6 dead, 3 wounded in shooting at Christian college in Oakland

Six people were killed and three wounded Monday when a gunman opened fire at a small religious college in Oakland.

Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid, who represents the area, told The Times he was informed about the casualties by Oakland police officials, who plan a 2 p.m. news conference.

A school official said the alleged gunman had been a nursing student at the college.

Pastor Jong Kim, who founded Oikos University about 10 years ago, told the Oakland Tribune he was unsure if the alleged shooter had been expelled from the school or dropped out voluntarily. He said he heard about 30 gunshots while remaining in his office for safety.

Lucas Garcia, a teacher at the school, told KGO-TV he heard a half-dozen shots in the middle of a  lesson before someone yelled that a someone had a gun. Garcia said there are a little more than 100 students enrolled at the university, but not all were on campus at the time. He said the school teaches the Bible, nursing and English.

Medical pot school raid: 'They're going after industry leaders'

The executive chancellor of the Oakland medical marijuana university that was raided by federal agents Monday said she advised founder Richard Lee, whose home also was raided, to stay away.

The properties raided Monday included the university, a museum at 17th and Broadway--where Lee recently relocated his dispensary after his landlord received a warning letter from the U.S. attorney--and two other locations Lee has rented.

A raid also was being conducted on the home of a friend of Lee's, said Executive Chancellor Dale Sky Jones. Lee founded Oaksterdam as the state's first cannabis-industry training school.

Failed drug test could mean end to unemployment benefits

For South Carolina's unemployed, failing or refusing a drug test after a job offer could mean the end to that unemployment check. The SC House passed a bill that would allow employers to contact the SC Department of Employment and Workforce if a prospective employee fails or refuses a drug test.
The bill passed the House in late March by a vote of 70-24.

"You are not ready, able and available to be hired and go to work," Aiken County Representative Thomas Young, Jr. argued. Young, a Republican, co-authored the bill and argued on the floor that the standard for drawing unemployment benefits is being ready to go to work right away. "We shouldn't be paying unemployment benefits to someone that doesn't meet that definition," said Young.

"It's a little bit insulting to those who have lost their jobs for this body to suggest that they're unemployed because of drug use," Representative Joe Neal told the House. Neal brought up Governor Haley's accusations that half of job applicants at the Savannah River nuclear plant had failed drug tests, but SRS records showed that less than 1 percent had failed.

Democrats think Haley's misinformation led to the unemployment drug testing bill.

Senior citizens continue to bear burden of student loans

The burden of paying for college is wreaking havoc on the finances of an unexpected demographic: senior citizens.
New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt. More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent. As a result, consumer advocates say, it is not uncommon for Social Security checks to be garnished or for debt collectors to harass borrowers in their 80s over student loans that are decades old.