Arrest documents unsealed in 2017 killing of 2 Indiana teens

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The mother and father of a woman killed by her boyfriend in 2021 joined Utah lawmakers to lobby for the passage of a law to require police statewide screen for risks of intimate partner violence. Joe Petito and Nicole Schmidt joined state Sen. Todd Weiler and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson on Monday to support legislation that would create what's called a “Lethality Assessment Protocol” to help gauge when people are in danger from their partners. The push comes less than two years after the body of Gabby Petito, who was then 22, was found strangled a month after a police officers observed clear signs of domestic violence during a Utah traffic stop.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — The driver of a car that plunged off a treacherous cliff in northern California, seriously injuring himself, his wife and their two young children, has been charged with attempted murder. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said in a statement Monday that 41-year-old Dharmesh A. Patel, of Pasadena, also faces enhancements for great bodily injury and domestic violence in the Jan. 2 crash. Patel was seriously injured and taken to a hospital after the car went over the 250-foot cliff in an area along the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco that is known for deadly wrecks. Rescuers initially hailed the family’s survival as a miracle. Authorities say they've come to believe the crash was intentional.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba says that legislation that would create a separate court system run by unelected judges in part of Mississippi’s capital city is racially motivated. Lumumba says the proposal by legislators from outside the 80% Black city to create a separate court system within its borders reminds him of apartheid. The bill would create a separate judicial district within an area around downtown Jackson where many state-owned buildings are located. The new court system’s judges would be appointed by the chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. It was introduced by Rep. Trey Lamar, a Republican. Lamar did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republican legislators in Kansas are focusing on helping conservative parents remove their children from public schools over what’s taught about gender and sexuality. The effort has become their alternative to pursuing a version of what critics call Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. A proposal to allow parents to use state tax dollars to pay for private or home schooling was to be available online Tuesday after a committee on K-12 spending introduced the measure in the House. The introduction comes as public school curriculum and funding have become hot button issues for conservative politicians nationwide. Lawmakers in Iowa approved a similar law last week and at least a dozen states are considering similar legislation.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The future of the nation's nearly $900 billion trucking industry could be shaped in California. State regulators are seeking information to write new rules for the testing and use of self-driving semitrucks. Meanwhile, labor unions are asking the state Legislature to pass a law that they say will protect their jobs. Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry on Monday announced a bill that would require autonomous semitrucks to have a human driver present. Representatives from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said autonomous semitrucks would be safer with a human driver to take over in case of an emergency. The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association says autonomous trucks already are safer and will benefit the economy.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Saying gun owners don’t need a government permission slip to protect their God-given rights, Florida House Speaker Paul Renner proposed legislation to eliminate concealed weapons permits. Democrats said Monday's bill filing would would make a state with a history of horrific mass shootings less safe. Republican leaders, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, have expressed support for the idea, so the bill should not have a problem passing in a legislature with a GOP a super-majority. Renner and sheriffs at a news conference said criminals don't seek permits anyway, and that law-abiding citizens respect gun safety.