayan
amassed 8,000 hours of fly-
ing and frequently worked as
Bryant’s pilot, the suit cites
his 2015 infraction for flying
in poor visibility. Preliminary
reports found no mechani-
cal failure to explain why
Zobayan’s helicopter plunged at
a high speed before crashing.Washington, D.C.
Off the scale: Supreme Court Justice Sonia
Sotomayor
accused her
conservative
colleagues of
“putting a
thumb on the
scale” in favor
of the Trump
administra-
tion, prompt-
ing Trump to
demand that Sotomayor and Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg sit out cases involving
him. Sotomayor’s comment came in a
scathing dissent after the court voted 5-
to let Trump’s immigrant wealth test take
effect in Illinois. Sotomayor slammed the
court for hearing the Trump administra-
tion’s appeal on an emergency basis. The
Trump White House makes emergency
appeals more frequently than the two
previous administrations, and “its cries
of urgency ring increasingly hol-
low,” Sotomayor wrote. Trump
said she was trying to “shame”
justices into voting with her,
adding on Twitter that Sotomayor
and Ginsburg, who called Trump
a “faker” during the 2016 campaign,
“should recuse themselves on all
Trump, or Trump related, matters!”Costa Mesa, Calif.
No-go zone: A federal
judge temporarily
blocked quarantined
Covid-19 patients
from being moved
to a medical facility in
Costa Mesa this week, saying
officials must do more to allay
local fears about an outbreak.
Outside the court-
house, protesters
held signs reading “Don’t turn our city
into another Wuhan.” The Costa Mesa
facility would house patients currently at
an Air Force base who’ve tested positive
but don’t show symptoms. Yet it’s sur-
rounded by residential neighborhoods,
and an outbreak could devastate tourism
tied to nearby Disneyland. Anniston,
Ala., also fought against housing some
of the 50-plus patients with Covid-19 in
the U.S., including at least 14 Americans
infected on the Diamond Princess cruise
ship in Japan. The State Department’s
decision to let those patients into the U.S.
infuriated President Trump, who was not
given advance notice that they would be
allowed into the country.Washington, D.C.
Blacklist: The Trump
administration has assem-
bled lists of disloyal
officials to purge
and replace with
pro-Trump alterna-
tives, Axios.com
reported this week.
The lists identify
“snakes” and “bad people” across the
bureaucracy, but especially “deep state”
intelligence officials, sources said. Trump
confirmed the lists exist, adding that he
wants “people who are good for the
country, loyal to the country.” The selec-
tion of names was done largely by conser-
vative activists, including Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, Virginia.
Johnny McEntee, Trump’s former body
man and now his personnel director,
asked federal officials last week to out
anti-Trump colleagues for staff purges
that he said were likely after the elec-
tion. Last week, deputy national security
adviser Victoria Coates was transferred to
the Energy Department, following accusa-
tions that she was behind an anonymous
2018 op-ed describing a Trump resistanceAP (4) within the administration.
Vanessa and KobeGinsburg and SotomayorNIMBY epidemicTaking names