Florida
Traffic citations against Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill dismissed after officers no-show at hearing
MIAMI (AP) — Traffic citations issued to Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill after a September altercation with police have been dismissed after the charging officers didn’t attend a court hearing.
Hill’s tickets for careless driving and failing to wear a seat belt were dismissed after the Miami-Dade Police officers failed to show up for a Monday hearing. The tickets were issued after Hill was stopped outside Hard Rock Stadium for allegedly speeding before the Dolphins’ season opener on Sept. 8. The stop escalated and an officer pulled Hill from the car, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him.
Hill said in a Tuesday post on the social platform X, “Where all the internet cops now”.
Police body camera video from the September stop showed Hill appeared to speed past two motorcycle officers who were monitoring traffic on a road outside the stadium. They pulled over his McLaren sports car and one tapped on his window. Hill, 30, handed the officer his driver’s license, but told the officer repeatedly, “Don’t knock on my window like that.” He then put his window back up.
Their verbal exchange escalated and the officers soon pulled him from the car, forcing Hill face-first to the ground. The officers cursed at Hill but he did not resist their physical force or strike at them in the video. He did tell one officer, “Don’t tell me what to do.”
Hill was eventually stood up, but then an officer dragged him into a sitting position on the curb after he said a knee injury made that difficult.
After about 30 minutes, Hill was issued citations and allowed to enter the stadium.
One officer was placed on administrative duty and an internal affairs investigation was launched. No results have been released.
Missouri
Judge says law banning surgery, medications for transgender minors is constitutional
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri court on Monday upheld a new state law that bans some gender-affirming health care for minors, a victory for supporters of the ban as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case on the issue next week.
Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement that Missouri is the “first state in the nation to successfully defend such a law at the trial court level.” Bailey, who tried to ban minors’ access to gender-affirming health care through rule change but dropped the effort when the law passed, is responsible for defending the legislation in court.
“I’m extremely proud of the thousands of hours my office put in to shine a light on the lack of evidence supporting these irreversible procedures,” Bailey said. “We will never stop fighting to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children.”
His remarks come as Supreme Court justices prepare to weigh a Tennessee law that restricts puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. It is being closely watched as Republican-led states like Missouri have enact a variety of restrictions, including school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows.
Every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, has opposed the bans on gender-affirming care for minors and supported the medical care for youth when administered appropriately.
Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri, which are representing the plaintiffs who sued to overturn the law, on Monday said they will appeal the ruling.
Missouri is among at least 26 states that have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Federal judges have struck down the bans in Arkansas and Florida as unconstitutional, though a federal appeals court has stayed the Florida ruling. A judge’s orders is in place temporarily blocking enforcement of the ban in Montana. New Hampshire restrictions are to take effect in January 2025.
The Missouri law banned gender-affirming surgeries for children and teenagers under the age of 18, as well as hormones and puberty blockers for minors who had not started those treatments as of August 2023. The law expires in August 2027.
These treatments are accepted by major medical groups as evidence-based care that transgender people should be able to access.
Most adults still are allowed to access gender-affirming health care under the Missouri law, but Medicaid won’t cover it.
The plaintiffs, including family of several teenagers who are transgender, argued the law takes away medically necessary treatments from transgender minors while still allowing other children to access similar surgeries and medications.
Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter disagreed. In his ruling, the southern Missouri judge wrote that he believes there’s “an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment.”
“The evidence at trial showed severe disagreement as to whether adolescent gender dysphoria drug and surgical treatment was ethical at all, and if so, what amount of treatment was ethically allowable,” Carter wrote.
Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri in a statement said the ruling signals that “for some, compassion and equal access to health care are still out of reach.”
“The court’s findings signal a troubling acceptance of discrimination, ignore an extensive trial record and the voices of transgender Missourians and those who care for them, and deny transgender adolescents and Medicaid beneficiaries from their right to access to evidence-based, effective, and often life-saving medical care,” the organizations said.
Ohio
Ex-casino dealer is accused of stealing from the pot more than a dozen times
CLEVELAND (AP) — A former casino dealer in Ohio has been charged with skimming from the pot more than a dozen times this summer.
How much the onetime poker room dealer at the JACK Cleveland Casino is accused of stealing isn’t spelled out in court records.
The 51-year-old man, of North Olmsted, Ohio, pleaded not guilty on Nov. 15 to violating casino gaming laws and misdemeanor theft. He’s due back in court for another hearing in early December.
Authorities began investigating after a poker player accused the dealer of stealing from the pile of chips being wagered during a hand in September, according to records from the Ohio Casino Control Commission, which regulates casinos and investigates gambling crimes.
The casino reviewed the video and found other instances where he stole from the table, according to the commission. He was fired a day later. Court records show he is accused of stealing 14 times since early August.
Traffic citations against Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill dismissed after officers no-show at hearing
MIAMI (AP) — Traffic citations issued to Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill after a September altercation with police have been dismissed after the charging officers didn’t attend a court hearing.
Hill’s tickets for careless driving and failing to wear a seat belt were dismissed after the Miami-Dade Police officers failed to show up for a Monday hearing. The tickets were issued after Hill was stopped outside Hard Rock Stadium for allegedly speeding before the Dolphins’ season opener on Sept. 8. The stop escalated and an officer pulled Hill from the car, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him.
Hill said in a Tuesday post on the social platform X, “Where all the internet cops now”.
Police body camera video from the September stop showed Hill appeared to speed past two motorcycle officers who were monitoring traffic on a road outside the stadium. They pulled over his McLaren sports car and one tapped on his window. Hill, 30, handed the officer his driver’s license, but told the officer repeatedly, “Don’t knock on my window like that.” He then put his window back up.
Their verbal exchange escalated and the officers soon pulled him from the car, forcing Hill face-first to the ground. The officers cursed at Hill but he did not resist their physical force or strike at them in the video. He did tell one officer, “Don’t tell me what to do.”
Hill was eventually stood up, but then an officer dragged him into a sitting position on the curb after he said a knee injury made that difficult.
After about 30 minutes, Hill was issued citations and allowed to enter the stadium.
One officer was placed on administrative duty and an internal affairs investigation was launched. No results have been released.
Missouri
Judge says law banning surgery, medications for transgender minors is constitutional
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri court on Monday upheld a new state law that bans some gender-affirming health care for minors, a victory for supporters of the ban as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case on the issue next week.
Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement that Missouri is the “first state in the nation to successfully defend such a law at the trial court level.” Bailey, who tried to ban minors’ access to gender-affirming health care through rule change but dropped the effort when the law passed, is responsible for defending the legislation in court.
“I’m extremely proud of the thousands of hours my office put in to shine a light on the lack of evidence supporting these irreversible procedures,” Bailey said. “We will never stop fighting to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children.”
His remarks come as Supreme Court justices prepare to weigh a Tennessee law that restricts puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. It is being closely watched as Republican-led states like Missouri have enact a variety of restrictions, including school sports participation, bathroom usage and drag shows.
Every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, has opposed the bans on gender-affirming care for minors and supported the medical care for youth when administered appropriately.
Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri, which are representing the plaintiffs who sued to overturn the law, on Monday said they will appeal the ruling.
Missouri is among at least 26 states that have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Federal judges have struck down the bans in Arkansas and Florida as unconstitutional, though a federal appeals court has stayed the Florida ruling. A judge’s orders is in place temporarily blocking enforcement of the ban in Montana. New Hampshire restrictions are to take effect in January 2025.
The Missouri law banned gender-affirming surgeries for children and teenagers under the age of 18, as well as hormones and puberty blockers for minors who had not started those treatments as of August 2023. The law expires in August 2027.
These treatments are accepted by major medical groups as evidence-based care that transgender people should be able to access.
Most adults still are allowed to access gender-affirming health care under the Missouri law, but Medicaid won’t cover it.
The plaintiffs, including family of several teenagers who are transgender, argued the law takes away medically necessary treatments from transgender minors while still allowing other children to access similar surgeries and medications.
Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter disagreed. In his ruling, the southern Missouri judge wrote that he believes there’s “an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment.”
“The evidence at trial showed severe disagreement as to whether adolescent gender dysphoria drug and surgical treatment was ethical at all, and if so, what amount of treatment was ethically allowable,” Carter wrote.
Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri in a statement said the ruling signals that “for some, compassion and equal access to health care are still out of reach.”
“The court’s findings signal a troubling acceptance of discrimination, ignore an extensive trial record and the voices of transgender Missourians and those who care for them, and deny transgender adolescents and Medicaid beneficiaries from their right to access to evidence-based, effective, and often life-saving medical care,” the organizations said.
Ohio
Ex-casino dealer is accused of stealing from the pot more than a dozen times
CLEVELAND (AP) — A former casino dealer in Ohio has been charged with skimming from the pot more than a dozen times this summer.
How much the onetime poker room dealer at the JACK Cleveland Casino is accused of stealing isn’t spelled out in court records.
The 51-year-old man, of North Olmsted, Ohio, pleaded not guilty on Nov. 15 to violating casino gaming laws and misdemeanor theft. He’s due back in court for another hearing in early December.
Authorities began investigating after a poker player accused the dealer of stealing from the pile of chips being wagered during a hand in September, according to records from the Ohio Casino Control Commission, which regulates casinos and investigates gambling crimes.
The casino reviewed the video and found other instances where he stole from the table, according to the commission. He was fired a day later. Court records show he is accused of stealing 14 times since early August.
