COLU @ CONCEPTS

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma prosecutor said Saturday that he was shocked when a judge declared a mistrial in the case of a white former Tulsa police officer who fatally shot his daughter’s black boyfriend because jurors had deliberated for only a few hours. It was the third mistrial in nine months for former Tulsa police officer Shannon Kepler, and all of the trials have been overseen by District Judge Sharon Holmes. Kepler doesn’t deny shooting 19-year-old Jeremey Lake, but claims he was acting in self-defense. Kepler testified that Lake was armed, although police didn’t find a weapon on Lake or at the scene. The shooting happened shortly after Lake had started dating Kepler’s then-18-year-old daughter, Lisa. Attorneys said jurors deliberated for just 2 ½ to three hours on Friday before saying they were deadlocked 6-6. Holmes reminded jurors that the trial had started June 27 and asked whether that changed their minds. When they said no, the judge declared a mistrial. “I...

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma prosecutor said Saturday that he was shocked when a judge declared a mistrial in the case of a white former Tulsa police officer who fatally shot his daughter’s black boyfriend because jurors had deliberated for only a few hours. It was the third mistrial in nine months for former Tulsa police officer Shannon Kepler, and all of the trials have been overseen by District Judge Sharon Holmes. Kepler doesn’t deny shooting 19-year-old Jeremey Lake, but claims he was acting in self-defense. Kepler testified that Lake was armed, although police didn’t find a weapon on Lake or at the scene. The shooting happened shortly after Lake had started dating Kepler’s then-18-year-old daughter, Lisa. Attorneys said jurors deliberated for just 2 ½ to three hours on Friday before saying they were deadlocked 6-6. Holmes reminded jurors that the trial had started June 27 and asked whether that changed their minds. When they said no, the judge declared a mistrial. “I...

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma prosecutor said Saturday that he was shocked when a judge declared a mistrial in the case of a white former Tulsa police officer who fatally shot his daughter’s black boyfriend because jurors had deliberated for only a few hours. It was the third mistrial in nine months for former Tulsa police officer Shannon Kepler, and all of the trials have been overseen by District Judge Sharon Holmes. Kepler doesn’t deny shooting 19-year-old Jeremey Lake, but claims he was acting in self-defense. Kepler testified that Lake was armed, although police didn’t find a weapon on Lake or at the scene. The shooting happened shortly after Lake had started dating Kepler’s then-18-year-old daughter, Lisa. Attorneys said jurors deliberated for just 2 ½ to three hours on Friday before saying they were deadlocked 6-6. Holmes reminded jurors that the trial had started June 27 and asked whether that changed their minds. When they said no, the judge declared a mistrial. “I...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A commercial photographer has sued Kendall and Kylie Jenner over the use of two of his images of late rapper Tupac Shakur that were used on T-shirts the sisters briefly sold for $125 apiece. Michael Miller sued the Jenner sisters in a Los Angeles federal court on Friday for copyright infringement over the “vintage” T-shirts that featured their likeness or designs superimposed over photos of famous musicians. Miller’s suit states the Jenners never sought permission to use his photos. The sisters’ brand Kendall + Kylie stopped selling the shirts last month after Ozzy Osbourne’s wife and the mother of the late rapper Notorious B.I.G, criticized them. Emails sent to the Jenners’ publicists were not immediately returned Friday. Miller is seeking at least $150,000 apiece for the use of his photos. Source: www.apnews.com 

BEIJING (AP) — China’s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo’s two brothers were being allowed to travel to a northeastern city to visit him in a hospital Saturday, a friend and a former lawyer said, as concerns mounted over his deteriorating health. A German cancer specialist, meanwhile, has arrived in China to help treat Liu — though it was not immediately clear if he had been able to see the dissident suffering from late-stage liver cancer. The specialist was allowed in by China following international criticism of Beijing’s handling of Liu’s illness and calls for him to be treated abroad. “We have learned that Liu Xiaobo’s state of health is deteriorating rapidly,” the German foreign ministry said late Friday in an emailed response to questions. “We are very concerned.” The specialist “is currently on site,” the statement said, adding that no further details were available. The visits come as Liu’s illness has taken a turn for the worse. Chinese doctors said...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring surged in June in a surprising show of U.S. economic vitality eight years into the recovery from the Great Recession. Pay gains remain weak, though, a stark reminder of one of the economy’s key shortcomings. Employers added 222,000 jobs last month, and hiring in the previous two months was revised much higher. Job gains have now averaged nearly 180,000 a month this year, only slightly below last year’s pace. Unemployment ticked up to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent, but mostly for a good reason: More Americans started looking for work, a sign of confidence in the economy. Last month, economists worried that hiring would slow as employers struggled to fill jobs from a dwindling supply of unemployed workers. Friday’s data suggests companies are still finding plenty of people to hire. That has given economists greater confidence the economy still has room to run. “This balanced pace should enable the current economic expansion to be maintained much bey...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina inmate broke out of a maximum-security prison using wire cutters apparently flown in by drone, officials said Friday, describing a new and devilishly hard-to-stop means of escape. Convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey, 46, was recaptured at a Texas motel before daybreak, more than two days after bolting to freedom in a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. It was the second time in 12 years that he escaped. This time, he used a smuggled-in cellphone to coordinate the delivery of the breakout tools, investigators said. Then, with dusk approaching on the Fourth of July, he cut through four fences and left a dummy in his bed that fooled his guards. He got an 18-hour head start. When he was caught, he had about $47,000 in cash, an ID card and two guns, authorities said. “We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,” South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. He said investigators were still trying to c...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina inmate broke out of a maximum-security prison using wire cutters apparently flown in by drone, officials said Friday, describing a new and devilishly hard-to-stop means of escape. Convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey, 46, was recaptured at a Texas motel before daybreak, more than two days after bolting to freedom in a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. It was the second time in 12 years that he escaped. This time, he used a smuggled-in cellphone to coordinate the delivery of the breakout tools, investigators said. Then, with dusk approaching on the Fourth of July, he cut through four fences and left a dummy in his bed that fooled his guards. He got an 18-hour head start. When he was caught, he had about $47,000 in cash, an ID card and two guns, authorities said. “We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,” South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. He said investigators were still trying to c...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina inmate broke out of a maximum-security prison using wire cutters apparently flown in by drone, officials said Friday, describing a new and devilishly hard-to-stop means of escape. Convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey, 46, was recaptured at a Texas motel before daybreak, more than two days after bolting to freedom in a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. It was the second time in 12 years that he escaped. This time, he used a smuggled-in cellphone to coordinate the delivery of the breakout tools, investigators said. Then, with dusk approaching on the Fourth of July, he cut through four fences and left a dummy in his bed that fooled his guards. He got an 18-hour head start. When he was caught, he had about $47,000 in cash, an ID card and two guns, authorities said. “We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,” South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. He said investigators were still trying to c...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina inmate broke out of a maximum-security prison using wire cutters apparently flown in by drone, officials said Friday, describing a new and devilishly hard-to-stop means of escape. Convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey, 46, was recaptured at a Texas motel before daybreak, more than two days after bolting to freedom in a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. It was the second time in 12 years that he escaped. This time, he used a smuggled-in cellphone to coordinate the delivery of the breakout tools, investigators said. Then, with dusk approaching on the Fourth of July, he cut through four fences and left a dummy in his bed that fooled his guards. He got an 18-hour head start. When he was caught, he had about $47,000 in cash, an ID card and two guns, authorities said. “We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,” South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. He said investigators were still trying to c...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina inmate broke out of a maximum-security prison using wire cutters apparently flown in by drone, officials said Friday, describing a new and devilishly hard-to-stop means of escape. Convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey, 46, was recaptured at a Texas motel before daybreak, more than two days after bolting to freedom in a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. It was the second time in 12 years that he escaped. This time, he used a smuggled-in cellphone to coordinate the delivery of the breakout tools, investigators said. Then, with dusk approaching on the Fourth of July, he cut through four fences and left a dummy in his bed that fooled his guards. He got an 18-hour head start. When he was caught, he had about $47,000 in cash, an ID card and two guns, authorities said. “We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,” South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. He said investigators were still trying to c...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina inmate broke out of a maximum-security prison using wire cutters apparently flown in by drone, officials said Friday, describing a new and devilishly hard-to-stop means of escape. Convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey, 46, was recaptured at a Texas motel before daybreak, more than two days after bolting to freedom in a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. It was the second time in 12 years that he escaped. This time, he used a smuggled-in cellphone to coordinate the delivery of the breakout tools, investigators said. Then, with dusk approaching on the Fourth of July, he cut through four fences and left a dummy in his bed that fooled his guards. He got an 18-hour head start. When he was caught, he had about $47,000 in cash, an ID card and two guns, authorities said. “We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,” South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. He said investigators were still trying to c...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina inmate broke out of a maximum-security prison using wire cutters apparently flown in by drone, officials said Friday, describing a new and devilishly hard-to-stop means of escape. Convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey, 46, was recaptured at a Texas motel before daybreak, more than two days after bolting to freedom in a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. It was the second time in 12 years that he escaped. This time, he used a smuggled-in cellphone to coordinate the delivery of the breakout tools, investigators said. Then, with dusk approaching on the Fourth of July, he cut through four fences and left a dummy in his bed that fooled his guards. He got an 18-hour head start. When he was caught, he had about $47,000 in cash, an ID card and two guns, authorities said. “We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,” South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. He said investigators were still trying to c...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina inmate broke out of a maximum-security prison using wire cutters apparently flown in by drone, officials said Friday, describing a new and devilishly hard-to-stop means of escape. Convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey, 46, was recaptured at a Texas motel before daybreak, more than two days after bolting to freedom in a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. It was the second time in 12 years that he escaped. This time, he used a smuggled-in cellphone to coordinate the delivery of the breakout tools, investigators said. Then, with dusk approaching on the Fourth of July, he cut through four fences and left a dummy in his bed that fooled his guards. He got an 18-hour head start. When he was caught, he had about $47,000 in cash, an ID card and two guns, authorities said. “We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,” South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. He said investigators were still trying to c...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina inmate broke out of a maximum-security prison using wire cutters apparently flown in by drone, officials said Friday, describing a new and devilishly hard-to-stop means of escape. Convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey, 46, was recaptured at a Texas motel before daybreak, more than two days after bolting to freedom in a plot worthy of a Hollywood script. It was the second time in 12 years that he escaped. This time, he used a smuggled-in cellphone to coordinate the delivery of the breakout tools, investigators said. Then, with dusk approaching on the Fourth of July, he cut through four fences and left a dummy in his bed that fooled his guards. He got an 18-hour head start. When he was caught, he had about $47,000 in cash, an ID card and two guns, authorities said. “We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,” South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said. He said investigators were still trying to c...