California college drops ‘Trump’
from impeachment class name
San Diego (AP) – San Diego State University is dropping President Donald Trump’s name from the title of a class after public criticism. The name of the course? “Trump: Impeachment, Removal or Conviction?” The university announced Wednesday that it was dropping Trump’s name from the title of the one-unit weekend class. The course, which began Friday, covers the history, procedures and constitutional grounds for removing presidents as well as presidential immunity. It also reviews all 19 U.S. presidents who faced potential impeachment, including Richard Nixon, who resigned before he could face such proceedings. It’s offered to the public through the university’s extended studies program. The university says the course isn’t state-funded and isn’t required for graduation.
College sues former student who
refuses to leave dorm
New York (AP) – A New York City college is trying to evict a former student who it says is illegally squatting in her dorm room. Hunter College has filed a lawsuit against 32-year-old Lisa Palmer, saying the woman owes more than $94,000 in unpaid residence hall fees since she dropped out in 2016. The lawsuit says Palmer was denied summer housing in 2016. She remained in her dorm, despite the school sending several notices that she would be charged $150 a day if she stayed. Palmer was issued a 30-day eviction notice in September 2017. She refused to leave, prompting the school to file its lawsuit. Palmer, a former geography major, says she plans to stay and fight the case. A Hunter College spokesperson says they cannot comment on pending litigation.
Drunk man takes $1,600 Uber
from West Virginia to New Jersey
Gloucester County, N.J. (AP) – A New Jersey man who got drunk in West Virginia and mistakenly ordered a $1,635 Uber ride back to his home state says the experience was “crazy.” NJ.com reported Wednesday that Kenny Bachman thought he was taking an Uber to where he was staying, near the West Virginia University campus. But when his driver woke him up two hours into the more than 300-mile journey to New Jersey, Bachman says he didn’t know what was happening or who the driver was. The trip was made more expensive because Bachman gave the driver money for tolls and ordered an UberXL, which can hold up to six passengers. He says he unsuccessfully challenged the fare with Uber, which confirmed that the ride occurred. Bachman says he gave the driver five stars.
French customs officials find stolen
Degas in luggage on bus
Paris (AP) – French customs officers have found an impressionist painting by Edgar Degas stowed on a bus, more than eight years after it was reported stolen. The French Culture Ministry said Friday that customs agents in Marne-la-Vallee were surprised to find a work of art bearing the signature “Degas” inside a suitcase in the bus’s luggage compartment. The ministry says none of the passengers claimed the suitcase during the Feb. 16 search. Experts verified the artwork as Degas’ “Les Choristes” (“The Chorus Singers”), which depicts a scene from Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni.” The painting was stolen from a Marseille museum in 2009 while on loan from Paris’ Musee d’Orsay. French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen said she was delighted by the recovery of a work “whose disappearance represented a heavy loss for the French impressionist heritage.”
Massachusetts school to keep
‘Millionaires’ mascot name
Lenox, Mass. (AP) – Students at a Massachusetts school want to remain Millionaires. The Lenox Memorial Middle and High School student council on Wednesday announced that a school-wide poll found a majority of students want to keep the sometimes contentious Millionaires mascot. About 96 percent of the school’s 438 students voted last month. Fifty-one percent voted to keep the nickname, 32 percent wanted to change it, and 17 percent had no opinion. Students last spring voted to change it because it is divisive, leads to taunts from opposing schools, and doesn’t accurately reflect the picturesque town’s economics. Superintendent Timothy Lee tells The Berkshire Eagle the latest vote “puts the issue to rest.” The nickname is a tribute to wealthy out-of-towners, called “cottagers,” who built mansions during the gilded age and employed the locals.
