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Casey White pleads guilty to first-degree escape, avoids murder charge in Vicky White's death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Casey White, the prisoner who became the target of a nationwide manhunt after escaping from an Alabama facility with help from jailer Vicky White, agreed to a plea deal Thursday before he could be tried for murder in White's death.After a routine hearing in a Lauderdale County courtroom, White entered his plea to first-degree escape, in exchange for the felony murder charge involving Vicky White being dismissed. One year since the escape of Casey White, aided by jailer Vicky White Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly told Nexstar's WHNT that White approached him after the hearing to present the plea deal. Connolly said White agreed to the maximum sentence for first-degree escape, which is life in prison, however, a judge will have the final say in his sentencing. WHNT crews inside the courtroom said White acknowledged and apologized to Ms. Jones, Vicky's mother when entering his plea. He also said, "It wasn't supposed to go that way,"...

Congress mulls AI regulation as White House pushes companies on best practices

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The Biden administration rolled out new initiatives Thursday to bring the federal government up to speed with artificial intelligence technology.Before a closed-door meeting between President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and AI tech leaders at Google, Microsoft and Open AI, the White House announced $140 million in AI research funding. It also said the Office of Management and Budget is drafting a new guidance that will instruct federal agencies how to integrate AI tools.The announcements are the latest in a string of actions from the White House designed to encourage companies to adopt ethical and nondiscriminatory AI policies."This is a very powerful technology," Arati Prabhakar, Biden's science adviser, said of AI.She called the announcements a step in the right direction but said the administration will continue to pressure companies to do more.“The president and the vice president have been clear that part of managing the risk of AI really has ...

Illinois' marijuana tax revenue is the highest in the country, next to California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Illinois made $562 million in taxes from marijuana sales in 2022, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.Illinois taxes legal cannabis with some of the highest rates in the country, with up to 40% over the sale price, placing the state 2nd in the U.S, behind California.Michigan, for comparison, taxes cannabis at 10%. Is it illegal to get my dog high in Illinois? According to Crain's Chicago Business, 48% of Illinois marijuana users have converted to the legal market for the drug, compared to Michigan's 75%. Michigan took in $326 million in cannabis sales tax revenue in 2022.While marijuana is now recreationally legal in the state, it can only be purchased from a licensed dispensary. If a person decides to sell weed by themselves, they can face major penalities.For example, selling or trafficking more than 5,000 grams of marijuana in the state can lead to 30 years of incarceration and a $200,000 fine.There is also a limit on the number of plants that I...

City holds meeting about plans to house migrants at old high school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago's shelter system is bursting at the seams and now they mayor wants to open the old South Shore High School to newly arriving migrants.Hundreds of residents are expected at a meeting Thursday evening, as well as members of Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration. A protest is also expected as community members sound off with their frustrations. Chicago Park District after-school program relocated to accommodate migrants Newly elected 5th Ward Ald. Desmon Yancy, like many of his constituents, are upset about the mayor's plan to house migrants at the school.Like when asylum seekers were moved to Wadsworth Elementary School in Woodlawn in February, residents said they were given little notice or input."We felt like because of what happened at Wadsworth, there would be more conversations from the mayor's office about how the community could be involved in this conversation and here we are again repeating the same mistakes from last time," Yancy said. LaVonte Stewart Sr....

Sen. Bernie Sanders announces plan to raise the minimum wage to $17 an hour

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is renewing his efforts to raise the federal minimum wage. He says the U.S. needs to stand up for working families who are struggling to make ends meet. "Nobody in this country can survive on $7.25 an hour," Sanders said.Thursday, alongside workers and labor groups, Sanders announced his latest push to raise the federal minimum wage."You can't make it on nine bucks an hour, you can't do it on 12 bucks an hour. We need an economy in which all of our workers earn a living wage," Sanders said.Sanders is now calling to raise the federal minimum wage, over a five-year period, to $17 an hour."15 (dollars) isn't even enough for what we're going through today," Union of Southern Service Workers Bertha “Mama Cookie” Bradley said."The last minimum wage bill passed by Congress was in 2008," Sanders said. "Do you think it's time to raise it? I do."But opponents say raising the minimum wage will kill small businesses and spike inflation."Most of...

Severe thunderstorm watch for the Hill Country

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Today marks 'day 1' of an active weather pattern settling in over Central Texas.We're watching increasing cumulus clouds ahead of a dry line near San Angelo that has the potential to develop strong or severe storms that would track eastward into this evening. There is uncertainty as to how well these storms will hold together, but as of now, we expect isolated to scattered strong storms over the Hill Country that may weaken somewhat on their approach to I-35 later this evening.A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for most of the Hill Country until midnight.Severe thunderstorm watch until midnightIf storms are to develop and hold together long enough to reach our area, large hail and damaging winds are our primary concern.SEVERE: Slight risk (2 out of 5) for widely scattered severe storms includes almost all of Central Texas Thursday afternoon/eveningSevere weather is possible again Friday, mainly west of I-35 and again on Saturday. Confidence on storm coverage i...

APD identifies man suspected of inappropriately touching child

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Thursday, the Austin Police Department released the identity of a man suspected of inappropriate sexual contact with a child at a southeast Austin apartment complex.APD’s Child Abuse unit asked for community assistance finding 36-year-old Uzziel Eduardo Garcia Cabrera.APD said Garcia was wanted in connection with an incident that occurred in the 2200 block of Willow Creek Drive in the evening hours of April 1. RELATED: Police searching for suspect accused of sexually assaulting child at southeast Austin apartment complex Garcia was described as a 5’5” Hispanic man weighing 220 lbs.Anyone with information about this incident was asked to call the APD Child Abuse tip line at (512) 974-6880. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling (512) 472-8477.A reward of up to $1,000 may be available for any information that leads to an arrest.

Lance Blanks, part of the famed Longhorns 'BMW' guard trio from 1988-90, dies at 56 years old

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — One of the players that helped make the Texas Longhorns basketball program nationally relevant in the late 1980s has died.Lance Blanks, a star guard for the Longhorns from 1988-90 and ESPN/Longhorn Network basketball analyst, died Wednesday in Dallas. He was 56 years old. MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersUniversity of Texas guard Lance Blanks waves a towel in celebration during the final seconds of the team's victory over Xavier in the NCAA Midwest Regionals in Dallas, March 23, 1990. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)Blanks, who was born in Del Rio and went to high school in The Woodlands, transferred to Texas after spending two seasons at Virginia and quickly became part of one of the most exciting teams the university had seen to that point. During Tom Penders' first season in 1988-89, Texas improved from 16-13 to 25-9, and the Texas "BMW" paved a new era in Longhor...

With 10 regular season games left, Longhorns have to treat every game like the postseason, coach says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — As far as David Pierce is concerned, the Texas Longhorns are in the playoffs now.The head coach said with the calendar turning to May, it's time to start treating the remaining 10 regular season games like it's the postseason. That begins Friday on the road against the Kansas Jayhawks.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newsletters"It's playoff baseball right now," he said. "The implications are out there and we've got to go play well."Texas is a game out of second place in the Big 12 with a 10-8 record, and Kansas is near the bottom at 6-12. A series win on the road, like the one last weekend against TCU, is the goal so they can keep pace near the top. A sweep, however, is of course icing on the cake and would put them in a better position to challenge West Virginia for the top spot in the conference.How's Texas going to do that? Pierce said the team can accomplish t...

Gophers’ Dawn Plitzuweit gets another WVU recruit to join her at UMN

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:57:52 GMT

New Gophers women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit has convinced another one of her West Virginia recruits to join her in Minnesota.Ayianna Johnson, a 6-foot-3 forward from Jefferson, Wis., officially joined the Gophers program for the 2023-24 season, the program announced Thursday.“She is an athletic post player who sprints the floor, rebounds outside of her area and is comfortable defending inside as well as on the perimeter,” Plitzuweit said in a statement. “She is a player who is always in attack mode.”Johnson joins 5-10 wing Grace Grocholski of Kettle Moraine, Wis., another West Virginia commit who moved to Minnesota after Plitzuweit was hired to succeed Lindsay Whalen at UMN.Johnson averaged 16.6 points and 11.5 rebounds a game as a senior, leading Jefferson to a 2023 WIAA regional title. While also running track and playing golf, Johnson averaged 17.8 points and 12.3 rebounds as a junior.Also this week, the Gophers added Janay Sanders, a 5-11 guard who played on...