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Supreme Court lets Texas death row inmate pursue DNA lawsuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that longtime Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed should have a chance to argue for testing of crime-scene evidence that he says will help clear him.The justices, in a 6-3 decision, sent Reed’s case back to a lower court for his constitutional challenge to the state’s law on DNA testing.The issue before the high court was whether Reed, sentenced to death nearly 25 years ago, waited too long to file his lawsuit claiming that untested crime-scene evidence would exonerate him. Texas courts and the federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled that he missed the deadline.But the Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, reversed the appellate ruling. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented. “If there is a mitigating factor to today’s decision,” Thomas wrote, it’s that the outcome “is no barrier to the prompt execution of Reed’s lawful sentence.” Reed was sentenced to...

Penalties make early impact on several NHL playoff series

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

Throughout four unsuccessful power plays in their playoff opener at Edmonton, coach Todd McLellan told his Los Angeles Kings players to simplify their approach.Adrian Kempe doesn’t even remember what the specific lesson was late in the game, but it worked. Another Oilers penalty set the scene for Anze Kopitar’s 6-on-4 tying goal with 16.7 seconds left in regulation — and Edmonton’s seventh penalty of the game nine minutes into overtime paved the way for Kempe’s game-winner that gave Los Angeles a comeback victory and the lead in the first-round series.“We took far too many penalties,” said Evan Bouchard, who was called for high sticking late in the third period. “You give a team like that that many power plays, it’s going to bite you.”The Oilers weren’t the only team bitten by penalties on the first night of the NHL playoffs. After a regular season in which power-play goals accounted for just under 21% of the total, 40% of the offense in the first four ...

Records: Maine shooting suspect couldn’t legally own guns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — A Maine man who police say killed four people in a home and then shot three others randomly on a busy highway had a criminal history that should have prevented him from legally possessing a gun, according to state records.The shootings in Maine began in the small town of Bowdoin, where four people were killed Tuesday. Then a chaotic scene developed in which shots were fired at vehicles on an interstate highway over 20 miles away in the community of Yarmouth, police said. Three people were shot there, and one remained in critical condition Wednesday.“This is an active investigation with a lot of moving parts,” Shannon Moss, state police spokesperson, said Wednesday.The gunman, identified as Joseph Eaton, 34, of Bowdoin, was charged with four counts of murder but was not immediately charged in the highway shootings, she said. He was jailed while awaiting a court appearance. It was unclear if he had an attorney to speak on his behalf, a jail official s...

See these codes on your Colorado scratcher ticket? You could be a winner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Did you know that there is actually more than one way to determine if your scratch lottery ticket is a winner? The Colorado Lottery says the best way to confirm your ticket is a winner is by taking it to a place that sells lottery tickets and ask for your ticket to be checked. There are also lottery ticket checker machines at some businesses where you can scan your barcode to see if you won. Philly resident wins $3 million on Denver scratcher ticket Scratch ticket prize codesAnother way to check to see if your ticket is a winner is by using the code that is revealed after scratching your ticket.Here is an example from the Colorado Lottery of what the ticket code looks like. This ticket would have a winning prize of $100,000 based on the OHM code.Colorado Lottery code example (Credit: Colorado Lottery)The Colorado Lottery said there are winning codes associated with certain prize amounts on scratch tickets.Here is a look at some of the codes:$1 prize: ONE$5 prize: ...

Dream Golf to bring destination golf resort to Colorado

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

ROGGEN, Colo. (KDVR) — A multi-course golf resort is coming to the Eastern Plains just outside a small Weld County community. The Rodeo Dunes golf project was introduced Tuesday by the developers at Dream Golf. It will be located on 2,000 acres of land near the town of Roggen, which is just 50 miles east of Denver. The course is also only 42 miles from Denver International Airport making it the most accessible Dream Golf location, according to the developers. The resort will be open to the public with two courses planned, but the property can support up to six. Free outdoor activities to do near Denver on a spring day The links will be on 85-foot dunes with views of the Front Range and Longs Peak, according to Dream Golf."This is a place where the best features of the rugged Irish links blend with the mystique and romance of the American West," said the developers of Rodeo Dunes on its website. Could this Jurassic-themed license plate end up on your car? The first course is ...

Panic buying after Florida floods leads to long gas lines

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Historic flooding a week ago in South Florida has led to long lines at the region’s gas stations, as drivers fearful of a fuel shortage have been unnecessarily topping off their tanks.Their rush to buy gas has caused some stations to run out of fuel, prompting more drivers to fear a possible shortage and top off their tanks, creating a self-made mini-crisis, officials said.All the while, officials have reiterated there is more than enough fuel to go around if drivers just acted judiciously, filling up when it’s actually needed.https://twitter.com/FHPPalmBeach/status/1648503972112764929?s=20On Wednesday, officials at Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades said that “all indicators are pointing to more fuel getting to gas stations in southern Florida faster.”A storm system stalled over Fort Lauderdale on April 12, dumping up to 2 feet of rain and forcing the closure of F...

Police searching for 70-year-old man missing from Homestead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

The Miami-Dade Police Department Special Victims Bureau is searching for a 70-year-old man missing from his home in Homestead.According to police, Jose Caraballo Muniz was last seen near the 18000 block of Southwest 295th Terrace on Tuesday around 8:45 a.m. heading westbound.The elderly man stands at 5 feet, 6 inches, has white hair and brown eyes, and weighs 225 pounds. He wore a yellow shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes when he went missing. Muniz may also be in need of services. Anyone with information about this missing person should contact Detective M. Webb or any detective of the Miami-Dade Police Department, Special Victims Bureau/Missing Persons Squad at (305) 715-3300 or Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).

Tyre Nichols’ family sues Memphis police over beating, death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The family of Tyre Nichols, who died three days after a brutal beating by five Memphis police officers, sued the city of Memphis, individual officers and emergency medical personnel involved in his case, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Memphis.The suit, filed by lawyers for Tyre Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, seeks a jury trial and financial damages.The lawsuit accuses Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis of starting a crime-suppression unit called Scorpion that officials said would target repeat violent offenders in high-crime areas. The lawsuit claims the Scorpion unit used “extreme intimidation, humiliation, and violence” and “disproportionately focused on and targeted young Black men.” The five officers charged with beating Nichols were members of the unit, police have said. The unit was disbanded after the Nichols beating.Nichols was targeted by the unit only because he was a young Black man, the lawsuit states.The cit...

‘Don’t Say Gay’ expansion requested by DeSantis approved

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Board of Education on Wednesday approved a ban on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” at the request of Gov. Ron DeSantis as he gears up for an expected presidential run.The proposal will take effect after a procedural notice period that lasts about a month, according to an education department spokesman.The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4-12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take. Florida currently bans such lessons in kindergarten through third grade.The DeSantis administration put forward the proposal last month as part of the Republican’s aggressive conservative agenda, with the governor leaning heavily into cultural divides ahead of his looming White House candida...

Death in Istanbul: The untold story behind Syria’s White Helmets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:16:27 GMT

A tale of love, war and Russian disinformation.By SHANNON VAN SANTIllustrations by Zé Otavio for POLITICOAMSTERDAM — I first met James Le Mesurier in Istanbul. He greeted me at his office, a three-story building in the trendy district of Beyoğlu, along the shores of the Bosphorus Strait. I had traveled to Turkey to meet him, a renowned humanitarian and one of the founders of the White Helmets rescue group in Syria. James had the dignified bearing of a former soldier in the British military, but I sensed a fragility. For years, he had been the target of disinformation from the Russian government, which accused him of being a pawn of Western intelligence, and of financial impropriety. The assaults on his character were taking a toll.Soon after meeting James in the summer of 2019, I developed a feeling of urgency I found inexplicable at the time. One day, I climbed the stairs from his office to his living quarters on the third floor, where James sat hunched over a wooden dining table, ...