Etc.

It appears a tentative agreement has been reached between Eagle Point School District and the educator association.

The story is behind a paywall.
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The defense rested in the bullshit case against John Edwards without calling the embattled defendant or the sociopath he took up with behind Elizabeth's back:

John Edwards' defense team rested Wednesday without calling the two-time Democratic presidential candidate or his one-time mistress to the witness stand, a sign of confidence after presenting little more than two days of testimony and evidence.

The defense had called a series of witnesses aimed at shifting the jury's focus from the lurid details of a political sex scandal to the legal question of whether the Edwards' actions violated federal campaign finance laws.

Prosecutors spent nearly three weeks trying to convince a jury that Edwards masterminded a conspiracy to use nearly $1 million secretly provided by two wealthy donors to help hide his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, as he sought the White House in 2008.

It was a bunch of shit, but somebody wanted to shame Edwards so that he could never be a political figure ever again.
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Obituaries: Kennedy conspiracy vultures have another body to pick apart: Mary Richardson Kennedy, 52, ex-wife of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., reportedly committed suicide by hanging.

Mary Kennedy was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s second wife and the couple had four children together. The couple was married for 16 years before a divorce filing in 2010.

"Mary inspired our family with her kindness, her love, her gentle soul and generous spirit," Kennedy Jr.'s family said in a prepared statement. "Mary was a genius at friendship, a tremendously gifted architect and a pioneer and relentless advocate of green design who enhanced her cutting edge, energy efficient creations with exquisite taste and style. She applied her talent, energy and passion which were both brilliant and abundant, to advocacy for treatment and finding a cure for food allergies and asthma. She was an instrumental co-founder and driving force of the Food Allergy Initiative to which contributions may be made in her name.

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Another obituary to note: The owner at the center of one of the most famous Kentucky Derby "victories" of all time, Peter Fuller, 89, has died. He was the owner of the 1968 winner Dancer's Image, but the horse was disqualified later on for having a banned substance, a substance that was later on legal.

Fuller contested the Kentucky Racing Commission, which awarded the 1968 victory to second-place Forward Pass, owned by Calumet Farm. The case dragged on for years, but it was finally resolved against him and in favor of the commission. I have the court rulings photocopied, but of course they are in storage in Reno.

An interesting aside: The Kentucky Derby glasses, which list the winners of each of the previous runnings, had Dancer's Image on some glasses and Forward Pass on others until the case was resolved in the 1970s. For the 1969 glass, there was no winner's list.

link

Fuller died Monday at a skilled-care facility, according to one of his daughters, Miranda Bocko of Rye, N.H.

Fuller was a second-generation Boston auto dealer and son of a former Massachusetts governor who watched Dancer's Image rally from last to win by 1 1/2 lengths over Forward Pass.

A few days later, traces of the drug phenylbutazone were found in Dancer's Image's post-race urinalysis. Dancer's Image was disqualified by the stewards and placed last. Forward Pass was declared the winner.

Fuller, a big supporter of the civil rights movement, suspected his troubles might have stemmed from that support:

Yet his greatest sporting moment became one of his saddest when in 1968 his belief in the fairness of athletic competition was shattered after his horse, Dancer’s Image, came from 14 lengths back to win the Kentucky Derby by a length and a half. From that victory would flow his biggest defeat.

Several weeks before the race, Dancer’s Image won the Governor’s Gold Cup at Bowie Race Course in Maryland three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Long an advocate of civil rights, Fuller handed over the purse to King’s widow, Coretta, setting off a firestorm.

Fuller received death threats. One of his stables in New Hampshire was set ablaze. Worst of all, he and many backstretch guys in the know at the time felt his Derby victory was stolen by powerful forces in Kentucky upset with his political stance and enlightened racial convictions.