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Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Bloodhounds hunting 'Devil in the Ozarks' fugitive are seen as key part of manhunt
A bloodhound picked up the scent shortly after the ' Devil in the Ozarks ' escaped from a lockup in northern Arkansas. The hound didn't have to go far to begin the hunt — it lives at the prison as part of a specialized unit that uses man's best friend to help track fugitives. Although the scent of convicted killer Grant Hardin was lost because of heavy rain, experts say that even days after Sunday's escape, the animal's highly developed sense of small can still pick up a fresh trail. Bloodhounds are known for being tenacious trackers, said Brian Tierney, president of the National Police Bloodhound Association. They're playing a key role in the search for Hardin, now in its sixth day. They also save lives, as one young bloodhound did just two weeks ago in Maine. Millie, a 10-month-old hound tracked a 5-year-old girl with autism who went missing from her home on May 16, Maine State Police said. The dog found the girl waist-deep in water in a cedar swamp, the agency said. Authorities credited Millie's dedication and 'incredible nose' for saving the girl. Heavy ra in interrupted the search for Hardin Bad weather confounded the hunt for Hardin, who was serving a 30-year sentence for murder when he escaped from the North Central Unit, a medium-security prison in Calico Rock, Arkansas. The hound found - then lost - Hardin's scent when heavy rains blew through the area, said state prison spokesman Rand Champion. Hardin was tracked for less than a quarter of a mile when the bloodhound lost the trail. The fugitive could have gone in any direction after that. 'That was one of the most frustrating things, that they were able to track him but then they lost him because of the rain,' Champion said. Hardin took almost nothing with him and left behind plenty of clothes, bedsheets and other items that are used to familiarize the bloodhounds with his scent, Champion said. Those items are shared with the dogs to give them the initial scent of the person they are seeking, Tierney said. It's a process that's standard operating procedure for Arkansas' prison dogs. Who is Grant Hardin? A former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in a fatal shooting for which he was serving a 30-year sentence. Hardin's DNA was matched to the 1997 rape of a teacher at an elementary school in Rogers, north of Fayetteville. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison for that crime. Eventually, his notoriety led to a TV documentary, 'Devil in the Ozarks.' Champion said that someone should have checked Hardin's identity before he was allowed to leave, describing the lack of verification as a 'lapse' that is being investigated. Bloodhounds live at Calico Rock prison Authorities haven't disclosed how many dogs are involved in the manhunt, but the Calico Rock prison is known for its bloodhounds that live in a kennel on prison property. The nearly one dozen dogs at the prison have helped many other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to track a variety of people over the years, according to a 2021 state audit report on the prison. Southern prisons have a long history of keeping bloodhounds around in case of escapes, like the one featured in country artist Blake Shelton's song 'Ol' Red,' about a hound that hunts escaped inmates with 'a nose that could smell a two-day trail.' Dogs in Arkansas' prison system have also been used to help other agencies find people who are not dangerous, such as missing children, people with special needs or elderly people, Champion said. The bloodhounds tend to raise a ruckus when they find their mark. But the prison system uses other types of dogs in searching for children and vulnerable people who go missing, and those dogs tend to lick people and make friends with them when they are found, Champion said. Fugitives use spices, other means to foil bloodhounds Fugitives being hunted by bloodhounds have been known to take extreme steps to throw the dogs off their trail, Tierney said. Two convicted killers who broke out of a maximum-security prison in upstate New York in 2015 collected dozens of containers of black and cayenne pepper before their escape. They had intended to use the pepper 'to interfere with tracking dogs they assumed would be part of a manhunt for them after the escape,' a state investigation found. One of the men was shot and killed during the manhunt; another was also shot but survived and was captured. Tierney said he's heard of other methods used by fugitives to evade tracking dogs. Among them: Sleeping in trees could allow one's scent to disperse before reaching the ground, he said. Hardin has troubled past in law enforcement In his first job as a police officer 35 years ago in the college town of Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas, Hardin struggled almost immediately, his supervisors said. 'Other recruits do not like Grant,' one wrote in a performance review. After a few months on the job, most shift supervisors concluded that he was 'not suited for police work,' Fayetteville's police chief at the time wrote to the director of the state commission on enforcement standards in the spring of 1991. But after being dismissed by Fayetteville police, he kept getting hired for other law enforcement jobs in northwest Arkansas. In documents and interviews, other police leaders echoed what Fayetteville's police chief had said — that Grant should not have become a police officer. By the time he was the police chief in the small town of Gateway in 2016, 'he was out chasing cars for no reason,' Cheryl Tillman, the town's current mayor, recalled in the documentary 'Devil in the Ozarks.' He's also been described by those who know him as a smart and cunning person who has learned many police tactics over the years and knows how law officers hunt fugitives. 'That individual probably watched the extended forecast before he went out,' Tierney said. 'He would know that heavy rain is going to hinder the dogs.' ___ Associated Press Writer Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
Associated Press
27 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Rural Democratic lawmaker announces switch to the GOP in the latest setback for Kentucky Democrats
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A longtime state lawmaker announced Friday that she is switching parties, joining Republican supermajorities in the latest setback for Democrats trying to rebuild support across rural Kentucky. State Sen. Robin Webb, who represents a four-county swath of northeastern Kentucky, revealed she will join the ranks of GOP lawmakers who control the flow of legislation in the state. Webb was one of the last rural Democrats in Kentucky's legislature, and her defection leaves her ex-party more tethered to urban and suburban districts in a state with large stretches of rural territory controlled by the GOP. Webb said in a prepared release that the state's Democratic Party has continued to 'lurch left.' 'It has become untenable and counterproductive to the best interests of my constituents for me to remain a Democrat,' Webb said. 'I will continue to be a fearless advocate for rural Kentucky and for the residents of eastern Kentucky who have been so good to me and my family.' Webb has compiled a resume deeply ingrained in Kentucky culture. She has ties to the coal industry and is a well-known gun enthusiast who changed career paths to become an attorney. Webb first joined the Kentucky House in 1999, when Democrats controlled the chamber. She spent a decade as a state representative before joining the GOP-led Senate in 2009. Republicans seized total control of the legislature in the 2016 election, when they rode Donald Trump's coattails to win the Kentucky House for the first time in nearly a century. Republicans padded their legislative numbers in subsequent elections, giving them their overwhelming majorities. Republicans attained that dominance by winning in rural districts previously held by Democrats, but Webb's district had remained a blue dot on the map until Friday. Her party switch leaves Democrats mostly devoid of a rural presence in the legislature. One exception is Democratic state Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty, who represents an Appalachian district. The state's two-term governor, Democrat Andy Beshear, won a number of rural counties and shrank GOP margins in others in his 2023 reelection. His popularity was built on the state's robust economic growth in his first term and his handling of disasters, from tornadoes and floods to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kentucky Democrats are trying to spark a rural comeback with a grassroots strategy, evidenced by the state party's ongoing 'listening tour' with stops in culturally conservative towns across the state. Lawmakers will begin their 2026 session in early January, but Beshear has said he will likely call lawmakers back for a special session sometime this year to take up storm-relief funding. Parts of southeastern Kentucky were devastated by deadly tornadoes earlier in May, while other parts of the Bluegrass State were inundated by flooding in April.
CBS News
31 minutes ago
- CBS News
Richard King Mellon Foundation provides Tree of Life with $2.5 million grant
The Tree of Life is getting a huge funding boost thanks to one local non-profit. It was announced on Thursday that the Richard King Mellon Foundation gifted Tree of Life a $2.5 million grant to support building a national center for education, remembrance, bridge-building, and the celebration of Jewish culture. "The Richard King Mellon Foundation's grant comes at a critical juncture for The Tree of Life and the broader Jewish community," said Carole Zawatsky, CEO of The Tree of Life. "Our mission to uproot antisemitism and hate is of the utmost importance at this moment. We are incredibly grateful for the Foundation's generosity and continued support, which is symbolic of our core belief that antisemitism is an American problem and all of us – Jewish and not – must work together to counter it." The gift from the Richard King Mellon Foundation now gives the Tree of Life a total of $3.5 million in investment. "Our community is incredibly thankful for the continued support of the Richard King Mellon Foundation," said Michael Bernstein, chair of the board at The Tree of Life. "Our bold vision to realize a future where our children live without fear of antisemitism depends on partners like this who support our work." Tree of Life breaks ground on new synagogue Last year, after months of demolition, ground was broken on a new synagogue in Squirrel Hill. It was a day more than five years in the making; one filled with emotion, resilience, and hope, as the synagogue broke ground on a new space and a new chapter in its history. Since the horrific shooting on Oct. 27, 2018, the building had remained vacant until then, as construction began on the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. The main sanctuary will remain for worship, but the new building, what's being called a 'reimagined' Tree of Life, will memorialize and celebrate the lives of those tragically killed. "We announce loudly and clearly to the entire world that evil did not win," Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said at the groundbreaking. Construction is expected to be completed in a couple of years.
