Florida
Locksmith dies after being shot during eviction; a deputy and the shooter also died
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A locksmith who was shot while assisting sheriff’s deputies serving an an eviction notice in Vero Beach, Florida, has died from injuries, increasing the death toll in the shooting last week to three, the sheriff’s office said.
The civilian locksmith, 76-year-old David Long, was known for his “dedicated service and kind demeanor,” Sheriff Eric Flowers said in a social media post Sunday.
Indian River County Sheriff’s Deputy Terri Sweeting-Mashkow — a 25-year veteran of the agency — was killed when the man they were trying to evict opened fire Friday morning. That man, Michael Halberstam, died from his wounds on Saturday, Flowers said.
Another deputy, Florentino Arizpe, who was shot in the shoulder, was released from the hospital over the weekend, the sheriff said.
The sheriff’s office had received seven calls from the home over the past month, “almost all” of which were from the mother calling about her son, the sheriff said during a news conference on Friday. Even so, he said, deputies weren’t expecting any trouble when they arrived to evict Halberstam.
Flowers did not say in his post if Sweeting-Mashkow and Long were wearing protective gear, and the sheriff’s office did not respond to an email on the matter Monday morning.
Texas
Texas A&M committee rules professor’s firing over gender identity lesson was unjustified
A Texas A&M committee agreed that the university was wrong to fire a professor earlier this year after a controversy over a classroom video that showed a student objecting to a children’s literature lesson about gender identity.
The internal committee ruled that the university didn’t follow proper procedures and didn’t prove there was good cause to fire Melissa McCoul, who was a senior lecturer in the English department with over a decade of teaching experience. Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Greg Abbott, had called for her termination after seeing the video.
The committee unanimously voted earlier this week that “the summary dismissal of Dr. McCoul was not justified.” The university said in a statement that interim President Tommy Williams has received the committee’s nonbinding recommendation and will make a decision in the coming days or weeks after reviewing it.
McCoul’s lawyer, Amanda Reichek, said this dispute seems destined to wind up in court because the university appears to plan to continue fighting and the interim president is facing the same political pressure.
The video showing a student questioning whether the class discussion was legal under President Trump’s executive order on gender roiled the campus and led to sharp criticism of university president Mark Welsh, who later resigned, but he didn’t offer a reason and never mentioned the video in his resignation announcement.
The opening of the video posted by state Rep. Brian Harrison showed a slide titled “Gender Unicorn” that highlighted different gender identities and expressions. Students in the class told the Texas Tribune that they were discussing a book called “Jude Saves the World” about a middle schooler who is coming out as nonbinary. That was just one of several books included in the course that highlights LGBTQ+ issues.
After a brief back-and-forth discussion about the legality of teaching those lessons, McCoul asked the student to leave the class. Harrison posted other recordings of the student’s meeting with Welsh that show the university president defending McCoul’s teaching.
The Tribune reported that McCoul had taught the same course at A&M at least 12 times since 2018. University officials decided to end this particular summer class early after the confrontation, but McCoul returned to teach in the fall until after the videos were published online.
Welsh had said when McCoul was fired that he learned she had continued teaching content in a children’s literature course “that did not align with any reasonable expectation of standard curriculum for the course.” He also said that the course content was not matching its catalog descriptions. But her lawyer disputed that, and said McCoul was never instructed to change her course content in any way, shape or form.
Earlier this month, the Texas A&M Regents decided that professors now need to receive approval from the school president to discuss some race and gender topics. The new policy states that no academic course “will advocate race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity” unless approved in advance by a campus president.
Nevada
Caesars Palace fined $7.8M over gambling by bookmaker linked to Ohtani’s interpreter
Nevada gaming regulators voted to fine Caesars Palace $7.8 million Thursday over failing to comply with anti-money laundering rules, settling a case that centered on an illegal bookmaker with ties to the former interpreter for the baseball star Shohei Ohtani.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board alleged that Caesars Palace failed to verify bookmaker Mathew Bowyer’s source of funds as he gambled millions of dollars between 2017 and 2024, despite suspicions being raised on several occasions and an anonymous tip that Bowyer was a bookie.
It’s the third casino to be fined at least partly in relation to Bowyer’s activity; a $10.5 million stipulated fine handed to the Resorts World casino earlier this year was the second-largest ever from the gaming board.
Caesars executives said their systems for catching such behavior had failed.
Bowyer pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2024, which included running an illegal gambling business and money laundering. Prosecutors said Bowyer took bets from hundreds of people, including Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
Mizuhara — who translated for the Japanese athlete — was sentenced in federal court earlier this year to five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani’s bank account.
The settlement between Caesars Palace and the Gaming Control Board includes requirements for the casino company to better ensure compliance with anti-money laundering laws, including more training for staff.
“The way our (anti-money laundering) program operated in this instance was unacceptable,” said Gary Carano, the executive chairman of Caesars Entertainment’s board of directors, at the hearing.
Earlier this year, MGM Resorts International was fined $8.5 million for actions related to Bowyer and another bookmaker, the Nevada Independent reported.
Locksmith dies after being shot during eviction; a deputy and the shooter also died
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A locksmith who was shot while assisting sheriff’s deputies serving an an eviction notice in Vero Beach, Florida, has died from injuries, increasing the death toll in the shooting last week to three, the sheriff’s office said.
The civilian locksmith, 76-year-old David Long, was known for his “dedicated service and kind demeanor,” Sheriff Eric Flowers said in a social media post Sunday.
Indian River County Sheriff’s Deputy Terri Sweeting-Mashkow — a 25-year veteran of the agency — was killed when the man they were trying to evict opened fire Friday morning. That man, Michael Halberstam, died from his wounds on Saturday, Flowers said.
Another deputy, Florentino Arizpe, who was shot in the shoulder, was released from the hospital over the weekend, the sheriff said.
The sheriff’s office had received seven calls from the home over the past month, “almost all” of which were from the mother calling about her son, the sheriff said during a news conference on Friday. Even so, he said, deputies weren’t expecting any trouble when they arrived to evict Halberstam.
Flowers did not say in his post if Sweeting-Mashkow and Long were wearing protective gear, and the sheriff’s office did not respond to an email on the matter Monday morning.
Texas
Texas A&M committee rules professor’s firing over gender identity lesson was unjustified
A Texas A&M committee agreed that the university was wrong to fire a professor earlier this year after a controversy over a classroom video that showed a student objecting to a children’s literature lesson about gender identity.
The internal committee ruled that the university didn’t follow proper procedures and didn’t prove there was good cause to fire Melissa McCoul, who was a senior lecturer in the English department with over a decade of teaching experience. Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Greg Abbott, had called for her termination after seeing the video.
The committee unanimously voted earlier this week that “the summary dismissal of Dr. McCoul was not justified.” The university said in a statement that interim President Tommy Williams has received the committee’s nonbinding recommendation and will make a decision in the coming days or weeks after reviewing it.
McCoul’s lawyer, Amanda Reichek, said this dispute seems destined to wind up in court because the university appears to plan to continue fighting and the interim president is facing the same political pressure.
The video showing a student questioning whether the class discussion was legal under President Trump’s executive order on gender roiled the campus and led to sharp criticism of university president Mark Welsh, who later resigned, but he didn’t offer a reason and never mentioned the video in his resignation announcement.
The opening of the video posted by state Rep. Brian Harrison showed a slide titled “Gender Unicorn” that highlighted different gender identities and expressions. Students in the class told the Texas Tribune that they were discussing a book called “Jude Saves the World” about a middle schooler who is coming out as nonbinary. That was just one of several books included in the course that highlights LGBTQ+ issues.
After a brief back-and-forth discussion about the legality of teaching those lessons, McCoul asked the student to leave the class. Harrison posted other recordings of the student’s meeting with Welsh that show the university president defending McCoul’s teaching.
The Tribune reported that McCoul had taught the same course at A&M at least 12 times since 2018. University officials decided to end this particular summer class early after the confrontation, but McCoul returned to teach in the fall until after the videos were published online.
Welsh had said when McCoul was fired that he learned she had continued teaching content in a children’s literature course “that did not align with any reasonable expectation of standard curriculum for the course.” He also said that the course content was not matching its catalog descriptions. But her lawyer disputed that, and said McCoul was never instructed to change her course content in any way, shape or form.
Earlier this month, the Texas A&M Regents decided that professors now need to receive approval from the school president to discuss some race and gender topics. The new policy states that no academic course “will advocate race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity” unless approved in advance by a campus president.
Nevada
Caesars Palace fined $7.8M over gambling by bookmaker linked to Ohtani’s interpreter
Nevada gaming regulators voted to fine Caesars Palace $7.8 million Thursday over failing to comply with anti-money laundering rules, settling a case that centered on an illegal bookmaker with ties to the former interpreter for the baseball star Shohei Ohtani.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board alleged that Caesars Palace failed to verify bookmaker Mathew Bowyer’s source of funds as he gambled millions of dollars between 2017 and 2024, despite suspicions being raised on several occasions and an anonymous tip that Bowyer was a bookie.
It’s the third casino to be fined at least partly in relation to Bowyer’s activity; a $10.5 million stipulated fine handed to the Resorts World casino earlier this year was the second-largest ever from the gaming board.
Caesars executives said their systems for catching such behavior had failed.
Bowyer pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2024, which included running an illegal gambling business and money laundering. Prosecutors said Bowyer took bets from hundreds of people, including Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
Mizuhara — who translated for the Japanese athlete — was sentenced in federal court earlier this year to five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani’s bank account.
The settlement between Caesars Palace and the Gaming Control Board includes requirements for the casino company to better ensure compliance with anti-money laundering laws, including more training for staff.
“The way our (anti-money laundering) program operated in this instance was unacceptable,” said Gary Carano, the executive chairman of Caesars Entertainment’s board of directors, at the hearing.
Earlier this year, MGM Resorts International was fined $8.5 million for actions related to Bowyer and another bookmaker, the Nevada Independent reported.
