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Felony convictions vacated for 4 Navy officers in sprawling scandal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The felony convictions of four Navy officers in a sprawling bribery case were vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino called the misconduct “outrageous” and agreed to allow the four men to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a $100 fine each. The officers on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a charge of destruction of government property, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.The officers — former Capts. David Newland, James Dolan and David Lausman and former Cmdr. Mario Herrera — were convicted in one of the worst bribery cases in recent history for the Navy that centered around a defense contractor nicknamed Fat Leonard.Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Ko, who was brought on after the four officers were tried last year, acknowledged to the judge that some of the allegations of misconduct were true though he did not say which ones. He said his office did not agree with all of the accusations.More than two dozen Navy offic...

Montana’s attorney general faces professional misconduct complaint. Spokeswoman calls it meritless

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s ultra-conservative attorney general has been accused of professional misconduct on allegations his office tried to undermine the state’s Supreme Court in defending a law that allows the Republican governor to fill judicial vacancies without the input of a long-standing commission that vets candidates.The Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which regulates attorneys in Montana, filed the complaint against Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen on Tuesday.Knudsen or attorneys under his supervision “routinely and frequently undermined public confidence in the fairness and impartiality of our system of justice by attempting to evade the authority of the Montana Supreme Court and assaulting the integrity of the judiciary and the individual Justices who were duly elected by Montana citizens to make decisions,” special counsel Tim Strauch wrote in the complaint.The complaint called statements made by the attorney general’s office in court documents to b...

McConnell tries to reassure colleagues about his health, vows to serve out term as Senate GOP leader

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell declared again Wednesday that he plans to finish his term as leader despite freezing up at two news conferences over the summer, brushing off questions about his health as he sought to reassure colleagues he’s still up to the job.At a weekly, closed-door lunch with fellow GOP senators on Wednesday, McConnell pointed to the statement released a day earlier by attending physician Brian P. Monahan about his health. He said he was ready to move forward with the Senate’s busy fall agenda. Monahan’s statement, released by McConnell’s office, said there was no evidence that the 81 year-old McConnell had a stroke or was suffering from a seizure disorder after he froze up and appeared unable to speak for 20-30 seconds at two different news conferences. The episodes came after the GOP leader fell and suffered from a concussion earlier this year. “I’m going to finish my term as leader and I’m going to finish my Senate term,” McConnell ...

George Washington University sheltering in place after homicide suspect escapes from hospital

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — George Washington University issued a shelter-in-place order Wednesday afternoon after a homicide suspect escaped from police custody at the university hospital.The Metropolitan Police Department announced on the X social media platform that Christopher Haynes had “escaped custody” at the hospital just after 3:30. In a news release, police said Haynes, 30, had been arrested earlier Wednesday and charged with a “homicide offense.” Further details were not immediately available. The police notice did not say if Haynes was armed, but it advised people not to engage if they saw him and to call 911. The university sent out text messages warning anyone on campus to shelter in place “due to the dangerous individual around campus.”Ashraf Khalil, The Associated Press

13-year-old boy on bicycle hit by vehicle in Buffalo Grove

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

BUFFALO GROVE — A 13-year-old boy is in the hospital after he was hit by a vehicle while riding his bicycle in Buffalo Grove Wednesday, according to police.Police said officers were called around 7:28 a.m. to a bicyclist hit on Weiland Road near Newton Drive. After a preliminary investigation, police found that a 13-year-old boy on a bicycle was in the crosswalk when he was hit by a vehicle travelling northbound on Weiland Road.The 13-year-old bicyclist was taken to Lutheran General Hospital by ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries. City of Chicago sees dramatic rise in car thefts over last year The driver of the vehicle, a 66-year-old Wheeling resident, remained on scene after the incident and is cooperating with authorities.No charges have been filed at this time and the incident is currently under investigation by the Buffalo Grove Police Department's traffic unit, along with the Major Crash Assistance Team.

3 Cubs' trends continue in 3-game sweep of Giants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

CHICAGO — It was a strong three days for the Cubs to start a seven-game homestand at Wrigley Field this week, and it was thanks in part to a trio of trends that continued for the club. One of them happened right away, which helped get the home team off and running against the Giants on Wednesday afternoon.Seiya Suzuki continued his hot hitting of late with a three-run double in the first inning, and that coupled with strong days by Cody Bellinger and starting pitcher Jordan Wicks aided an 8-2 victory over San Francisco.It gives the Cubs a three-game sweep over their opponents this week and extends their win streak to four games as they improve to 76-64 on the year and further solidifies their grip on the second National League Wild Card spot. Suzuki's double in the first off Alex Wood with the bases loaded gave him a three-RBI game for the third-straight contest against the Giants. It continues the outfielder's outstanding start to September in which he now has five doubles, 10 RBI,...

Former NFL receiver on life support after work accident, sources say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Former NFL player Mike Williams was put on life support in a Florida hospital this week following a work accident, according to people close to the family. Williams, 36, started a new job doing electrical work about seven months ago in the Tampa area, a close friend told Nexstar's WIVB, but suffered an accident on the job on Sept. 1. Williams was initially responsive after surgery, the friend said, but was placed in a medically induced coma earlier this week.The mother of Williams' 8-year-old daughter told the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday that Williams was mostly non-responsive when she visited him.“He was asleep when we went in there and he woke up when he heard our voices and his daughter’s voice,” Tierney Lyle told the outlet. “And he looked around, and he blinked and he was crying but he can’t move.”Williams, a Buffalo, New York native, starred in football and basketball for Riverside, making the All-Western New York team in both sports. He was an all...

Energy, economy priorities as Biden heads to G20 summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — President Joe Biden will convene with leaders of the world's top 20 economies for this year's G20 summit.The meeting takes place in New Delhi, India."We're going into this with some things that we want," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.Kirby said top priorities include promoting clean energy investments through the World Bank and confronting global economic challenges, fueled in part by the war in Ukraine."There's a general consensus that we need to do better for lower middle income countries," Kirby said. "They've had famine. They've had drought. They've had extreme weather."But back on Capitol Hill, Republicans like Missouri's Sen. Josh Hawley have one thing on their mind."We need to stand up to China and their trade cheating," Hawley said. "We need to stand up to them and their imperialism."Notably, Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend this year's summit, sending a delegate instead.Kirby described Xi's absence as disappointin...

Skilling: Cloudy, cooler temps for the next few days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

We're coming off a 4-day run of hot, humid weather. MOTHER NATURE IS TURNING ON THE ATMOSPHERIC AIR CONDITIONER.Temps Wed afternoon were 10-15-deg lower than 24 hours ago---and when combined with the humidity in the air, the air "felt" 10 to 20-deg cooler Wed than amid Tuesday's 94-deg high and its near 70-deg dew points..  And this is just the beginning of the cooling cycle.  Cooler temps lie ahead—in fact daytime high temps will settle close to 5-deg below normal .  Highs which hit 94 at O'Hare Tuesday are likely to come in around 83 before we come off the period of peak heating at the site Wednesday and they'll fall further to highs of 72-deg Thursday. That's a 22-deg pull back in just 2 days. The 2 day cooldown is the the equivalent from moving from the hottest days of July to the "normal" temps in late Sept (the "normal high Sept 24-26 is 72-deg).  It will be as if we moved 2 months forward in time---from July to late September—without ha...

'8 Passengers' case: Husband had no role in alleged abuse, his attorney says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:14 GMT

(NewsNation) — The husband of a Utah mom and YouTube content creator facing child abuse charges denies he had any role in his wife's alleged activities, according to the man's attorney. Kevin Franke's wife, Ruby Franke, was charged after neighbors found one of her sons with duct tape on his ankles and lacerations that authorities believe were from being tied up with rope. Another child was described as being malnourished.Randy Kester, Kevin Franke's attorney, denied the children’s father had any role, saying he was not living in the house where the alleged abuse occurred."Mom had the kids for the summer and went out of the county with the kids, and if he had known of or thought there was abuse going on, he would have been all over it," Kester said Tuesday on NewsNation's "CUOMO." "(The alleged abuse) happened in a house that was a couple hundred miles away from where Mr. Franke was." Murdaugh attorneys call clerk’s alleged actions ‘unprecedented’ Ruby Franke, a member of the Churc...