SMALL PLANE CRASHES
Trial date set for shooter who killed shoppers at a NY market
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The federal death penalty trial for a white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket likely won’t start for at least 18 months to give lawyers time to tackle a host of legal and logistical issues, a judge said Friday.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo set a date of Sept. 8, 2025, for the start of Payton Gendron’s trial on hate crimes and weapons charges. The date is realistic, Vilardo said at a hearing, but it could change. Prosecutors had sought an April 2025 start.
Gendron, 20, is already serving a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole after he pleaded guilty to state charges of murder and hate-motivated domestic terrorism in the 2022 attack.
New York does not have capital punishment, but the Justice Department announced in January that it would seek the death penalty in the separate federal case.
Deadly plane crash in Florida kills pilot, 2 on ground
A small plane crashed into a mobile home park in Clearwater, Florida, on Thursday after the pilot reported an engine failure. The crash set nearby homes on fire and led to several deaths, authorities say.
Four mobile homes caught fire in the Bayside Waters mobile home park, located near Tampa, after the crash, according to the Clearwater Fire and Rescue Department.
Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said at Thursday evening news conference that the fatalities included both people inside the plane and the homes.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s preliminary incident report released Friday shows the fatalities include the pilot and two people on the ground. The pilot was the only person on board the aircraft, the FAA said.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
EX-CIA agent who sent secrets to Wikileaks sentenced to prison
An EX-CIA agent convicted of charges in what the government called one of the most significant disclosures of U.S. government classified information in the nation’s history was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison.
Joshua Adam Schulte, 35, was previously convicted of espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI, and child pornography in separate trials, Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced Thursday.
Schulte’s sentencing in New York federal court followed convictions at three trials that ended on March 9, 2020; July 13, 2022; and Sept. 13, 2023, federal court records show.
Prosecutors previously said a series of 26 disclosures by Wikileaks − a global nonprofit, journalistic organization, which publishes secret information, news leaks, and classified media information from anonymous sources − severely damaged U.S. national security by disclosing the CIA’S intelligencegathering methods and providing a way for “hostile actors” to turn “potent cyber weapons” against the United States.”
Schulte, a disgruntled CIA employee with an expertise in developing tools to covertly copy electronic data, was one of a small number of the agency’s employees authorized to access the leaked information, prosecutors said.
RI council OKS safe-consumption site, first in the nation
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Hailing it as a “game changer,” the city council in Providence, R.I., on Thursday unanimously approved the establishment of the nation’s first state-regulated overdose prevention center.
Project WEBER/RENEW and VICTA earlier this week unveiled the intended site of the center, where people will be able to use pre-obtained illicit drugs under professional oversight in the hope that staff can nudge them toward treatment and needed services.
Staff will be on hand to provide peer support, test for fentanyl and other adulterants and administer overdose reversal medication, if needed.
“I think Providence is leading the way. I think the state is leading the way in harm reduction,” Councilman John Goncalves said.
The center, which will provide access to wrap-around services, is expected to open this summer.
“I am grateful to WEBER/RENEW for the vision, advocacy and hard work they have put into making Rhode Island’s first harm reduction center a reality,” said Council President Rachel Miller. “A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to tour the facility – there is no doubt in my mind that the center will save lives and prioritize the well-being of city residents.”
Okla. drag queen principal resigns quietly after Libs of Tiktok post
OKLAHOMA CITY – An elementary school principal who performs as a drag queen outside of school hours has submitted his resignation, the district’s superintendent confirmed Thursday.
The resignation of Shane Murnan, who’s been the principal at John Glenn Elementary in the Western Heights Public Schools district, won’t be official until it’s voted upon by the school board at its next meeting, set for Feb. 12, Western Heights Superintendent Brayden Savage said.
Murnan is still listed as the principal on the school’s website, but his district email address no longer works.
A message left through one of his Facebook pages wasn’t immediately returned.
Murnan was hired in June by the district.
He came from Oklahoma City Public Schools, where he had worked since 2015.
In August, the conservative social media account Libs of Tiktok posted an item identifying the principal as a drag queen performing under the name “Shantel Mandalay.”
State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters since has appointed that account’s founder to the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Library Media Advisory Committee.
Firefighters respond to fire after a small plane crashed Thursday in Clearwater, Fla. The pilot and two people on the ground were killed when the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35 crashed into a mobile home park, authorities said.