Warren proposes canceling billions in student loan debt

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election, wants to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt and make college cheaper for students going forward.

Warren, in a post on the website Medium, proposed canceling $50,000 in student loan debt for anyone with annual household income under $100,000, which her campaign said would amount to 42 million Americans. It would also cancel some debt for those with household incomes between $100,000 and $250,000.

Warren, who has long advocated in Congress for providing debt relief to students, called student loan debt a “crisis.” She said canceling debt for millions of people would help close the nation’s racial and wealth gap, and also proposed making all two-year and four-year public colleges free.

Police officer attends Breathalyzer training intoxicated

A Detroit Police officer attended a Michigan State Police training class with alcohol in his system, officials confirm.

WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) reported that the training took place Thursday, and Detroit Police Chief told the TV station that an internal investigation would be conducted.

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MSP Lt. Mike Shaw told the Free Press the officer was attending a DataMaster training class. A DataMaster is an instrument used to analyze blood alcohol concentration via a breath sample.

"During that class he volunteered to give a sample and it was determined he had alcohol in his system. The MSP sergeant dismissed him from the class and sent him to his department. His command staff was notified. He does not work for us so we can not discipline him. That will be up to his employer."

Doctor: Guess-which-state man believed he was 'half-man, half-dog'

A forensic psychologist says a former college student believed he was "half-dog, half-man" when he fatally attacked a man and woman at their home and was found biting one of their faces.

The Palm Beach Post reports Dr. Phillip Resnick made the conclusion in a 38-page mental-health report released this week by the Martin County State Attorney's Office.

Investigators say they found Austin Harrouff, now 22, biting John Stevens' face while making growling noises on Aug. 15, 2016.

Resnick's report says the fact that Harrouff persisted in biting Stevens "in the presence of police officers, in spite of threats of being shot, being tased and receiving multiple kicks to the head, suggests that Mr. Harrouff was actively psychotic."

A new production tells the story of Father Tolton, the slave who became a priest

Two years ago, the actor Jim Coleman had never heard of the Rev. Augustus Tolton, who is believed to be the first African-American Catholic ordained a priest. Now he portrays him in a production, “Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” which is currently touring the United States.

Based on the book From Slave to Priest: The Inspirational Story of Father Augustine Tolton, by Caroline Hemesath, S.S.F., the play is an account of Father Tolton’s remarkable life. After escaping from slavery with his mother and siblings, the young Tolton was raised in Illinois in the Catholic faith. Rejected by U.S. seminaries because he was black, Father Tolton repaired to Rome, where he studied for the priesthood. After his ordination in 1864, “he wants to go to Africa where he wants to be a missionary, but he’s sent back to the ‘enlightened’ country of America,” said Leonardo Defilippis, the founder of Saint Luke Productions, which produced the play. Father Tolton returned to the United States, where eventually he started St. Monica Parish on Chicago’s South Side, ministering to African-American and white parishioners.

Mr. Defilippis first learned about Father Tolton while visiting the Diocese of Springfield, Ill. “A pastor gave me a book on [Tolton] and said, ‘Could you do a show?’ That’s what we do at Saint Luke Productions. We’ve done that for 38 years.”

Mr. Defilippis started Saint Luke Productions in 1980 to stage a production about the Gospel of Luke. Since then, he and his wife, Patti Defilippis, have staged scores of other plays. Saint Luke worked on “Tolton” for two years before it opened at Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African American History in November 2017.

Woman thought to be world's oldest nun, who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, dies at 110

Officials in Poland say that a 110-year-old woman believed to be the world’s oldest nun and a rescuer of Jews during the Holocaust, has died.

Father Pawel Rytel-Andrianik, spokesman for Poland’s Roman Catholic Church, on Thursday confirmed the death of Sister Cecylia Roszak last week at a Dominican convent in Krakow.

He described her as “probably the oldest nun in the world” and someone remembered as saying that “life is so short and passes so quickly.”

Born March 25, 1908, Roszak joined the convent at age 21. During the German occupation of Poland during World War II, when she was in her 30s, she was one of several nuns who set up a new convent near Vilnius, today in Lithuania, sheltering Jews who had escaped the ghetto there.

Notre Dame students cite faith as they kneel during national anthem to protest racism

Dozens of students at the University of Notre Dame took a knee during the playing of the national anthem at the Catholic school’s football game in South Bend, Ind., this weekend, saying their faith compels them to protest racism.

As “The Star-Spangled Banner” blared before Notre Dame’s last home game of the season on Saturday (Nov. 10), students in six rows of the school’s football stadium suddenly knelt in unison, joining a movement to protest racism and police brutality that has caused controversy for the past two years across professional and scholastic sports contests. Organizers said they estimated around 90 students participated, although the school newspaper reported at least 60.

According to a statement on a Facebook group page created ahead of the protest, the student organizers said the action was meant to confront a Notre Dame student body that they say has not faced “the reality of systemic racial injustice.”

Organizers told Religion News Service that faith was a key motivator of the protest, noting they intend to hold a panel discussion later this week about racism and their decision to kneel.

Rock used as doorstop for decades identified as meteorite

A rock that was used as a doorstop for decades at a Michigan farm has been identified as a meteorite valued at about $100,000.

Central Michigan University said Thursday that the 22.5-pound space rock was recently identified by Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences professor Dr. Monaliza Sirbescu after the owner “brought it to her out of curiosity.”

The Grand Rapids man was apparently inspired to investigate after seeing news of meteorite hunters finding shards and selling them for thousands of dollars after a meteor sighting in January in the Detroit area.

The chunk of iron and nickel was later valued at $100,000 after the Smithsonian Institution verified the find, CMU said in a release.

Priest who burned rainbow banner removed from parish by Cupich

Days after it was revealed that the Rev. Paul Kalchik of Avondale’s Resurrection Catholic Church burned a rainbow banner that once hung in the church, Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, has removed him from his role as head of the North Side church.

“For some weeks now, I have become increasingly concerned about a number of issues at Resurrection Parish,” read a letter, signed by Cupich, to parishioners and staff at the church. “It has become clear to me that Fr. Kalchik must take time away from the parish to receive pastoral support so his needs can be assessed.”

Monsignor James Kaczorowski, pastor of Queen of Angels parish, was appointed administrator of Resurrection Parish, effective Friday evening, according to the notice.

“I do not take this step lightly,” Cupich continued. “Rather, I act out of concern for Fr. Kalchik’s welfare and that of the people of Resurrection Parish. I have a responsibility to be supportive of our priests when they have difficulties, but I also have a duty to ensure that those who serve our faithful are fully able to minister to them in the way the Church expects.”

Dan Rather: Trump - Flock of Felons

Bear's Dairy Queen ice cream treat earns zoo $500 fine

A central Alberta zoo must pay $500 in fines after taking a bear for ice cream at a drive-thru.

A video posted on social media in January by Discovery Wildlife Park in Innisfail, Alta., showed a one-year-old captive bear named Berkley leaning out a truck's window and being hand-fed ice cream by the owner of the local Dairy Queen.

Officials with the province investigated and charged the zoo with two counts of violating a licence or permit under the Wildlife Act.