A Columbine obsession turns deadly
Hi, Short Listers. Emily and Josh here, serving up your news today 👋while Ashley is away. There's plenty to dissect, but first: The Masters actually had two winners. Tiger Woods and this guy who got crazy rich.
A Columbine-obsessed high schooler flew there and bought a gun. Now she's dead.
A high school senior who allegedly made "credible threats" against Denver-area schools died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound days before the Columbine High School shooting's 20th anniversary. Officials said Sol Pais, 18, was “infatuated” with the Columbine shooting and bought a pump-action shotgun and ammo at a gun shop near Littleton, not far from Columbine High School, after flying Monday night from Miami to Colorado. The hunt for Pais prompted officials to close area schools Wednesday. This threat "felt different" from others since the tragedy April 20, 1999, said John McDonald, the school district's safety chief. "We’re not a tourist attraction," he said, "and we’re not a place for you to come and be an inspiration.”
Medical history was made today, and not in a good way
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced the biggest crackdown on illegal opioid prescriptions in U.S. history. A dentist is accused of unnecessarily pulling a patient's teeth to warrant a prescription. Other medical professionals allegedly sent patients across state lines and had them fill prescriptions at different pharmacies.
Here's what it looks like by the numbers:
60 physicians and pharmacists are charged with writing illegal opioid prescriptions.
350,000 prescriptions were handed out, prosecutors said.
32 million-plus pills were involved.
Charges span 5 states : Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Defendants wrote enough prescriptions for "every man, woman and child" in those states to get an opioid dose, a Justice Department official said. Let's not forget: Almost 218,000 people died from overdoses related to prescription opioids from 1999 to 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Notre Dame raises millions — and conspiracy theories
To be clear: Officials ruled out arson and terror-related motives in the fire that ravaged Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral. Still, InfoWars, the far-right conspiracy site run by Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones, published a story on a claim that the cathedral's fire was “deliberately” set. That's one of many sources and hoaxers spreading misinformation about the fire. Donations for the restoration neared the $1 billion mark, and recovery efforts ramped up Wednesday at the iconic cathedral. The cost to completely repair the church? $1 billion-$2 billion.
Real quick
Beyonce's super-restrictive diet: "No bread, no carbs, no sugar, no dairy, no fish, no alcohol."
Pete Buttigieg was heckled for being gay. His response? "The condition of my soul is in the hands of God."
The problem with artificial intelligence? It's too white and too male.
Remember the name Noah Lyles: He's the next Usain Bolt and aims to light up the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Historic barns stripped by thieves. Their inspo? Chip and Joanna Gaines
Thieves have stripped historic barns down to their frames across Kentucky to feed a growing desire for the farmhouse chic look popularized by famous HGTV hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines – that is, taking ancient, weathered barn wood and using it to make a new house look old. Law enforcement officials say there’s not much they can do to stop the thieves or to track down the wood. It has become such a problem that buyers of weathered wood asked for W-9 tax forms from those looking to sell.
The Mueller report's coming. Trump's plan? Act quick.
At least a dozen of President Donald Trump's attorneys and staffers will plunge into Robert Mueller’s 400-page Russia report set to drop Thursday morning. Their mission? Distill it all into a response – quickly. The report comes after Attorney General William Barr's four-page summary. Though Trump said he hadn't read the Mueller report, his aides made predictions: There was no collusion with Russia, no obstruction of justice and no basis for Mueller's inquiry in the first place. Remember: This isn't the only investigation on Trump. A half-dozen federal, state and city jurisdictions are pursuing overlapping inquiries on the president.
Get up to speed before tomorrow: Everything we know about Russia, the Trump campaign and the 2016 election, and what we could find out.
This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this snappy news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for "The Short List" newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A Columbine obsession turns deadly
