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Judge delays first criminal trial in Elijah McClain's death

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A judge agreed Thursday to delay the first criminal trial in the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died after being stopped by police in a Denver suburb, forcibly restrained and injected with a powerful sedative nearly four years ago. Lawyers for the two officers previously scheduled to go on trial July 10 had asked for more time, saying they could not mount a proper defense because prosecutors have not spelled out what actions by their clients allegedly led to McClain's injuries, or whether they are accused of being directly responsible for his death or considered complicit in other defendants' actions. Police kill boy, search for others after armed robbery in Aurora: chief The defense attorneys said that prevented them from lining up the appropriate witnesses to testify at the joint trial for Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber had objected to a delay, saying the defense has had 20 months to pre...

Colorado 10th in US for getting by on credit cards

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Coloradans are leaning more and more on credit to get by.Analysts from the financial advisor website WalletHub ranked each U.S. state based on the share of its adults who reported using credit cards for expenses in the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey. The analysis included the share of adults who reported difficulty covering expenses on their regular wages, as well. ‘You’re on’: Denver Mayor Michael Hancock accepts NBA Finals wager from Miami’s mayor Coloradans appear to be more willing to put expenses on credit despite needing to less than the residents of other states.Colorado ranks No. 10 for the share of adults using credit cards for necessities. About 39.5% of Coloradans say they need to.Expensive states in the Northeast dominate the top of the list. In Connecticut, 42.5% of adults say they get by on credit, followed by Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Delaware.Coloradans have an easier time, however, covering expenses in the first plac...

Brother of UPS driver killed in 2019 Miramar shootout reacts to MDPD dashcam video, demands justice amid ‘continuing’ probe

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Never-before-seen police dashcam video captured a harrowing 2019 officer-involved shootout in Miramar that left several people dead, including the driver of a UPS truck. That victim’s brother shares his anger and anguish about the incident and the ongoing investigation.It has been three and a half years since 27-year-old Frank Ordonez lost his life after his truck was hijacked by armed robbers in Coral Gables.Dashcam footage provided to 7News captured the heart-stopping moments when the suspects and police officers exchanged gunfire north of the county line, along Miramar Parkway, just east of Flamingo Road, on Dec. 5, 2019.The camera is said to belong to one of the first Miami-Dade Police officers on the scene, following a 30-mile chase into Miramar and a botched robbery at Regent Jewelers on Miracle Mile.Authorities said the two robbers kidnapped Ordonez prior to the deadly encounter on Miramar Parkway.The dashcam audio picked up officer chatter before the cruiser’s dr...

Jokic gets triple-double, Nuggets roll past Heat 104-93 in Game 1 of NBA Finals

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic got a triple-double in his NBA Finals debut, Jamal Murray scored 26 points and the Denver Nuggets had little trouble with the cold-shooting Miami Heat on the way to a 104-93 win in Game 1 on Thursday night.Jokic finished with 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who waited 47 years to make the finals and didn’t disappoint. Aaron Gordon added 16 points and Michael Porter Jr. scored 14 for Denver, which trailed for all of 34 seconds and eventually led by as many as 24.Bam Adebayo finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which shot 41% for the game — 33% from 3-point range. Gabe Vincent scored 19, Haywood Highsmith had 18 and Jimmy Butler added 13 for the Heat.Game 2 is in Denver on Sunday night.Miami opened the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run, cutting an 84-63 deficit to start the final period down to 84-74. The Heat actually got within nine on a 3-pointer by Highsmith with 2:34 left, but no closer and there wasn’t any doubt, ...

A Parliament of bullies

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

EU authorities have repeatedly failed to protect victims of bullying by powerful politicians, amid a culture of indifference toward harassment within the European Parliament, a major POLITICO investigation reveals. A picture built up over four months, based on dozens of interviews and confidential documents, showed a system in crisis that has left junior staffers scarred by years of abuse. Witnesses and victims, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly, described feeling “physically and mentally dead” or even suicidal as a result of harassment, and suffering anxiety and sleep deprivation as they waited for several months — or longer — for their complaints to be processed. One likened the experience of the delays to waiting like “prisoners on death row.” Some insiders said the scale of bullying within the headquarters of EU democracy was “out of control” while others alleged they had suffered sexual harassment and said “mind games” were rife. Often, it was eas...

The Tiananmen massacre and China’s pragmatist soft power

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Jianli Yang, a Tiananmen massacre survivor and former political prisoner of China, is the founder and president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China and the author of It’s Time for a Values-Based “Economic NATO.”The Tiananmen pro-democracy movement of 1989 stood against government corruption and for freedom, attracting countless democracy-seeking supporters before ultimately ending in the bloody Tiananmen massacre.The massacre caused a global outcry, focusing the world’s attention on China’s human rights atrocities. And since then, the country has been unable to escape condemnation and sanctions from the international community over human rights violations.Over the past 34 years, however, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hasn’t just survived the Tiananmen crisis, but it has also established “pragmatist soft power,” which poses a significant challenge to liberal democracy as the only path to modernity.So, how did this happen? And how should the...

From Russia Without Love! The return of the spy whale

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.When you think of a spy it’s probably the usual, James Bond-style tropes: Smart suit, fancy car, bulging forehead, blowhole. Wait, what?Yes, this week has seen the reappearance of a beluga whale that is believed to be a Russian spy. Back in 2019, marine experts in Norway noticed a white-colored whale that they suspected was trained by the Russian navy as part of a program to use underwater mammals as a special ops force. The whale was said to be actively seeking out fishing vessels and trying to pull ropes from the sides of boats, and it was wearing a tight harness which seemed to be for a camera or weapon, raising suspicions that the animal had been given military-grade training by Russia. Inside the harness were the words “Equipment of St. Petersburg” and “Actual Spy” (maybe).Suspicions were also aroused when the whale ordered some herring “shaken, not stirred” and tried to shag everything.Anyway, th...

Three juveniles in custody after teens wave weapons during fight in Worcester

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Three juveniles were taken into custody this week after a fight in Worcester where teenagers were seen waving weapons outside a local store, police said.The incident near the Gala Foods supermarket was captured on a surveillance camera. Witnesses said a large group of teenagers were yelling at each other. Video then showed one person who appeared to pull a knife. Another person was seen pointing a gun. “This is a tough neighborhood,” one area community member told 7NEWS. “But that scared me.” “Roughly 30 seconds later, we heard the sirens in the background,” the same person said.Investigators said officers responded to the area on Main Street for what was reported as a fight between the teens, possibly involving a firearm and a knife just after 6:30 p.m.The group ran away. Later Wednesday night, though, Worcester police said three of the individuals had been arrested. Worcester police said their investigation into this incident is ongoing, asking anyone with information to...

Local man among those preparing to take on upcoming Best Buddies Challenge

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Hundreds of people are set to pedal from Boston to Hyannis Port this weekend in this year’s Best Buddies Challenge. As he gears up for the ride, 7NEWS recently spoke with one local man who says the Best Buddies charity helped shape his life. “You can do whatever you want to do if you set your mind to it,” said James Day Keith. Keith has been involved with Best Buddies since high school. “It’s about making friendships and it’s also about mentoring and work related,” he said. Keith, now 25, volunteers with a guinea pig rescue organization in Salisbury where he said he helps take care of the animals, sweeping hay and feeding them.“I love volunteering because it makes me happy,” he said. “And if I’m happy, then other people are happy and I just love making people really happy.”Through volunteer opportunities, jobs and friendships, Best Buddies empowers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live full lives. Keith said h...

Dog-friendly outdoor dining begins in Boston under new city policy

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Dog-friendly outdoor dining began in Boston this week, with dogs now allowed on certain outdoor patios in the city. Made possible by a new city policy, many locations are welcoming the new additions. Dog owners, in turn, are thrilled. “It’s awesome to be able to have people bring in their entire family now,” said Dorchester Brewing Company Lead Bartender Bailey Alton. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced the dog-friendly outdoor dining policy early last month, allowing dogs to tag along with their owners at outdoor restaurant patios and beer gardens that apply for and receive a variance from the city. The policy went into effect on Thursday. “The availability to allow dogs on the patio — we’ll get so much more business,” said 75 on Liberty Wharf Manager Tre Spain. 75 on Wharf is one of over 20 businesses that applied for a variance. With its dog-friendly space, the business is even creating a new dog treat menu to cater to its new customers. Spain b...