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☆ This Prosecutor Pledged to Change George Floyd’s City. Her Critics Are Circling.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Mary Moriarty, a former public defender, became Minneapolis’s top prosecutor last year after persuading voters shaken by the murder of George Floyd that she could improve public safety by reining in police misconduct and making the criminal justice system less punitive. Turbulence quickly followed. The attorney general of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, a fellow Democrat who had endorsed Ms. Moriarty as she campaigned to be Hennepin County attorney, took over a murder case from her office last spring after concluding that it had offered an overly lenient plea deal to a juvenile defendant. By fall, two judges took the unusual step of rejecting plea deals offered by Ms. Moriarty’s office, deeming them too permissive for violent crimes. After Ms. Moriarty this year charged a state trooper with murder in the shooting of a motorist who drove away during a traffic stop, criticism mounted.

Persons: Mary Moriarty, George Floyd, Keith Ellison, Moriarty, Ms Locations: Minnesota, Hennepin County

☆ He’s on Death Row for Murders. Prison Workers Say He Should Be Spared.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Mitch Smith | Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Among those asking Missouri’s governor to spare the life of Brian Dorsey, who was convicted of two murders and is set to be executed on Tuesday, were Roman Catholic bishops, law professors and national mental health groups. There was also a less expected cohort seeking clemency: more than 70 current and former prison workers who got to know Mr. Dorsey behind bars. That level of public support from correctional workers is rare in death penalty cases, though it remains to be seen whether it persuades Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, to commute Mr. Dorsey’s sentence to life in prison. Mr. Dorsey, 52, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 2006 deaths of his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband, Ben Bonnie.

Persons: Missouri’s, Brian Dorsey, Dorsey, Mike Parson, Sarah Bonnie, Ben Bonnie Organizations: Catholic, Republican

☆ How the Cartels Launder Their Drug Money, According to a Former Agent
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Kyle Desiderio | Ju Shardlow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Robert Mazur tells the full story of his time as a government agent investigating drug-money laundering. Mazur went undercover for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service intelligence division, and the Customs Service. In Operation C-Chase, Mazur successfully infiltrated the Medellín cartel by posing as a wealthy, mob-connected businessman named Robert Musella. At its peak, the Cali cartel is estimated to have produced 80% of the world's cocaine supply. It was controlled by Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, Pacho Herrera, and José Santacruz Londoño.

Persons: Robert Mazur, Mazur, Robert Musella, Pablo Escobar's, Gonzalo Mora, Roberto Alcaino, Robert Baldasare, Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, Pacho Herrera, Londoño, Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger, B095BKWD8L Read Organizations: US Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Customs Service, New York Times, KYC Locations: Italian American, Cali

☆ Three Men Face Federal Gun Charges in Kansas City Super Bowl Parade Shooting
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | More About Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Three men have been charged with firearms trafficking and other crimes as part of the investigation into the shooting that marred a Super Bowl victory celebration in Kansas City, Mo., federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. One person was killed and more than 20 were injured in the shooting on Feb. 14, after an argument turned violent and at least six people opened fire just as the rally was dispersing near Union Station, the authorities said. Days later, two teenagers were charged with resisting arrest and “gun-related” offenses. In late February, two Missouri men, Lyndell Mays, 23, and Dominic Miller, 18, were charged with murder. Three Kansas City, Mo., men now face multiple federal charges after investigators determined that at least two of the weapons recovered at the shooting scene had been unlawfully purchased or trafficked.

Persons: Lyndell Mays, Dominic Miller Organizations: Kansas City Locations: Kansas City, Mo, Missouri, Kansas

Americans have argued about immigration for decades, often with anger, fear and racial resentment. Decades of neglect and political stalemate have left the American immigration system broken in ways that defy simple solutions. Many are settling in cities far from the border, making an abstract problem suddenly concrete for some Americans. And there was little hope that President Biden might figure out a way out of the morass. Notably, the solutions voters proposed didn’t fit neatly into either party’s ideological box.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden Organizations: Republican Locations: American

A former U.S. ambassador accused of working for decades as a secret agent for Cuba indicated on Thursday that he would plead guilty, a move that would bring to a swift end the legal case over one of the biggest national security breaches in years. Manuel Rocha, 73, said in federal court in Miami that he would file a change of plea, signaling that he is prepared to plead guilty. He was charged in December with acting as an agent of a foreign government and defrauding the United States. Mr. Rocha is expected to plead guilty to two counts of conspiring to act as a foreign agent. Prosecutors are expected to drop the other charges; the wire fraud charge carried a 20-year maximum sentence.

Persons: Manuel Rocha, Rocha, Rocha’s Organizations: Prosecutors, Associated Press Locations: U.S, Cuba, Miami, United States

☆ Sweating Buckets, and Loving It: Minnesotans and Their Saunas
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | Jenn Ackerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For people in Minnesota, the sauna is a link to the past and a way to form new bonds. Feb. 17, 2024Jumping in a hole in a frozen lake during a subzero Minnesota winter evening is brutal. On the banks of Lake Minnewashta in Excelsior, just outside Minneapolis, the answer lies in a dimly lit, wood-burning barrel-shaped sauna a few feet away. Minnesotans have begun partaking in a version of this ritual in droves as a tradition imported by the state’s Nordic settlers in the late 1800s has gone mainstream. While cold plunging is not obligatory — and some opt out — most of the new sauna venues encourage even mild forms of cold exposure, like dumping a bucket of cold water on your head.

Locations: Minnesota, Lake Minnewashta, Excelsior, Minneapolis, Midwest

☆ Seizures of Psychedelic Mushrooms Rise in U.S. as Demand Grows
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Seizures of psychedelic mushrooms across the nation by law enforcement officials have increased significantly in recent years as attitudes regarding their use have grown more permissive, according to a government-funded study released Tuesday. Researchers found that law enforcement officials confiscated 844 kilos of mushrooms containing psilocybin in 2022, an increase of 273 percent from 2017. Psilocybin is the psychoactive component in the fungi commonly known as magic mushrooms. The marketplace for magic mushrooms, which are illegal under federal law, has boomed in recent years as several clinical studies have shown that they may be effective as therapies to treat depression and other serious conditions. But many medical professionals say they worry that the hype surrounding psychedelics has moved faster than the science.

Organizations: National Institute on Drug

☆ What Does Being Sober Mean Today? For Many, Not Full Abstinence.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mike Reed, a musician and Uber driver in Arizona, said he quit drinking alcohol more than a decade ago when his roommates got so fed up with his unruly behavior that they threatened to kick him out. Sobriety became such a core part of Mr. Reed’s identity that he launched an online dating website called “Single & Sober,” but in 2020, Mr. Reed, a Navy veteran, said he found himself struggling as his sister, who had Down syndrome, was dying of cancer. Mr. Reed, 43, began smoking marijuana. More recently, he went to a clinic for infusions of ketamine, and tried tiny doses of psychoactive mushrooms. Mr. Reed said those substances improved his mood — and he still regards himself as sober, because he remains alcohol free.

Persons: Mike Reed, Reed Organizations: Navy Locations: Arizona

☆ A Drug Test Cost a D.E.A. Agent His Job. He Sued, and Got It Back.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Drug Enforcement Administration regarded Anthony L. Armour as an “outstanding” special agent on the front lines of the nation’s opioid epidemic. But in 2019, a routine drug test derailed his career. His failed drug test led the government to fire him, setting off a lengthy court battle that underscored the growing pains of a booming and largely unregulated CBD industry. Last week, Mr. Armour won his case. In a rare move, the Department of Justice agreed to rehire him as a special agent, provide some back pay, cover his legal expenses and restore his eligibility for a pension.

Persons: Anthony L, Armour Organizations: Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice

☆ What’s in Our Queue? ‘Local Valley’ and More
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

This over-the-top, clutch-those-pearls-girl matchmaking reality show is fittingly hosted by the adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels. The drama and steamy scenes get old quickly, but I kept watching mainly because it provides an intimate and revealing look at a woman who became an unexpected protagonist of the Trump era.

Persons: Stormy Daniels, Trump

Mr. Biden has made repeated gestures of support to Muslims and Arab Americans: In an Oval Office address on Oct. 20, he denounced Islamophobia and the death of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old who was fatally stabbed in Illinois in what authorities have called a hate crime. “In 2020, the Muslim community was instrumental in turning out the vote for Joe Biden,” said Ms. Al-Hanooti, the Michigan executive director of Emgage, a national organization that seeks to strengthen the political power of Muslim Americans. Muslim voters turned out in significant numbers — 145,000 voted in the presidential election, according to Emgage. An exit poll commissioned by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that roughly 69 percent of Muslims nationwide voted for Biden. Ms. Al-Hanooti said Muslims turned out in large numbers for Mr. Biden mainly because they were motivated to help defeat President Trump.

Persons: Mr, Biden, Wadea, ”, Ammar Moussa, Biden “, Biden’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Nada, “, Joe Biden, ” Mr, Hanooti, Trump Organizations: Biden, Arab, Palestinian, Council, Islamic Relations Locations: Michigan, Wayne County, Hamtramck, Dearborn, Arab, Illinois, Israel, Palestinian American

Before handing pencil and paper to a group of inmates who attended one of his recent writing workshops in jail, Nate Johnson shared three things about his past. He has battled depression and anxiety for much of his life. “And I used to be a prosecutor,” Mr. Johnson disclosed, adding a quick caveat. Immediately after hearing a simple prompt, inmates were told to write furiously, without interruption, for five minutes. The only goal was to turn the sequence of thoughts generated by each prompt into a string of sentences without stopping to think.

Persons: Nate Johnson, ” Mr, Johnson Locations: Minneapolis

In Des Moines, school bus drivers received medical aid at the end of sweltering shifts. A marching band instructor outfitted students with water backpacks to prevent them from passing out from the heat — at 7:30 a.m. The scorching temperatures and high humidity that dogged millions of Americans from the upper Midwest to the Southeast added to the challenges of the first days of the new school year. It was a stark reminder, education experts and parents said, of the urgent need to make schools more resilient to climate change. “As the climate continues to change and warm, we have to modernize school buildings or we are putting students in danger.”

Persons: ”, Karen White Organizations: National Education Association, “ Locations: Des Moines, Chicago, Midwest

☆ ‘Miracles Occurred That Night’: A Mad Scramble to Save Maui Pets
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | More About Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As flames engulfed his home, Frederick Shaw grabbed Munchkin, one of his five cats, and darted through a cloud of thick smoke gasping for air. The 73-year-old Navy veteran stumbled onto the scorching pavement, which severely burned the palms of his hands. “And I let go of the cat.”A few blocks away, Rafael Ochoa, another longtime resident of Lahaina, the historic seaside community in West Maui, darted into his flaming house. “She’s family.”As an inferno fueled by furious winds engulfed Lahaina, survivors made wrenching choices the night of Aug. 8. Scrambling for safety, many took enormous risks to save beloved pets.

Persons: Frederick Shaw, Munchkin, “, ”, Rafael Ochoa, cramming, Bella, ” Mr, Ochoa Organizations: Navy Locations: Lahaina, West Maui, darted

“Mom, I’ve been shot!” he recalled crying, as his mother bolted barefoot out of their house in northwest Las Vegas. “I didn’t think I was going to make it, for how much blood was under me,” Caison said. The Las Vegas police say the shooting in May was carried out with a pistol rigged with a small and illegal device known as a switch. Switches can transform semiautomatic handguns, which typically require a trigger pull for each shot, into fully automatic machine guns that fire dozens of bullets with one tug. By the time the assailant in Las Vegas sped away, Caison, a soft-spoken teenager who loves video games, lay on the pavement with five gunshot wounds.

Persons: Caison Robinson, I’ve, ”, ” Caison Organizations: Las, Las Vegas Locations: Las Vegas, Las

Fight or Flight: Transgender Care Bans Leave Families and Doctors ScramblingLaws in 20 states have left the fate of clinics in doubt and families with transgender children searching for medical care across state lines. But two new laws have left them debating whether to leave Iowa. A ban on a medication that pauses puberty taken by their transgender son, Brecker, was signed into law by the state’s governor in March. “It’s like trying to cross a bridge but the boards just fall out,” said Brecker, who recently finished seventh grade and began receiving puberty blockers in December, a year after coming out as transgender. “So you’re hanging on those two ropes, inching yourself across, not knowing whether the ropes are going to snap or break.”In 20 states, bans or restrictions on transition-related medical care for transgender youths are upending the lives of families and medical providers.

Persons: David, Wendy Batchelder, Brecker, ” Organizations: Republican Locations: West Des Moines , Iowa, Iowa

☆ Scathing Report on Police Leaves Minneapolis Reeling 3 Years After Floyd Murder
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | Dan Simmons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The wounds of Minneapolis are far from healed. Veterans of the city’s Police Department, which has lost more than 300 officers, say they are running on fumes, weary from patrolling under a cloud of suspicion. Three years after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, a Department of Justice report released on Friday concluded that the city’s Police Department was plagued by unlawful conduct, discrimination and mismanagement. In some ways, it was meant as an answer to the death of Mr. Floyd and to years of complaints about policing in this city of 425,000. But the devastating report seemed to bring little closure in Minneapolis, where many remain traumatized and riven by mistrust.

Persons: T.J, Johnson, George Floyd, Floyd, —, Tina Smith Organizations: Veterans, city’s Police Department, Justice, Democrat Locations: Minneapolis, South Minneapolis

The Justice Department accused the Minneapolis police on Friday of discriminating against Black and Native American people, using deadly force illegally and trampling the First Amendment rights of protesters and journalists — damning claims that grew out of a multiyear investigation and may lead to a court-enforced overhaul of the police force. The federal review was touched off by the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a Minneapolis officer in 2020, a crime that led to protests and unrest across the country. But the Justice Department’s scathing 89-page report looked well beyond that killing, describing a police force impervious to accountability whose officers beat, shot and detained people without justification and patrolled without the trust of residents. But to many people in the city, where protesters had complained for years about police excesses, Mr. Floyd’s death, as horrifying as it was, was not entirely surprising. The Justice Department investigators described “numerous incidents in which officers responded to a person’s statement that they could not breathe with a version of, ‘You can breathe; you’re talking right now.’”

Persons: George Floyd, Department’s, General Merrick B, Garland, Floyd’s, Floyd, Derek Chauvin, ’ Organizations: Department, Minneapolis police, Minneapolis Police Department, Justice Department Locations: Minneapolis

☆ What happened to efforts to ‘defund the police’ in Minneapolis and elsewhere?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Three years after “defund the police” became a rallying cry that emerged in the fury over the police killing of George Floyd, efforts to do away with conventional policing have largely fizzled in Minneapolis and beyond. The movement faltered in Minneapolis after activists failed to build broad support for a goal that lacked a clear definition and an alternative that residents could agree on. When crime surged, the idea lost steam and Republicans seized on it as evidence that Democrats were being recklessly soft on crime. In 2021, critics of the Minneapolis Police Department put forward a proposal to disband the police department and establish a new public safety agency with a ballot initiative that would have significantly altered the city’s approach to public safety. As the measure was being debated, police officers were resigning and retiring in large numbers amid sinking morale and, at the same time, Minneapolis was seeing a surge in crime.

Persons: “, ”, George Floyd Organizations: Minneapolis Police Department Locations: Minneapolis

The Justice Department accused the Minneapolis Police Department of rampant discrimination, unlawful conduct and systemic mismanagement in a scathing 89-page report released on Friday. The federal investigation, launched in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer, “found that the systemic problems in M.P.D. made what happened to George Floyd possible.”Here are some of the key allegations in the report, which echoes complaints that some Minneapolis residents have made for years, and which could lead to a court-enforced consent decree:

Persons: George Floyd, “ Organizations: Department, Minneapolis Police Department Locations: Minneapolis, M.P.D

Crowd: “No justice, no peace.” Floyd’s death triggered major protests in Minneapolis, and sparked rage across the country. Officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng step out of the car and approach the blue S.U.V. According to the criminal complaints filed against the officers, Floyd says he is claustrophobic and refuses to enter the police car. Her footage shows that despite calls for medical help, Chauvin keeps Floyd pinned down for another seven minutes. Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, according to our review of the video evidence.

Persons: It’s, George Floyd, ”, Derek Chauvin, Floyd, “, Thomas Lane, J, Alexander Kueng, Lane, yanks Floyd, Tou Thao, Thao, Chauvin, Kueng, Darnella Frazier, I’ve, ” Floyd, Bro, They’ve, He’s, “ Floyd, George Floyd’s Organizations: Police, Cup Foods, yanks, Foods, Minneapolis Police Department Locations: Minneapolis, Houston, Floyd, United States

The report is expected to be released at a news conference with Attorney General Merrick Garland, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta and city officials. The expected announcement was previously reported by Bloomberg Law and KSTP-TV in Minnesota. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has negotiated consent decrees in the past to enforce policing overhauls in Baltimore, Cleveland and Ferguson, Mo., among other cities, after similar investigations. The murder of Mr. Floyd, a Black man, by Officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020 touched off protests and civil unrest across the country and led to calls to fundamentally rethink or defund policing. Mr. Floyd’s death, video of which circulated widely online, brought condemnations from across the political spectrum and criminal convictions for the police officers who were involved, a relatively rare occurrence.

Persons: George Floyd, General Merrick Garland, Vanita Gupta, Ferguson, Floyd, Derek Chauvin, Floyd’s Organizations: Minneapolis Police Department, Bloomberg Law, Civil, Division Locations: Minnesota, Baltimore , Cleveland, Mo

☆ Canadian Wildfire Smoke Descends in an Unhealthy Haze Over Minnesota
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Anna Betts | Ernesto Londoño | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As a gray cloud and a pungent smell moved through the Twin Cities on Wednesday, normally bustling bike lanes and running trails were largely deserted. The air quality reached unhealthy levels in Minneapolis, St. Paul and much of Minnesota on Wednesday, as the Upper Midwest became the latest pocket of the country to have its air fouled by smoke drifting south from wildfires that have been burning across Canada for weeks. As in New York and much of the East Coast last week, Minnesotans were looking to the skies and to the Air Quality Index to make sense of what was going on around them. On Wednesday, Minneapolis and St. Paul recorded Air Quality Index readings above 250, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advises is “very unhealthy” for most people. The smoke spread across other parts of the Upper Midwest, too.

Persons: Paul Organizations: Twin, Air, . Environmental Protection Agency, N.D Locations: Twin Cities, Minneapolis, St, Minnesota, Upper Midwest, Canada, New York, East, Midwest, Eau Claire, Wis, Fargo

☆ Colombian Amazon plane crash: children's plight is the latest in a long list of air travel mishaps
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Stefano Pozzebon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The three adults onboard, including the pilot and the children’s mother, Magdalena Mucutuy, died in the crash. Calderon dismisses the idea that his job is particularly high risk, but he concedes flying in the Colombian Amazon is not for the faint hearted. Soldiers stand next to the wreckage of a plane during the search for child survivors on May 19, 2023. Moreover, this type of older airplanes are often the most apt to operate in the limited infrastructure of the airfields in the Colombian Amazon. This year the Colombian government budgeted the equivalent of over $200 million to boost airports across the Amazon region over the next 30 years, and to open eight new commercial flight routes Amazon region.

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