AUTHORITIES SAY 3 SHOT DEAD IN RURAL SONOMA COUNTY: SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say three men have been found dead in a rural Sonoma County home.
Sheriff's investigators told said the bodies of the three men were found in a home near Forestville around 3:13 p.m. Tuesday.
The newspaper says the area around the home is cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape and sheriff's deputies were on the scene.
Sheriff's Lt. Dennis O'Leary told the Press Democrat that there was no suspect information available.
The property is near Iron Horse Vineyards. Winery employees said they have been told not to go near the area because of the law enforcement activity.
COUNTY OKS PLAN AIMED AT ILLEGAL GUNS IN CHICAGO: CHICAGO (AP) — In an effort to slow the flow of illegal guns to Chicago streets, county commissioners approved an ordinance Tuesday that imposes fines of as much as $2,000 on suburban residents who fail to report when their guns are lost, stolen or given to someone else.
The Cook County ordinance is aimed at so-called straw purchasers, who legally buy guns but give them to convicted felons or others barred from owning firearms. Law enforcement, including Chicago's top police official, say such purchases are largely responsible for illegal guns spilling into Chicago — home to one of the strictest gun-control laws in the nation — and other nearby communities.
In fact, one study found that more than 1,300 guns confiscated by Chicago police since 2008 were purchased at a single store in Cook County that's just outside city limits.
CONN. CONGRESSMAN SEES FACTUAL FLAW IN 'LINCOLN' : HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — As Rep. Joe Courtney watched the Oscar-nominated "Lincoln" over the weekend, something didn't seem right to him.
He said Tuesday he was shocked that the film, about President Abraham Lincoln's political struggle to abolish slavery, includes a scene in which two Connecticut congressmen vote against the 13th amendment to the Constitution, outlawing slavery.
"'Wow. Connecticut voted against abolishing slavery?'" Courtney recalled hearing audience members ask. "I obviously had the same reaction. It was really bugging me."
He said a cursory Internet search confirmed his suspicions that the movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, was historically inaccurate. He asked the Congressional Research Service to investigate, and it reported that all four Connecticut congressmen backed the amendment in a January 1865 vote.
TOTALS OF NUMBER OF HISPANICS IN HOUSE DIFFER: WASHINGTON (AP) — How many Hispanic members are there in Congress? Turns out narrowing it down to one number is not easy.
There is no dispute about the Senate, which has three Hispanic senators. The House, however, is another matter.
The House Press Gallery, an administrative office of Congress that helps media and House officials get the data and background they need, counts 33 Hispanic representatives in the 113th Congress, not including delegates. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, a nonprofit affiliated with the caucus, puts the number at 31. The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials tallies 28.
The conflicting numbers on Capitol Hill illustrate just how elastic Hispanic identity can be.
Hispanics can be of any race, and some 18 million Hispanics — or roughly 37 percent — used the "some other race" category on their 2010 census forms rather than identify as black, white or Asian. Because of that, the Census Bureau is considering making Hispanic a distinct category. On the 2010 form, the bureau asked whether or not people identify as Hispanic, and if the answer was yes, from which country of origin.
