1. Here At Home: Charges were filed against three officials involved in the Flint water crisis.
The Detroit Free Press reported on Wednesday morning that criminal charges had been filed against two officials in the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Mike Prysby and Stephen Busch, as well as city official Mike Glasgow, Flint's laboratory and water quality supervisor. (Read More)
2. Major News: Harriet Tubman will be the face of the $20, replacing Andrew Jackson (who will now take the back of the bill).
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that abolitionist Harriet Tubman will be on the face of the $20, replacing Andrew Jackson (who will now take the back of the bill). Meanwhile, suddenly zeitgeisty Alexander Hamilton — who was originally meant to be replaced — will remain on the face of the $10 bill. (Read More)Advertisement
3. Spotlight: Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, might be impeached for allegedly hiding budget deficits.
Rousseff has been accused of concealing budget deficits to strengthen her re-election prospects in 2014 and Article 85 of Brazil’s Constitution stipulates that infringing on budget laws is a crime for which a president can be impeached. (Read More)4. In-The-Know: White women saw a (slight) decline in life expectancy for the first time since 2005, while Black men saw a slight increase.
White women born in 2014 were, on average, expected to die about one month earlier (at 81.1) than those born in 2013. But Hispanic women saw a slight increase, from 83.8 to 84 years, and Black women saw no changes in life expectancy (staying steady at 78.1). (Read More)5. Lawyer Up: Whole Foods plans to sue a gay Texas man who accused the chain of writing a homophobic slur on a cake.
Whole Foods and a Texas pastor are in a legal battle over one very offensive cake. Whole Foods Market announced on Wednesday morning that it plans to file a suit against Jordan Brown, an openly gay Texas man who has publicly accused the grocery chain of writing a homophobic slur on a cake he purchased from the Whole Foods bakery department. (Read More)6. Fun Fact: San Francisco is the first major U.S. city to require solar panels on all new buildings that have 10 stories or fewer.
Analysts estimate that the resulting solar installations could help avoid 26,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. If we use the EPA's handy greenhouse gas calculator, that's the equivalent of taking 5,500 cars off the road. (Vox)Advertisement