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• Headlines: Friday, April 26, 6:35 PM

• Google is growing its data footprint in Indiana with plans for a $2 billion data center in Fort Wayne, the tech giant announced Friday. The company broke ground Friday on the project, which will include a new data center and operational support complex on the southwest side of Fort Wayne. Joe Kava, vice president of global data centers for Google, said the company is "thrilled" to announce its investment in Fort Wayne. "Our decision to make a commitment of this magnitude is a true testament to the strategic and collaborative nature of many leaders across Indiana, Allen County, and, particularly, Fort Wayne. Together, Fort Wayne and Google will help power the digital future, including AI innovation across our enterprise and consumer services." The price tag is more than double the original amount Google floated when it announced its involvement in January. City officials announced the development, first dubbed "Project Zodiac" in October, but Google wasn't confirmed as the company behind Project Zodiac until months later. The company said the development will support its AI innovations and growing Google Cloud business for customers around the world. The new complex is expected to create about 200 jobs during the next several years, including in areas such as facilities, data center technicians, and support services such as security, catering and groundskeeping, according to Google. Fort Wayne, located about 120 miles northeast of Indianapolis, is a city not commonly associated with data center development. Local operators include Indiana Data Center, Lifeline, and SafeHouse. "There's never been a better time to be in Fort Wayne," said Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker. "This investment from Google isn't just about infrastructure or economic development; it's about building a stronger tomorrow, together." Google also announced a collaboration with Indiana Michigan Power to bring new clean energy infrastructure to the local power grid, in support of the company's 2030 goal to run all of its data centers and campuses on carbon-free energy. "Indiana has made it a strategic priority to cultivate the economy of the future, and we're already seeing the impact of our work thanks to the partnership of companies like Google," said Gov. Eric Holcomb. "Not only is Google choosing Indiana to power its global AI and cloud infrastructure, but we're thrilled to see the company already investing heavily in the northeast Indiana community." Google's Project Zodiac is just the most recent in a series of data investments in the Hoosier state. Amazon Web Services on Thursday announced an $11 billion investment to build data centers and add 1,000 jobs in St. Joseph County in northern Indiana. Meta Inc., the parent company of Facebook, said in January it would spend $800 million on a data center campus in Jeffersonville, creating 100 jobs.
• An emergency slide fell off a Delta Airlines Boeing 767 shortly after takeoff Friday, forcing the plane to return to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Delta Air Lines Flight 520 turned around about a half-hour after taking off for Los Angeles Friday morning. Pilots aboard the plane reported vibrations and a banging sound not long after takeoff, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Crews then found an emergency slide from one of the plane's exits had fallen off the aircraft, according to Delta. All 176 customers and seven crew members exited the plane safely, according to Delta Air Lines. The airline said it substituted another Boeing 767, and passengers were expected to land in Los Angeles three and a half hours behind schedule. Police were still searching for the missing slide early Friday afternoon. Delta, in a statement, said it was working to determine where the slide could have landed. "Delta is fully supporting retrieval efforts and will fully cooperate in investigations," the statement read. The FAA is investigating the incident. The 33-year old plane, registration number N176DN, has previously had engine problems, a cracked windshield, smoke in the cockpit and suffered a bird strike.
• Pro-Palestine protests and encampments have spread across the United States, leading to the arrests of hundreds and an increasing administrative nightmare for college officials. Protesters throughout the United States are mainly calling for their respective universities to cut financial ties with entities connected to Israel in response to the war in Gaza. While none of the demonstrations have led to divestments of funds, they have forced universities to move some classes online and cancel graduation ceremonies. Demonstrators at New York's Columbia University, the epicenter of the demonstrations, last week called for the university to end its relationship with Israeli academic institutions and a "complete divestment" of funds from pro-Israel entities. Columbia's president Nemat "Minouche" Shafik called for the New York City Police Department to remove people who were encamped on the South Lawn of the campus, "in violation of the university's rules and policies." Law-enforcement officials said they arrested more than 108 people on April 18. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., condemned Shafik's actions on behalf of the protesters. Her remarks followed fellow New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who accused Columbia of "caving to right-wing pressure." Shafik, however, faces pressure from the right, as well. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called for her resignation after a crowd of protesters repeatedly interrupted him and other GOP lawmakers during a press conference at Columbia on Thursday. Student protest leaders on Friday said they are still in negotiations with university leadership, but the university's offers still fall short regarding divestment from Israel-linked organizations and amnesty for students and faculty who have been punished for their involvement in the protests. Protests and counter-protests continued Friday at Columbia, leading with hundred's of pro-Israel demonstrators holding images of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 and chanting "Bring them home now! Alive!" Later in the day, the space became occupied by a large group of pro-Palestine Hasidic Jews holding signs that read "All Palestine must be returned to Palestinian Sovereignty" and "Judaism Rejects Zionism." The situation at Columbia has spread and engulfed colleges and universities across much of the United States over the past week. More than 100 people on Friday set up tents in front of the administrative building of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to the campus newspaper The Daily Tar Heel. The event was organized by UNC's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. The group issued a statement saying it stands "in solidarity with our comrades at Columbia and across the U.S. who have been repressed, arrested, and physically attacked," and that the purpose of the demonstration was to "center Palestine and call attention to the university's participation in the genocide in Gaza." SJP said it has called on the university to divest funds since October, and there has been no change in the administration's response. More than 50 encamped protesters occupied campus Thursday and Friday at George Washington University, according to the campus newspaper the GW Hatchet. Demonstrators remained the U-Yard past the 7 p.m. deadline set by administrators to clear the encampment but have yet to face serious pressure from campus police. Students from nearby colleges, including Georgetown University, American University, George Mason and the University of Maryland later joined student protesters at George Washington. About 200 students linked arms at Illinois' Northwestern University on Friday to protest what they called censorship from the university and to call for it to divest funds from Israel. Administration officials said the demonstrators had largely dispersed and removed their tents later in the day. Students who refused were cited by campus police. No arrests were made. The University of Florida took a hardline stance Friday after two days of pro-Palestine protests. The university threatened suspension and banishment from campus for three years for protesters if they violate a host of behavior-related rules. Employees or professors caught breaking those rules will be fired, the school said. Campus police said they have not yet made any arrests during the largely peaceful protests at UF. Some of the rules include prohibiting protesters from using bullhorns, possessing weapons or protesting inside campus buildings. Other rules were vague, such as one prohibiting "disruption." Permitted activities include "speech," "expressing viewpoints" and "holding signs in hands," according to the university. Dozens of protesters at Emory University in Atlanta camped out on Thursday until police officers deployed what they called "chemical irritants" to break up the demonstration. Twenty-eight people were arrested, including 20 students and faculty, according to university officials. First appearance hearings for the Emory protesters began Friday in DeKalb County. One of the first was Emory University Economics professor Caroline Fohlin, a tenured professor of 13 years who was charged with disorderly conduct and simple battery against a police officer, according to county jail records. DeKalb County Magistrate Court Judge Ann Guerrant ordered no restrictions on students and faculty involved in the protest per the university's request. Police arrested 57 people who refused to disperse from a protest Wednesday at the University of Texas at Austin, according to the Travis County Sheriff's Office. All people who were arrested have since had their cases disposed after the county attorney's office determined they "lack sufficient probable cause to proceed." UT-Austin on Friday placed the protest's organizers, the Palestine Solidarity Committee, on "interim suspension," citing the "alleged violation of institutional rules." The University of Southern California on Thursday cancelled its main graduation ceremony after students set up an encampment Wednesday. Police arrested 93 people after ordering them to disperse. Police on Thursday arrested 36 demonstrators at Ohio State University after they refused to disobey orders to disperse. University spokesperson Benjamin Johnson said 20 of those people were not affiliated with the university, and 16 were students.
• CBS and Dick Clark Productions announced a deal Friday for the American Music Awards to air on CBS and stream on Paramount+. The 2024 ceremony will be Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. EDT. The American Music Awards previously aired on ABC. The show took 2023 off. 2024 will mark the 50th anniversary of the American Music Awards. The AMA nominees and winners are chosen by fans using metrics album sales, song sales, radio airplay and Billboard charts. Metrics now factor in streaming play too. Wayne Brady hosted the 2022 AMAs where Taylor Swift won six awards. Bad Bunny, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and Harry Styles each won two.
• Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has scheduled a July execution for convicted murderer Keith Edmund Gavin for murdering courier William Clayton Jr. in 1998. Gavin's execution by lethal injection is scheduled between midnight on July 17 and 6 a.m. July 19 at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. The longer time frame to carry out the execution was created because Alabama botched some lethal injections that had to be stopped when they could not be carried out before midnight on the dates they were scheduled. Gavin will be executed with a three-drug cocktail and not by nitrogen hypoxia. In January, the United Nations Human Rights Commission said the nitrogen method was untested and could subject the people being executed to "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or even torture." The state Supreme Court used to issue death warrants good only for a 24-hour period. Now the governor sets the timeframe for executions. William Clayton Jr., was killed in March 1998. Gavin was sentenced to death when the murder was made capital because it was done in the course of a first-degree robbery. According to an Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals filing, Clayton was a contract courier who was shot and killed a little after 6:30 p.m. March 6, 1998, while sitting in a Corporate Express Delivery Systems van outside Regions Bank in Centre. A witness, Larry Twilley, testified that he saw Gavin open the van door and shoot the driver twice. According to this testimony, the shooter pushed the driver to the passenger's side, got into the van and drove away. Twilley later identified the shooter as Gavin. A second witness, Gavin's cousin Dewayne Meeks, also saw the crime and identified Gavin as the perpetrator, according to the court filing. Meeks said he drove Gavin to Tennessee from Chicago because Gavin said he wanted to find a woman he had met in February. Meeks testified that he saw Gavin get out of their car and approach a van in Centre, Ala. He thought Gavin was going to ask the van driver for directions. Instead, he said, Gavin shot the van driver. Meeks said he watched Gavin fire two shots at the van driver. Soon after Gavin shot and killed Clayton, Meeks said he fled the scene as Gavin followed in the van, attempting to get Meeks to stop. Meeks refused to stop because he said he was scared and he returned to Chicago. Meeks was initially also indicted for capital murder but that charge was later dismissed.
• The Department of Justice said Friday that cookware company Williams-Sonoma will pay a $3.1 million civil penalty and stop making false and misleading claims about the origins of its products to settle a federal court complaint. The DOJ said the company falsely labeled products "Made in the USA" when they were actually wholly imported or contained significant imported content. The home products were sold through Williams Sonoma Home, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, PBTeen, West Elm and Rejuvenation. "Williams-Sonoma misled consumers by touting products as made in the USA when at least one of them was made in China," DOJ Civil Division head Brian M. Boynton said in a statement. "We will continue to work with the FTC to stop deceptive marketing practices like this." Williams-Sonoma's actions were violations of the FTC Act and the Made in USA Rule, according to the DOJ. FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement, "Williams-Sonoma claimed its products were made in the United States even though they were made in China. Williams-Sonoma's deception misled consumers and harmed honest American businesses. Today's record-setting civil penalty makes clear that firms committing Made-in-USA fraud will not get a free pass." The settlement imposes a $3,175,387 civil penalty on the company and enjoins Williams-Sonoma from "making misleading or unsubstantiated country-of-origin claims and includes record keeping and reporting obligations to ensure the company's future compliance."
• A Ghana man studying forestry in Alabama set a world record for most trees hugged in an hour when he hugged 1,123 trees at Tuskegee National Forest. Abubakar Tahiru, 29, became interested in nature conservation while growing up in a farming community in Tepa, Ghana. He is pursuing a master's degree in forestry at Auburn University. The record attempt required that Tahiru wrap both of his arms around each tree in a close embrace without causing any damage to the trees. No tree could be hugged more than once, requiring Tahiru to move quickly between each hug. Tahiru was fasting for Ramadan at the time of his record attempt, which presented another challenge. "Not being able to drink water throughout the attempt posed a significant challenge, especially give the physical exertion required," he told Guinness World Records. "However, this also proved to be helpful in a way, as there was no need to pause for water breaks, allowing me to continue the attempt uninterrupted from start to finish." Averaging 19 trees per minute, Tahiru easily surpassed the minimum requirement of 700 trees to establish the record. The record raises awareness of the importance of trees and environmental conservation.
• King Charles III is returning to his public royal duties as the British monarch continues his recovery from cancer treatment. The 75-year-old will return to the public spotlight next Tuesday, Buckingham Palace confirmed in a statement Friday. Charles' first public outing will be a symbolic trip to a cancer treatment center. "The King and Queen will make a joint visit to a cancer treatment center next Tuesday, where they will meet medical specialists and patients. This visit will be the first in a number of external engagements His Majesty will undertake in the weeks ahead," reads the Buckingham Palace statement. He will then ramp up his schedule, the palace added. The King's cancer treatment will remain ongoing and the palace did not speculate how long it will last. Charles has been seen at smaller engagements while he recovers from cancer treatment. Buckingham Palace has not said what type of cancer for which the monarch was treated. The king did attend Easter church services at Windsor Castle's Saint George's Chapel in late March. He also met publicly in late February with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. His summer schedule calls for the royal family to host a state visit by the emperor and empress of Japan in June.
• Paramount+ announced the Rosemary's Baby prequel Apartment 7A on Friday. The film premieres this fall on the streaming service. Julia Garner leads the cast that also includes Dianne Wiest, Jim Sturgess and Kevin McNally. The movie is about the previous residents of Rosemary's apartment. The 1968 adaptation of Ira Levin's novel starred Mia Farrow as the woman impregnated with Satan's child. Garner will play an injured dancer. Rosemary's husband, Guy, was also in the arts as a theater actor. Natalie Ericka James directs Apartment 7A. Marli Siu, Andrew Buchan, Rosy McEwen and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith also star. Platinum Dunes, the production company of Michael Bay and Brad Fuller, produces Apartment 7A. Platinum Dunes is also behind the Purge and Quiet Place franchises.
• Jeremy Cooper, a former first responder convicted in the death of Elijah McClain, is to be sentenced Friday. He's the final of three men to be sentenced in McClain's death. Cooper was convicted of negligent homicide in the 2019 killing after paramedics used ketamine to sedate McClain, 23, during a police encounter in Aurora, Colo. McClain, who was Black, was unarmed and not accused of breaking any laws when he was killed. Cooper and co-defendant Peter Cichuniec were found guilty of negligent homicide in December. Cichuniec got five years for assault and another year for the criminally negligent homicide charge. They were found to have improperly treated McClain before and after he was given ketamine. After the December verdicts, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said, "Elijah did nothing wrong that evening. His life mattered and he should be here today. Accountability does not end with these trials. Too many times we have seen people die when officers unnecessarily escalate situations that don't call for the use of force." McClain was confronted by police after a 911 caller reported him as "suspicious." An officer grabbed him within seconds and forced him to the ground, where he was held in a position that cut off oxygen to his brain for a short time. Cooper administered ketamaine to sedate him after McClain became upset while handcuffed and restrained on the ground for about 10 minutes. McClain died when his heart stopped after the ketamine dose. Former Colorado police officer Randy Roedema was sentenced to 14 months in prison and four years probation for his role in McClain's death. Former officer Jason Rosenblatt was acquitted in the case. Cooper will be sentenced Friday afternoon.