Governor Hochul appoints new state budget director

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Governor Hochul appoints new state budget director ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday the appointment of Blake Washington as New York State Budget Director. Washington, who currently serves as Secretary to the State Assembly Ways and Means Committee, will begin his tenure this summer. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Washington is preceded in the position by Robert Megna, who was appointed to serve as interim budget director back in late February. He previously served as Director of Budget Studies and as a legislative budget analyst.“During this critical period for our state's future, I’m looking forward to having Blake Washington on my team as we work to craft another budget that serves the needs of all New Yorkers,” said Governor Hochul. “With years of public service and a deep knowledge of the budget process, Blake is the perfect leader to take the helm at the Division of the Budget. I’m grateful to my friend Bob Megna for his extraordinary w...

Decision upheld in 2020 Lake George fraud case

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Decision upheld in 2020 Lake George fraud case LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (NEWS10) - New York State Supreme Court has upheld convictions against a former Lake George Watershed Coalition director who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funds. On Thursday, Warren County District Attorney Jason Carusone announced that all six convictions against David Decker had been upheld. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! “We are gratified that the Appellate Division upheld all of the convictions and found there was sufficient evidence that the defendant stole public funds, and engaged in a scheme to defraud the people of Warren County," Carusone said. "Assistant District Attorneys Benjamin Smith and Robert McCarty, as well as Acting Assistant District Attorney Christine Stevens from the Tax Department, put countless hours into this complicated case, and we are glad to see that their hard work has been affirmed by the Appellate Division."Decker, of Burnt Hills, was sentenced in 2020 to bet...

Man flashes gun over Jack in the Box order in St. Ann

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Man flashes gun over Jack in the Box order in St. Ann ST. ANN, Mo. - A man faces felony charges after he reportedly flashed a gun in a heated argument over a Jack in the Box order in St. Ann. Prosecutors have charged Dawaun Grimm, 36, with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon in the investigation. Authorities arrested Grimm shortly after the situation unfolded on July 22. She says an Uber stranded her, then things really got weird According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, employees at the Jack in the Box reported that a customer became "irate" over his order, leading to an argument in which he flashed a gun. No injuries were reported in the situation, and details around the food order were not disclosed. Police later found the customer walking nearby and located the gun around 25 feet away from his spot of arrest. The gun matched the description of one reported to police, and Grimm reportedly admitted to arguing with employees at the restaurant, per court documents. Close Thanks ...

Man convicted of I-270 drive-by shooting in Des Peres

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Man convicted of I-270 drive-by shooting in Des Peres ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - A jury has convicted a man accused of a drive-by shooting several years ago on Interstate 270 in Des Peres. Deandre Cothran, 37, was found guilty of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm in the case. A jury convicted Cothran on Thursday after testimony from Des Peres police and hours of deliberation.The shooting happened on April 24, 2020 in the northbound lanes of I-270 near Manchester Road. She says an Uber stranded her, then things really got weird According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Cothran was in a white Volkswagen vehicle in a slower lane to the right of the victim. At some point, the victim's vehicle was struck by multiple rounds of bullets, and the victim suffered a gunshot wound to her arm.The woman pulled over, called police and informed them of a description of the vehicle she suspected in the shooting. Within minutes, police found the vehicle unoccupied near a Mercy hospital. Cothran wa...

Ukraine fights for key eastern village as Zelenskyy marks the nation’s statehood in rebuke to Putin

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Ukraine fights for key eastern village as Zelenskyy marks the nation’s statehood in rebuke to Putin By FELIPE DANA and JIM HEINTZ (Associated Press)KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces on Friday pounded a key village in southeastern Ukraine that Kyiv claimed to have recaptured in its grinding counteroffensive.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, marked Ukraine’s Statehood Day by reaffirming the country’s sovereignty — a rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who used his claim that Ukraine didn’t exist as a nation to justify his invasion.“Now, like more than a thousand years ago, our civilizational choice is unity with the world,” Zelenskyy said in a speech outside St. Michael’s Monastery in Kyiv. “To be a power in world history. To have the right to its national history – of its people, its land, its state. And of our children – all future generations of the Ukrainian people. We will definitely win!”He also honored servicemen and handed out first passports to young citizens as part of ceremonies in t...

Opinion: With the White House as a set, Trump will settle his score “Apprentice” style

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Opinion: With the White House as a set, Trump will settle his score “Apprentice” style Hell hath no fury like a man who believes he’s been scorned.This twist on an old, sexist adage, however, is no joke because the man is Donald Trump.The Republican frontrunner is not hiding what he’ll do if elected for the second time to the most powerful office in the land; he’ll make it more powerful in order to trample on constitutional rights.Voters should be clear that Trump doesn’t just admire Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, he wants to be them.Our Constitution means nothing to the man who says out loud that he wants to terminate the document upon which American democracy gets its oxygen.That suggestion alone is enough not to vote for Trump.But let’s look at other reasons for rejecting the authoritarian wannabe.He’s boasted about granting pardons to himself and anyone else convicted in connection with the January 6 bloody riot.Therefore, pardons will flow faster than the mighty Mississippi if he is sworn in on January 20, 2025.Don’t look for Trump’s second inaugural address to ...

Avalanche Journal: Are middle-six centers Ryan Johansen, Ross Colton an upgrade from JT Compher, Alex Newhook?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Avalanche Journal: Are middle-six centers Ryan Johansen, Ross Colton an upgrade from JT Compher, Alex Newhook? Avalanche fans can spend the 2023-24 season paying attention to an extended game of 2-on-2 hockey if they want to risk torturing themselves.Ryan Johansen and Ross Colton vs. J.T. Compher and Alex Newhook. Note: The four contestants will be playing separately, in three different cities, across seven months.The Avalanche’s 2022-23 second-line center, Compher, moved on in unrestricted free agency this offseason. The team traded away the rights to its third-line center, Newhook, who negotiated his new contract with Montreal. Rather than run it back with last year’s fulcrum in the middle of the lineup and in the middle of the ice, the Avs went in a new direction.They emerged with Johansen (likely 2C) and Colton (3C) via trades.If the decline from Stanley Cup champs to first-round losers stemmed from the disappearance of forward depth behind Nathan MacKinnon, then Colorado’s bounce-back hopes reasonably hinge on whether Johansen and Colton turn out to be upgrades.Especia...

Tickets and arrests didn’t increase when SROs were reinstated at Denver schools, police data shows

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Tickets and arrests didn’t increase when SROs were reinstated at Denver schools, police data shows Tickets and arrests of students at 13 Denver Public Schools campuses were lower when police officers were not stationed inside the school buildings than when they were, according to state and local data from the 2019-20 and 2022-23 school years.The data backs a key criticism of school resource officers, which is that they increase tickets and arrests and feed the school-to-prison pipeline.Related ArticlesEducation | Here’s what we learned from the closed-door school board meeting that DPS fought to keep secret Education | Denver school board reverses 2020 ban on police in schools, paving way for long-term return of SROs Education | DPS board votes unanimously to put armed police back in Denver high schools for rest of year But when SROs were reintroduced on those 13 campuses for the last two months of the 2022-23 school year, after a shooting inside East High School, the monthly average of tickets and arrests did not go up, accor...

Wildfire near Temecula explodes to 500 acres; 10% contained

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Wildfire near Temecula explodes to 500 acres; 10% contained A brush fire reported Thursday afternoon near Temecula has exploded and has burned hundreds of acres as of Friday morning.The Bonny Fire was first reported around 2:45 p.m. Thursday near the 44000 block of Bonny Lane in Aguanga, a city about 20 miles east of Temecula. A brush fire was reported near Aguanga, California on Thursday, July 27, 2023. (OnScene.TV)The blaze initially covered five acres in medium fuels but was burning at a moderate to critical rate of speed, the Riverside County Fire Department stated on its Facebook page. The blaze had spread to 500 acres with 10 percent containment as of Friday morning, according to the Fire Department.Evacuation orders are in place for areas south of Silver Star Drive, east of Sunset Avenue, north of Wilson Street and west of 16th Street. Search team finds body of hiker who went missing in Monrovia Canyon Park Evacuation warnings have also been issued for areas south of Tulle Peak, south of Ramsey, west of Terwilliger, and east of - an...

Ohtani has 'the greatest day of baseball that anybody’s ever seen'

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:49:15 GMT

Ohtani has 'the greatest day of baseball that anybody’s ever seen' 'The greatest day of baseball that anybody’s ever seen'Shohei Ohtani threw his first shutout in Major League Baseball in one game and hit two homers in the next, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Detroit Tigers twice on Thursday to sweep a three-game series.Ohtani, though, gave the Angels a scare when he left the second game of the doubleheader due to cramps that led to him grimacing after hitting his 38th homer in the fourth inning.“He’ll get some fluids in him and he’ll be fine,” manager Phil Nevin said.He had a one-hitter and struck out eight as the Angels beat Detroit 6-0 in the first game and then cleared the fences twice in an 11-4 victory for the surging team's ninth win in 11 games.Ohtani became the first major league player to throw a shutout in one game of a doubleheader and hit a homer — much less two — in the other.“He probably had the greatest day of baseball that anybody’s ever seen today,” said right-hander Matt Manning, who gave up both homers to Ohtani. “It’s ...