Overnight News Digest, aka OND, is a community feature here at Daily Kos. Each editor selects news stories on a wide range of topics.
The OND community was founded by Magnifico.
Welcome to all, join us in the comment section to share a news articles and jump into the community chat.
Quaker workers officially claim Powerball prize
The Gazette
An unidentified, jubilant group of 20 shipping department co-workers at the Quaker plant in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday claimed their shares of a $241 million Powerball jackpot — the largest lottery prize won in Iowa since the state lottery’s inception in 1985.
The 18 men and two women, who won as “The Shipping 20” trust and did not make public their last names, not only established themselves as first on the list of Iowa Lottery jackpot winners.
They also are expected to become the first to take legal steps to keep their full names from being publicly divulged — a position that is allowed under Iowa’s open records law but one that had lottery officials and news organizations in disagreement.
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Four months after Trayvon Martin shooting, Sanford police chief fired
By Jami Novogrod
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee, who came under fire for his department's handling of the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, has been fired, City Manager Norton Bonaparte announced in statement on Wednesday evening.
“After much thoughtful discussion and deep consideration for the issues facing the City of Sanford, I have determined the Police Chief needs to have the trust and respect of the elected officials and the confidence of the entire community," Bonaparte said. "We need to move forward with a police chief that all the citizens of Sanford can support.”
Lee’s ouster marks the latest step in a several-month saga at Sanford's City Hall. The police chief came under intense scrutiny in the weeks following Martin's death on Feb. 26. in a gated community here.
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Duluth zoo's barnyard ravaged; escaped seal captured
By MASAKO HIRSCH
The flooding in Duluth ravaged the Lake Superior Zoo, drowning at least 13 animals and causing major damage. Yet if it hadn't been for one alert driver, the death toll at the zoo may have been much higher -- and Feisty the seal may have made her escape.
At least 11 barnyard animals and two birds drowned because of the flooding that forced zoo staff to chase down Berlin the polar bear and allowed Feisty to swim onto Grand Avenue.
Zoo officials, however, may not have discovered this until much later had Donald Melton not been awake after feeding his baby in the middle of the night. Melton, who lives near the zoo, said he was curious about Facebook posts discussing flooding and street closures near his home and decided to drive around and investigate.
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Famed sports painter LeRoy Neiman dead at 91
Daniel Trotta
LeRoy Neiman, whose distinctive, abstract style of painting sports figures in action made him a star on a par with some of the famous athletes he painted, died on Wednesday at age 91, his spokeswoman said.
Neiman, a showman known for his handlebar mustache, sometimes painted live on television during major events such as the Olympics or the Super Bowl, helping make him one of the world's most commercially successful contemporary artists.
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Southern Baptists elect 1st black president: the Rev. Fred Luter
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
The Rev. Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, was elected Tuesday as the first African American president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination.
Luter's candidacy at the convention's annual meeting in New Orleans on Tuesday was unchallenged.
Before the vote, the Rev. David Crosby of First Baptist Church in New Orleans, who became an ally of Luter after Hurricane Katrina, took the podium. He addressed the packed convention hall and a live online audience in nominating Luter for president.
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New La. law: Sex offenders must list status on Facebook, other social media
By Michael Martinez
A new Louisiana law requires sex offenders and child predators to state their criminal status on their Facebook or other social networking page, with the law's author saying the bill is the first of its kind in the nation.
State Rep. Jeff Thompson, a Republican from Bossier City, Louisiana, says his new law, effective August 1, will stand up to constitutional challenge because it expands sex offender registration requirements, common in many states, to include a disclosure on the convicted criminal's social networking sites as well.
Thompson, an attorney and a father of a 13-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son, said he hopes other states will follow Louisiana.
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Up to 27 million people living in slavery: US
Daily Times
Up to 27 million people are living in slavery around the world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton estimated late Tuesday as the US unveiled its annual report into human trafficking.
But the report showed that as governments become more aware of the issue, instigating tough new laws and programmes to help victims, progress is being made in wiping out what it called the “scourge of trafficking.” “The end of legal slavery in the United States and in other countries around the world has not, unfortunately, meant the end of slavery,” said Clinton.
“Today it is estimated as many as 27 million people around the world are victims of modern slavery, what we sometimes call trafficking in persons,” she said at the unveiling of the report at the State Department. “Those victims of modern slavery are women and men, girls and boys, and their stories remind us of the kind of inhumane treatment we are capable of as human beings,” said Clinton. “Whatever their background, they are the living, breathing reminders that the work to eradicate slavery remains unfinished.”
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Uruguay plan to let gov't sell marijuana
By Pablo Fernandez
Uruguay's national government said Wednesday it hopes to fight a growing crime problem by selling marijuana to citizens registered to buy it, and will send a bill to Congress that would make it the first country in the world to do so.
Under the plan, only the government would be allowed to sell marijuana and only to adults who register on a government database, letting officials keep track of their purchases over time.
Minister of Defense Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro told reporters in Montevideo that the measure aims to weaken crime in the country by removing profits from drug dealers and diverting users from harder drugs.
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