White officer who killed black driver won't face charges Bad blood lingers in GOP, Congress ponders Harvey relief

A white policeman who fatally shot an unarmed black driver in a Cleveland suburb won't face charges.

A grand jury on Tuesday declined to indict Euclid Officer Matthew Rhodes after hearing evidence from prosecutors with the state attorney general's office.

Authorities say Rhodes shot Luke Stewart three times after a struggle to gain control of a moving car March 13 in Euclid. Rhodes was responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle.

The jury's decision comes as activists have been criticizing Euclid police for an arrest in which another white officer was caught on video punching a black man more than a dozen times in an August traffic stop.

The shooting and the August arrest have inflamed racial tensions in the city.

Republicans from New York and New Jersey are pledging unconditional support for those devastated by Hurricane Harvey. But they haven’t forgiven Texas Republicans for opposing a disaster relief package five years ago.

Northeastern Republicans on Tuesday recalled with painful detail the days after Superstorm Sandy ravaged their region in 2012. At the time, the Texas congressional delegation overwhelmingly opposed a $51 billion disaster relief bill they said was packed with wasteful spending.

Five years later, another powerful natural disaster has exposed lingering resentment that highlights deep divisions in a Republican Party grappling with crisis.

It may take months to survey damage across the Gulf Coast, but early estimates suggest Harvey could be one of the most expensive natural disasters in American history.