ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – As of Thursday morning we passed the coolest temperatures since April, a warming trend is emerging Thursday afternoon and there are strong signs it will continue for several more days.

Sunshine, very dry air and strong southerly winds combined to push temperatures into the 60s on Thursday, and we’re only going to go up from there.

Interestingly, Thursday marked the 23rd consecutive day without measurable precipitation in the Stateline. This occurs after a separate 22-day dry period between late August and mid-September. Since 1905, there have been a total of 39 dry periods lasting 22 days or longer. Two of those 39 occurred in the last two months!

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that our drought situation is rapidly worsening. Nearly a third of the Stateline is currently in severe drought, according to the latest edition of the U.S. Drought Monitor.

With no rain in sight for the foreseeable future, our drought situation is only likely to get worse.

However, clear skies tonight will allow for a prime view of the supermoon, also known as the Hunter’s Moon. Due to its relatively close distance from Earth, it appears 30% brighter and 15% larger than a typical full moon.

Over the next few days the sun will prevail and the breeze will blow at speeds of 20 to 30 miles per hour at times, but it will be a warm breeze. The end result will be a picture-perfect October weekend, with high temperatures of 73° on Friday, 75° on Saturday and 79° on Sunday.

On Monday the cake will probably be the warmest of all. Our current forecast is for a high of 81°.

The passage of a cold front on Tuesday will bring slightly cooler temperatures and a slight chance of a few light showers.

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This was announced by TiMi Studio Group and World’s Edge Age of Empires Mobile can now be downloaded and played on the App Store and Play Store.

Players can choose one of eight civilizations at launch – British, Byzantines, Chinese, Egyptians, French, Japanese, Koreans and the Romans, led by historical figures such as Joan of Arc and Leonidas I. They can join massive multiplayer alliances to fight sieges perform, play one of the many single player modes, build your own empire and much more.

“We wanted to bring new experiences into the world Age of Empires franchise and gives newcomers a taste of what makes this series so important to its fan base,” said Robin Xin, producer at TiMi Studio Group. “Age of Empires Mobile offers players plenty of strategic depth with a rich, complex art style that respects history and mythology.”

You can take a look at this Age of Empires Mobile Launch trailer on YouTube below:

“Age of Empires Mobile “Introduces a brand new entry point to the franchise for mobile gamers with its alliance gameplay and siege combat with hundreds of players at war,” said Earnest Yuen, Senior Director of Production at World’s Edge. “And your empire feels so dynamic, you can hear the world coming to life, the water lapping on the shore and the wind blowing in the trees as your empire grows.”

What are you doing in Age of Empires Mobile?

“Age of Empires Mobile combines the well-known elements of Age of Empires with strategic gameplay designed specifically for the mobile platform to offer fans of the genre a brand new way to enjoy the popular franchise,” reads the game’s description. “Experience exciting gameplay with fast and intense battles, rapid resource gathering and military building, defend against waves of enemies and form alliances with hundreds of players to help you build a dominant empire.”

A man wearing a Baltimore Ravens jersey who was seen in an altercation with others wearing Washington Commanders gear over the weekend has been identified and an arrest warrant has been issued, police said Thursday.

Video showed John Callis attacking two 23-year-old men after Sunday’s game at M&T Bank Stadium, the Baltimore Police Department said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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According to police, 24-year-old Callis is wanted for first- and second-degree aggravated assault.

Officials asked anyone with information about the incident to contact Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland at 1-866-7Lockup.

Callis was identified as an employee of Maury Donnelly & Parr Inc. (MDP), an insurance company in Baltimore. The company told FOX 5 DC he was terminated as an employee.

“MDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards violence and aggressive behavior. This individual is no longer employed by our company,” the company said in a statement to FOX 5 DC.

NFL legend Troy Aikman rips ‘lazy’ Cowboys wide receivers after blowout loss

The video went viral on social media after the game. The clip appeared to show a man wearing a Ravens jersey attacking two men wearing Washington outfits. The man in the video received applause for the incident.

It is unclear what sparked the altercation.

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO

(Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

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According to FOX 5 DC, police launched an investigation after becoming aware of the incident. On Wednesday, officials said they had “identified a possible suspect” in the incident but needed to interview the alleged victims.

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CNN
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A Travis County judge granted a Texas House committee’s last-minute temporary restraining order request against the state just 90 minutes before Robert Roberson was scheduled to be executed Thursday.

The state is appealing the decision, according to Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The judge’s decision came amid a remarkable period of legal maneuvers as the state and Roberson’s advocates fought over his fate as his execution loomed. Roberson claims he was wrongfully convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter more than two decades ago.

In a matter of days, multiple appeals were rejected in state courts, the Texas pardons board rejected his bid for clemency and the US Supreme Court declined to intervene.

That left the House committee’s unusual subpoena and the request for a temporary restraining order that was granted Thursday.

Hernandez confirmed Thursday night — just minutes before the execution process was scheduled to start — that it will not move forward until the restraining order is cleared in the courts.

It’s unclear if the issue will be resolved Thursday night. Since the death warrant is only authorized for October 17, a judge will need to set a new execution date if the execution does not happen by midnight, Hernandez said.

While authorities have not confirmed the execution is delayed, Roberson’s attorneys and the committee fighting for him told CNN they believe the execution is currently halted.

The Supreme Court did not explain its reasoning and there were no noted dissents, though Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a lengthy statement about the case.

“Few cases more urgently call for such a remedy than one where the accused has made a serious showing of actual in­nocence, as Roberson has here,” Sotomayor wrote. “Yet this court can grant a stay only if Roberson can show a ‘significant possibility of success on the merits’ of a federal claim.”

Given the circumstances, Sotomayor wrote, “a stay permitting examina­tion of Roberson’s credible claims of actual innocence is im­perative; yet this court is unable to grant it.”

Texas on Thursday was scheduled to execute Roberson. But the status of the execution process is unclear after an extraordinary decision by a Texas House committee Wednesday night to subpoena Roberson to testify as it reconsiders the lawfulness of his conviction.

“This extraordinary and unprecedented maneuver reflects how seriously Texas legislators have evaluated the concerns in Mr. Roberson’s case,” Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told CNN of the decision. “They are also sending an urgent, public message to Governor (Greg) Abbott that they, like so many others, do not believe Mr. Roberson should be executed.”

Members of the state House committee went before a Travis County judge shortly before 5 p.m. ET on Thursday to request a temporary restraining order against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in another last-minute attempt to halt the execution, according to a staff member on the committee.

Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright represented the committee before the judge.

Roberson arrived at the Huntsville Unit where the execution is set to take place on Thursday afternoon, the criminal justice department confirmed to CNN.

Jennifer Roberson, his sister-in-law, is in Huntsville and feels “angry, heart-broken and furious” over the scheduled execution and repeated rejections of Roberson’s appeals.

“This is an injustice and his blood is on Abbott and Anderson County,” she told CNN. Anderson County is where Roberson was convicted. “This is not a legal execution, this is murder.”

She said Roberson spent time with his wife, who he married in recent years, at the prison Thursday morning before being transported to the Huntsville Unit Thursday afternoon.

His wife, a longtime friend and supporter, and former detective Brian Wharton will be among the witnesses during Thursday night’s scheduled execution, according to Roberson’s sister-in-law.

Roberson met with his spiritual advisor on Thursday afternoon.

If he’s put to death, Roberson’s attorneys say he would be the first person in the US executed for a conviction that relied on an allegation of shaken baby syndrome, a misdiagnosis in Roberson’s case, they argue, and one they say has been discredited.

While child abuse pediatricians fiercely defend the legitimacy of the diagnosis, Roberson’s advocates say the courts have yet to consider ample evidence his daughter, Nikki Curtis, died not of a homicide, but a variety of causes, including an illness and medicine now seen as unfit for such a sickly child.

The pleas of Roberson’s many supporters have so far done nothing to halt the march toward his execution and his conviction has until now been upheld on appeal.

But his attorneys continue to try to make their case in the courts: They’ve filed a request for a stay of execution with the US Supreme Court, arguing his due process rights were violated when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declined to consider additional evidence the inmate says would support his innocence claim.

Texas urged the Supreme Court in a filing Wednesday evening to deny Roberson’s emergency appeal, claiming that the arguments he has raised are “unworthy of the court’s attention.”

The courts, Texas officials said, “gave Roberson the means and the opportunity to make claims, marshal evidence in support of his cause, and address the adverse evidence adduced against him.” Just because Roberson was denied, the state officials told the Supreme Court, “does not mean that he was denied notice or an opportunity to be heard.”

“The record shows that the state habeas proceedings adequately complied with due process,” Texas told the Supreme Court in its brief.

Earlier Wednesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to recommend clemency after his attorneys requested his death sentence be commuted to a lesser penalty – or that the inmate be granted a 180-day reprieve to allow time for his appeals to be argued in court.

Without the recommendation of the parole board, Abbott, the GOP governor, is limited to issuing a one-time, 30-day delay of the execution to allow court appeals to play out. CNN has reached out to Abbott’s office for comment.

Roberson’s innocence claim underscores an inherent risk of capital punishment: A potentially innocent person could be put to death. At least 200 people – including 18 in Texas – have been exonerated since 1973 after being convicted and sentenced to die, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

At the time of her death, Nikki had double pneumonia that had progressed to sepsis, they say, and she had been prescribed two medications now seen as inappropriate for children that would have further hindered her ability to breathe. Additionally, the night before Roberson brought her to a Palestine, Texas, emergency room, she had fallen off a bed – and was particularly vulnerable given her illness, Roberson’s attorneys say, pointing to all these factors as explanations for her condition.

Other factors, too, contributed to his conviction, they argue: Doctors treating Nikki “presumed” abuse based on her symptoms and common thinking at the time of her death without exploring her recent medical history, the inmate’s attorneys claim. And his behavior in the emergency room – viewed as uncaring by doctors, nurses and the police, who believed it a sign of his guilt – was actually a manifestation of autism spectrum disorder, which went undiagnosed until 2018.

“I told my wife last week that I’m ashamed. I’m ashamed that I was so focused on finding an offender and convicting someone that I did not see Robert. I did not hear his voice,” Brian Wharton, the former detective who oversaw the investigation into Nikki’s death, told state lawmakers Wednesday at a hearing featuring the case.

“He’s an innocent man, and we are very close to killing him for something he did not do,” said Wharton.

Wharton is perhaps – alongside Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Sween – the inmate’s most vocal advocate. On Tuesday, the detective turned Methodist pastor learned the inmate had included him on his list of witnesses should the execution proceed.

“There’s a part of me that wants to just run away from that. I don’t want to be there, I don’t want to watch it happen,” Wharton told CNN. “But it is, again, it’s a moment that I owe him. If he’s asked me to be there, I owe him that much.”

Wharton is now one of many supporters of Roberson: More than 30 scientists and medical experts who agree with the doctors cited by the inmate’s attorneys, a bipartisan group of more than 80 Texas legislators, autism advocacy groups and author John Grisham have all called for mercy, a fervent movement that mounted strong opposition to the execution in recent days.

Support in the legislature includes members of the Texas Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, which on Wednesday held a hearing highlighting Roberson’s case, calling Wharton, Sween and others who gave voice to the doubts surrounding the shaken baby syndrome diagnosis.

The hearing was ostensibly about Texas Article 11.073, a state law commonly referred to as the “junk science writ,” which was meant to give defendants a way to challenge their convictions when there was new scientific evidence unavailable at the time of their trial.

The committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Roberson, calling on him in the motion to “provide all relevant testimony and information concerning the committee’s inquiry.” Though the committee is not totally confident that Roberson’s execution will be delayed, they are hopeful, a source with knowledge of the proceedings told CNN.

Last week, the appeals court ordered a new trial for a man sentenced to 35 years in prison for his conviction of injury to a child in a case that also relied on a shaken baby syndrome argument.

Roberson’s supporters believe he, too, should benefit from this law, which “was meant exactly for cases like this one,” the committee said in a letter brief to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The committee asked for a stay of execution in Roberson’s case while the legislature considered making changes to it in the coming legislative session. But the appeals court denied Roberson’s latest appeal on Wednesday, rejecting it on procedural grounds “without reviewing the merits of the claims raised.”

GOP state Rep. Jeff Leach, a member of the committee, expressed hope the governor and parole board were listening to the hearing, “because the law that the legislature passed and our governor signed into law is being ignored by our courts, and all we’re seeking to do here is to push the pause button to make sure that it’s enforced.”

Roberson’s attorneys are not disputing babies can and do die from being shaken. But they contend more benign explanations, including illness, can mimic the symptoms of shaking, and those alternative explanations should be ruled out before a medical expert testifies with certainty the cause of death was abuse.

Shaken baby syndrome is accepted as a valid diagnosis by the American Academy of Pediatrics and supported by child abuse pediatricians who spoke with CNN. The condition, first described in the mid-1970s, has for the past 15 or so years been considered a type of “abusive head trauma” – a broader term used to reflect actions other than shaking, like an impact to a child’s head.

Criminal defense lawyers also have oversimplified how doctors diagnose abusive head trauma, child abuse pediatricians say, noting many factors are considered to determine it.

Still, the diagnosis has been the focus of debates in courtrooms across the country. Since 1992, courts in at least 17 states and the US Army have exonerated 32 people convicted in shaken baby syndrome cases, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

Child abuse pediatricians such as Dr. Antoinette Laskey, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, dispute these statistics. She pointed to a 2021 paper that found just 3% of all convictions in shaken baby syndrome cases between 2008 and 2018 were overturned, and only 1% of them were overturned because of medical evidence. The thoroughness of that study, however, has been called into question.

“I don’t know what to say about the legal controversy,” Laskey told CNN of the courtroom debate (She did not speak to Roberson’s case). “This is real, it affects children, it affects families … I want to help children; I don’t want to diagnose abuse: That’s a bad day.”

Reminding us all that the money printer actually works Brrr, Adult Swim announced the renewal today at New York Comic-Con Rick and Morty for two more seasons, bringing the series total to 12. For those keeping track at home, the series is currently between its seventh and eighth seasons as it continues to fulfill a massive multi-year episode order the network gave it in 2018. (Remember what? Rick and Morty was like back in 2017/2018? Those were the days of Szechuan sauce Nuts.)

Some people might argue that renewing a series two seasons ahead of schedule when it already has three unaired seasons might be a bit overkill. But some people may not understand how big a stake the Adult Swim brand has Rick and Morty Is. The show has already survived the firing of creator and star Justin Roiland, with showrunning duties now in the hands of Dan Harmon and Scott Marder, while Rick and Morty are now voiced by Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden, respectively. They won’t let this ship sink anythingand this new two-season signing is just further proof.

Harmon and Marder, who attended the show’s appearance at Comic-Con, basically said as much, albeit in a reasonable manner Rick and Morty Ways: “Nobody wants a universe without Rick and Morty,” Harmon claimed. “Fortunately, the list of destinations remains endless.” Meanwhile, Marder enthused: “I couldn’t be prouder to have taken on this baton of my life.” Rick and Mortyis the fourth season and brings us to the 10th season. The fact that we can now go beyond this is a gift that I can’t wait to give to our fans. Rick and Morty – a hundred years – forever!” (Meanwhile, we can’t help but notice that the First five seasons of Rick and Morty came out over the course of seven years, meaning the next five seasons could potentially extend the series into 2030. There’s a thought!) For now, Season 8 won’t hit TV until sometime in 2025.

WILLIAMS, AZ (AZFamily) – For over 100 years, the Williams Fire Department has relied on volunteers but is not staffed 24 hours a day. This has now changed for the first time since the department was founded.

“This is a great opportunity to give back to the community,” said Chase Pearson, who has volunteered with his hometown fire department since 1999. “I love it, I love my job.” I know many of the volunteers who help love their work too.”

A few years ago, he received the department’s first full-time chief position, but the rest of the station remained entirely volunteer.

Pearson says the volunteers are incredible, but because they don’t have a full staff, that can impact response time.

“All the volunteers have full-time jobs elsewhere,” he said. “So if they can’t turn in their tools or are out of town, we can’t respond as quickly as a full-time fire department.”

This year, after more than a century, they hired three full-time captains to have someone on station 24 hours a day to help supervise volunteers.

“These are historic changes,” Pearson said. “My starting position was a big change for Williams.”

Pearson said increased tourism when fire danger is high is the main reason for the additional positions.

“In recent years we have seen a huge influx of tourists, especially in summer,” he said. “Then we have the greatest risk of fire.”

Tourism tax money also helps finance the new positions.

“The people who have always lived here have tried to shift the tax burden onto the tourist population, which has actually led to the increased requests for service,” Pearson said.

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COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – As thousands continue to rebuild after Hurricane Helene, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is continuing to offer assistance to those most affected through pop-up resource centers in areas most in need.

This Saluda County Disaster Recovery Center is open now through October 19, 2024 from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and aims to help the people here in Saluda County continue to recover.

“A lot of people down here are solid, working-class people and don’t have the resources, and FEMA is probably all they have left to help them deal with this disaster,” said Saluda County resident Dan Neel. “None of us were at all prepared for it; No one.”

Saluda County resident Dan Neel says his community is still dealing with that reality as it cleans up the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

The pop-up disaster centers have accelerated the recovery process for many people across South Carolina. FEMA spokeswoman Tiana Suber says these centers have helped more than 300,000 people register with FEMA nationwide and provided more than $140 million in grants to people who needed assistance.

She says the pop-up centers speed up the process of helping others because professionals are there to help a victim understand their options.

“It’s a lot easier, it makes it easier for you to try to figure it out on your own, especially if you do it online,” said FEMA spokeswoman Tiana Suber. “We have the experts here and we always encourage people to come here and talk to someone one on one.”

The Recovery Center offers people the opportunity to meet with disaster specialists and various agencies who can show them how to apply for and receive the right assistance.

Mike Leonard, a member of the Disaster Recovery Reserve Corp with the South Carolina Office of Resilience, was one person at the recovery center Thursday.

He helped people find assistance with damage to homes and referred them to other services that can help clean up food and debris.

“If they actually have damage to their home, we register them with an application to receive the grant,” Leonard said. “Our other job is to refer them to services in the area. The main services currently in demand are food, tree and debris removal.”

The Disaster Recovery Center at 407 West Butler Avenue in Saluda, SC will be open on October 19, 2024 until 7:00 p.m.

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