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Calls for Oklahoma judge's removal after 500 texts sent during murder trial: investigation

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma Supreme Court justice wants a judge removed after an investigation found 500 text messages sent to her bailiff during her first murder trial, and possibly her last. The alleged text messages appear to be making fun of prosecutors, witnesses, and jurors. As first reported by The Oklahoman, Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kane said he wants Lincoln County Judge Traci Soderstrom taken off the bench. You can find the full petition here, under the Oct. 10 entry.Chief Kane said Soderstrom, 50, texted her bailiff, Angela Miller, during a June trial in the case of a 2-year-old beaten to death in 2018. In this image from security camera video, Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom looks at her cellphone during a murder trial, June 12, 2023, at the Lincoln County District Court in Chandler, Okla. (Lincoln County District Court/The Oklahoman via AP, File)Kane said Judge Soderstrom seemed to have her mind made up, believing the boyfriend of ...

Skilling: Rainy, windy weekend for Chicagoland

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

We're not done with rain from the incoming autumn storm system---far from it.The storm, with a central pressure of 990 mb (29.22") is centered of Kansas and is creeping eastward. The system is a giant atmospheric wind machine—and will be here in Chicago too.  Gusts topping 50 mph are occurring beneath its southern flank from New Mexico into the Texas Panhandle. The system has sprung up on the nose of a powerful 150 mph jet stream wind max  which widely varied temps across the powerful system have developed. Those upper winds roaring across the Four Corners area of the Southwest at jet airplane cruising altitudes and encourage the large scale ascension of air which drops surface pressures and encourage the powerful winds I've mentioned—which, in turn, import copious amount of Gulf moisture into the system.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog Temps on its south side are approaching 90-deg in western Texas while a snowstorm is whitening the central Rockies to t...

San Marcos CISD employee no longer employed after firearm found in backpack

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — A San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District employee no longer works for the district after a report that a firearm was found in their backpack, according to a letter set out to families Thursday by SMCISD.The letter indicates the incident happened at Bonham Prekindergarten School in San Marcos.In the letter, it said a student "got a hold" of an instructional assistant's backpack and found a firearm. The student then took it out of the backpack and put it on a table inside the classroom.A classroom teacher was able to quickly remove the student from near the table and evacuated all students as the campus school marshal confiscated and secured the firearm and backpack, the letter said.San Marcos police were also called to begin an investigation and properly handle the firearm, according to SMCISD.The instructional assistant is no longer employed with the district, the letter said.Read the letter from SMCISD in full below:Bonham Families,This messa...

Kaitlin Armstrong faces new felony charge after attempted escape, inmate records show

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

Editor's Note: The above video is KXAN's previous coverage after a murder suspect attempted to escape custody Wednesday morning.AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Jail records show murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong faces a new felony charge, following an attempted escape from Travis County corrections officers Wednesday morning outside a South Austin medical building. Kaitlin Armstrong attempts escape ahead of Austin murder trial Travis County court records do not show the new charge as of 5 p.m. Thursday.Armstrong, accused of murder in the 2022 death of cyclist Moriah Wilson, led two officers on a 10-minute foot chase through a neighborhood, before the two officers apprehended her. The Travis County Sheriff's Office confirmed one of its corrections officers suffered injuries while trying to apprehend Armstrong. Travis County inmate records show Armstrong now faces a second-degree felony charge of escape causing bodily injury. WATCH: Video appears to show murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong running...

Case dismissed against Amazon driver who punched St. Paul homeowner, claimed self-defense

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

Prosecutors have dismissed a felony case against an Amazon driver who claimed self-defense after punching a St. Paul homeowner in a dispute over whether a package had been delivered.Tre’Von Marquise King, 26, faced a third-degree assault charge in the March 25 encounter in the 900 block of Randolph Avenue that left a 51-year-old man hospitalized with a fractured skull and broken bones around his eye.King, of Minneapolis, told police he defended himself after the man “smacked” his phone from his hand. He said the man then stepped toward him and “flinched” at him, and that he punched the man’s face once with a closed fist, according to the criminal complaint.The charge was dropped Monday “in the interests of justice,” a court filing says.Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney’s office, said Thursday that after reviewing “evidence provided by law enforcement and after consulting with the victim in this case and considerin...

A doctors group calls its ‘excited delirium’ paper outdated and withdraws its approval

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

A leading doctors group on Thursday formally withdrew its approval of a 2009 paper on “excited delirium,” a document that critics say has been used to justify excessive force by police.The American College of Emergency Physicians in a statement called the paper outdated and said the term excited delirium should not be used by members who testify in civil or criminal cases. The group’s directors voted on the matter Thursday in Philadelphia.“This means if someone dies while being restrained in custody … people can’t point to excited delirium as the reason and can’t point to ACEP’s endorsement of the concept to bolster their case,” said Dr. Brooks Walsh, a Connecticut emergency doctor who pushed the organization to strengthen its stance.Earlier this week, California became the first state to bar the use of excited delirium and related terms as a cause of death in autopsies. The legislation, signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, also prohibits police officers from using it in ...

Vos: Protasiewicz impeachment now depends on her ruling in redistricting lawsuit

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

MADISON, Wis. — The Republican leader of Wisconsin’s Assembly refused to back down Thursday from possibly impeaching a newly elected liberal state Supreme Court justice over her refusal to step aside in a redistricting case, even after two former conservative justices advised him against the unprecedented move.Assembly Speaker Robin Vos originally threatened to impeach Justice Janet Protasiewicz if she did not recuse from the redistricting challenge, which is backed by Democrats seeking to throw out Republican-drawn electoral maps. But Protasiewicz said last week she’s staying on the case.Now, Vos is tying possible impeachment to how she rules on the case, emphasizing the importance of following past precedent.“If they decide to inject their own political bias inside the process and not follow the law, we have the ability to go to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Vos said, “and we also have the ability to hold her accountable to the voters of Wisconsin.”Oral arguments in the redistric...

Wisconsin Assembly Republicans approve limits on transgender children

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

MADISON, Wis. — The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly signed off Thursday on contentious legislation limiting transgender youth participation on sports teams and outlawing gender-affirming surgery for minors despite Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ vow to veto proposals.GOP legislators across the United States want to limit the rights of transgender youths, sparking fierce pushback from the transgender community and triggering discrimination lawsuits along the way. Now the battle has come to Wisconsin.The legislation goes next to the Republican-controlled state Senate. If that chamber passes the package it would go next to Evers, who has promised the bills will never become law.“We’re going to veto every single one of them,” Evers told transgender youth and their supporters who gathered at the state Capitol last week for packed hearings on the proposals. “I know you’re here because you’re pissed off and you want to stop it, and you will stop it, and I’...

ReConnect Rondo joins national coalition of cities seeking redress for highway construction

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

Cities bisected by interstate highway construction in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s often share what some might liken to the equivalent of historical wounds. Middle-class Black and immigrant communities found themselves uprooted or isolated by asphalt, often without just compensation for the impact on their homes and small businesses.In St. Paul’s historically-Black Rondo neighborhood alone, some officials have calculated that the lost wealth would exceed $157 million in today’s dollars.A summit this week at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown St. Paul aims to bring together some 25 cities that share similar experiences with highway construction, a first step toward launching a collaborative new national “movement” dedicated to reversing the worst of its impacts, said Keith Baker, executive director of ReConnect Rondo.The inaugural “Reconnecting Communities” conference opened with a morning address Thursday from St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter. Session...

Rural law enforcement agencies struggling to retain workforce

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:57:33 GMT

CAPITAL REGION (NEWS10) – Many law enforcement agencies have struggled to recruit and retain a workforce. According to experts, it’s a national trend that has a significant impact on smaller, rural communities.That’s because they have a smaller tax base and that affects law enforcement budgets and ultimately staffing, according to the Small and Rural Law Enforcement Executive Association. It’s a problem Montgomery County Sheriff Jeff Smith is all too familiar with.“In general, the numbers are down taking our exams and then the length it takes to get the scores back and do the background checks and actually get somebody through the entire hiring process has caused major delays in getting people out onto the street,” said Smith. Those delays mean less officers on patrol and that impacts response times – which can take up to 20 minutes in some counties. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino is...