Another path into the sky: JetBlue to partner with ECSU aviation

The families of five passengers killed in a plane crash off the North Carolina coast have settled wrongful death lawsuits for $15 million. Their attorneys told the court the companies that owned the plane and employed the pilot paid the money. The suits claimed the pilot failed to properly fly the single-engine plane in weather conditions with limited visibility. All eight people aboard died off the Outer Banks. The passengers included four teenagers and two adults, returning from a hunting trip. The founder of the company that owned the plane was killed, and his family wasn't involved in the lawsuits.

The University of Wisconsin System has joined a number of universities across the country in banning the popular social media app TikTok on school devicies. UW System officials made the announcement Tuesday. A number of other universities have banned TikTok in recent weeks, including Auburn, Arkansas State and Oklahoma. Nearly half the states have banned the app on state-owned devices, including Wisconsin, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and South Dakota. Congress also recently banned TikTok from most U.S. government-issued devices over bipartisan concerns about security. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020. Critics say the Chinese government could access user data.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it will study whether to toughen regulation of large livestock farms that pollute waterways. The agency hasn't revised its rules dealing with the nation's largest hog, poultry and cattle operations since 2008. Farm manure and fertilizer runoff fouls lakes and streams. It's a leading cause of harmful algae blooms. EPA says it reconsidered its intention to leave existing rules in place after an environmental group filed a lawsuit. The agency says it will gather information on how bad the pollution is and what new methods might bring improvements.

Video showing five Memphis officers beating a Black man has been made public. The release comes one day after the officers were charged with murder in the death of Tyre Nichols. The footage shows the Black officers savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes in an assault that the Nichols family’s legal team likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration last year quietly ousted its former top official in Mexico over improper contact with lawyers for narcotraffickers. Nicholas Palmeri’s socializing and vacationing with Miami drug lawyers, detailed in confidential records obtained by the Associated Press, brought his ultimate downfall after just 14 months at the helm. But colleagues told the AP there were plenty of other red flags, including lax handling of the coronavirus pandemic that resulted in two sickened agents having to be airlifted out of the country. A separate internal probe found Palmeri used drug-fighting funds for inappropriate purposes, including to pay for his own birthday party.

Newly released video shows the husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi struggling for control of a hammer with his assailant during an attack in the couple’s San Francisco home last year. The footage was released Friday after a coalition of news agencies, including The Associated Press, sought access to evidence prosecutors played in court during a preliminary hearing last month. The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office had refused to make it available to journalists. The evidence includes portions of Paul Pelosi’s 911 call, as well as images from Capitol police surveillance cameras, a body camera worn by one of the responding police officers and a recording from the suspect's police interview. David DePape has pleaded not guilty in separate state and federal cases.

Tyre Nichols was killed by police in Memphis after they pulled him over Jan. 7. Video of the incident is to be released to the public on Friday. Family and friends remember Nichols as a generous, lovable man who worked hard to be a good father to his 4-year-old son. He was passionate about photography. He was an avid skateboarder and hailed from Sacramento, California. He got stuck in Memphis during the pandemic, but didn't mind because he was with his mother. They were close, and she says she's still in shock he won't walk through her door anymore. Family lawyers and officials say the video will show a savage attack.

The national president of the Fraternal Order of Police has issued a scathing statement over the actions of five former Memphis police officers involved in the arrest of Tyre Nichols. Patrick Yoes says the officers’ encounter with Nichols “does not constitute legitimate police work or a traffic stop gone wrong.” Instead, Yoes called it a “criminal assault under the pretext of law.” Nichols died three days after a Jan. 7 confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop.