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Texas AG Ken Paxton pleads not guilty at impeachment trial and then leaves as arguments get underway

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

By JAKE BLEIBERG and PAUL J. WEBER (Associated Press)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The historic impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton began Tuesday with accusations of corruption that went unchecked for years and the Republican pleading not guilty as his party confronts whether to oust one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest defenders. But the day ended without Paxton around at all — he left and did not return after the state Senate overwhelming rejected his numerous attempts to dismiss the charges. His absence does not stop Texas’ first impeachment trial in nearly 50 years but demonstrates the potential twists ahead in the coming weeks. He was not the only one who left early: Although the start of the trial was carried live by some Texas stations and supporters of Paxton lined up before sunrise outside the Capitol, by the end empty seats in the Senate gallery outnumbered onlookers.If convicted, Paxton could be barred from holding elected offic...

Mets Notebook: Carlos Carrasco done for season after fracturing pinky

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

WASHINGTON — It appears as though Carlos Carrasco’s time with the Mets has come to an early end.The Mets shut the right-hander down this week after a weight-room accident left him with a fractured right pinky over the weekend. Carrasco was placing a 50-pound dumbbell on the ground while doing a workout at Citi Field on Sunday, and the weight flipped over and crushed the pinky on his pitching hand.Since then, he had back-to-back procedures to correct the injury, with the most recent coming Tuesday when he had a pin placed in his finger. The timeline for a return is 4-6 weeks, meaning he’s done for the season, and likely in New York as well. Carrasco will be a free agent following the conclusion of the World Series and his disastrous 2023 season isn’t likely to entice the Mets to sign him again.“He had some good outings this year,” manager Buck Showalter said Tuesday afternoon at Nationals Park before the start of a two-game series against the Washi...

Dorchester man accused of fatal shooting over the weekend held without bail

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

The man accused of shooting another man to death in Dorchester Saturday night was ordered held without bail — and the bail he had already posted for another matter he was out on when the alleged shooting went down was revoked.Mikai Thomson, 21, of Dorchester, was arrested Sunday afternoon in Roxbury on a warrant for various firearms charges and assault and battery on a police officer, according to the Boston Police Department. The cops soon upped the charges to include the murder of Xavier Rivas, 22, of Boston, and a slew of firearms-related charges.“Your honor, this is a very strong case for the commonwealth,” prosecutor John Verner said at the arraignment Tuesday morning in municipal court in Dorchester. “He brazenly committed this crime while wearing a court-order GPS monitoring device.”Defense attorney Joseph Perullo was successfully able to keep Thomson hidden in the holding area, with door cracked just enough that the judge could see him, during the arraignment.Police responde...

Trump’s comments risk tainting a jury in federal election subversion case, special counsel says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

By ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith warned Tuesday that former President Donald Trump’s “daily” statements risk tainting a jury pool in Washington in the criminal case charging him with scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.Trump’s provocative comments about both Smith’s team and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — who is presiding over the case — have been a central issue since the indictment was filed last month. Prosecutors have repeatedly signaled their concerns about the impact of Trump’s social media posts and Chutkan explicitly warned Trump against inflammatory remarks that could intimidate witnesses or contaminate potential jurors.The posts continued Tuesday both before and after the latest concern flared, with Trump earlier in the day circulating a New York Post story about Chutkan on his Truth Social platform and openly mocking the...

Wet roads and speed factored into car crashing into Denny’s restaurant, Texas police chief says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

ROSENBERG, Texas (AP) — A Texas police chief said Tuesday that wet roads and speed factored into the driver of an SUV plowing into a Denny’s restaurant outside Houston on Labor Day, injuring nearly two dozen people inside. No charges against the driver have been filed but the crash remains under investigation, Rosenberg Police Chief Jonathan White said. Twenty people inside the restaurant were taken to hospitals, but authorities said none of the injuries were considered life-threatening. “Thankfully most have been released and there are no fatalities,” White said. Video of the aftermath showed a red vehicle fully inside the restaurant, with the wall and windows around it demolished. Authorities say the people who were injured were between 12 to 60 years old.The restaurant is near a busy highway that received some rain on Monday morning, when the crash was reported. White said the traffic investigators are considering all factors, including the speed the vehicle was going...

Jury selection begins in contempt case against ex-Trump White House official Peter Navarro

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jury selection began Tuesday in the case against former Trump White House official Peter Navarro, who was charged with contempt of Congress after he refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.Navarro, a former economics professor, served as a White House staffer under then-President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost. Navarro has said that Trump invoked executive privilege, barring him from cooperating with the House Jan. 6 committee. His trial is expected to last through the end of the week. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta has ruled Navarro’s executive privilege argument isn’t a defense against the charges, finding that Navarro hadn’t shown evidence Trump invoked it. Navarro was charged last year with two misdemeanor contempt counts, one for failing to appear for a deposition before the House committee inves...

Albuquerque prosecutors take new approach to combatting retail theft

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors in New Mexico’s largest metro area are taking over all cases involving retail theft including small-scale shoplifting, in efforts to enforce new state sanctions against coordinated retail crime.Albuquerque-area District Attorney Sam Bregman and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday announced the approach to combatting retail crime. Previously, police officers in the Albuquerque area often processed misdemeanor sanctions for shoplifting less than $500 worth of merchandise. Prosecutors say they can then consolidate related cases of retail theft over a 90-day period and possibly bring felony charges.Lujan Grisham signed legislation in April to create a new category of “organized retail crime” and stiffen penalties for organized theft of store merchandize as retailers have highlighted losses from coordinated pilfering.“People should be able to go to the store without being afraid. Business owners are also fed up,” said Bregman, announc...

Some small towns in America are disbanding police forces, citing hiring woes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

GOODHUE, Minn. (AP) — As Goodhue Police Chief Josh Smith struggled this summer to fill vacancies in his small department, he warned the town’s City Council that unless pay and benefits improved, finding new officers would never happen.When nothing changed, Smith quit. So did his few remaining officers, leading the Minnesota town of 1,300 residents to shutter its police force in late August.America is in the midst of a police officer shortage that many in law enforcement blame on the twofold morale hit of 2020 — the coronavirus pandemic and criticism of police that boiled over with the murder of George Floyd by a police officer. From Minnesota to Maine, Ohio to Texas, small towns unable to fill jobs are eliminating their police departments and turning over police work to their county sheriff, a neighboring town or state police.The trend isn’t altogether new.At least 521 U.S. towns and cities with populations of 1,000 to 200,000 disbanded policing between 1972 and 2017, ac...

Damaged tail rotor to blame for helicopter crash in 2018 that killed Leicester owner and 4 others

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A damaged tail rotor was to blame for a helicopter crash that killed the owner of English soccer club Leicester and four others in 2018, an accident inquiry said Wednesday.The Leonardo AW169 helicopter took off from the center of the field after a Premier League match at Leicester’s King Power Stadium and got to about 430 feet (130 meters) above the ground. Then it spun around and plummeted into a concrete step outside the stadium.Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who was Leicester’s owner at the time, along with club employees Nusara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and Swaffer’s partner, Izabela Roza Lechowicz, were all killed in the accident.An inquiry by the British government’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that the helicopter’s control system failed because a bearing in the tail rotor broke up due to its balls sliding rather than rolling as a result of a build-up of pressure.The pilot’s pedals became disconnected ...

California lawmakers vote to become first state to ban caste-based discrimination

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:54:53 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers on Tuesday voted to outlaw discrimination based on caste, adding protections for people of South Asian descent who say they have been left out of traditional American safeguards for fairness in employment and housing.The bill — the first of its kind in the U.S. — now heads to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who must decide whether to sign it into law.Caste is an ancient, complex system that regulates people’s social status based on their birth. It’s primarily associated with India and Hinduism, but caste-based divisions are also found in other faiths and countries. State and federal laws already ban discrimination based on sex, race and religion. California’s civil rights law goes further by outlawing discrimination based on things like medical conditions, genetic information, sexual orientation, immigration status and ancestry.Tuesday, the state Senate voted 31-5 to approve a bill that would redefine “ancestry” to inclu...