Posted incrime-courts, New Mexico, Syndicated

Alec Baldwin weeps in court when judge announces involuntary manslaughter case dismissed mid-trial

By MORGAN LEE and ANDREW DALTON SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge on Friday brought a sudden and stunning end to the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, dismissing it in the middle of the actor’s trial and saying it cannot be filed again. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case based on the […]

Posted inJobs, Workers & Economy, National, Syndicated

SpaceX rocket accident leaves company’s Starlink satellites in wrong orbit

By MARCIA DUNN A SpaceX rocket has failed for the first time in nearly a decade, leaving the company’s internet satellites in an orbit so low that they’re doomed to fall through the atmosphere and burn up. The Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Thursday night, carrying 20 Starlink satellites. Several minutes into the flight, the […]

Posted incrime-courts, New Mexico, Syndicated

Alec Baldwin trial on hold as judge considers defense request to dismiss case over disputed ammo

By MORGAN LEE and ANDREW DALTON SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin ’s involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico came to a sudden and surprising halt on Friday while the judge considers a defense motion to dismiss the case over disputed ammunition evidence in the killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sent the jury home for […]

Posted inNational, Politics & Elections, Syndicated

Election 2024 Latest: Democratic leadership backs Biden, Trump returns to the campaign trail

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is getting back on the campaign trail at his flagship Miami golf resort as Democrats face tough calls over President Joe Biden ’s reelection chances. Ever since his dismal debate performance, Democrats have been wrestling with whether the 81-year-old Biden should continue as the party’s nominee. As anxious congressional Democrats returned to Washington weighing […]

Posted incrime-courts, New Mexico, Syndicated

Alec Baldwin’s lawyer grills crime scene tech over search for live ammo at his shooting trial

Prosecutors sought to cast Alec Baldwin as someone who flouts rules and has little regard for safety at the first day of his New Mexico trial in the shooting of a cinematographer.

Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson repeatedly referred to Baldwin playing “make-believe” with a revolver on the set of the film “Rust,” and said it led to very real danger and the death of Halyna Hutchins, whom she called “a vibrant 42-year-old rising star.”

Posted inEnvironment & Climate, New Mexico, Syndicated

Wildfire risk rises as Western states dry out amid ongoing heat wave baking most of the US

Authorities in Western states warned of the rising risk of wildfires as hot conditions and low humidity dry out the landscape amid a protracted heat wave that is expected to bake much of the U.S. again Thursday.

California’s top fire official said Wednesday that so far this year the state has responded to more than 3,500 wildfires that have scorched nearly 325 square miles (842 square kilometers) of vegetation — five times the average burned through July 10 in each of the past five years.

Posted inNational, Politics & Elections, Syndicated

Trump wants Black and Latino support. But he’s not popular with either group, poll analysis shows

As he prepares to accept the Republican nomination for the third time, Donald Trump has promised new efforts to expand his coalition — and, in particular, to win over more of the nonwhite voters who largely rejected him during the 2020 election.

But an AP analysis of two consecutive polls conducted in June by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that about 7 in 10 Black Americans have a somewhat or very unfavorable view of Trump, as do about half of Hispanic Americans. While both groups do see Trump a little more favorably than when he left office in 2021, their opinion of him is still more negative than positive.

Posted incrime-courts, New Mexico

Defense attorney says ‘Alec Baldwin committed no crime; he was an actor, acting’ at trial openings

By MORGAN LEE and ANDREW DALTON SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A defense attorney told jurors Wednesday that the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was an “unspeakable tragedy” but that “ Alec Baldwin committed no crime; he was an actor, acting.” Baldwin’s lawyer Alex Spiro emphasized in his opening statement in a Santa Fe, New Mexico, […]