Nation news and national headlines from the Chicago Sun-Times

IRS replaces official in tea party controversy

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after she refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing, Lois Lerner was replaced Thursday as director of the Internal Revenue Service division that oversaw agents who targeted tea party groups.

Mormon church to continue Boy Scouts association

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Mormon church says it will continue its long-time association with the Boy Scouts of America even after the organization voted to lifts its ban on openly-gay youth.

Boy Scouts vote to allow openly gay boys; conservative groups opposed change

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America threw open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders — a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors.

House immigration group resolves dispute

WASHINGTON (AP) — House members writing a bipartisan immigration bill said Thursday they had patched over a dispute that threatened their efforts, even as they and the rest of Congress prepared to return home for a weeklong recess where many could confront voters’ questions on the issue.

Gov. Brown keeps pressing climate change crusade

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown warned scientists and policymakers Thursday that they are losing the war on climate change and urged them to become advocates for the planet. “We’ve got a big challenge. It’s daunting,” Brown said. “This is not just about science, this is about activism.”

Teen arrested in death of his 2 brothers in Utah

WEST POINT, Utah (AP) — A teenager was arrested Thursday in the deaths of his two younger brothers, ages 4 and 10, at the family home in a Utah subdivision of new homes and tidy lawns, police said.

Senate vote keeps NH’s stand-your-ground law

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Deadly force will continue to be a viable first option in New Hampshire for individuals defending themselves or others in a public place regardless of whether they could safely retreat from the threat, after a Senate vote Thursday effectively leaves the state’s stand-your-ground law in place.

2 schools evacuated after Alabama train derailment

BEAR CREEK, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in northwest Alabama say a train has derailed near the town of Bear Creek. Marion County emergency dispatcher Heather Burgett says no injuries were reported after the derailment Thursday afternoon.

Defense releases photos, texts of Trayvon Martin

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — George Zimmerman’s defense attorneys on Thursday released information from 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s cellphone that include the teen texting with a friend about smoking marijuana and photos that show him blowing smoke and extending his middle finger to the camera.

Study: Amphibians disappearing at alarming rate

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A new study has determined for the first time just how quickly frogs and other amphibians are disappearing around the United States, and the news is not good. The U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday that populations of frogs, salamanders and toads have been vanishing from places where they live at a rate of 3.7 percent a year.

Convicted rapist who fled sentenced to 36 years

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A man convicted of raping three women in Massachusetts was sentenced Thursday to 36 to 40 years in prison more than three decades after he fled the state and began living a secret life in Maine.

Counting US drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen

WASHINGTON (AP) — The official U.S. figures of number of drone strikes and estimated deaths remain classified, but, according to the New America Foundation which maintains a database of the strikes, the CIA and the military have carried out an estimated 416 drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, resulting in 3,364 estimated deaths, including militants and civilians.