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With no sign of Kentucky highway shooting suspect, officers moved to protect community as schools reopen
CBSN
As a search continued into its 11th day for the suspect in a mass shooting that wounded five people on an interstate highway in Kentucky earlier this month, officials and law enforcement announced they were redirecting resources away from the manhunt and focusing instead on protecting the surrounding community.
More schools reopened Tuesday in the area around London, a town of about 8,000 people on the edge of southeastern Kentucky's sprawling Daniel Boone National Forest, said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear at a news conference, where he confirmed the search had not yet turned up meaningful leads. In addition to schools in neighboring Rockcastle County and Whitley County that resumed classes with additional law enforcement stationed on their premises, the district where London is located also said students would return to in-person classes starting Tuesday.
Laurel County Public Schools had paused in-person classes when the manhunt got underway Sept. 7 for Joseph Couch, 32, the man identified as the suspect who shot and wounded five people as they traveled on Interstate 75. The gunman struck about a dozen vehicles when he opened fire, officials said.
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More than 2 million federal employees face a looming deadline: By midnight on Thursday, they must decide whether to accept a "deferred resignation" offer from the Trump administration. If workers accept, according to a White House plan, they would continue getting paid through September but would be excused from reporting for duty. But if they opt to keep their jobs, they could get fired.
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More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
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In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.