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Judge rejects Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s request to delay his May bribery trial for two months

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York federal judge scheduled to preside over the bribery trial of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez rejected on Thursday a defense request to delay the start of jury selection from May to July.Judge Sidney H. Stein’s order leaves in place a May 5 trial date in Manhattan for the New Jersey Democrat, who faces trial along with his wife and three New Jersey businessmen.All have pleaded not guilty to charges alleging they engaged in a bribery conspiracy that enriched the senator and his wife with cash, gold bars and a luxury car. Menendez, his wife and one of the businessmen also have pleaded not guilty to a charge that they conspired to illegally use the senator as an agent of the Egyptian government.Lawyers for Menendez claimed earlier this month that they need extra time to prepare for trial, in part because they’ve been given over 6.7 million documents that they must sift through and because the complexity of the case requires resolving questions of law that...

Alabama aims to get medical marijuana program started in 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Members of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission said Thursday they are aiming to get the state’s medical marijuana program underway in 2024 after a series of delays and legal disputes. Commissioners voted 7-2 for a motion declaring they have no plans to pause license awards despite ongoing lawsuits and appeals from losing companies. Supporters said the motion is intended to convey a message that they will not delay the program any longer unless ordered to do so by a court.“We’d like to move forward with these people, the slate of awards that we’ve had in the month of December, and just get this show on the road so the people can get their medicine,” Commissioner Sam Blakemore, a pharmacist, said during the meeting.The commission earlier this month selected more than 20 companies to cultivate, process and sell medical marijuana in the state. Under commission rules, the licenses will be awarded after license fees are paid.However, several companies hav...

Founder of the American Family Association dies in Mississippi

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — Donald Wildmon, the founder of the American Family Association, a conservative Christian advocacy group, has died, the organization announced Thursday. The 85-year-old Mississippi native died on Thursday from complications related to Lewy body dementia, an obituary published by WTVA-TV said. Wildmon died in Tupelo, Mississippi, the city where the American Family Association is based. The obituary referred to Wildmon as “one of the legendary leaders of American conservatism.”“His impressive legacy of Christian ministry will live on for many years to come,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.Wildmon founded the AFA, first known as the National Federation for Decency, in 1977 after working as a pastor for the United Methodist Church. Since its inception, the conservative advocacy group has launched campaigns and boycotts to pressure corporations to avoid supporting causes the group opposed, such as LGBT anti-discriminat...

Maine becomes second state to disqualify Trump from ballot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

(The Hill) — Maine’s Secretary of State on Thursday said former President Trump was ineligible to be on the state's primary ballot under the 14th Amendment, becoming the second state to do so. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said she had concluded that Trump "over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power."She also concluded that Trump "was aware of the likelihood for violence and at least initially supported its use given he both encouraged it with incendiary rhetoric and took no timely action to stop it.“Mr. Trump’s occasional requests that rioters be peaceful and support law enforcement do not immunize his actions," she said. A brief call to obey the law does not erase conduct over the course of months, culminating in his speech on the Ellipse. The weight of th...

Dick Butkus Foundation, Northern Tool team up for donation to help trades curriculum at Chicago high school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

CHICAGO — On the city's Southeast Side, at Chicago Vocational Career Academy — known simply as "CVS" — the shop class is getting down to the nuts and bolts of things.Say hello to metals teacher Wesley Mickens, who's helping his students connect the dots to careers that are vital to both our economy and our lives in modern society."I'm just trying to increase this program," Mickens says. "... Trying to make a difference."For that, he's getting a huge assist from the family of a Chicago and NFL legend, along with a large tool company. More on that in a moment.MORE FROM PATRICK ELWOOD | Art mystery solved: Owner of Wrigley Field painting meets artist behind it thanks to WGNMr. Mickens, as the students call him, caters to the kids who aren't heading to traditional four-year colleges. While many high schools have gone away from shop classes, that curriculum is expanding at Chicago Vocational, located at 2100 E. 87th St. in Avalon Park.Mickens, an 18-year teaching veteran, says cultivatin...

Police seek driver in hit-and-run that left woman in ICU

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police are looking for the driver in a hit and run accident that injured a young woman on the West Side.On Wednesday night, 19-year-old Satoris Hall and her boyfriend were injured while driving. Police said someone driving a gray Durango hit the car they were riding in causing it to smash into a church in the 4100 block of West Harrison.Her father, Tavraes Hall, says his daughter and her boyfriend were out getting food when the crash the happened. He said he heard police were chasing the SUV, which he believes was stolen.“You are affecting people when you all do this,” he said. “You take people’s cars. You affect them. … You wouldn’t want this to happen to your people but you’re doing it to others.” Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines He said his daughter is in the ICU with a broken jaw.Her family said she graduated valedictorian of her class in June.Chicago police told WGN News they cannot confirm if the officers were chasing the Durango.Hall’s loved ones a...

How it's possible for a violent suspect to receive a $1 bond

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) --  Hilario Chavez Adrian, 56, the man arrested by Austin Police and charged with murder after a homicide this month on Congress Avenue, was previously received a $1 bond for another violent crime, according to online court records.In April, police arrested him for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Court records show his bond was initially set at $40,000 and then lowered to $1. APD confirmed with KXAN that Adrian is an unhoused individual. The Travis County District Attorney's Office would not comment on the case because it's still active.However, the court coordinator for the judge's office that was set to handle the aggravated assault case said the DA "failed to return an indictment" and that it is illegal to hold a defendant in jail for more than 90 days without an indictment. KXAN consulted a third-party legal expert to ask how a $1 bond for a violent crime could be possible.In both Adrian's aggravated assault and murder cases, police said the victims were a...

Savannah Soto, Matthew Guerra deaths ruled capital murders: police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — San Antonio police have identified the two people found dead in a car Tuesday as Savannah Soto and her boyfriend Matthew Guerra who died of a gunshot wound to the head. SAPD is investigating the case as a capital murder.Soto, 18, and Guerra, 22, were reported missing by Leon Valley police Saturday. A CLEAR Alert was issued for Soto by the Texas Department of Public Safety at that time. CLEAR stands for Coordinated Law Enforcement Alert Rescue Program. Families of both victims reached out to police on Saturday after the pregnant teen missed an appointment to be induced. The families attempted to file a missing persons report with SAPD, however one had already been issued in Leon Valley. Soto and Guerra resided in Leon Valley and were last seen there on Friday. At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, SAPD was called to assist Leon Valley PD at the 5900 block of Danny Kaye. Families of both victims were at the location and told police that they had received informati...

St. Paul man sentenced for crash that injured 2 young passengers in Dakota County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

A St. Paul man who pleaded guilty to injuring two young passengers in a crash after he fled officers in Hastings last year has been sentenced to jail time and probation.Ko Ko, 31, had a warrant and a revoked driver’s license when he sped away from a traffic stop on May 30, 2022, according to charging documents. After leading police on a 5-mile chase, he crashed after an officer punctured his tires.In the crash, a 4-year-old boy suffered fractured vertebrae, fractures to his face and sternum and a dislocated shoulder. A 3-year-old girl suffered a broken arm, charging documents said.Ko’s girlfriend, who was also in the car, told police Ko didn’t want to stop because he had an arrest warrant after failing to meet the conditions of his release for an earlier drug charge and failing to appear for an April court hearing.After the crash, Ko was charged in Dakota County District Court with two counts of criminal vehicular operation resulting in substantial bodily harm with gross negligence ...

Intersection where St. Paul man and dog were killed had been darkened by copper wire thieves

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:45 GMT

The way Laurel-Lee Wirtz sees it, she lost her husband of nearly 40 years, the love of her life, to copper wire thieves.It was just after 8 p.m. on Sunday — Christmas Eve — when Steve and Laurel-Lee Wirtz returned to their home in St. Paul’s North End after a night out with friends. She planned to cook crab legs and put on a Christmas movie. Steve, a former Rock-Tenn printer-pressman turned postal facility worker, took their nearly 2-year-old German Shepherd, Gunther, out of his kennel and told his wife he’d be right back after a walk.Steven Wirtz and Gunther. (Courtesy of Laurel-Lee Wirtz)Minutes later came a knock on the door. Laurel-Lee prepared to tease her husband, assuming he had locked himself out. Instead it was their neighbor, Jesus, telling her to come quickly. Steve had been run over in the unlit intersection of Maryland Avenue and Park Street, where he lay unrecognizable, a pool of blood beneath his head.“All I could do was yell, ‘They...