Doctor reprimanded for talking publicly about Ohio 10-year-old’s abortion

INDIANAPOLIS>> A state board decided Thursday to reprimand an Indianapolis doctor after finding she violated patient privacy laws by talking publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio.

The Medical Licensing Board voted that Dr. Caitlin Bernard didn’t abide by privacy laws by telling a newspaper reporter about the girl’s treatment in a case that became a political flashpoint in the national abortion debate days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade last summer.

The board, however, rejected accusations from Indiana’s Republican attorney general that Bernard violated state law by not reporting the child abuse to Indiana authorities.

Board members chose to fine Bernard $3,000 for the violations, turning down a request from the attorney general’s office to suspend her license.

Court rules in favor of 94-year-old woman

WASHINGTON>> A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday gave a 94-year-old Minneapolis woman a new chance to recoup some money after the county kept the entire $40,000 when it sold her condominium over a small unpaid tax bill.

The justices ruled that Hennepin County, Minn., violated the constitutional rights of the woman, Geraldine Tyler, by taking her property without paying “just compensation.”

“The County had the power to sell Tyler’s home to recover the unpaid property taxes. But it could not use the toehold of the tax debt to confiscate more property than was due,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.

Tyler, who now lives in an apartment building for older people, owed $2,300 in unpaid taxes, plus interest and penalties totaling $15,000, when the county took title to the one-bedroom apartment in 2015.

Virgin Galactic completes final test flight to space

ALBUQUERQUE>> Virgin Galactic completed what is expected to be its final test flight Thursday before taking paying customers on brief trips to space, marking what the space tourism company described as a “fantastic achievement” in what has been a long road to commercial operations.

Six of the company’s employees, including two pilots, landed at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico after the short up-and-down flight that included a few minutes of weightlessness. It took about an hour for the mother ship to carry the spaceplane to an altitude of 44,500 feet, where it was released and fired its rocket motor to make the final push.

Teenager charged with murder in killings of family

NASH, Texas>> Authorities in east Texas have jailed an 18-year-old man on capital murder charges in the shootings of his parents, sister and brother.

Police in the small town of Nash say officers responding to a report that a man had harmed his family and was threatening to kill himself on Tuesday found Cesar Olalde barricaded inside a home. They were told that multiple people were dead inside.

Olalde later called police, saying “he had pulled the trigger and shot his family,” according to a probable cause affidavit by police Officer Craig Buster.

Guide who has summited 28 times not ready to retire

KATHMANDU, Nepal>> One of the greatest mountain guides said Thursday he’s not ready to retire after climbing Mount Everest for a record 28th time.

Nepalese Sherpa Kami Rita reached the 29,032-foot summit of the world’s highest mountain on Tuesday, beating his own record less than a week after setting it.

“I will continue to climb as long as my body allows,” the 53-year-old guide told reporters after arriving from the mountain at Kathmandu’s airport, where he was given a hero’s welcome by supporters and family members.

— Denver Post wire services