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DA: Wrong photo led to NYC man’s faulty murder conviction

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A photo of another person with the same name led to the wrongful arrest of a New York City man who has spent more than 18 years behind bars for murder, prosecutors said Thursday as they moved to vacate the conviction.The prosecution of Sheldon Thomas, now 35, “was compromised from the very start by grave errors and lack of probable cause” to arrest him for the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Anderson Bercy on Dec. 24, 2004, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.Thomas was one of three people charged with killing Bercy and wounding another teenager in a drive-by shooting.A review of the case by the district attorney’s Conviction Review Unit found that the lead detective in the Bercy shooting asked to unseal a prior arrest of Thomas for allegedly pointing an inoperable gun at police officers so that detectives could use his picture in a photo lineup.Detectives also obtained a photo of a different Sheldon Thomas and showed it to a witness they were questioni...

DPS Board of Education approves closure of 3 schools

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver Public Schools Board of Education voted to close three schools in a meeting Thursday morning. The DPS Board of Education has considered closing or consolidating schools over the past year. Denver Discovery, Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy and Fairview Elementary were all on the agenda for discussion during the work session on Thursday. Parents plea for board to reject Denver school closures These schools have been categorized as having critically low enrollment.The board voted on the following decisions: Close Denver Discovery School at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Support current families with securing a preferred school in the district and support all school-based staff with securing a position in the district as detailed in the staffing MOUs. Merge MSLA into Valverde for the 2023-2024 school year. Guarantee enrollment at Valverde for MSLA students. Guarantee all school-based staff at MSLA a role at Valverde as detailed in the sta...

Girl found safe in Colorado Springs after Amber Alert issued in Texas

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — An Amber Alert has been deactivated after a child was found safe in Colorado Springs on Thursday morning, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.The CBI issued an alert Wednesday night for an 8-year-old who went missing out of Texas and was possibly in Colorado. Cherry Creek School District offers free gun locks According to the CBI, an Amber Alert child abduction was issued in Texas for the girl who was last seen on Tuesday at around 8 a.m. in San Jacinto County, Texas.The CBI said law enforcement had reason to believe the girl may have been in Colorado.

Over $160 million in illegal narcotics offloaded by Coast Guard at Port Everglades

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

The Coast Guard made a big bust at Port Everglades.The crew of the USCGC Spencer (WMEC 905) offloaded approximately 4810 kilos of cocaine worth over $160.3 million in Port Everglades, Wednesday, the USCG said in a news release. Eight suspected smugglers were apprehended and face prosecution in federal court by the Department of Justice.https://twitter.com/USCGSoutheast/status/1633629333939003392?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EtweetThe USCG said the offloaded drugs were interdicted during three separate cases in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean by multiple crews, including: USCGC Spencer (WMEC 905)USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) with embarked USCG Law Enforcement Detachment 104Royal Netherlands Navy Ship HNLMS Holland (P840) with embarked USCG Law Enforcement Detachment 401 and a USCG Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron helicopter“Initially, a suspect vessel is detected and monitored by U.S. or allied military or law enforcement...

Third person dies after crowd crush at Rochester, New York, music venue

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

(CNN) — A third person has died as a result of the deadly crush of concertgoers at a Rochester, New York, event venue Sunday night, according to a news release from police obtained by CNN affiliate WHAM.The victim, identified as 35-year-old Aisha Stephens, was “the last remaining hospitalized victim” from the incident, the statement said, adding, “The investigation into the incident continues.”Officers initially responded to a report of shots fired around 11:05 p.m. inside the Main Street Armory, which was hosting a GloRilla concert, police said previously. Inside, officers found injured people but no evidence of a shooting.“The injuries appear to be as a result of a large crowd pushing towards the exits following accounts of individuals hearing what they believed to be gunshots,” Rochester police Lt. Nicholas Adams said previously.In addition to Stephens, Brandy Miller, 35, and Rhondesia Belton, 33, were also killed, per police. At lea...

‘Shocked’: EU Parliament removes Women’s Day video featuring anti-abortion rally

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Parliament removed a video it posted online to mark International Women’s Day Wednesday that contained images of a rally against abortion.For a few seconds, the video showed an image of an anti-abortion protest in Croatia featuring a man holding a placard with the slogan: “Nine weeks from conception, it already sucks its thumb.” Directly overlaid on the footage of the pro-life rally was the phrase: “And this European Parliament is fighting hard for women’s rights.” Green Finnish MEP Alviina Alametsä wrote to POLITICO: “I am actually shocked. That is a such an embarrassing mistake from the European Parliament. Anti-abortion is definitely not the political line of this Parliament.”“There is no intention to support any of this content, and it was a mistake,” said a spokesperson for the European Parliament. Many European lawmakers have taken strong pro-choice stances on abortion. Malta is the only EU cou...

Where’s the evidence? Italy wants more before extraditing Qatargate-linked accountant

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

MILAN — Here we go again.Milan judges on Thursday postponed — yet again — a ruling on Belgium’s request to extradite Monica Bellini, an Italian accountant linked to the alleged bribery ring rocking the European Parliament.Their reason, according to Bellini’s lawyer: Belgium still hasn’t sent over enough evidence and they want to see more.“The judges reiterated their request for the Belgian authorities to send the relevant documents,” the lawyer, Franca De Candia, told POLITICO following the closed-door hearing, which only lasted a few minutes.It’s the second time Milan judges have kicked the can down the road, prompting raised eyebrows, sighs and disappointment among those eager for more intel about whether alleged bribes were laundered through Milan to Brussels. Bellini served as a Milan-based accountant for former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, the alleged ringleader of the Brussels bribery network. De Candia expressed her own frustration at the del...

New Hampshire Senate backs Medicaid expansion bill

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A unanimous New Hampshire Senate gave preliminary approval Thursday to continuing the state’s expanded Medicaid program and making it permanent.The 24-0 vote to send the bill to the Finance Committee highlighted the Legislature’s evolution on what initially was a tough sell when lawmakers first considered expanding health care coverage for low-income residents. Though it eventually passed with bipartisan support in 2014 and was reauthorized in subsequent years, Republicans were not always on board.Several senators acknowledged their changes of heart Thursday, saying they were wrong to believe the program would discourage participants from working. Sen. Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, described hearing from a woman who used the program temporarily when she was laid off during cancer treatment and a man who went on to start his own business after getting coverage for substance use disorder treatment.“This what I thought in the past: It was a program that would be di...

Amid Deluge, Some Sports Betting Ads May Be Breaking Rules

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

In addition to illegal bets that were accepted at all three in-person sportsbooks, investigators at the Mass. Gaming Commission are also reviewing advertisements from one of the mobile betting companies expected to launch Friday for potentially violating regulations.Three ads for FanDuel were flagged by Commissioner Eileen O’Brien for potential violations of advertising regulations and were reviewed by the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau. One ad referenced iGaming, another suggested bettors could get “free bets,” and a third promoted the use of credit cards or prepaid cards to bet, which is illegal in Massachusetts. The Gaming Commission’s regulations also prohibit ads that imply sports betting is “free of risk.” “I want this brought up in front of us for some sort of action. To me, right out of the gates to have ‘free bets,’ iGaming, and implying you could use a credit or prepaid card, to me you have myriad of violations a...

T Checks Its First Item Off FTA’s Long To-Do List

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:34 GMT

One corrective action plan down, 37 to go. MBTA officials announced Thursday that the Federal Transit Administration last week approved the closeout of one of the 38 corrective action plans required to address the widespread problems investigators flagged, marking the first time that has happened since the FTA launched its safety management inspection last year. Federal overseers closed the book on the T’s failure to keep a Green Line “work train” used for power and track maintenance functional now that two such trains are back in action, said MBTA Chief of Quality, Compliance and Oversight Katie Choe. “Maintenance of way uses these trains to efficiently complete track and power repairs on the Green Line, and they have successfully put them back into maintenance service, so we are using these work trains now,” Choe said. Both trains are “at the end of their service life,” Choe said, and will be replaced by new vehicles that have already been...