National News at a Glance

Poisoned Wildlife and Tainted Meat: Why Hunters Are Moving Away From Lead Bullets

Aiming a rifle loaded with a copper bullet rather than the standard type made of lead, Chelsea Cassens fired at an elk, hitting it squarely behind its shoulder. Cassens is one of a growing number of hunters making the transition to copper bullets amid mounting evidence that lead bullets are poisoning the wildlife that feed on carcasses and polluting the game meat that many people eat. At least 30 states regulate the use of lead ammunition. In Oregon, hunters are not allowed to fire lead bullets in a number of state wildlife areas. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, lead exposure is the leading cause of death in California condors.

Students in Nazi Salute Photo Won’t Be Punished

The Wisconsin students who appeared to make a Nazi salute in a widely criticized photo will not be punished, a school official said this week in a letter to parents. Superintendent Lori Mueller of the Baraboo School District said in the letter that the district was “not in a position to punish the students for their actions” because of their First Amendment rights. The photograph was taken by a parent in May before the Baraboo High School junior prom and was not commissioned by the school, the letter said. In the photo, many of the students stand with one arm raised, palms down and elbows locked straight, in a gesture that looks identical to a Nazi salute.

Black Man Killed by Officer in Alabama Mall Shooting Was Not the Gunman, Police Now Say

Police in Alabama said an officer fatally shot a 21-year-old black man Thursday night who they said shot at least one person at a mall near Birmingham. But on Friday police said the man actually wasn’t the gunman and the true gunman remained at large. The Hoover Police Department said on Twitter that the man who was killed, Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., “may have been involved in some aspect” of an altercation at the mall, the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Alabama, that preceded the shooting. But, they said, he “likely did not fire the rounds” that struck an 18-year-old man.

Marijuana Legalization Threatens Dogs’ Collars

As states loosen their drug laws, the dogs police departments use to sniff out narcotics are being eased out of the labor force, because they can’t always be counted on to smell the right thing. In many places that have legalized marijuana, most new recruits are no longer being trained to sniff out pot. In Colorado, an appeals court in 2017 overturned a conviction because Kilo, a drug-detection dog that had flagged a man’s truck for containing contraband, was trained to find multiple drugs, including marijuana. The court ruled that officers therefore had no legal grounds to search the truck. Many experts don’t recommend retraining, because old dogs have a hard time learning new tricks.

Nicolas Roeg, Director of ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth,’ Dies at 90

Nicolas Roeg, a British director acclaimed for a string of films in the 1970s that included the rite-of-passage tale “Walkabout,” the psychological thriller “Don’t Look Now” and the David Bowie vehicle “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” died Friday. He was 90. A son, Nicholas Jr., confirmed the death to Britain’s Press Association. The cause and location were not given. Roeg came up through the filmmaking ranks, spending 20 years as a camera operator and cinematographer before serving as one of two directors (along with Donald Cammell) of “Performance,” a 1970 drama about the London rock world.