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'Principle over politics': Prosecutors in Paxton impeachment trial debrief after historic loss

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Just over a week after losing a historic impeachment trial, prosecutor Dick DeGuerin said his team, as well as others, were naïve to think principle would win over politics. These remarks came during the Texas Tribune Festival. DeGuerin spoke on a panel alongside his colleagues who served as prosecutors in Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial. Prosecutors revealed they thought they would win the case until the first vote was read. Paxton would go on to be acquitted on all charges within the more than 15 articles of impeachment. The team also reflected on seemingly shocking moments, such as Paxton's alleged mistress not testifying. Prosecutors said they were a part of making this call to protect the case. There was also a response to Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's speech after Paxton was acquitted. Patrick condemned the Texas House and said the impeachment and trial never should have happened in the first place.Prosecutors, seeking a conviction, called Patrick'...

Jamelle Bouie: Donald Trump is not of two minds on abortion

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

As a candidate for president in 2016, Donald Trump promised to put “pro-life justices” on the Supreme Court. He even issued a list of potential nominees that featured some of the most conservative judges in the country.As president, Trump made good on his promise, appointing three of the six justices who voted last year to overturn the Supreme Court’s precedent in Roe v. Wade and end, after years of erosion, the constitutional right to an abortion.Each of these appointments — Neil Gorsuch in 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020 — was a landmark occasion for the Trump administration and a major victory for the conservative movement. Trump used his court picks to energize Republican voters before the 2020 presidential election and later took credit for the court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that made Roe obsolete.The Dobbs decision, Trump said in a statement, was “the biggest WIN for LIFE in a generation” and was “only mad...

DiCamillo celebrates new fairytale — and an anniversary for ‘Despereaux’

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

The moon rose higher.Soon, it shone right into the sea captain’s small room, throwing a patch of light across the worn floor.“Ooooh,” said the girl. “It’s so beautiful.”“Describe it,” said the boy. The chest was open and he was faceup, but he was at such an angle that he could see nothing but the cracked ceiling.“It’s like a loving face,” said the girl. “And its looking right at me. I feel as if it has been looking for me, for all of us.”  — from “The Puppets of Spelhorst”It’ll be a double celebration Saturday when award-winning, bestselling author Kate DiCamillo introduces her newest original fairytale, “The Puppets of Spelhorst,” and the deluxe 20th-anniversary edition of “The Tale of Despereaux.” Both are published by Candlewick Press.DiCamillo, who lives in Minneapolis, is one of the most beloved authors around. Kids love to meet her and talk about her bo...

St. Louis program raises awareness of HBCUs' impact on young scholars

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- In the St. Louis metropolitan area, a program has been introducing students to historically black colleges, shedding light on their contributions and their role in shaping the academic journey of young scholars. The 6th annual St. Louis HBCU Alumni Scholarship event recently took place.Historically, black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have been dedicated to nurturing the next generation and molding scholars into future leaders. At the 6th annual St. Louis HBCU Alumni Scholarship Summit, hundreds of parents and students gathered at McClure North High School.The summit provided attendees with a range of college preparation workshops, underscoring the significance of historically black colleges and universities. The event kicked off with a warm welcome, including breakfast and spirited cheers from McClure North High School's cheerleaders and HBCU alumni.Students and parents took part in workshops covering various facets of college preparation, including financial aid, ...

PHOTOS: last day of the Greater St. Louis Hispanic Festival

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

ST. LOUIS – The Greater St. Louis Hispanic Festival is currently taking place in Soulard. This three-day event celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with activities such as dancing, food, crafts, and more.This year marks the 24th year of the festival, which aims to raise regional awareness of the cultural contributions made by Hispanic musicians, dancers, artisans, and chefs.Photo by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellPhoto by Liz DowellThe festival's final day is today, and it will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from September 15 to October 15, celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of the Hispanic community.

Showers and thunderstorms on the horizon for St. Louis

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- Isolated showers or maybe a rumble of thunder are possible at any point in time today. But more numerous showers and storms will most likely develop this afternoon and evening, especially if cloud cover is able to break up. The threat of severe weather is low. We'll have a lot of clouds and maybe just some sunshine mixing in, with highs around 80. Some scattered showers could linger into tonight. Fog is also possible overnight into Monday morning. We'll have a mix of clouds and sun Monday afternoon, with highs in the low 80s. Shower chances remain quite low, but a stray shower can't be completely ruled out in the late afternoon and evening. The rest of the week, temperatures will hold in the 80s, and we'll have slight rain chances at times.

Vast swath of Colorado public lands would be off limits to oil and gas leasing under federal plan

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

Federal land managers have proposed blocking future oil and gas development on more than a million acres of Colorado’s Western Slope as they reshape how they handle energy development in the face of a drying and warming West.The Bureau of Land Management’s draft management plan for a swath of land between the Utah border and Eagle would close 1.6 million acres to potential oil and gas leasing. If approved, the plan would forestall the drilling of hundreds of future wells.“What we’re seeing here is a draft management plan that is really reflecting the changing economy of the region, which is becoming less dependent on oil and gas extraction,” said Erin Riccio, advocacy director for the Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop.The federal agency categorizes land into four categories based on the prospects for oil and gas development, rating them as having high, medium, low or no known potential. The BLM’s plan would block development in all but the appr...

From the Roadshow archives: Dressing on the freeway and other bad driver stunts

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

Editor’s note: Mr. Roadshow wanted to share some of his favorite columns and stories from more than 30 years of informing, entertaining and getting things changed for Bay Area (and beyond) drivers. He’ll be back on the road with new material soon. In the meantime, please keep sending Mr. Roadshow your comments or questions to [email protected] story originally was published on February 1, 2005Welcome to Day Two of Crazy Driving Stunts. Today we feature drivers who use their cars as dressing rooms. Read ’em and weep. And please keep both hands — or at least one — on the wheel.Q: This happened years ago to my sister on I-280. She didn’t have a good pair of nylons and was late for work, so she stopped at a 7-Eleven and bought some pantyhose. There is a spot on I-280 where you drive uphill and then can coast down the other side, and while coasting downhill she proceeded to pull up her dress and put on her panty hose. A cop noticed her erratic d...

How a 49ers mandate saved Keena Turner’s life

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

The wisest soul in the organization, a 49ers lifer who has provided perspective and counsel for decades, was uncharacteristically speechless.Keena Turner heard the words yet couldn’t comprehend their meaning.It was February of 2022, and a Stanford cardiologist was routinely delivering the results of an echocardiogram, the only two words of which Turner remembers clearly were “aortic aneurysm.”Sitting in an office at 49ers headquarters, Turner can chuckle about it now.“Once I got off the floor, we didn’t really talk about what the options were because there was only one option,” Turner said. “I had to have surgery, so it was just deciding on when.”The doctors wanted to operate in March.To the consternation of friends and family, it wouldn’t be until February of 2023 that Turner had his chest opened up so that three inches of his ascending aorta could be removed and replaced by synthetic tubing.Having experienced no symptoms, Turne...

California spent $40 million on an opioid awareness campaign. Has anybody noticed?

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 20:18:40 GMT

With fentanyl killing nearly 20 Californians every day, state health care officials have staked millions of dollars on a boutique Sacramento-based advertising firm to “raise awareness, break the stigma, promote recovery, build hope and save lives” in the battle against the powerful opioid.But was there a better way to spend $40 million?That’s one of the questions rankling state lawmakers this month who say their bipartisan bills aimed at the state’s fentanyl crisis collapsed partly over funding concerns. The tension comes as California struggles to shape its strategy to address a drug that has destroyed tens of thousands of families and last year killed a record 6,095 Californians.Since 2019, the state says its Choose Change California campaign has generated 4.2 billion “impressions” on billboards, radio spots, television ads, concerts and sporting events, targeting vulnerable communities in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese. That’s the equivalent of reaching every Cali...