Mikiztil festival, exorcism ranch, storm’s underwater impact: News from around our 50 states
Alabama
Tuskegee: As early as next summer, Tuskegee University plans to move the needle in cancer genomics – the study of DNA sequence and gene expression differences between tumor cells and normal cells. With a $7.93 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the university will build a new biomedical annex to its Carver Research Center to focus on cancer research and health disparities in underrepresented populations. “This award is recognition for the dedicated effort of the faculty, staff and students within the Center for Biomedical Research to eradicate health disparities, particularly in Alabama Black Belt,” Center for Biomedical Research director Dr. Clayton Yates said in a statement. “Students, particularly African-Americans and other underrepresented minorities, will receive training to become excellent biomedical research scientists, significantly benefitting from this state-of-the-art enhancement.” Booker T. Washington founded the historically Black university in 1881 with the purpose of educating Black teachers. Since then, the school has expanded its mission to include educating students for careers in the sciences, architecture, business and engineering. It also forged a path in bioethics for HBCUs. Tuskegee formed its National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care in response to the violations committed during the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
Alaska
Juneau: A lawsuit filed in state court is challenging the eligibility of a legislative candidate to hold the seat. The lawsuit filed Monday alleges Democrat Jennifer “Jennie” Armstrong did not meet residency requirements on the date she filed to run for office. The complaint seeks an injunction barring state elections officials from certifying Armstrong as the winner of her Anchorage House race should she garner the most votes. Armstrong faces Republican Liz Vazquez in next week’s election. The case, brought by Chris Duke, Randy Eledge, Steve Strait and Kathryn Werdahl, names the state Division of Elections and its director as defendants. The plaintiffs are described as “public interest litigants.” Patty Sullivan, a spokesperson with the state Department of Law, said Tuesday morning that the department had not yet been served an official copy of the complaint and could not comment on the specific allegations. But she said that Armstrong has been certified for the ballot based on information she provided in her declaration of candidacy and that the time for any challenge to her eligibility under a state law and regulation has expired. “There is no process for the Division to find a candidate disqualified based on residency at this point in the process,” Sullivan said by email.
Arizona
Phoenix: Crowds gathered at Steele Indian School Park on Sunday to honor the Indigenous roots of Día de los Muertos at the annual Mikiztil festival. “The Mikiztil is the painted decorated skull that you see, and it represents not death but transcendence,” said Zarco Guerrero, president, chair and co-founder of Cultural Coalition, the host organization of the event. Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, an ancient Mexican celebration with Indigenous Aztec roots, is typically observed Nov. 1-2 during the Catholic holidays of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. During this time, people honor their deceased relatives and invite their spirits back from beyond to join their families in the celebration. The Día de los Muertos celebration well-known today in the U.S. is a medley of Indigenous origins of the tradition mixed with forced Spanish and Catholic influence from the Europeans who conquered the lands of Indigenous people, according to Carmen Guerrero, executive director and co-founder of Cultural Coalition. The Mikiztli festival aims to revive and celebrate its Indigenous origins. “We’re trying to go back to the ancestral understanding of what this event really means. ... It was never about death. It was always about transcending to the next life,” Zarco Guerrero said. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego acknowledged the city’s support and welcomed the crowd to the event. Shortly after began the Danza Mexica, a form of ancestral worship to what the Aztecs described as the four sacred directions: north, south, east and west.
Arkansas
Fort Smith: The FBI is investigating after several people in the city told police someone called and said their children had been kidnapped and then demanded a ransom. The calls’ claims have been fake but are being investigated by local and federal law officers. Since Thursday, police took reports of a series of calls from across the city about kidnappings. The caller used the same phone number to claim that the targets’ children had been kidnapped and that they would only give the children back if a ransom were paid, police said. “These calls have been investigated and are confirmed to be scams,” according to a Fort Smith news release. In one of the calls, the victim’s child was confirmed safe. In another, the victim did not even have any children. “When the caller is pressed, their knowledge of the victims and the area appears to be limited and superficial,” police said. Anyone who gets a kidnapping call or any other suspicious call can report it to Fort Smith police or the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at fbi.gov/tips.
California
Sacramento: The Hoopa Valley Tribe alleged in a lawsuit Monday that the federal government is violating its sovereignty and failing to collect money from California farms that rely on federally supplied water to pay for damages to tribal fisheries. The tribe, which has a reservation in northwest California, says in its lawsuit against the Biden administration that the Trinity River that it relies on for food and cultural purposes has been decimated by decades of the federal government diverting water. The suit alleges the U.S. Department of the Interior has failed to follow laws that require the contractors who use that water to pay money for habitat restoration projects. It says those contractors owe $340 million for environmental restoration work along the Trinity River and other places damaged by water diversions. “The river has become a place that is no longer a healing place, but a place that is a sick place,” said Jill Sherman-Warne, a member of the Hoopa tribal council. The suit also alleges that the federal government has failed to appropriately consult with the tribe on matters related to the river. The Interior Department declined to comment through spokesman Tyler Cherry.
Colorado
Denver: A man has been sentenced to more than 23 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to shooting a ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park last year. The ranger was wearing a bulletproof vest and wasn’t seriously injured. Daron Ellis, 29, of Aurora, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Denver after pleading guilty to attempted murder of a federal officer and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, The Denver Post reports. The Dec. 8 shooting occurred after a Colorado State Patrol officer tried to stop Ellis outside the park for speeding. The trooper learned the car was stolen and ordered Ellis to leave the car, but Ellis sped off, authorities said. A National Park Service Law Enforcement ranger spotted the car at the Fall River entrance to the national park in Colorado and ordered Ellis to show his hands. Ellis shot the ranger in the chest with a semi-automatic handgun; the ranger returned fire, wounding Ellis, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado. The ranger’s identity hasn’t been released. Rocky Mountain National Park is about 50 miles northwest of Denver.
Connecticut
Hartford: A former state representative pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with the theft of more than $1.2 million in federal coronavirus relief funds from the city of West Haven, using some of the money for gambling at a casino, according to prosecutors. Michael DiMassa, a West Haven Democrat, appeared in federal court in Hartford and pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud conspiracy. DiMassa’s wife and his former business partner also pleaded guilty earlier this year, while a fourth person charged in the scheme awaits trial. At the time of the theft, DiMassa was both a state representative and an aide to the West Haven City Council. Prosecutors alleged he used his city position, which had authority to approve the reimbursement of COVID-19 expenditures, to steal the funds – some of which he used for gambling at the Mohegan Sun Casino in eastern Connecticut. DiMassa resigned from both positions after his arrest last year. No sentencing date was set for DiMassa. The sentencing guideline range for the charges to which he pleaded guilty is 41 to 51 months.
Delaware
Wilmington: After years of hovering slightly under 1 million residents, the First State has surpassed that milestone − but just barely, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The government estimated this summer that in July 2021, Delaware had 1,003,384 residents. Census Bureau data lags by about a year. While Delaware’s overall population growth has remained steady at an average of 1% per year since 2010, adults 65 and older have seen the fastest-growing numbers, with that population increasing 55% in the 11-year period. In contrast, the 35-to-49 age group declined the most, dropping 4.2% in the same time frame. Currently, the 50-to-64 age group makes up the largest share of Delaware’s population, at 20.5%. The 65-and-up age group comes in close second, however, making up 20.1% of the state’s population. Though adults ages 50 to 64 still account for the largest percentage of the state’s population, the rapid growth of the 65-plus age group comes as no surprise given the trend is also being seen nationally, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living found.
District of Columbia
Washington: After decades of planning and years of delays, the D.C. region’s Metrorail system will open a long-awaited extension to Dulles International Airport in about two weeks. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced Monday that the second phase of its Silver Line extension into Loudoun County and the northern Virginia airport will open to passengers Nov. 15. The $3 billion extension adds more than 11 miles of track and six new stations. It has been plagued by cost overruns and criminal charges against contractors who falsified records to try to hide faulty concrete. It was originally scheduled to open in 2018 but faced numerous delays. The opening comes at a time where the Metrorail system continues to face a significant drop in ridership from its pre-pandemic levels, as well as an anticipated budget gap. In recent weeks, Metro officials had said they could not open the new line until safety regulators allowed the system’s 7000 series rail cars to return to use. They had been pulled from service after a derailment. Regulators approved a plan last week to return enough of the cars to service ahead of Thanksgiving to allow the Silver Line extension to open.
Florida
Fort Myers: Hurricane Ian ravaged southwest Florida on land but was destructive underwater as well. It destroyed human-made reefs and brought along red tide, the harmful algae blooms that kill fish and birds, according to marine researchers who returned last week from a six-day cruise organized by the Florida Institute of Oceanography. Researchers who used the cruise to study marine life in the Gulf of Mexico following the hurricane say it left in its wake red tide and destroyed artificial reefs from as far away as 30 miles from the coast of southwest Florida. “The onetime vibrant reefs are now underwater disaster sites themselves,” said Calli Johnson, safety dive officer for the research cruise. “Where there used to be a complete ecosystem, there are now only fish that were able to return after swimming away.” Before the Category 4 storm made landfall a month ago, southwest Florida had a reputation for being one of the best saltwater fishing destinations in the U.S. Saltwater and freshwater fishing in Florida has an economic impact of about $13.8 billion, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Time will tell how this affects our greater economy because changes in the fishing industry and tourism will come from changes in our underwater world,” Johnson said.
Georgia
Atlanta: A federal judge on Monday declined to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani by two women who served as election workers in Georgia in November 2020. In the lawsuit filed last December, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss accused Giuliani of defaming them by falsely stating that the pair had engaged in election fraud while counting ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The lawsuit says Giuliani repeatedly pushed debunked claims that the mother-and-daughter pair pulled out suitcases of illegal ballots and committed other acts of fraud to try to alter the outcome of the presidential election in Georgia. In an opinion accompanying Monday’s order, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell in Washington described the situation that followed the November 2020 election, when the vote totals in several key states were so close that the results were not immediately clear. “As election workers across the state worked long hours carefully ensuring the accuracy of the election, the Trump Campaign and its allies, including Giuliani, engaged in a media offensive that at best questioned, and at worse condemned, their work,” Howell wrote. Moss had worked for the Fulton County elections department since 2012 and supervised the absentee ballot operation during the 2020 election. Freeman, her mother, was a temporary election worker, verifying signatures on absentee ballots and preparing them to be counted and processed.
Hawaii
Honolulu: The pilot of a helicopter that crashed on a remote lava field during a sunset tour in June told investigators that the engine had been swapped out but three earlier flights that day were normal. The National Transportation Safety Board on Monday released various documents related to the crash that injured all six people on board, but the agency has yet to release a probable cause for why the helicopter suddenly made “violent and uncommanded yaw and pitch changes.” The morning of the crash, the pilot and a mechanic took the helicopter on a operation control flight after its engine had been changed and there were no issues with the flight, according to the pilot’s accident report. The documents did not specify exactly when the engine was changed. The pilot then took the helicopter on two tours, which were also normal and uneventful. The helicopter crashed during a third tour and was found lying on its left side with significant damage to the cockpit, and the tail boom was nearly 800 feet from the main wreckage, according to one of the reports. A large piece of lava rock penetrated about 13 inches into the cockpit area. In a passenger statement, a 48-year-old man on the tour with his two 18-year-old daughters told investigators the helicopter suddenly felt upside down about 30 minutes into the flight.
Idaho
Boise: A former longshot Idaho gubernatorial candidate was convicted Monday of kidnapping and killing a 12-year-old Colorado girl who went missing nearly 40 years ago. Jurors found Steve Pankey, 71, guilty of felony murder, second-degree kidnapping and false reporting in the disappearance and death of Jonelle Matthews in 1984, the office of district attorney Michael Rourke said. A judge then sentenced him to life prison with the possibility of parole, the Greeley Tribune reports. It was Pankey’s second trial in the case. Last year, jurors were unable to reach verdicts on the kidnapping and murder charges, and prosecutors decided to put him on trial again. Pankey was a neighbor of Jonelle and her family when she vanished after being dropped off at her empty home by a family friend after performing at a Christmas concert in Greeley, Colorado, a city about 50 miles north of Denver. He emerged as a person of interest in the case three decades later – shortly before Jonelle’s body was found in 2019 – after claiming to have information about what happened to her and asking for immunity from prosecution. Prosecutors said Pankey kept up to date on the case throughout the years even as he moved his family to several states before settling in Idaho, where he ran unsuccessfully as a Constitution Party candidate for Idaho governor in 2014 and in the Republican gubernatorial primary in 2018, the year authorities said he was named as a person of interest in the girl’s death.
Illinois
Chicago: The owner of a North Side senior housing facility where three women earlier this year died amid a brief May heat wave that caused temperatures in the building to soar into the low 90s has been fined $1,500 by the city’s buildings department. Citing city records, the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the fine was levied after an inspection by the buildings department found 11 code violations – two of which were the result of a rooftop air conditioning “chiller” that did not appear to be suitable for use on the exterior of the building. Records show, according to the newspaper, that the department determined that issues noted in the city’s first inspection had been addressed and that a second inspection determined there were “no dangerous and hazardous conditions.” By that time, the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation – a nonprofit organization that owns and manages the James Sneider Apartment – had, among other things, provided individual air conditioning units to every tenant. Mike Puccinelli, a buildings department spokesman, said the fine was levied before city officials had access to autopsy records that showed the deaths of the three women whose bodies were discovered May 14 were linked to the heat. He said the fine was based completely on the violations found during the inspection.
Indiana
Carmel: After years of overcoming legal challenges and governmental hurdles, more than 200 people gathered excitedly Saturday to break ground on the Islamic Life Center in Carmel. “My heart is pounding so fast with no fear or sadness but truly with a feeling of joy and pleasure,” Nadeem Ikhlaque, Al Salam’s founding president, said from a podium at the site of the future center. “In my 54 years of life, I never had this feeling, but today I have – standing in front of you.” Carmel leaders, the Al Salam Foundation, Muslim members, and those from other faith communities and the public broke ground on the city’s first mosque. The center will be under the umbrella of the foundation, which is an Islamic nonprofit organization. “We are practicing our faith rituals – daily and weekly prayers, nightly prayers, fasting through the month of Ramadan,” Ashhar Madni, president of the Al Salam Foundation, told the crowd. “The other half of our faith is to do good deeds. ... While we worship our creator, we need to serve his creation as well.” The road to this point was not a straight line and showed the clash that can occur as cities become more diverse. While city, community and religious leaders largely supported the project, many Carmel residents of different cultural and religious backgrounds in nearby upscale neighborhoods protested against it, saying they were largely concerned with property values. Center members said Saturday that they looked forward to being a good and inviting neighbor.
Iowa
Des Moines: Agriculture officials said Monday that another commercial egg farm in the state has been infected with bird flu – the first commercial farm case identified since April, when a turkey farm was infected. The latest case is in Wright County in north central Iowa, about 80 miles north of Des Moines, housing about 1.1 million chickens. Iowa has had 15 commercial farms infected this year, including turkeys, egg-laying hens and other chickens. In addition, five backyard flocks have been infected. Because the virus is highly contagious, all birds on an infected farm are killed and disposed of to avoid the spread of the disease. Iowa has been hardest hit with bird losses at more than 13.3 million this year before the latest farm was found infected. Nationally more than 47.7 million birds have been affected in 43 states that includes 251 commercial flocks and 328 backyard flocks, U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show. Most of the Iowa cases were during the spring migration of wild birds in March and April with one reported in early May. The virus hadn’t been detected again until a backyard flock was infected Oct. 20, and then the latest infection was confirmed Monday.
Kansas
Topeka: The state’s top elections official warned voters Monday that text messages from outside the state were giving them incorrect information about where to vote, but groups involved in the texting said they weren’t trying to confuse or mislead people. Several Democrats said they began hearing about the texts Sunday or had received them. Each message said it was from a representative of Voting Futures, Voto Latino or Black Voters Matter and provided the address of a voting site, with a picture of a building. In some cases, the person already had voted; in others, people couldn’t vote in advance at the listed site, and in some, people could vote in advance there, but not on Election Day, Nov. 8. Movement Labs, a vendor headquartered in Oakland, California, working for both Voto Latino and Black Voters Matter, tweeted that texts also went to voters in Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia. Kansas Democrats who learned of the texts worried that a disinformation campaign had targeted their voters in hopes of preventing their ballots from counting or discouraging them from voting. And Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican, said voters should be on “high alert” about potential election misinformation from such texts.
Kentucky
Louisville: Former U.S. Rep. Romano L. Mazzoli, D-Ky., whose tenacity and personal integrity formed the foundation of a long career in politics and public service, died Tuesday at his home in Louisville. He was one day shy of his 90th birthday. Charlie Mattingly, his former chief of staff, said Mazzoli’s mental acuity never waned, although his health declined, particularly in recent months. Throughout his 24 years in the House, Mazzoli defied the usual stereotypical descriptions applied to political figures. His unpredictable voting patterns occasionally prompted the casual observer describe him as a maverick, a term Mazzoli disliked. “I don’t like labels,” he said in 1988. “I don’t consider myself anything but thoughtful.” Mazzoli’s nature frequently put him in conflict with his party on issues of substance and matters of conscience. Although he pledged in his first House speech to support the Equal Rights Amendment, he alienated women’s groups that were trying to keep the amendment alive in 1983 by voting to defeat an ERA resolution. He said Democratic leaders had not provided enough time to discuss its impact on abortion and women in the draft. A devout Catholic, Mazzoli strongly opposed abortion, putting him at odds with members of his party’s liberal Washington establishment. He frequently angered organized labor by refusing to support protectionist legislation and voted once to support the veto of a Democratic bill to raise the minimum wage.
Louisiana
Ferriday: The family of legendary rock ’n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis has announced details of memorial services planned this weekend for his birthplace. Lewis, known for hits such as “Great Balls of Fire” and many others, died Friday at age 87. The funeral service is set for 11 a.m. Central Daylight Time on Saturday at Young’s Funeral Home in Ferriday, family members said. There will be very limited public availability, but the ceremony will be livestreamed, with details to be announced later on Lewis’ Facebook page. A private burial will follow. A celebration of life is also planned for 1 p.m. that day at the Arcade Theater in Ferriday, Lewis’ representatives said. Lewis was the last survivor of a generation of artists that rewrote music history, a group that included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
Maine
Etna: A 74-year-old man who spent nearly 30 hours lost in the woods was hypothermic and unable to move when he was found by a game warden using a tracking dog, officials said. Joseph Nolin knew his ordeal was over when he heard a bell attached to the Labrador retriever’s collar, and then the dog bounded up and started licking him Monday afternoon, his son told wardens. Nolin walked until he couldn’t move and told wardens he wouldn’t have survived another night in the woods. He was found a mile from his house deep in the woods at the edge of the Etna Bog, officials said. A Maine Forest Service helicopter was used to retrieve Nolin, and he was released after being hydrated and warmed up, officials said. Nolen had been last seen Sunday morning, when he departed to check on game cameras in the woods. He son reported him missing Sunday evening.
Maryland
Bowie: A representative for the company staging a Halloween magic performance at Six Flags America says an emergency call that medics described as a serious injury caused by sword swallowing was caused by an “unrelated medical condition,” WUSA-TV reports. The call for help came from Six Flags in Bowie between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Saturday evening. “It was not for an accident during the show but rather for other unrelated health conditions,” said Josh Bowren, production manager for Aaron Radatz Productionz, which staged the show, according to Six Flags officials. Bowren did not name the actor, whom he described as “our sword swallower,” and authorities have not released the name of the injured person. The performer was a 59-year-old man who was in serious but not life-threatening condition when he was transported to Capital Region Health Hospital in Largo on Saturday night, rescuers said. Rescuers described the weapon to medical workers as “a haunted house sword” and said it occurred during a “Halloween show.” A spokesperson for Six Flags said the company’s “thoughts and prayers are with the performer and his family.”
Massachusetts
Worcester: A retired state trooper who was killed in what authorities described as a shooting motivated by racism and an officer who drowned while trying to save the life of a teenager were honored Tuesday with awards for exemplary acts of bravery. A total of 32 Massachusetts law enforcement personnel were named recipients of the annual George L. Hanna Memorial Award for Bravery by Gov. Charlie Baker during a ceremony at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. Hanna was a state trooper shot and killed during a traffic stop in Auburn in 1983. Two of his children participated in Tuesday’s ceremony. “Like Trooper George Hanna, the dedicated women and men in law enforcement perform exceptional work guided by their deeply rooted commitment to helping others, no matter the risk to themselves,” Baker said in a statement. Retired state Trooper David L. Green, 68, left his Winthrop home in June 2021 to investigate a truck crash and was shot multiple times by a white man who authorities say had expressed antisemitic and anti-Black views. Green and Ramona Cooper, a 60-year-old Air Force veteran, were killed. Both were Black.
Michigan
Detroit: The family of Porter Burks, a Black man fatally shot during an early morning confrontation with Detroit police, is suing the city for $50 million, their lawyer announced Tuesday. Five unnamed officers also are named in the wrongful death lawsuit filed Tuesday by attorney Geoffrey Fieger. It claims gross negligence and assault and battery, among other things. Burks’ Oct. 2 death was recorded by police body cameras as officers pleaded with him to drop a knife he was carrying. They initially were called to a home on the west side about a knife-wielding man who was having a mental health crisis and spoke to a man who identified himself as Burks’ brother. The man said Burks had slashed the tires on his car. “Drop the knife for me, man. Come here real quick. You’re OK,” a member of the Detroit Police Department’s crisis intervention team can be heard telling Burks. “You’re not in any trouble. Can you just talk to me and drop the knife?” “You’re not in any trouble, OK?” the officer continued. “I just want to help you. I just want to help you, man. OK? Can you just drop the knife for me please? Please? Whatever you’re going through, I can help you.” Burks – who police say had schizophrenia – was shot as he sprinted toward officers from the middle of the street.
Minnesota
Brainerd: A man is accused of fatally shooting his daughter’s boyfriend who he suspected was abusing her. The 45-year-old Brainerd father is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 23-year-old Bryce Brogle, who was reported missing after going to the man’s storage unit Oct. 26. According to a criminal complaint, the father shot Brogle in the back of the head from a distance and then buried his body in Crow Wing County. The defendant’s daughter reported her boyfriend missing Oct. 28, telling police he hadn’t been seen since he went to the storage unit with her father. Investigators executed a search warrant Oct. 29 at the storage unit and said they found the presence of blood and bleach on the concrete floor and signs something had been dragged across the floor. The following day, law enforcement officers searched land in Crow Wing County on foot and found a grave site. The complaint said that after it was excavated, they found a body with a gunshot wound to the back of the head. An autopsy confirmed it was Brogle. According to the charges, the landlord for Brogle and his girlfriend called the sheriff’s office, saying the father has asked if Brogle had hurt his daughter. The landlord said his daughter had been seen with two black eyes. The complaint said the father then told the landlord he was going to kill Brogle, and he’d already dug a hole.
Mississippi
Jackson: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Monday that the city’s water is safe to drink, after months of sampling at a treatment plant overwhelmed by August flooding that caused wide supply disruptions. The beleaguered O.B. Curtis water treatment plant fell into crisis after the late summer flooding left 150,000 people without running water for several days. People waited in lines for water to drink, bathe, cook and flush toilets. The crisis also added to the rising costs for business owners already saddled with a labor shortage and high inflation. The city had already been under a boil-water notice since late July because the state health department found cloudy water that could make people ill. But current water samples pass muster for safe consumption, the EPA said. “Current sampling confirms water delivered from J.H. Fewell Water and O.B. Curtis Water Treatment is safe to drink,” said Maria Michalos, a spokesperson for the EPA, referring to the city’s two water treatment plants. The agency encouraged Jackson residents to stay vigilant about updates and follow all future boil water advisories, as “localized issues” may resurface. It is not yet certain whether Jackson has too much lead and copper in its water. Sampling has been completed, and results are expected in mid-November.
Missouri
Jefferson City: The state’s health department is investigating whether a hospital violated federal health care rules in denying a woman an emergency abortion, an agency spokeswoman confirmed Monday. Missouri Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Lisa Cox in a statement said the agency launched an investigation into southern Missouri’s Freeman Health System’s treatment of Mylissa Farmer. Farmer, who is from Joplin, told the Associated Press she went to the system’s local emergency room when her water broke months early Aug. 2. She said tests showed she had lost all of her amniotic fluid because of a pregnancy complication, and doctors told her the fetus was not expected to survive. Doctors also told Farmer that “awaiting a medical emergency may put her at further risk for maternal mortality” or the removal of her uterus, medical records show. But because her fetus still had a heartbeat, and her condition wasn’t considered a life-threatening medical emergency at that moment, they couldn’t terminate the pregnancy in Missouri, they told her. She eventually got an abortion in Illinois. Records from that visit say doctors told Farmer that the law supersedes their medical judgment, and “contrary to the most appropriate management based (on) my medical opinion, due to the legal language of MO law, we are unable to offer induction of labor at this time.” “They were telling me to basically get out of the state to get the care that I needed,” the 41-year-old told AP.
Montana
Kalispell: A woman was cited for animal cruelty Thursday for shooting and skinning a 6-month-old husky and posting pictures of herself with the animal online bragging that she had shot a young wolf, officials said. The husky was among a group of 18 dogs and puppies, including German shepherd mixes, that had been abandoned on national forest land in northwestern Montana in mid-September, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office has said. The investigation led the woman to be cited with a misdemeanor and not charged with a felony because officers believe they can prove negligence but not intent, the Sheriff’s Office told NBC Montana. The citation gives the woman two weeks to appear in Justice Court, Officer Paul Charbonneau said. The Flathead County Animal Shelter cared for the dogs, some of which had parvo, a viral infection that causes vomiting and diarrhea. Charbonneau said he believed all the dogs had been adopted.
Nebraska
Omaha: A Halloween celebration turned frantic after a man drove through a barricaded area and was shot by a police officer Monday night, police said. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the shooting occurred during the popular annual “Halloween on the Boulevard” block party in the Minne Lusa neighborhood in Omaha. Children and adults were out in the neighborhood trick-or-treating when a car drove recklessly through a blocked-off area shortly after 7 p.m., Omaha Police Lt. Neal Bonacci said. The driver of the vehicle was shot by an Omaha police officer and taken to Nebraska Medical Center with serious injuries. The name of the driver has not yet been released. Police say no one else was injured. Chrissy Lopez, a resident of the neighborhood, told the Omaha World-Herald that the vehicle initially drove slowly through the crowd as people yelled at the driver to stop. “He would stop and then drive a little more,” she said. “I heard his engine rev, and people started screaming, and I thought, ‘Oh no.’ And then I heard the gunshots, and everybody just started screaming and running and crying.” Police and firefighters were already on the scene for the block party, which is put on by the Miller Park Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association and draws thousands of people to the area each year.
Nevada
Las Vegas: The Republican National Committee is asking a judge to order election officials in Las Vegas to hire more GOP poll workers to correct what a legal filing calls a disproportionate imbalance favoring Democrats. A Clark County District Court judge is scheduled Wednesday to consider accusations that county elections chief Joe Gloria “stacked” a key ballot signature verification board with 23 Democrats, 33 nonpartisans and “a mere” eight Republicans. Dan Kulin, spokesman for Gloria, declined Monday to comment on a matter pending before a judge. “The registrar’s lopsided staffing of the signature verification board is not remotely ‘as equal as possible’ ” under state law, attorneys representing the RNC alleged in a document filed Friday. “He created a signature verification board with a partisan makeup that tilts sharply against Republicans.” Judge Timothy Williams had signed off Oct. 5 on a pact between the two sides after the county agreed to provide to the RNC a roster showing job titles and political party affiliations of poll workers. The RNC dropped a demand to obtain workers’ names. Voter registration leans Democratic in Clark County, the most populous area of Nevada and home to nearly 1.3 million, or more than 71%, of the state’s 1.8 million active registered voters.
New Hampshire
Manchester: A U.S. House candidate on the ballot in next week’s election would be the youngest woman ever in Congress if she wins. Karoline Leavitt recalls being in her college dining hall in 2018, filling out an application for a White House intern job while her friends were tailgating at a football game. “I remember thinking, ‘If I made this opportunity, it’s worth missing any football game in the world,’ ” she told the Associated Press in an interview She got the job. That eventually led to a position in President Donald Trump’s White House press office, then another as communications director for Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. Inspired by Stefanik, the youngest woman elected to Congress when she won in 2014 at age 30, Leavitt is now running for a House seat of her own. At age 25, she could make history on Election Day: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., won at 29 in 2018. Leavitt, an unabashed pro-Trump Republican, would also be the youngest person in the next session of Congress if she were to defeat two-term Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas in one of the most competitive races this year. Leavitt is seven months younger then fellow Gen Z candidate Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Florida Democrat favored in his race. Leavitt won her 10-way Republican primary in September in part by going to the right of the other candidates. “I consistently continue to be the only candidate in this race who says that I believe the 2020 election was undoubtedly stolen from President Trump,” she said during a debate.
New Jersey
Asbury Park: While COVID-19 has been at the forefront of health concerns for more than two years, another group of infections has continued to spread among New Jersey residents. Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have become more prevalent among adults and teens over the past decade, according to data from the New Jersey Health Department. Incidences of the three infections rose 40% between 2012 and 2019, according to state data. While it caused a small drop-off in disease rates, the COVID-19 pandemic failed to significantly slow down the spread of sexually transmitted infections across the state, said Dr. Edward Liu, the infectious disease section chief at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. “Even during the pandemic … their behaviors didn’t change that much,” he said. “Or maybe they were so cooped up that they had to have some type of outlet.” While rates of infection for chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis did drop during 2020, the rate still exceeded the rate for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Although all three infections are treatable with certain antibiotics, experts worry that they may soon run out of medications capable of treating gonorrhea. Greta Anschuetz, the assistant acting commissioner at the New Jersey Department of Health who leads the division of HIV, STD and TB Services, said her office is concerned about the infection. “Gonorrhea has figured out how to be resistant to every drug, and we’re on the last of the (known, effective) drugs,” she said.
New Mexico
Santa Fe: A sheriff’s department has submitted its investigative findings to prosecutors in the death of a cinematographer shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on a film set in New Mexico in October 2021. Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office spokesman Juan Ríos said Thursday that two binders of information were turned over to the Santa Fe-based district attorney’s office, without setting forth any recommendations about possible criminal charges. He said the case file outlines all the evidence collected, including investigative interviews and forensic analysis of physical evidence by the FBI. District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said through a spokeswoman that investigators and prosecutors will now begin a thorough review to make a timely decision about whether to bring charges, without mention of specific deadlines. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded by a gunshot during setup for a scene in the western movie “Rust” at a filmset ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.
New York
New York: The debut of a giant “Bluey” balloon, Lea Michele and the Broadway cast of “Funny Girl,” and the legendary Dionne Warwick are some of the highlights slated for this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. This year’s parade – the 96th annual – will feature 16 giant character balloons, 28 floats, 40 novelty and heritage inflatables, 12 marching bands, 700 clowns, 10 performance groups and, of course, Santa Claus. New balloon giants joining the line-up Nov. 24 include Stuart the one-eyed Minion from “Despicable Me 2”; a new green dinosaur, an Apatosaurus; the debut of the animated sensation “Bluey”; and a new “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” balloon. Other celebrities slated to be on hand include Paula Abdul, making her parade debut; Fitz and the Tantrums; Big Time Rush; “Blue’s Clues & You!” host Josh Dela Cruz; Gloria Estefan along with her daughter, Emily, and grandson, Sasha; Kirk Franklin; Mario Lopez; Ziggy Marley; and Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles. The singers Joss Stone, Jordin Sparks and Betty Who will all be part of the festivities, as will the stars of Peacock’s “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin” – Adam Devine, Sarah Hyland and Flula Borg. Jimmy Fallon & The Roots will be on a float celebrating Central Park.
North Carolina
Raleigh: Gov. Roy Cooper on Tuesday announced a new commission tasked with making recommendations on changing how the boards guiding the University of North Carolina system and its 17 member schools are chosen, bidding to broaden their membership by political leanings, race and gender. The Democratic governor essentially blamed the Republican-controlled Legislature for contributing to problems within the governing structure of one of the country’s leading public university systems – with 240,000 students and UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University as its flagship campuses. “The UNC system is the envy of the nation for what we have built here,” Cooper said at an Executive Mansion news conference. “But there are signs of trouble that come when all of the appointed leaders are chosen by too few … we have an appointed university leadership that doesn’t come close to reflecting our diversity.” As a reminder of partisanship he blames for the system’s stumbling, Cooper stood beside commission co-chairs Tom Ross and Margaret Spellings, two recent UNC system presidents. Both got pushed out in different ways by previous editions of the UNC Board of Governors that were controlled by GOP-approved members.
North Dakota
Bismarck: A judge ruled Monday that he will keep the state’s ban on abortion from taking effect, saying there’s a “substantial probability” that a constitutional challenge to the law will succeed. Judge Bruce Romanick’s ruling means abortion is still legal in North Dakota, though the state’s only clinic – the Red River Women’s Clinic of Fargo – shut down as it challenged the ban and has moved across the border to neighboring Minnesota. Romanick last month rejected a request from North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley to let the law take effect while the Red River clinic’s lawsuit went forward. Romanick based his earlier decision on several factors, but Wrigley argued he had not sufficiently considered the clinic’s chances of prevailing in court. The North Dakota Supreme Court agreed and told Romanick to take another look. In his earlier ruling, Romanick noted the clinic’s uphill battle. But in his ruling Monday, he said the clinic has a “substantial probability” of succeeding, though he noted that the question of whether abortion is a constitutional right in North Dakota has been contentious and has not been decided by the state’s highest court.
Ohio
Cincinnati: A man was arrested Saturday at the Hamilton County Board of Elections after officials say he yelled through a megaphone on the premises and refused to leave. Stephan Pryor, 43, of Over-the-Rhine, is charged with criminal trespassing after the weekend incident at the Norwood facility. Officers engaged with Pryor about 1:30 p.m., while early in-person voting was underway for the day. According to board of elections director Sherry Poland, the board implemented a policy in March banning the use of bullhorns on the premises because they can be heard inside. Ohio law prohibits campaigning inside a polling location. Pryor was reportedly asked to stop using the bullhorn and to leave the property. He refused, Poland said, and Norwood police responded to ask him to leave. He was arrested after refusing again, an incident report says. In an interview Monday evening, Pryor said after he cast a ballot, he went to advertise candidates as he often does for elections. It is not the first time he’s used a megaphone at the facility, he said. He said he was standing the proper distance from the building and didn’t break laws regarding polling place advertisements. He cited that the board’s recent rule regarding megaphones is not protected directly by Ohio Revised Code. “They did me wrong. They arrested me in front of everybody – that was wrong,” Pryor said.
Oklahoma
Ramona: A ranch with a history of exorcisms is being revamped into a resort. When Amber Stewart found out that Tri County Technology Center was selling a 114-acre property just off Highway 75, she leapt at the opportunity to own the land despite its history. “My husband (David) and I had wanted to buy it for years and years and years,” Amber Stewart said. “It was something that we had talked about, dreamed about and didn’t really think would come to fruition. But when we found out the property was for sale, we were feeling like this is the Lord’s will for us.” Jarrett Farm Resort, 24 miles north of Tulsa, has a history as a commercial property tracing back to the 1940s. It’s been a commercial farm, a conference and retreat center and, for a few years, home to an order of Catholic priests known for performing exorcisms. The Stewarts hope to restore its reputation as a vacation getaway, but it has been an immense challenge. “There were dead mice and large spiders ... there was a raccoon living in the attic,” Amber Stewart said. The Stewarts actually spent the first night of their honeymoon 20 years ago during its previous iteration as a resort. The Catholic Diocese of Tulsa then purchased Jarrett Farm and used it from 2014 to 2018 as a home for an order of priests known for performing exorcisms, according to county records and reports from the diocese. The Stewarts have faced a mix of curiosity and resistance from some residents in Ramona’s small community, but they intend to “honor the story” of Jarrett Farm.
Oregon
Salem: The state’s pioneering motor voter program, in which residents who interact with the motor vehicle division are automatically registered to vote, hit a minor software speed bump, but Oregon’s secretary of state said Monday that it’s being resolved. Secretary of State Shemia Fagan said the Oregon Elections Division on Friday discovered the software error, which for the past six years has failed to preregister some 16- and 17-year-olds to vote. “As a result, 7,767 eligible voters in Oregon … were not given the opportunity to become automatically registered voters for the 2022 election. The issue has impacted voters during the last three election cycles,” Fagan’s office said in a statement. Fagan will direct Oregon’s 36 county clerks to issue ballots to affected voters – those who will be 18 or older Nov. 8. “Eligible voters not receiving their ballots in Oregon is unacceptable,” Fagan’s statement said. “As long as I am Oregon’s Secretary of State, I will do everything in my power to ensure that no eligible voters are disenfranchised.” The Oregon Elections Division was alerted to the issue by a voter who didn’t receive a ballot. Fagan said her technical staff worked through the weekend to resolve the software error.
Pennsylvania
Stroudsburg: Prosecutors say they have found no evidence of criminal negligence in a gas main rupture under an eastern Pennsylvania roadway and a subsequent fatal single-vehicle crash early on Christmas Day almost two years ago. The Monroe County district attorney’s office said Monday that all parties involved were cooperative in the investigation into the Pocono Township rupture and crash on Route 314 that killed 33-year-old Ana Abreu, of New York City. Township police said Abreu, her husband, their 2-month-old child and another family member were in a sport utility vehicle heading north toward the intersection with Route 611 about 1:30 a.m. on Christmas morning in 2020. Police said a natural gas main beneath the roadway ruptured, flipping the SUV over onto its roof and killing Abreu. The rupture left a large hole in the road, exposing the gas main underneath and a fracture in the pipeline, prosecutors said. A UGI Utilities spokesperson told LehighValleyLive.com that the company was “encouraged” by the decision but declined additional comment.
Rhode Island
Providence: Bus drivers have reached a tentative settlement with their employer, First Student, avoiding a strike that was scheduled to begin Wednesday. The bus drivers, monitors and aides are members of Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union. The strike would have affected bus drivers in Lincoln, West Warwick and the state bus yard in Cranston, who transport students with special needs, among others. The settlement includes a four-year contract that provides a fair wage increase and an increase in guaranteed hours, the union said. The 275 members of the union are expected to ratify the contract, at which time more details will be provided. “I’ve been a school bus driver for 13 years, and many of the kids I transport have special physical and behavioral needs that require special accommodations and increased attention,” said Mike McDermott, a bus driver at the metro yard in Cranston. “We are happy that First Student was finally willing to come to the table with proposals that will help us better take care of our families and do our jobs. Even before the pandemic, First Student could not recruit bus drivers, monitors to do this work, and we are hopeful that better hours and pay will go a long way in attracting more workers to the field. At the end of the day, it’s our students who benefit most.”
South Carolina
Grenville: Voters in Greenville County will be allowed to wear “Black Lives Matter” and “Make America Great Again” paraphernalia to the polls this Election Day, according to a notice sent to poll workers by county Elections Director Conway Belangia. He said the county’s decision is the result of a court ruling in Minnesota allowing the same practice. He said the American Civil Liberties Union alerted the county to the ruling. The county attorney was brought in to review the situation, and he determined the Minnesota court ruling, which found BLM and MAGA gear should not be considered prohibited campaign materials, applied to Greenville County. Belangia said the change of interpretation applies only to voters in Greenville County, but the state election commission had previously ruled in a similar manner. The county was a “Johnny-come-lately” in its determination to allow BLM and MAGA gear, Belangia said. Voters are still prohibited from wearing gear for any specific candidate inside polling places.
South Dakota
Sioux Falls: A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s decision to block parts of a South Dakota law that would have required ballot petition workers to publicly disclose their personal identification information. The Republican-controlled Legislature in 2020 passed a law that would have required paid ballot measure circulators to list their personal information, including phone number, residential address, email address and driver’s license information, in a directory. The law was just one attempt by lawmakers in recent years to add barriers to ballot measures, which have given progressive causes a chance at enactment in the politically red state. Circuit Judge Steven Grasz wrote in an opinion for a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that being forced to disclose the information would be “chilling in today’s world” and the law would violate the First Amendment. United States District Judge Lawrence Piersol issued a temporary injunction against the law last year. Dakotans for Health, an organization that was formed around a ballot measure to expand Medicaid eligibility, sued to have the law overturned. The organization is now focused on placing a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot to codify abortion rights.
Tennessee
Nashville: A man accused of intentionally setting fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic and of firing shots later at a federal courthouse died months ago, officials announced Monday in disclosing both the man’s death and the allegations. Federal court documents indicate that the man, Mark Thomas Reno, 64, died Aug. 15. Yet many of the documents in his case were sealed until this week, including records showing he had been arrested in connection with the Planned Parenthood arson fire. “The government’s investigation has revealed that (Reno) engaged in a series of violent acts of property destruction in Knoxville since early 2021,” a newly unsealed complaint said. The complaint said Reno fired a shotgun at the clinic’s doors in early 2021, shattering glass and leaving holes in the reception area. Reno then set the clinic ablaze in December 2021, the document said. The building was unoccupied during the fire but had to be closed for months to undergo an $2.2 million renovation. Other court documents show that the FBI began surveillance of Reno in April of this year after he told an undercover agent he belonged to a group with a mission to resist actions opposed to Catholic orthodoxy. The agent was secretly recording Reno, who said that his group had “plenty of targets,” according to the documents.
Texas
Houston: The leaders of a group that promotes election conspiracy theories were jailed Monday for not complying with a court order to provide information in a defamation lawsuit over some of their claims. Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, who run True the Vote, were ordered detained by U.S. marshals, according to an order signed by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt in Houston. They will be held for at least one day or “until they fully comply with the Court’s Order,” Hoyt wrote. Houston-based True the Vote provided research for a debunked documentary that alleged widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Engelbrecht, Phillips and their nonprofit organization are being sued by Michigan-based election software provider Konnech Inc. over True the Vote’s claims of a Chinese-related conspiracy involving U.S. poll workers’ information. Alfredo Perez, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service in Houston, said Monday that Engelbrecht and Phillips were in the law enforcement agency’s custody. True the Vote said in a statement read during a video livestream Monday that its attorneys would appeal Hoyt’s ruling.
Utah
Salt Lake City: For years, water conservation advocates have urged the state to offer money to residents to incentivize them to remove their lawns. For some, at least, that proposal came closer to reality Friday, with water officials set to start taking applications for a pilot program that could pay up to $1 per square foot to Utahns who want to replace their water-guzzling grass with drought-resistant landscaping. The Legislature earlier this year approved a $5 million expenditure to fund a statewide grass removal rebate program. State water officials plan a full launch of the program next spring via a new website, UtahWaterSavers.com, but in the meantime, residents can apply for the pilot program on the Utah Division of Water Resources website, conservewater.utah.gov/grass-removal-rebates, with a limited number of spaces available. Applicants who are approved get a year to complete their landscaping project as long as they meet the criteria, which include requirements for the type of replacement landscaping allowed in each part of the state. Turf removal programs have proven successful in desert cities like Las Vegas, dropping per-capita use, but have been slow to develop in Utah, with water managers often citing a lack of funding.
Vermont
Burlington: In a national assessment of learning, Vermont student performance in math and reading was about average compared to the nation but continued a downward trend the state has seen on national standardized tests since before COVID-19. Vermont students predictably performed below 2019 levels – the last time the test was administered – in math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test and in most cases aligned with the average U.S. score. The test was administered to fourth and eighth graders in math and reading. The test is usually given every two years as a way to measure national and statewide progress over time but was postponed in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Vermont, 202 schools participated in 2022. For the second time in a row, Vermont’s fourth grade math scores dipped below the national average, albeit by one point. Vermont fourth graders’ math scores fell five points overall compared to 2019. This year’s score was 234 on a scale of 500. Math proficiency for both fourth and eighth graders in Vermont had been increasing from the mid-1990s until about 2013, when the scores turned the other direction, and have been in a gradual decline ever since. In 2022, about 35% of fourth grade students were proficient in math.
Virginia
Richmond: In the past four years, the state has seen opioid overdose deaths among Black residents more than triple – the highest death rate, by far, of any demographic. The numbers underscore the lethality of a fentanyl-polluted drug supply, as well as structural barriers to entering recovery, a critical first step in preventing fatal overdose, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. The numbers – made publicly available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention death certificate database – tell the story of a striking rise, particularly in the Richmond metropolitan area. Chesterfield County had 34 deaths in 2021, up from 11 in 2018. Henrico County spiked similarly, up to 44 deaths from 14, and Richmond accounted for 135 deaths, up from 41 deaths in 2018. The spike was more acute in Richmond than in any other county in the state. “It desensitizes you to death,” said Darryl Cousins, whocounts three friends who have died of an overdose in the past two months. Cousins, a Black man, works for Starfish Recovery and Wellness, a Richmond-based recovery residence for people with addiction. He’s been sober for 15 years, he said, and shares a long view on how the city has changed in that time. Most frightening is the drug that seems to be everywhere these days. “All of a sudden it’s in every drug being sold,” Cousins said. “Fentanyl has taken over the drug world.”
Washington
Bremerton: A flatbed truck carrying 500 gallons of liquid detergent hit the median on Highway 3 on Monday evening near Gorst, spilling the fluid onto the road and then into the Puget Sound. The crash near milepost 35 was reported at 5:40 p.m. and cleared about 7 p.m., blocking traffic in each direction for the duration, according to Washington State Patrol Trooper Katherine Weatherwax. The driver told investigators he fell asleep, Weatherwax said. The state Department of Ecology was notified. The detergent that spilled is designed to clean trucks.
West Virginia
Charleston: State transportation officials say construction has begun on a full-service Division of Motor Vehicles regional office in Morgan County. The new office being built in Berkeley Springs will bring additional driver’s licensing and vehicle services to the citizens of the Eastern Panhandle, officials said in a news release Thursday. It is expected to open in the spring of 2023. “We know how busy our Martinsburg and Charles Town Regional Offices are on a daily basis,” said Everett Frazier, commissioner of the state’s Division Of Motor Vehicles. “Population continues to grow in that location, and opening an office in Morgan County will help us to provide accessible, more efficient and convenient customer service to that area.” A staff of a dozen people or more could be employed at the Morgan County office, and hiring will begin soon, Frazier said. Full-service DMV regional offices offer driver’s license skills testing, written knowledge tests, vehicle registration renewals, title work and other services. A motorcycle course will also be built at the new office.
Wisconsin
Madison: A judge on Monday scheduled a two-day sentencing hearing for a man who killed six people when he drove his SUV through a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee last year. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow set Darrell Brooks’ sentencing for Nov. 15-16 to accommodate dozens of people who want to speak at the proceeding. Prosecutors told the judge they expect at least 36 people will speak. Brooks said he anticipates about 20 people will speak on his behalf. A jury last Wednesday convicted Brooks of 76 counts in connection with the Nov. 21, 2021, incident in Waukesha. The charges include six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and 61 counts of recklessly endangering safety. Each homicide count carries a mandatory life sentence, although Dorow can decide whether Brooks could be released on extended supervision at some point. Each endangerment count carries a maximum sentence of 171/2years.
Wyoming
Jackson: A contentious “glamping” development is in question again, with Teton County officials saying they might force a pause to construction underway near Teton Village, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reports. County commissioners warned the companies involved might be told to obtain county permits in the wake of opposition from neighbors and advocates worried about the effects on the land and water supplies, according to the newspaper.
From Paste BN Network and wire reports