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Jury selection begins in trial of third officer charged in Elijah McClain's death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

BRIGHTON, Colo. (KDVR) — Less than 24 hours after an Aurora Police officer was convicted in the death of Elijah McClain, jury selection began for another officer charged in the case.Nathan Woodyard is the Aurora Police officer who will now go on trial on counts of reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. The same judge will oversee the case at the Adams County courthouse. Officer faces jail time after guilty verdict in Elijah McClain’s death Woodyard, who has been indefinitely suspended without pay, was one of three police officers and two paramedics implicated in the death of McClain in 2019. McClain died after officers used a chokehold and paramedics injected him with ketamine to subdue him.Former officer Randy Roedema was convicted Thursday of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. Roedema has now been terminated.The other officer was acquitted."It's not good at all. It's an indication that a jury found another officer, ...

Officer faces jail time after guilty verdict in Elijah McClain's death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct criminal charges in the case. DENVER (KDVR) -- On Thursday night, the jury returned with a split verdict against two Aurora police officers charged with Elijah McClain’s death in 2019.One officer, Randy Roedema, was found guilty on two charges. The other officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was acquitted of all charges.Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. Officers, paramedics indicted on 32 counts in Elijah McClain’s death Jury selection for the trial of a third officer's involvement in McClain's death began on Friday. The third officer, Nathan Woodyard, is facing charges of reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. While Roedema's sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5 at 1:30 p.m., here's what he could be facing based on the charges:Criminally negligent homicide According to the Colorado Legal Defense Group, criminally negligent homicide is deemed unintentional and it's wh...

Aurora renames street section to honor first African-American firefighter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) -- The City of Aurora announced Friday that a portion of East 16th Avenue will be renamed in honor of Aurora Fire Rescue's first African-American firefighter.An honorary street sign reading Ruben Sims Jr. Ave. will be placed between Florence Street and Emporia Street near the fire rescue's historic Fire Station No. 1, according to a press release. Photos: Blankets of snow bring out vibrant fall colors “This honorary street sign celebrates this extraordinary icon for diversity within the fire department and the city of Aurora," Aurora Mayor Pro Tem Curtis Gardner said in a release.Ruben Lewis Sims Jr. joined the fire rescue team in 1977 and served as a firefighter and an engineer until he retired in 1997.Sims attended junior high and high school in Denver. He played the clarinet throughout his youth and went to the Berklee College of Music.An honorary street sign reading Ruben Sims Jr. Ave. was placed between Florence Street and Emporia Street near the historic...

Search underway for man reported missing from downtown Miami

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

Police seek the public’s help in their search for a man who was reported missing in Miami.According to City of Miami Police, 36-year-old Sean Hinz was last seen in the downtown area last weekend.He stands 6 feet, 1 inch tall, weighs around 200 pounds and was last seen wearing a green University of Miami T-shirt.Officials urge anyone with information on Hinz’s whereabouts to call Miami Police at 305-579-6111.

Poland’s right-wingers face post-vote electoral roulette

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

WARSAW — Poland’s right-wing Confederation party could play a key role after the country’s parliamentary election on Sunday — the issue tearing the party apart is if it wants to do that. POLITICO’s poll of polls shows Confederation — an ungainly mix of economic libertarians, far-right ideologues and gadflies with strange views on women’s rights and eating dogs — with 9 percent support. Neither of the two biggest parties — the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party and the centrist opposition Civic Coalition (PO) — is likely to win enough seats to form a government on its own.PiS looks set to come first, and the only possible coalition partner for the party is Confederation as they share similar nationalist views, although their economic policies are very different. But it’s unclear if Confederation wants to play ball and help PiS stay in power for a third term.Sławomir Mentzen, one of the party’s leaders, has gone on the warpath against Prime Minister Mateusz ...

6 key questions ahead of Poland’s election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

WARSAW — It’s squeaky bum time in the EU’s fifth most populous country.After months of bitter campaigning, scandals, gaffes, attacks and just one debate, the political landscape ahead of Sunday’s general election is pretty much where it was a year ago. Two big parties — the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party and the centrist Civic Coalition — are far ahead and a clutch of smaller parties are straggling far behind.It’s a testament to the very deep divisions in Polish society. The government’s backers see the opposition as traitorous sell-outs willing to hand Poland off the Germany (or even Russia) and to turn Poland into an irreligious, gay-friendly dystopia subservient to Brussels and filled with Muslim immigrants.Opposition backers warn that if Law and Justice wins a third term in office, it will succeed in throttling what’s left of Polish democracy by completing its takeover of the courts, attack independent media and isolate Poland ...

Logan Airport’s Terminal E takes off

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

Terminal E and Logan Airport’s 100th birthday collided.Maybe not the best term for an airport, but the brass came out for the twin occasions Friday. The renovation of Terminal E, the airport’s international terminal, included approximately 390,000 additional square feet to create a unified building.“Logan International Airport is a critical economic engine for our state. These fantastic new upgrades at Terminal E are going to supercharge that engine and help to elevate our image on the world stage,” said Gov. Maura Healey.“Logan Airport is a gateway to opportunity and fosters connections for residents, businesses, universities and organizations in the global economy,” said Mayor Michelle Wu.Some of the new amenities include a mothers’ room and sensory room.The sensory room, as Massport put it, “has various interactive stations that focus on balance, light therapy and cognitive/memory improvement, including a room that replicates an airplane cabin to help passengers accli...

Ticker: Biden awards $7 billion for clean hydrogen hubs; Wall Street struggles as war worries collide with hope for stronger profits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

The Biden administration has selected clean-energy projects from Pennsylvania to California for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel, a key component of President Joe Biden’s agenda to slow climate change.Biden called clean hydrogen essential to his vision of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 2050. His goal is to establish seven regional hubs to help replace fossil fuels such as coal and oil with cleaner-burning hydrogen as an energy source for vehicles, manufacturing and generating electricity.The seven hubs, which include projects in 16 states, will spur more than $40 billion in private investment and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, many of them union positions, Biden said Friday at a cargo terminal in Philadelphia, where one of the hubs will be based.Wall Street struggles as war worries collide with hope for stronger profitsU.S. stocks mostly fell Friday after fears about war in the Middle East collided i...

Former child welfare worker guilty of endangerment in death of Illinois 5-year-old

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

Robert McCoppin | Chicago TribuneIn what is believed to be the first successful prosecution of its kind in Illinois, a former child welfare worker was found guilty Friday of child endangerment in the beating death of 5-year-old AJ Freund in Crystal Lake, but his supervisor was found not guilty.Carlos Acosta, who was the case investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, was found guilty in McHenry County court of endangering the life or health of a child. He was found not guilty of reckless conduct.Lake County Judge George Strickland said he could not find Acosta’s supervisor, Andrew Polovin, guilty of either charge because he did not know how much Polovin knew about AJ being abused. Strickland handled the case because all McHenry County judges recused themselves.AJ died in April 2019 after being beaten by his mother, JoAnn Cunningham. She is serving a 35-year sentence for his murder.The boy’s father, Andrew Freund Sr., was sentenced to 30 years in prison...

Trump absent while majority of Republican candidates gather in New Hampshire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:27 GMT

NASHUA, N.H. — The Granite state has been overrun by presidential candidates and Republican power players.Nearly every one of the more than half a dozen candidates seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for 2024 gathered in southern New Hampshire to close the week with a two-day “First in the Nation Leadership Summit” sponsored by the New Hampshire GOP .“We’re going to fight on principles: small government, lower taxes, individual freedom and responsibility and local control. That’s what we’re all about,” New Hampshire GOP Chairman Chris Ager said to start the summit.Scheduled to speak Friday were former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessman Perry Johnson, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.Former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and businessman Ryan Binkley are scheduled to speak Saturday.Candidates were joined on...