New England Sun-Times

By Carey Gillam   (Reuters) - A U.S. probe found systemic racial bias and unconstitutional policing that targeted blacks in Ferguson, Missouri, but cleared a white officer there in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in August, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. The report said police in the St. Louis suburb issued almost all of its traffic citations to blacks as it tried to raise revenue through fines and court fees. Police also targeted blacks for arrests, many on dubious grounds, and spread racist jokes through emails, said the report that was compiled after Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was unarmed. The killing touched off a national debate on race, led to months of street protests and amplified long-standing complaints in Ferguson and around the country of police harassment and mistreatment of minorities. "This emphasis on revenue has compromised the institutional character of ...

By MICHELLE R. SMITH and JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press Former House Speaker Gordon Fox has agreed to plead guilty to charges of bribery, wire fraud and filing a false tax return following an investigation that included a dramatic federal raid on the Statehouse, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday. The details from the court documents bring an end to nearly a year of speculation about what the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and state police were investigating when they raided Fox's home and Statehouse office March 21, 2014. A change-of-plea hearing is scheduled for noon in U.S. District Court in Providence. Fox is accused of receiving $52,500 in cash and checks in 2008 to help grant a liquor license to a bar near Brown University when he served as vice chairman of the board of licenses for the city of Providence. He's also accused of making about 28 interbank transfers totaling $108,000, taking the money from his campaign account and usi...

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