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Jury acquits officer in Maryland county’s first police murder charge in shooting handcuffed man

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — A Maryland police officer was acquitted by a jury of murder and other charges Wednesday from the fatal shooting a handcuffed man.The jury acquitted Michael Owen Jr. of all four charges, including second-degree murder, first-degree assault, voluntary manslaughter and misconduct in office. It took the jury less than two hours of deliberations to deliver the not guilty verdict.Owen had served on the police force for 10 years when he became the first officer in the county’s history to be charged with murder in an on-duty killing. Owen fatally shot William Green, 43, while the handcuffed man was sitting in the front seat of the officer’s police cruiser in 2020. Owen’s attorneys claimed at trial that he acted in self defense during a struggle in which Green tried to grab his gun. After the gun went off, he shot Green six times. In opening statements, prosecutors and the defense agreed on certain basic facts: that Owen fatally shot Green while the handcuffe...

US Coast Guard service members don’t feel safe, new review says. Officials are promising changes

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — U.S. Coast Guard officials are promising reforms after an internal review sparked by reports of sexual assault and harassment found that “too many” of its members don’t feel safe and trust in leadership is eroding.The wide-ranging 90-day review, released Wednesday, calls for an end to a “permissive environment” that extends to inappropriate jokes and comments, and a greater focus on preventing “inappropriate or unhealthy behavior” at the earliest stages.Many of the recommendations in the report stem from interviews with hundreds of Coast Guard members at locations throughout the service, including from victims of sexual assault and harassment dating from the 1960s to the present. “These victims expressed deep rooted feelings of pain and a loss of trust in the organization,” the report says. “Acknowledging this broken trust is an important first step in reestablishing it.”The review was ordered by Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, afte...

CPD: Missing 14-year-old boy last seen Thanksgiving week in Washington Park

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police are seeking the whereabouts of a 14-year-old boy whom the department says hasn't been seen since last month.Jaynon Stephens last known spotting was in the 6200 block of S. Indiana on Nov. 21, two days before Thanksgiving. The teen is known to frequent the area of 52nd and Indiana.SEE ALSO: 15-year-old Joliet girl missing nearly a month may be in Chicago, police sayJayvon stands 5 feet 6 inches, weighs 130 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines Anyone with information is asked to call Chicago police at (312) 747-8380 or 911.

Air Force grounds entire Osprey fleet after Japan crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

(The Hill) — The Air Force on Wednesday grounded the entire fleet of CV-22 Ospreys after a fatal crash in Japan on Nov. 29 killed eight U.S. servicemembers.Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, command of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), directed an operational grounding of the CV-22 fleet to "mitigate risk" while the investigation into the crash continues, AFSOC said in a statement.A preliminary review of the crash indicates a "potential materiel failure" caused the accident, according to AFSOC, but the cause is still unknown and the investigation is ongoing."The standdown will provide time and space for a thorough investigation to determine causal factors and recommendations to ensure the Air Force CV-22 fleet returns to flight operations," AFSOC said.Japan had asked the U.S. to suspend its Osprey flights following the crash, but the Pentagon had said only the Air Force unit involved with the crash had suspended its flights.Japanese officials have repeatedly expressed alarm abou...

Illinois Farm Bureau passes CO2 pipeline resolutions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

ILLINOIS (WMBD) -- The Illinois Farm Bureau delegates passed several CO2 pipeline resolutions at the Farm Bureau's annual meeting.The first resolution supports legislation prohibiting the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines at the Farm Bureau's annual meeting. The second resolution calls for a moratorium on CO2 pipelines until the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) rulemaking process is complete. Chicago man pleads guilty in shooting of three undercover federal officers The third resolution requires CO2 pipeline and sequestration developers to demonstrate its progress by securing at-will easements before project approval by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Lan Richart, on behalf of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines, said the passage of the resolutions demonstrates the Farm Bureau's commitment to protecting property owners and Illinois' agricultural economy.The Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines is a group of farmers, landowners, a...

Nurse suffers cardiac arrest while training on the condition, fellow nurses save her life

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Andy Hoang eagerly began her first nursing job this year in New Hampshire, with a desire to specialize in cardiac care.She was excited about attending a November practice session on how to respond to someone in cardiac arrest. But as things were getting underway at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Hoang, 23, started to feel dizzy and nauseated. She felt she needed to sit down.“That’s the last thing I remember,” she told The Associated Press in an interview. “I woke up to a room full of doctors and nurses.”It turned out that she, herself, had gone into cardiac arrest and needed help immediately. Her colleagues sprung into action — instead of practicing chest compressions on a mannequin in a simulated environment, they went to work on her.“One checked her carotid, one her femoral (arteries), and she did not have a pulse,” instructor Lisa Davenport said.The nurses started CPR and a “code blue,” or medical emergency, team was called. Tired of seeing Taylor Swif...

NFL player diagnosed with post-traumatic amnesia after entering concussion protocol

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WGHP) — Carolina Panthers tight end Hayden Hurst has been diagnosed with post-traumatic amnesia, his father confirmed on X, formerly known as Twitter.Hurst entered the concussion protocol after what appeared to be a routine tackle during the Panthers' Week 10 loss to the Chicago Bears on Thursday. He had not appeared in a game since.Hurst returned to practice for the first time as a limited participant on Wednesday. However, he donned a red jersey and was still in a concussion protocol. Carolina Panthers had ‘Hunger Games’ style culture; players call out ‘overprotectiveness’ of Bryce Young: The Athletic Hurst's father, Jerry Hurst, announced on Wednesday evening that the tight end was diagnosed with post-traumatic amnesia by an independent neurologist as a result of a hit he took against the Bears.According to Headway, post-traumatic amnesia, or PTA, "is the time after a period of unconsciousness when the injured person is conscious and awake, but is behaving or t...

'Screaming and freaking out': Mother calls 911 thinking her child came in contact with Austin shooting suspect

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — One of Jen Brady's most heightened emotions on Wednesday morning was anger. "My kids wouldn't have been outside, that's for damn sure," she said. "Why weren't we informed?"She said she lives two homes down from where the suspect connected with several homicides and shootings across Central Texas killed two people and shot an Austin Police Department officer. RELATED: 6 people dead after shooting spree in Austin, double homicide in Bexar County As her kids played outside Tuesday afternoon, Brady started to get worried when she heard helicopters circling overhead."My kids were out back playing kickball...they told me that they heard a firework," Brady said. "And then I kind of put it together thinking it was a gunshot."She didn't know it then, but she says she thinks her son was in direct contact with Shane James, the suspect in the shooting spree, according to court documents. Brady said her son told her he accidentally hit a man he didn't know with a kickball over...

US Senate blocks funding for Israel, Ukraine aid

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The U.S. Senate failed to pass a funding plan that would provide billions of dollars in military and foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel on Wednesday.The Senate voted 49-51, as most Republican senators who voted against it wanted tougher border security policies in exchange for their support of the aid package.A classified briefing Tuesday for senators to discuss the White House's request for Israel and Ukraine aid resulted in heated discussions and many Republican members storming out of the meeting. Much of the opposition to the legislation amongst senators is due to the lack of border security language."This is a unique circumstance where there are things that I support in the package, but I can't and won't support that proceeding to that until we get a satisfactory answer to the policy changes that we need at the border," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX in an interview with KXAN prior to vote.Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, unveiled the $110.5 billion national securit...

APD officer to be retried on murder charge, Travis County DA says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:55:42 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin Police Department officer Christopher Taylor will go on trial again, after facing two mistrials, Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza told KXAN's Brianna Hollis. Taylor was charged with murder in the 2020 shooting death of Michael Ramos. Austin police officer’s murder trial ends in hung jury, mistrial Garza said he plans to fully retry Taylor's case. A pretrial hearing is set for Wednesday, Dec. 13.Less than a month ago, a second mistrial was declared in the case. Ken Ervin, one of Taylor's attorneys, told KXAN at the time, “In the event that they intend to do that [retry], obviously we will be ready, and we will try this case as many times as it takes to get a not guilty."“The idea that they have to go through another one of these, I think is really troubling to them and to me, but at the end of the day, the interest of justice demand that the District Attorney retry this case,” Austin Justice Coalition Policy Director Chris Harris said outside ...