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Former Fairfax Co. officer who shot unarmed man outside Tysons mall indicted by special grand jury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

A former Fairfax County, Virginia, police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man suspected of shoplifting from the Tysons Corner Center mall, has been indicted by a special grand jury.Sgt. Wesley Shifflett was indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm, according to the office of Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano.Shifflett shot Timothy McCree Johnson, 37, on Feb. 22 after Shifflett and another officer chased Johnson on foot outside the mall after getting a report that a man had stolen sunglasses from a Nordstrom store.“The work of public safety includes charging officers for crimes when such actions are legally warranted,” Descano said in a statement. “After reviewing the evidence in this case, I believe that probable cause existed that Shifflett committed a crime, and that the entirety of the evidence should be put to a jury of community members.”This is the second grand jury to investigate the sho...

Walt Garrison, who played for Cowboys in college and NFL and competed as cowboy in rodeos, has died

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Walt Garrison, who led the Big 8 in rushing as an Oklahoma State Cowboy, won a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys, and in the NFL offseason competed as a rodeo cowboy, has died. He was 79.The NFL team said in a story posted on its website Thursday that Garrison died overnight. It did not give a cause of death. A fifth-round draft choice out of Oklahoma State University, Garrison played nine years in Dallas and retired in 1974 as the No. 3 rusher and No. 4 receiver in franchise history. He is still fourth on Dallas’ all-time list with 4.32 yards per carry and ninth with 3,491 rushing yards.But it was Garrison’s rodeo career — which he called his first love — that made him the ultimate cowboy. As a little-used backup during his rookie season, the Cowboys said he would go out after team meetings and compete in local rodeos as a steer wrestler, then get back to the hotel before 11 p.m. curfew.“I wasn’t starting,” Garrison was quoted as saying. “I was returning punts and ki...

Political action committee fined in Maryland for text message without identifying line

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A conservative political action committee has been fined $20,250 in Maryland for failing to include information in the text message to identify who was sending it during a school board election, officials said Thursday.The 1776 Project PAC was fined for sending 13,879 text messages to Carroll County voters in last year’s school board election without noting it was the source of the message, according to a news release from Maryland State Prosecutor Charlton Howard and State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis.Maryland law requires campaign messages sent on behalf of candidates to record who paid for the information to be distributed.Violations have traditionally been sanctioned with minimal citations, but Howard and DeMarinis noted that technology now allows candidates to reach thousands of people with the press of a button.“Being able to identify the source of information for campaign material is essential to honesty and transparency in our electo...

Local filmmakers debut paranormal documentary on Friday the 13th

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Those who dare to go to a haunted theater on Friday the 13th can see the world premiere of a paranormal documentary made by Colorado filmmakers.Co-directors Alan Megargle of Westminster and Jesse Morgan of Thornton spent two years investigating paranormal activity at a 130-year-old farmhouse in Blue Hill, Nebraska. Estes Park among best small towns to visit for Halloween Megargle told FOX31 it all started when his friend Kenny Collins from Estes Park bought a home in Nebraska. He knew the previous owner died of cancer in the home about a year before he bought it, but he didn't know what and who he would find in the basement about a year later.One day, Collins was working on fixing up the basement, which Megargle described as a dirt-floor cellar where you have to leave the house and open the cellar door to go underneath the house.He started seeing some things, little shadow people, and weird things started happening."Alan MegargleThat's when Collins discovered a ro...

17 BSO deputies accused of stealing about $500,000 in pandemic relief funds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP/WSVN) — Seventeen Florida sheriff’s deputies appeared in court Thursday on charges that they stole about half a million dollars in pandemic relief funds.The Broward County deputies, who are charged separately, are accused of a range of crimes, according to court records. Most are charged with wire fraud, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, though one deputy is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which has a maximum sentence of five years.The eight law enforcement deputies and nine detention deputies have been suspended, Sheriff Gregory Tony said during a news conference. He said his office is going through the legal process of firing them.“At the end of the day, they will be gone,” Tony said.The 17 deputies who were charged include the following: Stephanie Diane Smith, 53Katrina Brown, 46,Alexandra Acosta, 37La’Keitha Victoria Lawhorn, 41Jewell Farrell Johnson, 46Carolyn Denise Wade, 48Rorie Brown, 42Alexis Monique Gr...

The close-knit kibbutz that became home to a massacre

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

Dead Sea, Israel (CNN) — People from Be’eri sometimes used to say the reason the Israeli kibbutz was so close to the Gaza Strip was because otherwise, it would be too perfect.“It was a joke, something we used to say because Be’eri is so beautiful. It’s the place where you want your kids to grow up. The sunset is beautiful, the fields are green, it has everything you want from a vacation spot,” Lotan Pinyan told CNN on Wednesday.Be’eri’s proximity to Gaza, which is only a few kilometers away, means the liberal community has been a frequent target of Hamas rockets fired from the enclave – usually intercepted by Israeli defenses. The rockets were the one downside of the otherwise idyllic spot, Pinyan and his friends would say. “It’s not a joke now,” he said.Early on Saturday morning, Hamas militants stormed Be’eri and left behind a devastation of unimaginable scale.They murdered more than 120 of its residents, including children, and kidnapped others. They set people’s h...

BSO seeks public’s help in locating missing 55-year-old woman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

The Broward Sheriff’s Office Missing Persons Unit is seeking assistance from the public to locate a missing 55-year-old woman. Vivian Alicea has been missing since Thursday, Sept. 14. Alicea was last seen in the 900 block of North Federal Highway in Pompano Beach around 5 p.m.She is described as standing 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing approximately 175 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Detectives are urging anyone with information to contact BSO Detective Leonard Charla at 954-321-4274 or the BSO non-emergency number at 954-764-HELP (4357).

Macron calls for unity in France after Hamas attacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron urged the French to “stay united” Thursday as the country has seen a spat of antisemitic violence since Hamas launched its attacks against Israel.During a televised address, the French president condemned Hamas’ attacks, which have claimed some 1,200 lives, saying “the scale, barbarity and inhumanity” has “no precedent” in Israel’s history. Macron also addressed fears that the conflict would be exported to France, which has large Muslim and Jewish populations. He said the country’s “first duty” was to protect French Jews from attacks and discrimination.There have been over 100 antisemitic acts recorded in France since Saturday, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, and police have been deployed to protect Jewish schools and places of worship. The Speaker of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, who is Jewish, has been granted police protection.“I see the fear ...

Man accused of robbing Falmouth bank, zip-tying customers and employees pleads guilty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

An Edgartown man arrested and charged with robbing a bank in Falmouth earlier this year has pleaded guilty in federal court, according to officials.The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced on Thursday that Petar Petyoshin, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of armed bank robbery.The latest development came months after Petyoshin was first arrested on state charges, after authorities said he allegedly robbed the Rockland Trust Bank in Falmouth on April 8.In a summary of the incident, the U.S. Attorney’s Office described how after arriving in Woods Hole via a ferry that day, Petyoshin entered the bank and placed an alleged “bomb” on the counter of a teller while showing a gun.“Petyoshin pointed the firearm at the tellers and customers, telling one bank employee, ‘I’m robbing you,’ before having the customers and bank employees zip-tie each other’s hands together,” officials said.The suspect was able to make off...

New therapy to alleviate peanut allergies in children shows signs of success, researchers say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:22 GMT

Peanut allergies, which are one of the most common causes of severe allergy attacks, can affect all aspects of a child’s life.Dr. Sandra Hong with Cleveland Clinic is one of the authors of a study researching how one treatment may help. Oral immunotherapy is where researchers expose young children under the age of 1 who have been diagnosed with a food allergy to allergens. Hong said that of the children who took part in their peanut oral immunotherapy study, 91% resulted in being able to tolerate large amounts of peanuts without a severe reaction. She said the rest were still able to be exposed to multiple peanuts at a time.“We get very tiny amounts slowly built up into their system and we need to do it in our offices,” Hong said. Hong said food allergies can also lead to isolation or even bullying.“They can spend a lot of time worried about having a true allergic, life-threatening, allergic reactions. It can be really difficult for these kids,” Hong said. “We ...