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Illinois attorneys working to expunge old marijuana convictions

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A network of attorneys has been working to get old pot convictions wiped off of people's records since marijuana was decriminalized in Illinois.Officials said that this can be a game changer for lives going forward."Since 2020, we have been able to expunge about 800,000, a little over 800,000 convictions and arrest records, and that's huge," said Erin Johnson, acting cannabis regulation oversight officer. "You know, if you have drug conviction, you are not eligible for federal or student aid, which means a lot of people can't afford to go to college, and unburdening them from a criminal conviction or a drug related conviction can allow them to do that." Can I bring weed purchased in Illinois to other states? New Leaf is a state-funded legal network that puts people in contact with attorneys to help them navigate the expungement process.Attorneys said that there are hundreds of thousands of people who are eligible but have not yet taken advantage. This ca...

Family searches for man who disappeared after 2019 solo car crash

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

(NewsNation) — After a single-car crash on a Colorado highway, Jacob Paddock-Weeks walked away from his vehicle, apparently unharmed. But four years later, his family is still searching for answers. Even the joy of a new grandchild is muted for Amanda Weeks, still missing her stepson. "In my heart, I still believe he's out there," Weeks said. Family fears missing teen is human trafficking victim She has refused to give up on Paddock-Weeks, hoping for his return. On Feb. 2, 2019, the 27-year-old man lost control of his truck on a stretch of Highway 285 in Jefferson County, Colorado. "Jacob had been going about 80 miles an hour down the mountain, and he hit about 500 feet of the inner guardrail coming down the mountain," Weeks said.Witnesses say Paddock-Weeks got out of the truck, seemingly unhurt. He ran across the road and headed east, into the wooded hills. According to an accident report, his wallet, ID and two cellphones were left behind in his vehicle, along with a small bag o...

Austin man reindicted on 2020 aggravated sexual assault, other charges

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin man was reindicted on four charges surrounding a November 2020 incident in east Austin.According to indictment records, 25-year-old Steve Martin Guerrero was charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping involving bodily injury and sexual abuse, as well as aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.On Nov. 24, 2020, Guerrero was arrested by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force in connection with a Nov. 9 aggravated sexual assault in east Austin. A previous affidavit said several tips were submitted during the investigation about Guerrero as a suspect. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Suspect wanted in connection with east Austin sexual assault case arrested According to a past KXAN report, law enforcement databases were used to gather more details about him, including pictures, and investigators also collected Guerrero’s DNA from a cigarillo butt, which was compared to Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE) evidence taken from the vi...

After working on a new stride, Twins’ Matt Wallner called an audible in spring training

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

Like a lot of young baseball players, Matt Wallner spent a good chunk of his offseason working to refine his major league swing. The goal was to cut down on his movement in the batter’s box and get the bat through the zone more quickly.Part of that was working with Twins hitting coaches David Popkins and Derek Shoman at Shoman’s baseball and softball training facility in Elgin, Ill. Using at-bats from Wallner’s first major league experience last September, the coaches presented the 25-year-old outfielder with some solutions for refining his stride, the goal being to cut down on strikeouts.Wallner made a good first impression with the Twins, hitting a pair of home runs and driving in 10 runs in 18 games. He also batted .228 with 25 strikeouts.“And then right out of the gate in camp, it was good,” Shoman said.Briefly.“My rhythm didn’t really work with it, so I kinda banged it in spring training,” Wallner said.That’s OK, Shoman said. Wallner was clearly hitting well enough in St....

Brittney Griner working on memoir about Russian captivity

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

NEW YORK — Saying she is ready to share the “unfathomable” experience of being arrested and incarcerated in Russia, basketball star Brittney Griner is working on a memoir that is scheduled for spring 2024.Griner was arrested last year at the airport in Moscow on drug-related charges and detained for nearly 10 months, much of that time in prison. Her plight unfolded at the same time Russia invaded Ukraine and further heightened tensions between Russia and the U.S., ending only after she was freed in exchange for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.A WNBA All-Star with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner had flown to Moscow in February 2022 to rejoin UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russian women’s team she has played for in the off-season since 2014.“That day (in February) was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life which only now am I ready to share,” Griner said in a statement released Tuesday by Alfred A. Knopf.“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was b...

No injuries after fire at Schenectady sports complex

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Multiple fire departments responded to a fire at a sports complex Tuesday. The fire broke out around 11:30 a.m. at SPORTIME in Schenectady.Officials said some kids were inside at the time attending a school vacation week program. The chief of the Carman Road Fire Department said everyone got out safely. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! "The staff and the counselors did a really good job getting the kids out," Chief Scott Sloan said. "They were across the road, most of them were on this side, over by the outdoor tennis course when we got here."Officials faced obstacles getting to the scene because of some downed power lines on a nearby road. They're investigating whether the downed wires caused the fire.

Pedestrian dies days later after trash truck hit him in Aurora

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

A pedestrian hit by a trash truck in Aurora has died from severe injuries.The Aurora Police Department, which responded to the crash on April 4, confirmed the fatality on Tuesday. It counts as the city’s 14th traffic-related death in 2023.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Both lanes of U.S. 40 reopened after avalanche near Winter Park Crashes and Disasters | Fire burning along Rampart Range Road near El Paso, Teller counties Crashes and Disasters | Denver police arrest man in connection with fatal Christmas Day shooting The incident occurred near East Alameda Parkway and South Buckley Road at about 12:15 p.m. An investigation determined that the 31-year-old man was hit by a Suzuki trash truck when he crossed Alameda Parkway against the walking signal.The pedestrian died on April 7. Neither the truck driver nor his passenger sustained injuries.The Aurora Police Department doesn’t cite speed or alcohol as contributing f...

Both lanes of U.S. 40 reopened after avalanche near Winter Park

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

Both lanes of U.S. 40 are reopened after an avalanche Tuesday afternoon near Winter Park.The Colorado Department of Transportation reported that both directions of U.S. 40 were reopened between Henderson Mine Road and Robins Roost at 5:06 p.m. They were initially closed for several hours after an avalanche occurred three miles east of Winter Park.Trooper Gabriel Moltrer with Colorado State Patrol said a dispatcher logged that both lanes were blocked by the snow slide at 1:28 p.m., with a road closure shortly thereafter.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Fire burning along Rampart Range Road near El Paso, Teller counties Crashes and Disasters | Denver police arrest man in connection with fatal Christmas Day shooting Crashes and Disasters | Colorado judge sanctions DA Linda Stanley’s office over pattern of widespread discovery violations At 1:36 p.m., Grand County Sheriff’s Office advised that a vehicle may be stuck in t...

US women’s national team to play final World Cup tuneup match in San Jose

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

The last match that the U.S. women’s national team will play before heading to the 2023 women’s World Cup will be in the Bay Area.The USWNT will play Wales in their only send-off match on Sunday, July 9 at 1 p.m. PT at PayPal Park, the home of the San Jose Earthquakes — and the likely home of the Bay Area’s new NWSL team.It’s surely an excellent spotlight moment for women’s soccer ahead of the yet-to-be-named NWSL team’s arrival in the spring of 2024. The Bay Area team has four former national team players — Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner — as part of their ownership group.It’ll be the fifth match that the USWNT has played at the Earthquakes’ stadium, but the first since 2018. The Earthquakes noted that the four prior USWNT matches in San Jose were all sellouts.Earthquakes season ticket holders will get access to a presale for tickets on May 4 at 10 a.m. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, May 8 at 10 a.m.The match will be televised o...

California officials gird for potential disaster: When and where will the record melting snow go?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:59:37 GMT

This winter has been one for the record books, with snow piled so high across California’s mountain ranges that it’s collapsed roofs and extended ski season into summer.Now California officials are anxiously eyeing the weather and girding for potentially disastrous flooding in parts of the state — especially the southern Central Valley — as that bountiful snowpack begins to melt, flows down saturated ground and pours into already swollen rivers. Because the snow is thicker in some areas than it’s been in generations, it’s hard to say how quickly it will melt and difficult to predict what will happen as it does.“We’re in uncharted territory for the southern Sierra because we’ve never measured snowpack this thick,” said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center. How bad the snowmelt will be depends on how warm it gets and how fast, which affects when the snowpack “...