Midday Roundup: Baltimore seeks federal help to halt homicide spree

Homicide help. Baltimore has called in the federal cavalry to help deal with a surge in homicides that local police have been unable to either quell or effectively solve. Between May and July, the city recorded 116 homicides, breaking a record set in 1970. And the clearance rate—the number of murders “solved”—is only 36.6 percent. For the next 60 days, two officers from each of the federal government’s five crime-fighting agencies will help Baltimore homicide detectives get a handle on the violence. Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby blamed the skyrocketing homicide rate on repeat offenders, whom she called “a small number of individuals responsible for the majority of the crimes.” U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., urged the community not to sit on the sidelines: “I hear over and over and over again, ‘Black Lives Matter.’ And they do matter. But black lives also have to matter to black people.”

Not over yet. A Colorado jury will continue hearing testimony today in the sentencing phase of the James Holmes murder trial after declining on Monday to set aside the death penalty. Holmes’attorneys had argued his mental illness justified giving him life without parole for killing 12 people and wounding 70 others in the 2012 attack on a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. But the jury that already found him guilty of the crime decided neither his mental state nor accounts of him as a happy, gentle child could mitigate the horrors of his shooting rampage. Victims are expected to testify in the coming days, likely recalling the gut-wrenching details of the attack and its aftermath. Jurors could still give Holmes life in prison if they decide it is a more appropriate punishment for the crime.

Funding fallout. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced yesterday the state’s Department of Health and Hospitals was canceling its Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood. The announcement came just hours before the U.S. Senate fell seven votes short of the support needed to move forward a bill to strip federal funding from the nation’s largest abortion provider. Jindal said Louisiana has plenty of other healthcare providers that can assist women without also offering abortions. “Planned Parenthood does not represent the values of the people of Louisiana and shows a fundamental disrespect for human life,” the governor said in a statement announcing the move. “It has become clear that this is not an organization that is worthy of receiving public assistance from the state.” Louisiana is one of nine states that opened an investigation into Planned Parenthood after the pro-life group Center for Medical Progress released videos showing the organization’s executives discussing prices for baby body parts collected during abortions.

Deadly storm. A father and his young daughter died last night after strong winds collapsed a circus tent in New Hampshire. About 100 people had just taken their seats at the Lancaster Fairgrounds when the storm hit. “I see these very large metal poles that are in the ground and go through the top of the tent, I see them starting to come out of the ground and fly up, into the air toward us,”spectator Heidi Medeiros told WMUR-TV. Medeiros and her son started running. A few seconds later, the pole slammed into the bleachers where they had been sitting. Emergency crews took 22 people with injuries to four local hospitals. The storm packed wind gusts of up to 60 miles an hour. Although warnings had been issued for the area, it’s not clear whether circus-goers knew they were directly in the storm’s path.

Trophy transit. Three U.S. airlines announced yesterday they would no longer transport some trophies from big-game hunts in Africa back to America. Effective immediately, hunters will not be allowed to bring home lion, rhinoceros, leopard, elephant, or buffalo remains on Delta, United, and American Airlines. None of the carriers offered an explanation for the decision, but it came amid the ongoing outcry over the killing of Cecil the lion, a big cat considered the mascot of Zimbabwe’s popular wildlife tourism industry. Zimbabwe is seeking the extradition of Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil. He claims he didn’t know the animal was protected. Hunting guide Theo Bronkhorst has pleaded not guilty to charges he failed to prevent Cecil’s death. He told NBC News yesterday he did nothing wrong. In Zimbabwe, killing a lion illegally is punishable by a mandatory fine of $20,000 and up to 10 years in prison.