5 things you need to know Monday
1. Funerals to be held for victims of La. theater shooting
Funeral services for two of the victims in last week's shooting rampage at a Louisiana movie theater will be held Monday. Mayci Breaux, 21, and Jillian Johnson, 33, were fatally shot when John Russell Houser, a 59-year-old man with a history of mental illness, stood up at a showing of the romantic comedy Trainwreck and began shooting into the crowd. Houser was able to purchase his .40-caliber handgun at a Georgia pawn shop last year — despite a history of mental illness that included a judge committing him to treatment against his will as a danger to himself and others in 2008, the Associated Press reported. He shot and killed himself after officers arrived at the scene. Nine people were also wounded in the attack.
2. Docs sometimes mum on advice for mom
Moms get a lot of advice, much of it unsolicited, on how to raise their new bundle of joy, but when it comes to key issues of infant health and safety, some moms hear surprisingly little from doctors, a new study published Monday in Pediatrics shows. Of those surveyed, 75% said they heard nothing from doctors about pacifier use and more than 50% said they heard nothing about where babies should sleep — for example, in their own cribs or in parents' beds. About 20% reported no doctors' advice on breastfeeding or how infants should be positioned for sleep. And 11% said doctors offered no advice on vaccinations. The authors speculate that some doctors don't dish out advice because they are unaware of, or disagree with, official recommendations, and that others may want to avoid potentially contentious, lengthy discussions; some may just run out of time.
3. Boy Scouts expected to officially end ban on gay scout leaders
The Boy Scouts of America is expected on Monday to officially end its longstanding ban on gay scout leaders — but the new policy won't prevent church-led scout groups from choosing adult leaders "whose beliefs are consistent with their own," the group said. The organization's 80-member board is expected to vote Monday on a resolution passed by the executive committee earlier this month that would end a blanket ban on gay adult leaders and let individual scout units set their own policy on the long-divisive issue. Former U.S. Defense secretary Robert Gates, now the organization's national president, said "We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be. The status quo in our movement's membership standards cannot be sustained."
4. Whitey Bulger bid for new trial heads to appeals court
Former Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger is hoping a federal appeals court will overturn his convictions based on what his lawyers call a "constitutional error" that denied Bulger his right to a fair trial. Bulger claimed that former assistant U.S. attorney Jeremiah O'Sullivan, who died in 2009, had given Bulger immunity during the 1980s in return for protecting his life from the mobsters he prosecuted. A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Monday. Bulger was convicted of participating in 11 murders while leading a violent South Boston gang from the 1970s into the 1990s. He fled shortly before he was indicted in 1995 after being tipped off by an FBI agent. Now 85, Bulger was one of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted fugitives for more than 16 years until he was captured. He is now serving a life sentence.
5. 'The Bachelorette' delivers the final rose
The Bachelorette, Kaitlyn Bristowe, has narrowed her choices down to two bachelors and she'll reveal her final decision on the reality show's season finale on Monday. It's been a controversial season for The Bachelorette, one filled with sex and publicity-generating Twitter insults about the sex, as the producers no doubt expected. Now, it's time for the final rose. Will it be Shawn? Will it be Nick? We'll have to wait until 8 p.m. to find out.
And, the essentials:
Weather: It looks like more heavy rain in Florida and severe weather in the Northern Plains on Monday.
Stocks: U.S. stock futures were lower Monday, while Chinese shares plunged.
TV Tonight: Wondering what to watch tonight? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at The Bachelorette Finale/After the Final Rose, UnReal and POV: Tea Time.
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Contributing: The Associated Press