National Roundup

Kentucky
Cameron becomes state’s first African American AG
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Vowing to be a “voice for the voiceless,” Daniel Cameron was sworn in Tuesday as the first African American in Kentucky history to serve as its attorney general.

Cameron, a protege of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, becomes the first Republican in 70 years to serve as the state’s top prosecutor.

Cameron, 34, defeated Democrat Greg Stumbo in November. Cameron took office a few weeks early when his predecessor, Gov. Andy Beshear, appointed him to serve the remainder of his term.

With his hand on a Bible being held by his mother, Cameron was sworn in by U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove during a ceremony in the Attorney General’s office at the state Capitol. Cameron served as a law clerk for the judge.

Cameron pledged to continue the “good work” started by Beshear during the Democrat’s term as attorney general.

Cameron, a former University of Louisville football player, worked as McConnell’s general counsel and helped push through the nomination of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Maryland
Baltimore to name courthouse after Elijah Cummings
BALTIMORE (AP) — The city of Baltimore is renaming a courthouse after the late Congressman Elijah Cummings.

The Baltimore Sun reported that Baltimore City Council voted to make the change on Monday

Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young had asked the council to push the legislation forward. He intends to sign the bill and formally unveil the new name for Courthouse East in the near future.

Cummings was chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. He was also a powerful advocate for Baltimore and civil rights. He died in October.

Wisconsin
Two years in prison for man who illegally shipped guns
CHILTON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man accused of manufacturing guns and illegally shipping them to Australia has been sentenced to two years in federal prison.

 Andy Lloyd Huebschmann, of Chilton, made guns and parts for guns, including kits that contained parts for rifles that could function with either semi-automatic or fully automatic triggers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors say Huebschmann illegally shipped those items to an “Australian criminal and gun enthusiast” in containers designed to hide the contents and without the proper licenses.

In sentencing Huebschmann Monday, federal Judge William Griesbach noted the “extremely dangerous nature of the crime.”

Huebschmann was also ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and will spend one year on supervised release following his release from prison.

Iowa
Nativity scene won’t be returning to courthouse lawn
CENTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A Nativity scene removed from a county courthouse lawn in southern Iowa won’t be returning.

The scene was erected Nov. 18 outside the Appanoose County Courthouse in Centerville, but some residents complained that a religious display should not be placed on government property.

City Administrator Jason Fraser had approved the display’s location but told organizers that it needed to be moved before Thanksgiving. It took until Dec. 9 before enough volunteers could be gathered to move the display off the lawn and to a new spot about two blocks south.

The county owns the building and the land underneath; the city owns the lawn.

Oregon
Brothers plead guilty to $140K Bitcoin scheme
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two Canadian brothers pleaded guilty Monday to duping an Oregonian woman out of over $140,000 worth of bitcoin currency.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Jagroop Singh Khatkar surrendered to federal authorities for the negotiated plea agreement and appeared with his brother, Karanjit Singh Khatkhar, before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon in federal court in Portland.

The brothers, of Surrey, British Columbia, each pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Under the plea agreement, the government will recommend each serve two years in prison.

FBI agents arrested Karanjit Khatkar July 18 at in Las Vegas after he arrived there from Canada. The older brother didn’t turn himself in until Monday.

The two brothers stole about 23 bitcoin, worth about $140,000 at the time yet over $160,000 today, from a Gresham woman after they created a fake Twitter account to impersonate the Hong Kong-based HitBTC bitcoin exchange.

They tricked the woman into contacting the Twitter account for support and got her to provide her email address which they used to take over her account at the bitcoin exchange, according to prosecutors.

With access to her account, Karanjit Khatkar confirmed transfers of the woman’s bitcoin to his bitcoin exchange account. Then, he shared the proceeds with his brother.

Washington
State hospital transgender discrimination suit settled
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A nurse has settled her transgender discrimination lawsuit against Western State Hospital for $95,000.

The News Tribune reports Kaia Rasmussen filed her lawsuit against the state last year in Pierce County Superior Court.

The hospital discriminated against Rasmussen on the basis of sex/gender by making discriminatory comments after she started presenting as female at work, and failing to respond to her reports related to comments about her and transgender patients, according to the lawsuit.

The settlement was finalized in October.

According to the lawsuit, Rasmussen served in the Army for 20 years and was hired in 2016 as a nurse at Western State Hospital.

She started presenting as a woman at work in March 2017. Around the same time the complaint says Rasmussen overheard medical staff making disparaging comments about transgender patients.

Rasmussen started suffering from anxiety, and her requests for reasonable accommodation were “largely ignored,” her lawsuit says.