Adam Kinzinger would 'certainly' be open to serving in Kamala Harris' cabinet

Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of 10 Republican House members to vote for President Donald Trump's impeachment in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, would "certainly" be open to serving in Kamala Harris' cabinet should she win in November, he told The Times on Sunday.

"I love defense. I love foreign policy. And I think that's where she's frankly shown she's a little more hawkish than Democrats have been, so that would be a good area to bring a standard Republican in," Kinzinger said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, where his new documentary, "The Last Republican," had its world premiere on Saturday.

"I want her to win. I want her to succeed. The most important issue that this country is facing, which doesn't get enough attention to me, is Ukraine's ability to defend itself against a Russian invasion. She's the best counter for that, and I would love to help her in any way achieve that goal."

Kinzinger's name was among those floated by political observers after Vice President Harris, in a recent interview with CNN's Dana Bash, said that she would nominate a Republican to her cabinet if elected.

—Los Angeles Times

Denver to pay out more money to protesters injured during 2020 George Floyd protests

Denver is set to pay $465,000 to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of two men shot in the head with less-lethal projectiles by police officers during the George Floyd protests in 2020.

Nicholas Orlin and Shawn Murphy jointly sued the city and up to five unknown police officers in January 2022, seeking damages for eye and facial injuries they sustained in those incidents while protesting against police brutality on May 30, 2020. Settlement payments were on the Denver City Council’s agenda for approval Monday afternoon.

Both men have also received payments from the city of Aurora in the same case, according to their attorneys. An amended version of the complaint identified Aurora police officer Cory Budaj as the person who fired the projectile that injured Orlin and Aurora police sergeant Matthew Brukbacher as the one who fired the projectile at Murphy.

Orlin and Murphy did not know each other but were both near Lincoln Park at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street that evening, according to the lawsuit.

—The Denver Post

Cannabis Research Institute opens in Chicago, looking to dig deep into marijuana

CHICAGO — Nearly a year and a half after it was announced, the Cannabis Research Institute is getting operations underway in Chicago, with the goal of studying, among other things, how marijuana could help or harm people.

The institute’s leader hopes to break new ground in finding medical uses for cannabis, possibly for the treatment of cancer.

Researchers also can help with the creation of a new state reference lab to check for accuracy in the testing of commercial pot. And they could track down a virus that threatens to ruin crops.

The research group is making use of a new lab in a former COVID-19 testing facility in the Illinois Medical Center campus on the West Side, harnessing DNA sequencing equipment formerly used to test for COVID-19.

—Chicago Tribune

In young American activist's death in the West Bank, associates see pattern of impunity

JERUSALEM, Israel — The young American activist, newly arrived in the West Bank, was nervous but determined. She believed that her presence, along with that of other foreign protesters, could help protect the land and lives of Palestinian villagers in the shadow of an encroaching Jewish settlement.

On Friday, in the scant shelter of a few gnarled olive trees near the Palestinian village of Beita, a first field outing became her last. As her companions on a rocky, arid hillside looked on in horror, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26 — a bubbly, black-haired recent graduate of the University of Washington — fell to the ground, mortally wounded by a bullet to the head.

"I saw a soldier on the rooftop training his gun in our direction," said Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli activist who was a short distance away from where Eygi and a small group of protesters were standing when the shots were fired.

After an earlier brief clash in which soldiers fired tear gas at Palestinian protesters, it was calm, he said, and the contingent that included Eygi and her foreign companions had moved some distance away.

—Los Angeles Times