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Texas woman gets three years in prison for exporting guns to Mexico

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

McALLEN, Texas (KXAN) – A Texas woman will spend three years in federal prison for exporting firearms and ammunition, according to an announcement Thursday from the office of the United States Attorney's Southern District of Texas. The office said Brenda Belinda Barba, 33, of Spring, Texas, pleaded guilty on April 7, 2022.At the time of her plea, Barba admitted to attempting to unlawfully exporting a Glock 9mm pistol, Glock .22 caliber pistol, four Glock pistol magazines, and 550 rounds of various caliber ammunition.U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez ordered Barba to serve three years in federal prison Thursday to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release, according to the announcement. The U.S. Attorney's office said on Nov. 29, 2021, Barba attempted to exit the United States at the Anzalduas Port of Entry in Mission. At that time, she told law enforcement she had nothing to declare, to include firearms and ammunition. However, upon inspection of the vehicle, au...

Saratoga Springs man accused of sexually abusing child

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A Saratoga Springs man is doing time in Saratoga County Jail after troopers say he inappropriately touched a child under the age of 11. Matthew Breen, 55, was arrested on Tuesday after a week-long investigation. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Troopers were tipped off to the alleged abuse on May 8, around 10:30 a.m. According to police, Breen fondled the child the day before. After his arrest Tuesday, Breen was charged with first-degree sexual abuse, endangering the welfare of a child, and forcible touching. He was arraigned at the Saratoga Springs City Court, where bail was set at $5,000 cash, $10,000 bond, or $50,000 partially secured bond. His next court date has not yet been set.

5 things to know this Friday, May 19

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Meteorologists Rob Lindenmuth and Jill Szwed called for warm and breezy weather this afternoon, ahead of a rainy Saturday. It could get a bit breezy later in the day too, so keep that in mind if you've got any outdoor activities planned. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! The man accused of shooting and killing Kaylin Gillis last month has now been indicted by a grand jury. And as the New York State canal system opens for the summer, leaders are once again emphasizing water safety. Read more, in today's five things to know. 1. Alleged Kaylin Gillis shooter indicted for second-degree murderOn Thursday morning, a Washington County grand jury returned a three-count indictment accusing Kevin Monahan of the murder of Kaylin Gillis. Gillis was fatally shot on April 15 when she and her friends mistakenly drove to the wrong address in upstate New York. Alleged Kaylin Gillis shooter indicted for second-degree...

Farmington couple faces court for disturbing child abuse case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

FARMINGTON, Mo -- Farmington couple is due in court today on a disturbing case of child abuse in 2018. Elizabeth Cheatham And her live-in partner, Daryl Head, are charged with endangering the welfare of a child and four counts of kidnapping. Investigators say Cheatham ordered child-size prison uniforms for her four adopted children to wear. Police say the kids were also forced to live inside plywood boxes. The children were rescued after a tip to an abuse hotline. Cheatham I worked for the Missouri Department of Corrections.       

Vast San Luis Valley is Colorado’s newest cultural destination

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

They came from the Bay Area, Boulder, Nashville, Tenn., and Denver. They bought old homes, found new communities and then got to work creating. Listening rooms, live music venues, artist residencies, social spaces and live-work co-ops are all parts of the quiet movement happening in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.And if the artists are any indication — and they usually are — then the tiny southern Colorado towns of Saguache and Del Norte, along with more communities down valley, are on the verge of entering our collective imagination.Though, for some, these places have long been cemented.Colorado’s high alpine desert, the San Luis Valley is larger than the state of New Jersey with fewer than 50,000 residents and an outsized concentration of natural wonders — from the Great Sand Dunes to the headwaters of the Rio Grande.This swath of the West once comprised border territory between the U.S. and Mexico, and 175 years later, its land and water divisions remain complex, if...

Keeler: Sorry, LeBron. Sorry, Anthony Davis. Nuggets, Bruce Brown aren’t going anywhere. Except to L.A. for their close-up with destiny.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

I know, America. I know. Gotta be a misprint. LeBron must be hurt. AD must be thinking about his golf game. Darvin Ham must be drawing up recipes on that white board instead of defensive sets.I mean, it can’t be that the NBA’s No. 1 seed in the West is, oh, the best team on that side of the bracket. Surely not.“Let them keep watching, man,” Nuggets defensive ace Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said of an America that’s largely discovering this NBA monster for the first time now that it’s handed King James and the Lakers a two-game playoff losing skid. “We (were) No. 1 (in the West) for a reason.”Know this, America: As good as they are, the Nuggets are twice as tough. And three times as stubborn.Kendrick Perkins wants them to go the (expletive) away. Nick Wright wants them to go the (expletive) away. Lisa Salters wants them to point out to her which one Nikola Jokic is.“I mean, if you don’t know (the Joker), I don’t know if you watch a lot of basketball or not,” Nuggets super su...

Homeowner ready to move and help the next generation 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

Question: Recently, three homes have sold on my street. Collectively, over 20 offers were presented to the sellers. I’d sell, too. However, I need somewhere to go. I’m a widower — a homeowner of over 40 years. My lifelong best friend lives two hours away. His son is my successor trustee. They live in the same city. My dear neighbors have moved away or passed away. I’m still very fit and active. However, I’m one of the many older adults in America living alone in a multiple-bedroom house. How do lone seniors in my predicament free up their homes for young families without rushing the process?Answer: It is laudable that you are contemplating moving to free up your property for first-time homebuyers — especially when fit. Many older adults wait until it’s too late. An accident, illness or worse can result in others making moving decisions for you. Gather information now. You can avoid having your successor trustee make a four-hour round trip on every visit to help you or settle your es...

Smiths bassist Andy Rourke dies at 59

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Andy Rourke, bass guitarist of The Smiths, one of the most influential British bands of the 1980s, has died of pancreatic cancer, his former bandmate Johnny Marr said Friday. He was 59.In a lengthy post on Instagram, guitarist and songwriter Marr paid tribute to Rourke, who he first met when both were schoolboys in 1975.“Throughout our teens we played in various bands around south Manchester before making our reputations with The Smiths from 1982 to 1987, and it was on those Smiths records that Andy reinvented what it is to be a bass guitar player,” Marr said.During their short time together as a four-piece band, The Smiths deliberately stayed away from the mainstream of popular music, garnering a cult following on the independent music scene.Though much of the attention focused on the song-writing partnership of Marr and frontman Steven Patrick Morrissey, better known as Morrissey, the sound of The Smiths owed much to Rourke’s bass and his rhythm sec...

Skelton: Newsom, lawmakers need to take stance on reparations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature will soon receive a sweeping set of recommended reparations for African Americans whose ancestors suffered economically from slavery and racial discrimination. Then what?Then the governor and lawmakers will need to emerge from cover, face the public and devise a better response than we’ve been hearing: “I’m waiting for the final report of recommendations.”The report will be sent to the state Capitol by July 1. That’s the deadline for the California Reparations Task Force — created by Newsom and legislators — to finish its two years of often-acrimonious work.This will be a tough one for every politician and policymaker who tries to create a balance between providing some realistic semblance of justice without breaking the state bank. And there’ll be some who just flat-out think that major reparations are unreasonable but hesitate to say it publicly.“I’m a hard ‘no,’” one influential Sacramento Democrat told me. When asked whether I cou...

Opinion: Social media reform needed to protect children, democracy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:06 GMT

Technology has transformed the way we live, the way we communicate with one another and the way we relate to the world around us. It has also deepened the political and cultural divisions so prevalent in society today, but Americans are united on at least one point: Most people agree that social media is a social ill.A recent poll undertaken by the nonpartisan democracy-focused group Citizen Data found strong bipartisan evidence of this sentiment. Regardless of political party, the vast majority of Americans believe social media are toxic to our children and our democracy. A scant 7 in 100 respondents believe that social media’s benefits outweigh its harms.As former elected officials, we can confirm that a 7% approval rating is a clear call to action. It’s past time for legislators to pass social media reforms that increase transparency, ensure privacy and protect children. Waiting to act — or failing to act at all — will carry a steep cost, one that will be paid by our children, by...