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Indiana Public Defender Commission pushes for 'misdemeanor expenses' pilot program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS -- Misdemeanors are the largest case type in Indiana. However, the state does not reimburse counties for any work done on misdemeanor cases. Some law experts say that's contributing to a significant lawyer shortage in Indiana. ”We know there’s a looming crisis with this massive lawyer shortage," said Andrew Cullen, director of public policy and communications with the Indiana Public Defender Commission. Cullen said the state only has roughly a third of the lawyers it needs. He also said 25 counties do not follow the commission's caseload standards. ”We’re hearing they’re taking as many as 900 cases a year, which is insane. At that point, it’s just assembly-line justice," Cullen said.To help curb the shortage, Cullen said the commission is asking the General Assembly to consider a "misdemeanor expenses" pilot program. If approved, the commission would use funds it already has to help some counties pay for misdemeanor attorney costs. ”We actually have a little bit of extr...

Hamas releases video of Israeli hostage as U.S., international pressure to release captives intensifies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

Hamas is beginning to release videos of hostages that they kidnapped from Israel as part of a brutal attack on the country launched last week, when 199 people were taken captive and more than 1,300 were killed.Women and children including infants and toddlers are believed to be among those Hamas took as hostages into the Gaza Strip during its attack on Oct. 7.A new video released Monday shows a young woman lying in a bed and receiving medical treatment. Her arm is being wrapped after what appears to be a recent surgery to stabilize what could be a broken bone. In another shot she is sitting up and facing the camera, explaining her name, age and that she was taken to Gaza from the southern Israeli city of Sderot after the Supernova music festival where Hamas killed more than 200 people.“Hi, I’m Mia Shem, 21-years-old from Shoham. Currently, I’m in Gaza,” she said, speaking in a composed manner.“I returned early Saturday morning from the Sderot area, I was at a party. I was serio...

$5k of pet supplies donated to Mohawk Hudson Humane Society

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

MENANDS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A local animal shelter received essential supplies on Monday. Officials from the Colonie Center Mall dropped off $5,000 worth of food, toys and other items to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! The money was raised during the mall's fourth annual COSMECON event. It gave people the chance to learn about makeup and other beauty products while supporting a local nonprofit.

Biden will head to Israel this week as Israel-Hamas war rages

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel to Israel and onto Jordan Wednesday to meet with both Israeli and Arab leadership, as concerns increase that the raging Israel-Hamas war could expand into a larger regional conflict.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Biden’s travel to Israel as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip grows more dire and as Israel prepares for a possible ground attack on the 141-square-mile (365-square-kilometer) territory to root out Hamas militants responsible for what U.S. and Israeli officials say was the most lethal assault against Jews since the Holocaust.Biden is looking to send the strongest message yet that the U.S. is behind Israel. His Democratic administration has pledged military support, sending U.S. carriers and aid to the region. Officials have said they would ask Congress for upward of $2 billion in additional aid for both Israel and Ukraine, which is fighting Russia’s invasion. What...

Keeler: Broncos coach Sean Payton, we’re begging you. Less Jerry Jeudy. More Marvin Mims Jr.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

The Broncos already know what they have in Jerry Jeudy: a $15 million contract and a five-cent head.A Nuke LaLoosh without a Crash Davis to set him straight. A mercurial talent who doesn’t want to be here. A first-round draft pick who hasn’t made a Pro Bowl, getting chippy on social media with a bunch of ex-Broncos who actually have.We’ve seen enough.Unless the plan is to showcase No. 10 for a trade, Sean Payton, we’re begging you here:Less Jerry. More Marvin.As in rookie Marvin Mims Jr.Remember him?Oh, right. Those Jets fumbles.So?The former Oklahoma star is averaging 19.9 yards per offensive touch for a bull junk — thank you, Coach Prime — offense. Yet Mims has touched it only 13 times — 10 catches, three runs — in six games.Related ArticlesSports Columnists | Keeler: Holy Holker! CSU Rams, Jay Norvell got what they deserved. So did dirty Boise State, which sent Kennedy McDowell to the hospital. Sports Columnists | Keeler: C...

Feds begin investigation of train derailment as long I-25 closure continues near Pueblo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

A team of federal investigators on Monday began probing a fatal Pueblo County train derailment and bridge collapse that blocked Interstate 25 as officials sorted out who owned the 65-year-old structure and who had responsibility for its integrity.The Sunday afternoon incident sent train cars and coal falling onto the highway, killing a 60-year-old truck driver and closing I-25 indefinitely in both directions — potentially for longer than a week.It may take up to two years for investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board to complete their work and release a final cause for Sunday’s derailment and bridge collapse, though an initial report should be released within a month, the NTSB said.The interstate can’t be cleaned up or reopened until investigators finish their on-site inspection, state and federal officials said Monday. That process is expected to take at least several days.In an interview, Shailen Bhatt, the leader of the Federal Highway Administ...

Hamas releases video of 21-year-old hostage Mia Shem

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

Hamas has released what is believed to be the first video of an Israeli hostage kidnapped during its surprise incursion on Oct. 7.“Hi, I'm Mia Shem, 21 years old from Shoham. Currently, I'm in Gaza,” the young woman says in Hebrew, according to The Jerusalem Post. “I returned early Saturday morning from Sderot; I was at a party. I was seriously injured in my hand. I underwent surgery on my hand at the hospital [in Gaza] for 3 hours.”The video, which was posted on Hamas’s Telegram channel on Monday, shows Shem apparently receiving medical treatment to her right arm.Hamas released video of Mia Shem, 21, one of the hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack.“They are taking care of me, giving me medicine, everything is fine. I only ask that they bring me home as soon as possible to my parents, to my siblings. Get me out of here as soon as possible. Please,” she pleads.The video’s caption says Shem was captured on the first day of the attack, dubbed the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle. She was among ...

Shooting leaves 1 dead, another injured in Wilmington

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

Police are searching for at least one suspect after a deadly shooting Monday in Los Angeles’ harbor region that killed one man and sent another to the hospital, authorities confirmed to KTLA.  Calls about the shooting in the 1000 block of East M Street, near Sanford Street, in Wilmington came in at around 5:15 p.m. Details are limited and it’s unclear what led to the shooting, but authorities said a 50-year-old man was and a second unidentified male were suffering from gunshot wounds.  Paramedics with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene and transported both victims, where one of the victims succumbed to their injuries.  Aerial footage of the scene captured by Sky5 showed a heavy presence of first responders, as well as a canopy that was set up at the location.  L.A. police on the scene of a deadly shooting in Wilmington on Oct. 16, 2023. (KTLA)The shooting suspect, described a Hispanic male, approximately 25 years old, standing 5 foot 9 inches ...

Family trapped by flames when stolen car crashes into home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

Police in San Bernardino are searching for two suspects who fled the scene after crashing a stolen car into a home occupied by a family of three, causing a massive fire that trapped the residents in the backyard on Sunday. Officers with the San Bernardino Police Department responded to the 911 call in the 3100 block of Casa Loma Drive at around 4 a.m. on Oct. 15.  The stolen Kia crashed into a child’s room, according to a GoFundMe campaign organized to help the family, who are now homeless, relocate. Body-worn camera footage released by the San Bernardino Police Department shows heavy flames coming from the home on their arrival.  Flames shoot from a San Bernardino home after two suspects crashed a stolen Kia into the house and fled the scene on Oct. 15, 2023. (SBPD)“Responding officers from the communications center were updated that several occupants from inside the home fled to the rear yard but were now trapped as the fire began to grow,” a SBPD news release state...

With humanitarian aid blocked at Egyptian border, Gaza draws closer to total collapse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Truckloads of aid idled at Egypt’s border with Gaza as residents and humanitarian groups pleaded Monday for water, food and fuel for dying generators, saying the tiny Palestinian territory sealed off by Israel after last week’s rampage by Hamas was near total collapse.U.S. President Joe Biden planned to travel to Israel on Wednesday to signal White House support for the country and to Jordan to meet with Arab leaders. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the trip early Tuesday in Tel Aviv during his second visit to Israel in less than a week amid fears that the fighting could expand into a broader regional conflict.In Gaza, hospitals were on the verge of losing electricity, threatening the lives of thousands of patients, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes searched for bread. Israel maintained punishing airstrikes across Gaza as a ground invasion loomed, while Hamas militants kept up a barrage of rocket attacks, a...