Two Waynesboro police officers indicted amid allegations they assaulted fellow cop
Cpl. Jacob W. Moore, 30, and Officer Joseph M. Meadows, 29, both face charges of assault and battery of a police officer and disarming a law enforcement officer of a firearm.
Details were limited, but Waynesboro Commonwealth's Attorney David Ledbetter said Moore and Meadows are accused of assaulting another Waynesboro police officer. All were on-duty at the time, he said.
The incident took place April 6 and was reported weeks later on April 25. Around that same timeframe, The News Leader reached out to Chief David Shaw of the Waynesboro Police Department, who said he could not discuss personnel matters.
"We are always committed to handling such issues quickly, with the appropriate confidentiality and due process," Shaw said in an email. "Should a matter warrant public disclosure, we will communicate through our usual channels, as we are always dedicated and focused on upholding the integrity and professionalism expected of our profession."
A press release said the incident took place between several officers on April 6 at an undisclosed location on the city's south end.
"As reported, it potentially violated the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. To ensure that a transparent and impartial investigation was completed, the Waynesboro Police Department requested an external investigation by the Virginia State Police and the Waynesboro Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. The accused officers were placed on administrative leave and had their police powers suspended pending the outcome of the investigation," the release said.
Moore has been with the department for seven years. Meadows has been employed there for less than two years. Both were arrested on July 21 and released on a personal recognizance bond, the release said.
Ledbetter said he will handle the prosecution. "I'm elected to prosecute the felony cases in Waynesboro, the hard ones and not simply just the popular ones," he said. "I do not intend to recuse myself at this time."
More: VSP: Two dead in crash on I-64 near Fishersville
More: '500 Fireflies' to get free community screening at Staunton's Visulite Cinema
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Two Waynesboro police officers indicted by special grand jury
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Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Germany updates: Young people make up just 10% of population
Young people have made up just 10% of Germany's population at the end of last year, the lowest share ever recorded, Destatis has reported. The low is a continuation, with the proportion having remained unchanged since the end of 2021. However, the number would have been even lower, just 8.5%, if not for the arrival of mostly young immigrants after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The highest youth share, over 20%, has been among children of immigrants, while Germany overall has remained below the EU average of 10.7%. Meanwhile, the conservative head of Berlin's state government has said Germany's harsher migration policies are beginning to lessen pressure on the country's resources. Read below for a roundup of headlines, backgrounders and analysis on issues from and connected with Germany on Tuesday, August 5: Details emerge from court in China spying trial DW's correspondent Matthew Moore has been reporting from Dresden, where a former assistant to a lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has gone on trial charged with spying for China. The aide Jian G. entered the courtroom slowly, said Moore, wearing a mask to conceal his face from the cameras. "His demeanor belied the gravity of the charges he faces," said Moore. The court heard that G., in his role as an aide to far-right AfD politician Maximilian Krah, had gathered classified information about EU issues related to China, as well as details about the private lives of AfD leaders. All of that was then passed on to employees of the Chinese intelligence service. Addressing the court, G.'s lawyer said the timing of his client's arrest, shortly before European elections in 2024, had the whiff of political involvement. In a statement read out in court, co-defendant Jaqi X told judges that she had had an affair with G. around 2015 shortly after moving to Germany. She said he was "obsessed with money" and described himself to her as someone "who lived in the darkness". After their romance broke down, they remained friends. Around 2022, Jaqi X is alleged to have began passing G. details about German arms deliveries to Israel and Ukraine through her job at an airport. Only one in 10 German residents in the 15-24 bracket — Destatis At the end of last year, only 10% of Germany's population consisted of people aged between 15 and 24, figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) show. The figure represents a record low that has not sunk further mostly because of the immigration of mostly young people following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. If that immigration had not occurred, the proportion of young people in the German population would be even lower, at 8.5%, Destatis said. The highest proportion of young people, 20.7%, was to be found among those who were born in Germany to parents who both immigrated. The city-states of Bremen and Hamburg and the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg had the most residents in the young age bracket at the end of 2024, but even there, the highest proportion was just over 11%. The former East German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt had the lowest proportion of young people at just under 9%. The figure puts Germany below the average of 10.7% across all 27 EU member states. In the bloc, Ireland has the highest proportion of 15 to 24-year-olds at 12.6%, while Bulgaria has the lowest at 9.2%. Nuremberg zoo director receives death threats over baboon killings The director of Nuremberg Zoo, Dag Encke, has received numerous death threats, 10 of them concrete, after it became known that baboons from the zoo had been killed because of overcrowding and fed to lions and tigers. The threats came via social media, e-mail and by letter, the zoo said. Some of the threats were also directed at the deputy director of the zoo or at staff generally. The zoo said it was taking measures to protect its employees and that all concrete threats had been reported to police. A police spokeswoman said that 170 posts, messages or letters were being examined. The zoo is also facing more than 350 official complaints to the public prosecutor's office about the killing of the animals. A spokeswoman for the office said it was looking into whether the culling occurred for reasons that can be justified under Germany's animal protection law. Ukrainian refugees prefer work to welfare — German study Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion prioritize job opportunities over welfare benefits when choosing a country to relocate to, a study indicates. "The prospect of a position that matches their own qualification and a higher level of salary have a much stronger effect on the decision of refugees on what country they go to than social welfare or other state benefits," wrote the authors of the study by the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research. The presence of friends or families in a destination country were also more important to Ukrainian refugees than that country's geographical proximity to Ukraine, the study suggested. The results from the study come as debate continues in Germany over cutting welfare to recipients from Ukraine, with notably conservative Bavarian Premier Markus Söder calling for Ukrainians to received lower benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, as opposed to the citizen's allowance that they are currently granted. The citizen's allowance or "Bürgergeld" in Germany is a state welfare benefit given to those with little or no income to ensure a minimum standard of living. Yvonne Giesing, the deputy head of the Ifo Center for Migration and Development Economics, said the study results indicated that the welfare debate was of little importance, while adding that "cutting state benefits could also have long-term negative effects on integration." Baboons fed to lions and tigers after zoo culling Nuremberg Zoo killed 12 baboons due to overcrowding and dismembered six of them before feeding them to predators — removing heads, hands, and feet. The move has triggered widespread upset and legal complaints. Read the full story about how Nuremberg Zoo sparked outrage by feeding baboons to lions, tigers and wolves. Nutrias becoming ever more widespread in Germany — hunting association The South American nutria, a semiaquatic rodent that is considered an invasive species in Europe, is continuing to spread within Germany, according to the German Hunting Association (DJV). The animal was found in 35% of 23,000 monitored hunting districts in 2023, the DJV said, double the figure in 2015. The highest presence was found in the city-state of Bremen, at 93%, a sixfold increase over 2015, and in Hamburg at 73%. Nutrias were found living in 60% of hunting districts in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, while 55% of districts in Lower Saxony and 50% of those in Saxony-Anhalt had populations of the rodent, which the DJV says undermines riverbanks and dikes with its burrowing and destroys reed belts. The beaver-like, usually crepuscular or nocturnal creatures are also known to transmit diseases to humans and other animals, mainly through water contamination. They have also been known to attack humans and dogs when cornered. The DJV called for the nutria to be included in German national hunting legislation. Most states already have a hunting season for the animal or special permits. "Owing to illegal feeding, climatic advantages and hunting limits, nutrias can now be found particularly frequently in urban areas, where they often become active during daytime as well and have a great potential for reproducing," the DJV said. Nutria populations mostly have their origins in animals that escaped from farms where they are kept for their fur. Ruling expected over cola-mix bottle design dispute A German court is expected to give its verdict on Tuesday afternoon on whether spirits maker Berentzen copied rival drink producer Paulaner in its design of a cola-orange soft-drink bottle. Paulaner, one of Germany's top beer producers, claims Berentzen copied the colorful wave design used on bottles holding its "Spezi" cola-mix for Berentzen's Mio Mio Cola+Orange soft drink. The case is potentially worth €250,000 ($289,000). Berentzen has argued that soft drinks commonly employ colorful packaging and that its design does not feature waves but circular shapes. Paulaner, which claims the design infringes trademark law, won a similar case against beverage maker Karlsberg in March. Sick days on the up as Germany sniffled and sneezed in 2025 The first half of 2025 saw a big rise in the number of people calling in sick to work amid a surge in colds and flus, according to an analysis by German health insurance company DAK. The number of working days missed because of respiratory illness rose by 13% in comparison with the same period last year, with January and February the months with the most sick days registered. The figures from DAK showed that on average, 54 of 1,000 employees it insures were written off sick every day from January to June, slightly down on the same period in 2024. Respiratory illnesses were the cause of 22.4% of the sick days, while mental illnesses such as depression, along with muscular and skeletal disorders such as back pain, accounted for 17%. Most of the people absent for reason of illness worked in the fields of aged or child care, while those in IT-related professions called in sick the least. The analysis used data on sick days from 2.25 million people insured with DAK. Harsh migration policies showing benefits — Berlin's governing mayor The stricter policies on migration recently introduced by Germany are starting to show their effects, according to Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner, the head of government in the city-state. "We are seeing a significant relief in the influx of refugees," saod Wegner, a member of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), to which Chancellor Friedrich Merz also belongs. He told the DPA news agency that twice the number of people were currently leaving Berlin than that of people arriving, with the city now having some 6,000 vacant beds for refugees. "The pressure in Berlin has eased a little," he said. Wegner said he hoped the recently introduced policies would help free up capacities to implement integration measures targeting refugees who have received permission to stay in the country. The German capital took in almost 32,000 refugees in 2023, including more than 15,000 from Ukraine. In 2024, new arrivals dropped to just above 21,000 and 6,089 were registered in the first half of 2025. Between 2022 and 2025, the costs of housing and supporting refugees in Berlin nearly doubled to €2.24 billion ($2.58 billion). China espionage trial to open in Dresden A court in the eastern city of Dresden is to begin its trial of two people suspected of spying for China, with one of the defendants a former assistant to a lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The former AfD aide, identified only as Jian G. under German privacy laws, is charged with providing information to Chinese intelligence from 2002, including during a period when he worked for Maximilian Krah, at the time a member of the European Parliament for the far-right populist party. Prosecutors in Dresden accuse Jian G. of passing on information on debates and decisions at the European Parliament, along with sensitive documents. It is also possible that information collected by Jian G. includes sensitive details about the workings of the AfD itself, the revelation of which could prove an embarrassment to the party. However, Krah has told news magazine Der Spiegel that he never discussed certain internal problems with the defendant. The second defendant, named only as Jaqi X., worked at a company that provided Leipzig airport with logistics services. She is accused of helping Jian G. access information on flights and passengers, especially to do with the transport of defense equipment. Krah himself is under separate investigation on suspicion of money laundering and corruption partly connected with firms linked to Jian G. He was also at the center of a scandal over remarks that seemed to downplay the seriousness of the crimes committed by the Nazis' notorious SS but nonetheless currently sits as an AfD member of the German lower house, or Bundestag. Welcome to our coverage DW's newsroom on the Rhine River in Bonn wishes guten Tag to all our users! Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the largest opposition group in parliament, has has its share of scandals. One of them comes to a head on Tuesday as the espionage trial of a former aide to AfD lawmaker Maximilian Krah gets underway. The trial could become an embarrassment for the party if information collected on it by the defendant, identified only as Jian G. under German privacy laws, is made public. And Germany itself has been undergoing a trial of a different nature with a persistent wave of respiratory illnesses such as colds and flus since the start of the year, causing many people to call in sick to work, according to an analysis by health insurance company DAK. Please explore our blog if you want to find out more about the major talking points in Germany on Tuesday, August 5!
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Washington Post
Tensions in Maryland juvenile justice circles erupt over scathing audit
Three top officials overseeing Maryland's juvenile detention facilities were fired this week after a state ombudsman published a report containing allegations of numerous problems inside those buildings, including contraband drugs, food quality concerns, staffing shortages and a sexual incident among three young people who were incarcerated. The report, a mandated quarterly update on oversight work by the Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit (JJMU), was published on Monday and is based on observations from the first six months of the year, when former juvenile services secretary Vincent Schiraldi was still leading the department. The report lays blame for the alleged problems, some of which have been chronic for decades, at the feet of Schiraldi's team and encourages state officials to 'determine a new direction,' a recommendation that underscores tensions between Schiraldi and Gov. Wes Moore's (D) administration since the former secretary left his position in June. Schiraldi did not respond to a request for comment, but his former chief of staff, Marc Schindler, said the report contains inaccuracies that their team was not allowed to address before it was published, including context regarding allegations that their team tried to withhold information from the ombudsman. State law mandates that JJMU reports include a written response from the Department of Juvenile Services, but this one did not — deviating from a practice that has existed for decades across dozens of watchdog evaluations. 'Fair-minded people who look at this report will have lots of questions,' said Schindler, who was also Schiraldi's deputy secretary. Acting Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Betsy Fox Tolentino said in a statement that she received a copy of the report on July 29, the day after it was published, and the firings — which the corrections watchdog recommended — happened July 30. 'The report confirms, with some truly appalling detail, many of the same challenges that I have learned about during my first weeks in my role as acting secretary as I visited facilities, spoke directly with staff, and assessed urgent operational changes,' Tolentino said in a statement. 'I am deeply troubled by the unacceptable conditions that some of our young people are facing in our care and it is absolutely unacceptable that some of our staff do not feel safe at work.' Adina Levi, deputy secretary of residential services, was terminated, as were two of her team members, according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post and interviews with people who have knowledge of the firings. Levi did not respond to a request for comment. The report was published at a politically fraught time for Moore's administration, as a fractured coalition of state officials, lawmakers, law enforcement and advocates grapple with how to best care for the children in the state's juvenile justice system. Moore appointed Schiraldi to reform the department in 2023, a move hailed by youth justice advocates as a bold step forward for an embattled agency that was once investigated by the Justice Department. But after two and a half years on the job, Schiraldi resigned in early June amid intense scrutiny from Republicans, prosecutors and some community members who worried his approach was too soft amid a spike in juvenile crime that has since subsided. Moore initially praised Schiraldi's work, then later said he had 'ordered' his resignation. The governor immediately appointed Tolentino, who Schiraldi said he had recommended to succeed him and who had worked within the department for many years. She also worked closely with Schiraldi's team through her most recent role at the Roca Impact Institute. The JJMU audit is the first quarterly report to publish since the department's change in leadership and since Nick Moroney, the longtime director of the JJMU, resigned this spring. The JJMU, which has existed for decades, was housed under the Office of the Attorney General until last year, when the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation creating a new, independent Office of the Correctional Ombudsman. The juvenile monitors were relocated under the ombudsman's umbrella, and the governor appointed Yvonne Briley-Wilson to lead the office. The report — which combines two quarters — was overseen by Briley-Wilson because the JJMU director role has been vacant since the departure of Moroney. He said he left because he did not agree with Briley-Wilson's 'methodology' or the direction she was taking the unit he had led for more than a decade. Both Moroney and Schindler said that it's impossible to get a full picture of the incidents and allegations documented in the report because the ombudsman did not follow the state law that requires prepublication response from the department. The report includes potentially identifying information about children in the state's care, including details from their private medical files, which Moroney called inappropriate. He said the exclusion of a DJS response — and the call for specific individuals to lose their jobs — in the report was 'unprecedented.' He oversaw the assembly of dozens of such reports during his more than 17 years with the office, he said, and all included a written response from the department. The law requires the quarterly reports from the JJMU to include 'actions taken by the Department resulting from the findings and recommendations of the Unit, including the Department's response.' Briley-Wilson said in a statement that the JJMU 'regularly conducted investigations and submitted debriefing reports to DJS,' and that the report released this week was 'submitted appropriately and as required by law. We stand by the content and recommendations of the report.' Spokespersons for the governor and the Department of Juvenile Services did not respond to questions about the state statute requirements. Moore said in a statement on Wednesday that the findings were 'unconscionable, unacceptable, and must be addressed in the swiftest and most certain terms.' Tolentino, the governor said, 'is deeply engaged in the full-scale work to correct the systemic failures that contributed to the report's findings.' Among those findings was a May incident at Green Ridge Youth Center in Western Maryland, where three students had engaged in sexual activity with one another in a dorm sleeping area. The sexual conduct had taken place in a bunk bed behind a sheet that had been draped from the upper wrung, which violated the department's policy regarding privacy screens, according to the report. Surveillance video footage of the incident shows a Green Ridge staff member lifting up the sheet and walking away without removing it, though it is not clear from the report what the staffer saw behind the sheet. One of the involved young people had previously told staff he felt unsafe and had asked to be moved, according to the report, though it did not specify what had made him feel unsafe. The incident was reported by a young person to a case manager, and the department's inspector general and the JJMU were notified. In the report, Briley-Wilson said Schiraldi's team delayed providing the video footage and other requested documents to the ombudsman, writing that she had requested for numerous video files to be shared by email and was denied. Schindler said that department officials told Briley-Wilson's team that their requests were 'inconsistent with long-standing and mutually accepted practices' and that they could view the video in person at the facility to protect the confidential information of juveniles. He said that the ombudsman did not respond to numerous requests to meet with DJS leaders. 'Failure to include this information in the report resulted in an inaccurate portrayal of DJS's willingness to share information and its commitment to transparency,' Schindler said. The report outlined widespread issues with contraband and drugs in four of the state's juvenile facilities, including suboxone strips and vape pens. The report said that 'systemwide staff shortages have created potentially unsafe environments for both staff and students,' including situations where low staffing meant girls at Western Maryland Children's Center were put in 'pseudo-seclusions' in their rooms. The state employee union, AFSCME Maryland, has voiced similar concerns about staffing shortages. Criticisms regarding facility cleanliness, tattered clothing, spoiled food and the handling of an evacuation at Green Ridge during heavy rainfall in May were also documented in the report. On Wednesday, Tolentino sent Briley-Wilson a six-page response letter to the report, thanking the ombudsman for 'continued oversight and partnership' and saying she is 'fully committed to transparency.' That letter included a response to the report's many recommendations and what actions the department has taken so far to address them. 'The JJMU report provides a strong foundation for us to move forward,' she wrote, 'and address long-standing challenges that arose under previous leadership.'
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Yahoo
Commissioner Martin Moore launches campaign for Buncombe County district attorney
ASHEVILLE – Buncombe County Commissioner Martin Moore has launched a bid to become the county's next district attorney, a role currently held by Todd Williams, a fellow Democrat who has said he would prefer not to run for reelection. Moore, a former public defender and now attorney and mediator in private practice, made the announcement in a July 29 news release. 'If elected D.A., my emphasis will be on prosecuting cases of domestic violence and criminal cases involving gun crimes,' Moore said in the release. 'Our community is most severely impacted by these types of violent crimes and the court calendar will reflect these priorities under my leadership.' Moore added that misdemeanor cannabis charges would be his office's 'lowest priority.' Moore, 37, was elected to a four-year term on the County Commission in 2022 and is now the board's vice-chair. He represents District 2. In 2024, Moore ran for a seat on the state's Court of Appeals, losing to Republican Christopher Freeman in the November general election. Williams, 55, was first elected district attorney in 2014 and is currently serving his third term. He said he would not run for reelection should a qualified candidate step forward, the Citizen Times previously reported. Williams told the Citizen Times on July 29 that he believes Moore to be qualified for the post but said he will not make a final decision on running for a fourth term until closer to the end of the official candidate filing period, which is in December. Still, Moore, a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC School of Law, has the backing of several local elected leaders. According to his campaign's July 29 new release, state Reps. Eric Ager, Lindsay Prather and Brian Turner, are all backing Moore, as are state Sen. Julie Mayfield, Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger, former Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, and current commissioners Al Whitesides, Parker Sloan, Drew Ball and Board Chair Amanda Edwards. More: Buncombe County District Attorney announces his "preference" not to run for reelection More: Asheville Citizen Times staff recognized for journalism excellence in Helene coverage Jacob Biba is the Helene recovery reporter at the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jbiba@ This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe County district attorney: Commissioner Moore enters race Solve the daily Crossword
