Sam's Top 5 Things to Know for 2/21/17

1. Trump's new national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, is temperamentally a shift from the ousted Michael Flynn

President Trump’s selection Monday of a cerebral, widely respected military strategist as his new national security advisor signaled an abrupt about-face from the chaotic tenure of Michael Flynn, forced out last week just shy of a month on the job.

The choice of Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, 54, who has a reputation for battlefield acumen as well as scholarly achievement, won quick bipartisan plaudits from key lawmakers charged with oversight of national security and intelligence — a boon for a White House still seeking its footing after first-month missteps.

2. Right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been disinvited to this year's Conservative Political Action Conference after his attempt to clarify past comments on relationships between boys and older men fell flat with organizers.

Hours later, his publisher cancelled his book "Dangerous," which had been scheduled to come out in June.

The American Conservative Union founded and hosts CPAC, which is being held Wednesday through Saturday outside Washington. In a tweet on Monday, ACU chairman Matt Schlapp said that "due to the revelation of an offensive video in the past 24 hours condoning pedophilia, the American Conservative Union has decided to rescind the invitation of Milo Yiannopoulos to speak."

3. At least three people were run over by a horse that possibly became spooked by a low-flying drone Saturday at the start line of Silverton’s 8th Annual Skijoring Race.

Two women were taken away by ambulance, including one who had a gash to the back of her head and one who suffered a hip injury. A man also suffered a bloody chin but did not need transporting by ambulance.

The mishap occurred about 1:15 p.m. as the horse, rider and skier prepared to launch off the start line in a sprint for the finish. The horse appeared agitated, and its handler, Tim McCarthy of Aztec, yelled and waived at the drone in an effort to make its pilot fly it away.

Instead of bolting up the course, the horse darted to the left of the course where five to 10 spectators gathered on the sideline. Several people were knocked over by the horse, and a few were unable to escape its path because of a large snowbank behind them.

The competition was shut down for 30 to 45 minutes while medics tended to the injured.

Their names were unavailable Saturday evening, and their conditions were unknown. None of the injuries appeared life-threatening.

San Juan County Sheriff Bruce Conrad said he plans to issue a ticket to the drone pilot for flying over a crowd of people, which is illegal.

4. Former Lynx player Candice Wiggins is criticizing the WNBA, saying she was harassed for being heterosexual

She was the #3 overall draft pick out of Stanford in 2008 becomes Sixth Woman of the Year as a rookie and wins the 2011 title with the Lynx. She says now, though, that success hid a darker reality. She claims that she was targeted for harassment from the time she was drafted by the Lynx because she is heterosexual and nationally popular.

Wiggins said, “Me being heterosexual and straight and being vocal in my identity as a straight woman was huge. I would say 98 percent of the women in the WNBA are gay.”

Referring to her rookie season, Wiggins said: “People were deliberately trying to hurt me all of the time. … The message was: ‘We want you to know we don’t like you.’ ”

She played her final three seasons for three different teams — Tulsa, Los Angeles and New York.

“There were horrible things happening to me every day,” she said. Wiggins called the WNBA “depressing.”

5. A Minnesota school district is requiring girls who plan to attend its April prom to submit a photo of themselves wearing their chosen dress to a prom adviser before the event.

The Osakis School Board approved the idea while discussing the district’s prom dress code with prom co-adviser Bobbie Jo Haakinson at a recent meeting.

The board said it wanted to prevent anyone from being embarrassed or turned away at the door on the night of prom if they didn’t meet the dress code.

“We have a right to not allow entrance to the prom,” board member Monica Klimek said.

Boys are not required to submit photos.

Haakinson also told the board she had updated the wording of the previous dress code because fashion has changed. The previous wording on “no exposed midriff section” was eliminated.


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