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The Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation launched a crowdfunding campaign to build a new Statue of Liberty Museum on Liberty Island.

The foundation launched the "For Lady Liberty" campaign on crowdfunding website Indiegogo, seeking at least $50,000 toward funding the 26,000-square-foot museum planned to open in May 2019.

Designed by U.S. architecture firm FXCollaborative, the new museum is meant to hold more guests than the existing exhibit inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

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Tickets to the museum, which will become the new home of the Statue of Liberty's original torch, will be included in the price of ferry tickets purchased for Ellis Island and Liberty Island.

The foundation is offering donors a variety of perks including a tour of the museum alongside the designers, tickets to the opening gala and ribbon cutting ceremony and apparel including hats, T-shirts and watches, depending on the amount of the donation.

Donors will also have their names displayed in a digital registry, known as the Founders Star, inside the museum.

The foundation noted Joseph Pulitzer led a crowdfunding campaign to complete the statue's pedestal in 1884 in which 120,000 people donated more than $100,000.

Donors were also encouraged to contribute donations of $18.86 in honor of the year the Statue of Liberty was dedicated.

The campaign has received $12,105 from 366 backers.

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A federal judge on Friday ruled that children do not have a fundamental right to learn how to read and write.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy III's ruling came in response to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of several Detroit-area public school students who said their schools were in such disarray -- from dilapidated buildings to classrooms with no teachers -- that the state was not only failing its duties, but violating the students' 14th Amendment rights under the due process and equal protection clauses by prohibiting them of the ability to fully participate in society. And Plaintiffs wanted the court to force the state to make reforms.

But Murphy said the 14th Amendment does not mention literacy, so the students had no right to a quality education.

"Plainly, literacy -- and the opportunity to obtain it -- is of incalculable importance," Murphy wrote in his opinion. "As Plaintiffs point out, voting, participating meaningfully in civic life, and accessing justice require some measure of literacy. Applying for a job, securing a place to live, and applying for government benefits routinely require the completion of written forms. Simply finding one's way through many aspects of ordinary life stands as an obstacle to one who cannot read. But those points do not necessarily make access to literacy a fundamental right."

Murphy cited several other Supreme Court cases where the importance of of a good or service "does not determine whether it must be regarded as fundamental."

"Under Plaintiffs' reasoning, if the State's failure to provide a good or service to a person results in a limitation of future opportunities and social stigma, the good or service must be a fundamental right," Murphy wrote. "Yet the same could presumably be said for a person who must go without a sanitary place to live, or must live in an abusive home -- and neither of those implicate a fundamental right."
Attorneys for the student and parent plaintiffs said they plan to appeal to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney with the Public Counsel law firm in Los Angeles, said the court "got it tragically wrong when it characterized access to literacy as a privilege, instead of a right held by all children so that they may better their circumstances and meaningfully participate in our political system."

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A van carrying 12 undocumented immigrants in Texas near the border with Mexico crashed during a pursuit with police and border agents, killing five, officials confirmed on Sunday.

The incident occurred in Big Wells, Texas, about 50 miles from the Mexico-U.S. border. According to KSAT-TV, Border Patrol agents attempted to pull the van over, but the driver did not do so.

Dimmit County Sheriff deputies also pursued the van, which was allegedly going more than 100 mph when the driver lost control and caused it to tip over.

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Four people were dead when emergency responders arrived. A fifth died later at a nearby hospital. All of the deceased were immigrants. Their names or countries of origins were not released as of Sunday night.

The driver and a person in the passenger seat were U.S. citizens. They both suffered injuries and are in custody.

The surviving immigrants have also been detained.
Dimmit County Sheriff Marion Boyd said the fatal crash demonstrates the need for increased border security.

"We've seen this many, many times, in not only this county but other counties along the border," Boyd said, according to CNN. "It's a problem...This is, I think, a perfect example of why our borders need to be secure."

"I think we need a wall, in my opinion," Boyd added. "If it can be built, I think it needs to be built. But along with that, there needs to be cameras. There needs to be sensors."

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Lava from the Kilauea Volcano has destroyed 467 homes and covered 5,914 acres, the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said Saturday.

Activity on Saturday included an explosive event at Halemaumau Crater that had the energy of a 5.3 magnitude earthquake, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.

As Fissure 8 in the lower East Rift Zone remains active, lava fountains are reaching 170 feet tall, leaving gas emissions high. Winds will to continue to bring vog to the central, southern and western parts of Hawaii Island, officials said.

Saturday's announcement comes with an alert to Hawaiians to remain vigilant about air quality conditions and for those with breathing problems to limit outdoor activities. The alert also said areas downwind of Kilauea should be prepared for ash.

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An explosive event at the Kilauea summit on Friday produced an ash plume that rose to 10,000 feet and dispersed, the defense agency said.

Heavy vog is blanketing the interior and southern parts of the island, impacting Hilo and wrapping around to Kona through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

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Citibank settled a lawsuit filed by attorneys general in 42 states for $100 million after an investigation found the bank manipulated Libor, a benchmark interest rate that helps set lending rates globally.
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced the settlementon Friday, saying Citibank made millions of dollars of gains from its "fraudulent conduct."

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"Our office has zero tolerance for fraudulent or manipulative conduct that undermines our financial markets," Underwood said. "Financial institutions have a basic responsibility to play by the rules -- and we will continue to hold those accountable who don't."
Governmental and not-for-profit entities who have investment contracts with Citibank will be notified if they are eligible to receive part of the settlement funds.



Citibank is the third bank that settled with state attorneys general for illegally influencing the Libor, following Barclays and Deutsche Bank, which have been fined $420 million collectively.



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June 15 (UPI) -- A federal grand jury indicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes on wire fraud charges for a scheme to defraud investors in the health technology company, federal prosecutors in California announced Friday.
The indictment accused Holmes, the former CEO of the company, and former Theranos President Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani of two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud each.

Holmes and Balwani allegedly made false and misleading statements to investors, media representatives, as well as doctors and patients about innovative methods for drawing blood, testing blood and interpreting the results.

"According to the indictment, Holmes and Balwani used advertisements and solicitations to encourage and induce doctors and patients to use Theranos's blood testing laboratory services, even though the defendants knew Theranos was not capable of consistently producing accurate and reliable results for certain blood tests," a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of California said. "The tests performed on Theranos technology, in addition, were likely to contain inaccurate and unreliable results."

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The indictment also said Holmes and Balwani told investors their products were being used by the Department of Defense on the battlefield in Afghanistan and on medical helicopters to generate more than $100 million in revenue, but that was not the case. The statement said the Department of Defense use generated about $100,000 and it was never deployed.

They also allegedly told investors that they would increase the number of Wellness Centers in Walgreens stores, but the rollout had stalled after the pharmacy questioned the accuracy of Theranos' testing results.

"The conduct alleged in these charges erodes public trust in the safety and effectiveness of medical products, including diagnostics. The [Food and Drug Administration] would like to extend our thanks to our federal law enforcement partners for sending a strong message to Theranos executives and others that these types of actions will not be tolerated," said Catherine Hermsen, acting director of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations.

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission forced Holmes to give up her role as CEO of Theranos after charging her with "massive fraud."

Holmes and Balwani settled the charges against them without admitting guilt. The terms of the settlement, through, said Holmes must pay a $500,000 fine, return 18.9 million shares giving her super-voting equity rights and she is banned from serving as an officer or director of a public company for 10 years.

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