Massachusetts

Protest hits Trump for ‘anti-science rhetoric’

Hundreds of scientists, environmental advocates and their supporters held a rally in Boston on Sunday to protest what they view as increasing threats to science and research in the United States.

The scientists, some dressed in white lab coats, called on President Trump’s administration to recognize evidence of climate change and take action on various environmental issues.

Geoffrey Supran, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies renewable energy solutions to climate change, said scientists are responding to the Trump administration’s “anti-science rhetoric.”

“We’re really trying to send a message today to Mr. Trump that America runs on science — science is the backbone of our prosperity and progress,” Supran said.

The Rally to Stand Up for Science in Boston’s Copley Square was held outside the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting, one of the first major gatherings of scientists since Trump was elected in November.

Protesters held signs that read “Science Matters,” “Scientists Pursuing Truth, Saving the World” and “Make America Smart Again.”

Some of those who turned out criticized Trump’s appointment of Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency over the objections of environmental groups.

— Associated Press

Illinois

Weekend shootings kill 1, hurt 10 in Chicago

A man was killed and at least 10 other people, including an off-duty Cook County correctional officer, were wounded in shootings across Chicago from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, police said.

The Cook County sheriff’s deputy was shot about 8:35 p.m. in the 7300 block of South Aberdeen Street, police said. He was shot in the leg and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in good condition.

The fatal attack happened shortly after 3:30 p.m. in the 4900 block of West Van Buren Street in the Austin community, police said. A 33-year-old man was sitting in a vehicle when a silver sedan pulled up and someone fired shots, striking him multiple times. He was taken in serious condition to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.

He was identified as Eddie Thomas, of the 5000 block of West Adams Street, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which said he was pronounced dead at 5:11 p.m. Saturday.

— Chicago Tribune

Indiana

Police pick top suspect in slaying of two girls

A man photographed walking along a northern Indiana trail system around the time two teenage girls later found dead were dropped off by a relative is now considered the main suspect in their killings, state police said Sunday.

The unidentified man previously had been considered a person authorities wanted to speak to in their investigation of the killings of Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13.

The girls’ bodies were found Tuesday about a quarter-mile from an abandoned railroad bridge that’s part of a trail system where they had planned to go hiking during a day off school in Delphi, a community of 3,000 people about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.

Their deaths have been ruled a double homicide, but authorities have not disclosed how the girls died. Private funerals were scheduled for Sunday.

— Associated Press