Top Items:
KWTX-TV:
EMS Director Says 60 To 70 Dead In West Explosion — West EMS Director Dr. George Smith says as many as 60 or 70 people died and hundreds were injured Wednesday night in a fertilizer plant explosion in West. — A rescuer earlier said he knew of five deaths.
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Selwyn Crawford / Dallas Morning News:
Live video: Explosion, injuries reported at fertilizer plant near Waco in West, Texas — A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant rocked the town of West, north of Waco, causing multiple injuries and leaving people trapped and buildings on fire. — Firefighters were reported among …
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler, Chicago Boyz, The Moderate Voice, The Agonist and AMERICAblog
Lateef Mungin / CNN:
Explosion hits fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas — Are you there? Please send photos and videos to iReport, but please stay safe. — (CNN) — An explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant Wednesday night in the area of West, Texas, sending a massive fireball into the sky and causing dozens of injuries, officials said.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Gabrielle Giffords / New York Times:
A Senate in the Gun Lobby's Grip — SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, American Power, Politico, Taylor Marsh, U.S. News, CNN, The Hill and msnbc.com
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate rejects background checks on gun purchases in 54-46 vote — The Senate delivered a devastating blow to President Obama's agenda to regulate guns Wednesday by defeating a bipartisan proposal to expand background checks. — It failed by a vote of 54 to 46, with 5 Democrats voting against it.
Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Senate Blocks Drive for Gun Control
Discussion:
BOR, The Agonist, CNN, msnbc.com and Post Politics
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Open thread: Senate gun-control vote-a-rama; Update: Toomey/Manchin fails, 54/46; Update …
Discussion:
USA Today, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Patterico's Pontifications
Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:
At Pivotal Point in Presidency, Obama Routed on Gun Control
Discussion:
Roll Call, National Review, The Michael Bane Blog, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Hot Air and Instapundit
Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Drive for Gun Control Blocked in Senate
Discussion:
Wonkblog, The Fix, The Week, Quartz, The Plum Line, Weekly Standard, msnbc.com, Hit & Run, TalkLeft, A plain blog about politics, Balloon Juice, American Power and ThinkProgress
John Bresnahan / Politico:
Gun control: Senate rejects background checks deal
Discussion:
The Plum Line and White House Dossier
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Background Checks Die At The Hands Of Senate Filibuster
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Sabrina Siddiqui / The Huffington Post:
Assault Weapons Ban, High-Capacity Magazine Measures Fail In Senate Vote
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
Los Angeles Times:
Videos point to 2 suspects in Boston Marathon bombing — Investigators comb through Boylston Street just beyond the finish line of the Boston Marathon, two days after two bombs exploded. (Julio Cortez / Associated Press / April 17, 2013) — Two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing …
Discussion:
Daily Mail and Weasel Zippers
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FBI:
No Arrest Made in Bombing Investigation … Contrary to widespread reporting, no arrest has been made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack. Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Independent, The Reaction, Business Insider, News Desk, CANNONFIRE, Gawker, Washington Free Beacon, The Other McCain, This Just In, theGrio, CNN, Taylor Marsh, The Impolitic, The Raw Story, The PJ Tatler, Deadspin, The Democratic Daily, The Hinterland Gazette and The Jawa Report, more at Mediagazer »
The Boston Globe:
Image shows suspect carrying, perhaps dropping, black bag
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, American Power, CNN, The Week and The Reaction
Alexander Abad-Santos / The Atlantic Wire:
Reports: Boston Bombing Suspect ID'd in New Video — ‘Arrest Has Been Made’
Discussion:
Mediaite, Yahoo! News and Business Insider
Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Reports: Authorities Eye Suspect In Boston Marathon Bombings
Discussion:
Associated Press, Weasel Zippers and The Hill
U.S. News:
Feds arrest suspect in ricin-positive letters sent to Obama, senator — The ricin-laced letters sent to President Obama and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker were both postmarked April 8 and sent from Memphis, Tenn., signed “I am KC and I approve this message.” A third letter went to Michigan Sen. Carl Levin.
Discussion:
New York Times, Mediaite, The Hinterland Gazette, Business Insider, CANNONFIRE, The Week, Twitchy and Towleroad News #gay
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Lady Liberty 1885:
Paul Kevin Curtis and the Ricin Letters — NOTE: This post was embargoed by LL1885 pending confirmation of the suspect's identity. We did not want to get the wrong guy. It was written at 2:16 pm EST and held until now. Paul Kevin Curtis Arrested for Ricin Letters My co-blogger …
Discussion:
The Week, Weasel Zippers and Doug Ross
Jason Howerton / TheBlaze.com:
MIND-BOGGLING DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT RICIN LETTER SUSPECT: 'I'M ON THE HIDDEN FRONT LINES OF A SECRET WAR' — Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, of Tupelo, Miss., has been arrested in connection with ricin letters that were sent to both Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and President Barack Obama," The New York Times reports.
Discussion:
New York Times, Fox News, Restoring Liberty, Ed Driscoll, Patterico's Pontifications, BuzzFeed, The Jawa Report, Mediaite and The PJ Tatler
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Republicans pull plug on Mark Sanford — National Republicans are pulling the plug on Mark Sanford's suddenly besieged congressional campaign, POLITICO has learned — a potentially fatal blow to the former South Carolina governor's dramatic comeback bid. — Blindsided by news …
Discussion:
CNN, Associated Press, NationalJournal.com, ABCNEWS, bigstory.ap.org, Daily Kos, Right Turn, The Reaction, The Moderate Voice, Towleroad News #gay, The BRAD BLOG, The National Memo, National Review, The Week, Washington Wire, The Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, msnbc.com, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway
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Washington Post:
GOP abandons Mark Sanford; ex-wife says sons ‘upset’ over encounter with former mistress — Following revelations that his ex-wife accused him of trespassing on her property earlier this year, former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford (R) has lost the support of his national party.
Discussion:
Post Politics, Washington Monthly, Dependable Renegade, The Greenroom and msnbc.com
Jason Zengerle / New York Magazine:
How Savvy Jenny Sanford Sabotaged Ex-Husband Mark's Political Comeback
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Right Turn, U.S. News and Towleroad News #gay
Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
Patricia Maisch, Hero Of Tucson, Escorted Out Of Capitol For Shaming Senate — WASHINGTON — Patricia Maisch, a hero of the Tucson shooting that left six dead and another 13 wounded, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), was escorted by police out of the Capitol Wednesday …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and The Raw Story
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press:
Max Baucus Says He Fears Obamacare Is Headed For ‘Huge Train Wreck’ — WASHINGTON — A senior Democratic senator who helped write President Barack Obama's health care law stunned administration officials Wednesday, saying openly he thinks it's headed for a “train wreck.”
Discussion:
Power Line and Weasel Zippers
David Edwards / The Raw Story:
Texas teacher claims she couldn't have fondled black student because she's racist — A teacher in Texas has invoked her own racism in a defense against charges that she fondled an African-American student in her first grade class at Northwest Preparatory Academy Charter School in Humble.
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