Good morning. Here are some of the stories we’re following today:
1. Michael Brown family to file wrongful death suit
Lawyers for the Brown family said they will file a civil lawsuit Thursday against the city of Ferguson, Missouri, following his death at the hands of a police officer last August. At a news conference in March first announcing the suit, the attorneys said they would also sue the former officer, Darren Wilson. A St. Louis County grand jury and the Justice Department declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November. Read more in NEWS.
2. Cops involved in Freddie Gray death give statements
Five of the six police officers involved in the arrest of a man in Baltimore who later died in police custody have voluntarily given statements to investigators, officials say. Freddie Gray, 25, died Sunday of what his family's attorney said was a severed spine after he was arrested on a weapons charge April 12. Police said Wednesday that there was a second person in the police van, and he is considered a witness whose identity will be protected as the department investigates. Read more in NEWS.
3. Senate to vote on Loretta Lynch nomination
Lynch, the federal prosecutor who is President Barack Obama's pick to replace Attorney General Eric Holder, will finally get a Senate vote on Thursday. She would be the first black woman to hold the nation's top law enforcement post. The vote comes more than 50 days after the president chose her — longer than the past seven nominees for attorney general. Read more in POLITICS.
4. Storms bring hail, twister threats to South
Large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes could whip up as "strong and severe storms" batter Texas, Oklahoma and parts of Louisiana on Thursday, forecasters said. The storms may refire in the afternoon to dump more rain in the Dallas area, according to The Weather Channel. It will likely mean miserable conditions for those cleaning up from Wednesday's storm damage. Read more in NEWS.
5. Five French terror plots thwarted since Charlie Hebdo: PM
The announcement comes a day after officials said they foiled an imminent assault on a church. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that the five thwarted plots included the arrest Sunday of a 24-year-old student involved in the church plot. "Never has the threat been so high," Valls said on the France Inter radio station, noting that hundreds of French nationals were now in Syria, where they could be radicalized. Read more in NEWS.
6. California bill may reshape vaccination laws
Vaccine laws across the nation may be toughened, observers say, if California passes a fervently debated bill that would strip parents' rights to exempt kids from immunizations based on personal beliefs. A potential end to California's opt-out provision gained ground Wednesday when the state Senate's education committee voted to require full vaccinations for almost all public school students. The move came in the wake of "anti-vax" parents being in the spotlight after a measles outbreak at Disneyland. Read more in HEALTH.
7. Judge OKs multimillion-dollar NFL concussion settlement
A judge in Philadelphia has given her final approval to changes that allow the NFL to settle with former players for $765 million. The players had unresolved claims resulting from concussions suffered during their football careers. Most of those changes had to do with which retired players would be able to file claims under the settlement, and when and how they would be able to register those claims. Read more at NBC SPORTS.
Nightly Spotlight
A rare quadruple rainbow sprang up over Long Island, New York, this week. Check it out.
