In brief: Law irks Wal-Mart, gay rights activists

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas on Monday banned local governments from expanding anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity, a move criticized by retail giant Wal-Mart and gay rights groups who said the prohibition damaged the state’s image.

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson allowed legislation to go into law without his signature that bars cities and counties from expanding anti-discrimination ordinances beyond what the state already prohibits, making Arkansas the second state to approve such a prohibition. Arkansas’ anti-discrimination protections don’t include sexual orientation or gender identity.

Bentonville-based Wal-Mart, which had been the focus of an intense social media campaign by opponents of the measure, criticized the prohibition Monday. The world’s largest retailer includes sexual orientation and gender identity in its nondiscrimination policy.

Many hits as backlog of rape kits clears

HOUSTON – Evidence from more than 6,600 rape kits that went untested for years in Houston have turned up 850 hits in the FBI’s nationwide database of DNA profiles, marking a major step in the city’s $6 million effort to address the backlog, officials announced Monday.

Charges have been filed against 29 people, six of whom have been convicted, since the city launched an effort in 2013 to test 6,663 rape kits – some of which dated back nearly three decades. Testing was completed in the fall, and the results have now been uploaded to a database used by investigators nationwide to compare DNA profiles of possible suspects, Mayor Annise Parker said.

Marine gets 2 years in prison for fleeing

RALEIGH, N.C. – A U.S. Marine who vanished a decade ago in Iraq was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for leaving his post there and then fleeing to Lebanon after a brief return to the U.S.

The judge at Camp Lejeune, Marine Maj. Nicholas Martz, ruled that Cpl. Wassef Hassoun was guilty of deserting when he disappeared in 2004 and 2005. Hassoun was also convicted of causing the loss of his service pistol.

His sentence amounts to two years and five days, but he’ll get credit for about eight months he spent in pretrial confinement. Hassoun also will have his rank reduced, lose his pay and receive a dishonorable discharge as part of the sentence.

The judge gave Hassoun a less severe punishment than he faced at the trial’s outset.

Christie must make pension fund payments

TRENTON, N.J. – A judge has ordered Republican Gov. Chris Christie and the state Legislature to put more money into pension funds for retired public workers.

Unions for public workers sued Christie after he announced last year he would not make the full pension payments he had agreed to in a 2011 overhaul that was one of his main accomplishments. The plaintiffs’ lawyer said Monday a $1.57 billion payment has been ordered.

Monday’s ruling from Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson is a major blow for Christie and could force big changes in the state budget late in the fiscal year. The state government is expected to appeal.

Christie, who is preparing a presidential campaign, said reducing payments last year and this year was the only reasonable way for the state to balance its budgets after tax revenue fell short of expectations last year.

Auditor: Gruber may have padded bills

MONTPELIER, Vt. – A Massachusetts Institute of Technology health economist who made national headlines last year for talking about “the stupidity of the American voter” was a target Monday in a report from the Vermont state auditor saying the economist may have padded his bills to the state.

Auditor of Accounts Douglas Hoffer said he referred his findings on Jonathan Gruber and his contract with the state to Attorney General William Sorrell. Hoffer said Gruber’s invoices billed Vermont $100 per hour for the work of a research assistant – 1,000 hours in 10 weeks.

“To do so, the RA would have worked exclusively on this project for more than 14 hours per day – every day,” the auditor said.

The attorney general said in an interview that Hoffer raised “serious questions.”

‘American Horror’ actor Woolf dies

LOS ANGELES – A representative for Ben Woolf, an actor on “American Horror Story,” says Woolf has died.

The actor died Monday afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, publicist Zack Teperman said.

The 4-foot-4 actor was hospitalized in critical condition after he was hit by the side mirror of a passing vehicle on an LA area street.

The motorist stopped at the scene last Thursday night and was not cited or arrested.

Woolf was a cast member on the FX show since 2011.