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3 charged in Sweet 16 mass shooting

Laura L. Davis   | Paste BN

Three people were arrested and charged with murder in a deadly shooting at a Sweet 16 party in Alabama. And an old NASA satellite will crash into Earth tonight, but it's unclear where.

👋 Hey! Laura Davis here. It's time for Wednesday's news.

But first, a happy ending for a not-so-little piggy. 🐷 A 275-pound pig named Oink has found her way home after devastating tornadoes swept through Mississippi last month. But it took a bribe.

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3 arrested in deadly Sweet 16 party shooting

With more charges likely, two teen brothers and a 20-year-old man have been arrested and charged with murder in connection to a mass shooting at a Sweet 16 party in Alabama that killed four people and wounded dozens more, officials announced Wednesday. Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn, and brothers Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee, were all charged with four counts of reckless murder in the Saturday shooting in Dadeville, officials said. The teens are being charged as adults. Here's the latest coverage.

Florida bans teaching of gender, sexuality through 12th grade

In Gov. Ron DeSantis’ latest attack on what he calls "woke gender ideology," the Florida State Board of Education voted Wednesday to prohibit classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation through 12th grade. The expansion of the Parental Rights in Education Act — known as "Don’t Say Gay" by critics — allows an exemption for sexual education or health lessons that parents can opt students out of. Board members say the rule is only a clarification of state standards for teachers. But LGBTQ advocates have derided it as an "assault on freedom." Keep reading.

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What everyone's talking about

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SCOTUS hits pause on mifepristone restrictions again

The fate of mifepristone is still uncertain. Associate Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday extended an administrative stay in the high-profile challenges to the abortion pill, halting any action on those cases until the end of the week. At issue are restrictions on access to mifepristone that were set to take effect at midnight on Wednesday, including a requirement that Americans sit for in-person visits with doctors and a prohibition on the drug being dispensed through the mail. Here's what to know.

Old NASA satellite is crashing into Earth 🛰 

What goes up must come down. After spending 20 years in space, a dead NASA satellite will crash back to Earth on Wednesday, officials say. The Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI, is predicted to reenter Earth's atmosphere around 9:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, plus or minus 16 hours. NASA said most of the spacecraft will burn up as it reenters the atmosphere – though some components are expected to make it through and hit Earth. But don't worry too much about getting bonked in the head by a piece of space junk. The risk of it causing harm to "anyone on Earth is low," NASA said. That's a relief, but I think I'll stay inside tonight, just in case. 😉 Read more here.

A break from the news

Laura L. Davis is an Audience Editor at Paste BN. Send her an email at laura@usatoday.com or follow along with her adventures – and misadventures – on Twitter. Support quality journalism like this? Subscribe to Paste BN here.

This is a compilation of stories from across the Paste BN Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Subscribe to the newsletter here.

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