Longtime Kentucky firefighter died in powerful storm while shielding his wife from danger
Leatherman was among 19 people killed in Kentucky when the storm struck late Friday into early Saturday, as people in the path awoke to a terrifying scene. Most victims were from Laurel County in southeastern Kentucky, where Leatherman was a longtime member of a volunteer fire department.
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Winnipeg Free Press
19 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Former US Attorney Catherine Hanaway appointed as Missouri's next attorney general
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Former U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway was appointed Tuesday as Missouri's next attorney general, vowing a tough-on-crime approach as her predecessor leaves for a job with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Hanaway's appointment just a day after Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he was stepping down to join President Donald Trump's administration as the FBI's co-deputy director. The change in Missouri's top law enforcement job will take effect Sept. 8. 'Fighting crime is — and will remain — job one for this office' Hanaway said. Hanaway has deep roots in Missouri politics and extensive ties as a private practice attorney to corporate clients that will cause her to recuse from some cases as attorney general. Hanaway first won election to the Missouri House in 1998 and led the GOP takeover of the chamber in the 2002 elections as the state began a gradual transition from a political tossup to a GOP stronghold. She served as Missouri's first and only woman House speaker before losing a bid for secretary of state in 2004. She was appointed the next year by President George W. Bush as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Missouri, which she held until 2009. She lost a Republican primary for governor in 2016. As a partner at the Husch Blackwell law firm, Hanaway has represented global chemical manufacturer Bayer in lobbying for legislation that would provide a legal shield against mounting claims that it failed to warn customers that its popular Roundup weedkiller can allegedly cause cancer. Husch Blackwell also represents Invenergy, which is attempting to use eminent domain to acquire land for a high-voltage transmission line to carry wind-generated power from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois to an electric grid in Indiana. Bailey has opposed the project, and Hanaway said she will recuse herself as the attorney general's office continues a civil investigation into it. Bailey, a staunch Trump supporter, has served as attorney general since January 2023 and won election last November to a full four-year term. Hanaway said she intends to serve the remainder of Bailey's term and seek election herself in 2028. Bailey brought an aggressive approach to the attorney general's office. He pursued numerous legal challenges against Democratic President Joe Biden's administration on policies ranging from student loan forgiveness to environmental rules, immigration actions and transgender rights measures. He also pursued conservative causes in his home state, threatening legal action against private gyms over bathroom policies, demanding that public schools ban drag shows and defending the state's anti-abortion regulations in the face of a voter-approved constitutional amendment establishing a right to abortion. Hanaway praised Bailey but placed a greater emphasis on criminal cases than civil litigation while talking to reporters Tuesday. Missouri's attorney general job has become a quick stepping stone for aspiring politicians. Less than a year after winning election as attorney general in 2016, Republican Josh Hawley launched a challenge to Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. After Hawley won election to the Senate in 2018, Republican Gov. Mike Parson appointed state Treasurer Eric Schmitt to serve the remainder of Hawley's term. Schmitt won election to his own term as attorney general in 2020, but then quickly announced he was running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt in the 2022 elections. After Schmitt won the Senate race, Parson appointed Bailey — an Army veteran serving as the governor's general counsel — to fill the remainder of Schmitt's term.
Winnipeg Free Press
19 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
A former prime minister of Mali is jailed on corruption allegations
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A former prime minister of Mali was imprisoned Tuesday following allegations of corruption that he has denied, his lawyer told The Associated Press. Choguel Maïga, 67, led the civilian wing of the country's military junta until his November 2024 dismissal days after he criticized it for postponing elections. He has continued to publicly criticize it. His lawyer, Cheick Oumar Konaré, said the Supreme Court had notified the former prime minister of the charges filed against him by Mali's prosecutor general and ordered that he be placed in custody. The charges follow a report by the West African nation's auditor general on the management of public funds while Maïga was prime minister. No trial date has been set. Earlier this month, another former prime minister, Moussa Mara, was imprisoned after tweeting his support for jailed critics of the junta, which has ruled since coups in 2020 and the following year. In June, Gen. Assimi Goita was granted an additional five years in power despite the junta's earlier promises of a return to civilian rule by March 2024. The junta dissolved political parties in May.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Mexico says there's no agreement with DEA for new border enforcement collaboration
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hours after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced 'a major new initiative' for United States and Mexico collaboration targeting gatekeepers who control illicit trafficking routes across the countries' shared borders, Mexico's president said Tuesday there was no such agreement. President Claudia Sheinbaum was referring to 'Project Portero,' an effort announced Monday by the DEA, calling it a 'flagship operation' against smuggling routes that move drugs, guns and money across the border. 'The DEA put out a statement yesterday saying that there is an agreement with the Mexican government for an operation called Portero,' Sheinbaum said during her morning news briefing. 'There is no agreement with the DEA. The DEA puts out this statement, based on what we don't know. We have not reached any agreement, none of the security institutions (have) with the DEA.' The U.S. embassy in Mexico and the DEA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sheinbaum said the only thing happening was a workshop in Texas attended by four members of Mexico's police force. The DEA statement mentioned that workshop, saying it had brought Mexican investigators to one of its intelligence centers to train with U.S. prosecutors, law enforcement, defense officials and members of the intelligence community. The visibly annoyed president made her comments just days after generally positive exchanges between the two governments following another extension to ward off threatened U.S. tariffs and another shipment of 26 drug cartel figures to the U.S. from Mexico. Mexico had seemed to be repairing the security relationship with the United States after six years of tension under Sheinbaum's predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who had reined in DEA agents operating in Mexico and accused the agency of wholesale fabrication when it arrested Mexico's former defense secretary. Sheinbaum's administration had taken a more aggressive stance toward pursuing Mexico's drug cartels and sent dozens of cartel figures sought by U.S. prosecutors to the United States. Sheinbaum did say that members of her administration had been working for months with U.S. counterparts on a broader security agreement that was practically finished. She said that agreement was based on four principles her administration has stressed for months: sovereignty, mutual trust, territorial respect and coordination without subordination. The DEA statement included a comment from agency administrator Terry Cole, who was recently tapped to lead the Trump administration takeover of the Washington D.C. police. 'Project Portero and this new training program show how we will fight — by planning and operating side by side with our Mexican partners, and by bringing the full strength of the U.S. government to bear,' Cole said in the Monday statement. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
