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Ousted pot boss O’Brien lawyers up; treasury won’t explain suspension

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

The sidelined chair of the state’s Cannabis Control Commission has secured legal representation while the treasurer still won’t divulge what’s happening.Pot boss Shannon O’Brien was suddenly removed from her $181,722 post by state Treasurer Deb Goldberg on Sept. 14 and suspended, with pay, with no reason given. Even as that situation plays out behind closed doors, O’Brien has hired high-profile legal counsel from the Boston law firm Todd & Weld, the Herald has learned.“I can confirm that we represent Shannon. No further comment for now,” founding partner Howard Cooper said in a Monday morning email.A spokesperson for the Treasurer did not provide an update on O’Brien’s suspension more than a week after the former gubernatorial candidate was temporarily removed from her job and ordered to hand in her laptop and commission identification.“This remains a personnel matter and we will not be providing any further comment,” the spokesperson said.In the chairwoman’s a...

EXPLAINER: What is saltwater intrusion and how is it affecting Louisiana’s drinking water?

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

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — For months, residents in the southeast corner of Louisiana have relied on bottled water for drinking and cooking, with the water from the faucet coming out salty. Plaquemines Parish Councilman Mark “Hobbo” Cognevich, who represents the affected area, said grocery stores are constantly having to restock plastic water bottles, neighbors have reported getting rashes after showering, and, overall, the community is “fed up” with the situation. “We are praying for rain,” Cognevich said. That is a sentiment echoed by officials across the state, as the drought-stricken Mississippi River’s flow is low and slow, allowing for salt water from the Gulf of Mexico to intrude upstream and threaten communities’ drinking supplies. But with little precipitation in the forecast, officials are now hastily preparing for if and when the salt water will reach the state’s most populous city — New Orleans. WHAT IS SALTWATER INTRUSION AND HOW DID IT HAPPEN?Typically, the mighty flow of...

Murder suspect who removed monitoring device arrested by TPS Fugitive Squad

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

Toronto police say a man who was charged with murder but went missing after removing an ankle monitoring device has been arrested.Prince Charles, 27, of Toronto, is now back in custody, charged with failing to comply with a release order, police said in a release Monday night.Charles was initially arrested in Windsor on May 18, 2021 for first-degree murder.On September 5 he allegedly removed his monitoring device in the area of Allen Road and Lawrence Avenue West and was briefly at large before the Fugitive Squad tracked him down. 

2 Puerto Rican men plead guilty to federal hate crime involving slain transgender woman

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

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Two men in Puerto Rico on Monday pleaded guilty of conspiring to commit a hate crime involving a transgender woman who was killed more than three years ago.The men were accused of threatening and using a paintball gun to shoot at the victim, whom police identified as Alexa Negrón Luciano. The men had recognized her from social media posts involving an incident in which Negrón had used the women’s bathroom at a fast-food restaurant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.The incident occurred Feb. 24, 2020 after midnight in the northern coastal town of Toa Baja.Negrón later was found dead from bullet wounds. No one has been charged in the killing.A sentencing date for the men has not been scheduled.The Associated Press

Trump admires a Glock handgun – but stops short of buying – as he campaigns in South Carolina

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

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump stopped by a gun shop and toured a boat manufacturer in South Carolina Monday, ramping up his in-person campaign after a weekend online threatening the media, making multiple accusations of treason and urging congressional Republicans to go ahead and shut down the government.He also claimed he could design a better fighter jet than the military.The Republican presidential front-runner, who has spent far less time on the campaign trail than his leading rivals, began his trip to small-town Summerville with a meet-and-greet with volunteers at a local campaign office and a visit to a local gun store, where he admired a Glock handgun and posed for photos.“I want to buy one,” Trump said, according to video of the stop.Spokesman Steven Cheung posted that the former president, who is currently under federal indictment, had purchased the weapon during his visit to Palmetto State Armory, but later deleted the post on the social media site...

Turks and Caicos Islands judge delivers mixed verdict in high-profile government corruption case

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

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A nearly decade-long corruption case involving top government officials and attorneys in the Turks and Caicos Islands ended Monday with a mixed verdict for those accused of bribery, money laundering and other charges.The case had sparked outraged across the archipelago, which came under direct rule by the British government in 2009 after it found widespread corruption in the Caribbean British territory.Chief Justice Mabel Agyemang found former Deputy Premier Floyd Hall guilty of bribery and of concealing the proceeds of criminal conduct. He was found not guilty of three counts of conspiracy to defraud.His attorney, Earl Witter, did not respond to messages for comment.Agyemang also found attorney Clayton Greene guilty of concealing the proceeds of criminal conduct. His lawyer did not respond to a message for comment.In addition, Agyemang found former government minister Jeffrey Hall and attorney Melbourne Wilson not guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Hall’s...

Man accused of endangering lives by cutting gas meters in downtown Regina

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

Regina police say they’ve arrested and charged a man with endangering lives after he allegedly cut the lines on multiple gas meters — at one point even threatening a fire inspector who investigators say caught him in the act.Police say late Saturday night, a caller in the city’s downtown reported hearing a gas leak and seeing someone running away, and over the next several hours police say there were numerous other reports of damaged and leaking gas meters.At 7:40 a.m. Sunday, police say a Regina Fire Department inspector who was attending to a large fire in a commercial building reported seeing a male cutting a gas line.They say the inspector tried to stop him but he got away when he allegedly threatened the inspector with a bladed weapon.Shortly after, police say another person who tried to stop the suspect from cutting gas lines was also allegedly threatened, and a 39-year-old man was arrested.Police say the investigation into the commercial building fire is ong...

Whistleblowers who reported Texas AG Ken Paxton to FBI want court to continue lawsuit

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

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A group of whistleblowers who reported Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to the FBI said Monday they are not giving up their own legal fight against the Republican after his acquittal on corruption charges at his impeachment trial.Four of Paxton’s former advisers have asked the Texas Supreme Court to resume their whistleblower lawsuit against Paxton after having never received a $3.3 million settlement. The agreement was struck earlier this year but was never approved by Texas lawmakers, who instead went on impeach Paxton over accusations of corruption and bribery. In all, eight of Paxton’s former top aides went to the FBI in 2020 and accused their boss of misusing their office to help a political donor. Most of them testified at his impeachment trial that ended with a jury of mostly Republican senators acquitting Paxton on all charges. “The political trial is over, and it’s time for the case to return to a real court,” said Blake Brickman, one of th...

At least 360 Georgia prison guards have been arrested for contraband since 2018, newspaper finds

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

ATLANTA (AP) — At least 360 employees of Georgia’s state prison system have been arrested on accusations of smuggling contraband into prisons since 2018, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, with 25 more employees fired for smuggling allegations but not arrested.The newspaper finds that nearly 8 in 10 of Georgia Department of Corrections employees arrested were women, with nearly half of them 30 years or younger, when ages could be verified.Those figures reflect in part a prison system that struggles to recruit employees, often hiring young women with no law enforcement experience. Despite recent salary increases, correctional officers in Georgia are paid less than those in many other states.Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver said he has taken steps to identify corrupt staff since being named to the post in December. “Once we know that they may be compromised, and we get that information, we deal with it and we get them out of there,” he said.Oliver acknowledged that ...

Alabama inmate opposes being ‘test subject’ for new nitrogen execution method

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

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama inmate would be the test subject for the “experimental” execution method of nitrogen hypoxia, his lawyers argued, as they asked judges to deny the state’s request to carry out his death sentence using the new method.In a Friday court filing, attorneys for Kenneth Eugene Smith asked the Alabama Supreme Court to reject the state attorney general’s request to set an execution date for Smith using the proposed new execution method. Nitrogen gas is authorized as an execution method in three states but it has never been used to put an inmate to death.Smith’s attorneys argued the state has disclosed little information about how nitrogen executions would work, releasing only a redacted copy of the proposed protocol. “The state seeks to make Mr. Smith the test subject for the first ever attempted execution by an untested and only recently released protocol for executing condemned people by the novel method of nitrogen hypoxia,” Smith’s attorneys wrote...