Author: CNN Newsource

By Riley Conlon

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    ALABAMA (WVTM) — Alabama carried out the execution of Jeffery Lee on Thursday evening after Gov. Kay Ivey declined to grant clemency in his case.

Lee was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. Central Time after Ivey told Corrections Commissioner Greg Lovelace that she would not intervene and directed him to proceed with Lee’s death sentence for the 1998 capital murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson.

He had six visitors and declined a final meal request.

“In June, after Mr. Lee attempted to avoid his deserved death sentence, I reaffirmed my commitment that justice would ultimately be served,” said Ivey. “Tonight, that promise was fulfilled for his victims, Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson, as well as for their loved ones who have long-awaited his sentence to be carried out. This case underscores exactly why the law passed in 2017 ending so-called ‘judicial override’ did not apply to existing death sentences like Mr. Lee’s. These victims have waited long enough, and I pray they can feel peace and have closure.”

Lee was convicted of two counts of capital murder in connection with the 1998 Dallas County killings and an attempted murder. His jury recommended life in prison, but a judge overruled that recommendation and imposed the death penalty.

Alabama eliminated judicial override in 2017, but the change did not apply to death sentences in cases decided before the law took effect, including Lee’s.

Lee’s execution had originally been scheduled for June using nitrogen hypoxia. That attempt was halted after a federal judge ruled Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia protocol violated the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court later declined Alabama’s request to allow the execution to proceed.

In July, Ivey set a new execution date for September and ordered that Lee be put to death by lethal injection.

Following the execution, Lee’s legal team issued the following statement:

“Tonight, Alabama executed Jeffery Lee by lethal injection, even though his sentencing jury voted to spare his life. His death sentence rested solely on judicial override — an old law that Alabama has repealed. The State itself concluded this practice was wrong enough to abandon yet still put a man to death under it. That is a moral failure, not just a legal formality.

“The execution also broke a promise. In June, after two federal courts found problems with Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia protocol, the State sought a new warrant within 24 hours. In doing so, it chose to execute Jeffery Lee by lethal injection, an equally problematic method it had told a federal court in 2018 it would not use.

“A state that no longer stands behind the rule that condemned a man, but kills him under it anyway, has not delivered justice. It has revealed how little its own standards constrain it when it is determined to carry out an execution.”

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By Shannon Delcambre

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    TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, Ala. (WVTM) — A 12-year-old boy has been charged with making a bomb threat at Duncanville Middle School in Tuscaloosa County, the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said.

Authorities said the incident occurred Wednesday when a staff member at the school received an email from an unknown address threatening to blow up the campus.

Deputies searched the school as a result, delaying the start of classes by an hour until they determined there was no threat.

The juvenile was later taken into custody and placed at the county’s detention center.

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By Kate Amara

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    BALTIMORE (WBAL) — Plaintiffs in a legal case against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement allege the agency has failed to comply with a court order issued in March to address overcrowding in Baltimore holding rooms.

The government denied the allegations and called a witness to support its position.

Joseph Burki, the former manager of the Baltimore holding rooms, testified that after the injunction was issued, he rewrote the facility’s policy to comply with court-ordered capacity rules.

The new policy required each cell to provide 31 square feet of space per person after carving out an 8-foot toilet zone. Burki added that the new policy required routine head counts and the closure of any cell nearing capacity.

When asked by WBAL-TV 11 News outside of the courthouse about the agency’s failure to follow the policies he wrote, Burki declined to answer.

Plaintiffs argued that while the policy looked good on paper, it was not implemented effectively.

“There is this very large and seemingly … happening on the ground,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Amelia Dagen.

The plaintiffs called an expert witness who testified that his analysis of cell log records from March to June showed overcrowding occurred 67% of the time.

The defense countered, claiming the plaintiffs’ math was intentionally flawed. They presented their own expert analysis, which found overcrowding occurred only 9% of the time. However, the defense said their calculation was based on the total space in all cells divided by the total number of people in the facility on a given day, without accounting for the toilet exclusion zone.

The plaintiffs are not seeking a contempt finding but told the judge they want measures in place to enforce the court order.

The judge said she will issue a written ruling.

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By Kayla Morton

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    MIDDLETOWN, Md. (WBAL) — A man has been arrested for stabbing his dog 14 times after originally telling deputies he ran the animal over, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.

Erfan Behnam, a Reston, Virginia resident was found at his disabled car by another driver in the 7900 block of Hollow Road in Middletown. The road is a branch off of Interstate 70, runs along the Lavandaze Serenity Garden and is fairly rural.

The passerby told deputies the man they encountered “had stated he had run over his dog, killing it.”

After locating Behham, however, they discovered he was “visibly covered in blood and dog hair.”

Frederick County deputies recovered a knife in Behnam’s vehicle and matched it to the 14 stab wounds found on multiple areas of the dog’s body.

“During the investigation, Behnam provided inconsistent statements about how the dog was injured,” the sheriff’s office said.

Contradicting what he told the passerby, Behnam admitted to deputies “he believed he ‘needed to put the dog down’ and admitted to stabbing the dog.”

Animal Control responded to the scene and took custody of the dog’s remains.

Behnam is being held in the Frederick County Adult Detention Center on charges of felony aggravated cruelty to an animal.

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By Matthew Keck

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    TRIMBLE COUNTY, Ky. (WLKY) — Trimble County Public Schools will be out of class on Friday due to a shortage of bus drivers.

The district announced classes would be canceled on Friday, saying, “We apologize for the late notice, but due to an already depleted transportation department and a few drivers having illness, we will be canceling school tomorrow.”

They said students who attend the Kentucky School for the Blind will still be picked up at their regular time.

School officials said any sporting events scheduled for Friday night will still be played.

The shortage is also affecting students in the Healthcare Pathway program.

“Due to the cancellation of school tomorrow, our district will not be able to provide transportation for students in the Healthcare Pathway to attend the planned field trip to JCTC. However, I have been in contact with the ATC principal, and we have worked together to make sure our students still have the opportunity to participate. If a parent or guardian is able and willing to provide transportation, your student is more than welcome to attend,” officials said in a statement.

The first group will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will last one hour. There will be a break between sessions, with the second group expected to start around 12:30 p.m.

“Thank you for your understanding as we continue to work through the driver shortage we are experiencing,” officials said in the statement.

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By Juliegrace Brufke | Quincy News Correspondent

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    Washington (Quincy News) — Market Recap: U.S. stocks rebounded Thursday as oil prices and Treasury yields fell following Wednesday’s Federal Reserve rate hike. Technology shares led the gains, with the Nasdaq rising 1.7%, the S&P 500 gaining 1.1% and the Dow climbing 0.6%.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell back below 5% to about 4.93%. Oil prices also declined as concerns about disruptions to Saudi supplies eased.

Weekly jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 196,000, the lowest level since mid-July and below expectations. That means fewer people filed for unemployment benefits last week, suggesting layoffs remain relatively low.

Today’s Focus: U.S. stock futures pointed higher Friday morning as oil prices continued to fall. Brent crude traded around $103 a barrel and U.S. crude around $101 as Saudi Arabia worked to restore part of its damaged East-West pipeline and increase shipments through Oman.

The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to 1.25% Friday, its highest level in 31 years. The move has little direct impact on U.S. consumers, but changes in Japanese rates can affect the dollar, U.S. Treasury yields and the cost of Japanese goods for American buyers.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman speaks at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index at 10 a.m.

ON THE SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2026

-Friday, 9:30 a.m. ET – Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman speaks

-Friday, 10 a.m. ET – Conference Board Leading Economic Index

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By Richard Ramos

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    RIO VISTA, California (KOVR) — An unexpected visitor has made its way into the Sacramento River, with an adult humpback whale traveling deep into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The whale, identified as CRC-11620, was spotted near Rio Vista after first entering San Francisco Bay earlier this week, according to the Marine Mammal Center.

The center said its Cetacean Conservation Biology Team is tracking the whale and coordinating with partners as more information becomes available.

The whale was first reported in San Francisco Bay on Sept. 15, then later traveling north past the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. From there, officials said it continued east into the Carquinez Strait near Benicia and Dillon Point.

By the morning of Sept. 16, the U.S. Coast Guard reported the humpback farther up the Delta near Collinsville and Sherman Island.

The latest reports placed the whale in the Rio Vista area, where its appearance has drawn attention because of how far inland it has traveled.

“This is a remarkable journey for a humpback whale,” said Kathi George, director of Cetacean Conservation Biology at The Marine Mammal Center. “We’re asking people who encounter it to give the animal plenty of space and allow it to move on its own.”

A familiar but unusual journey.

While a humpback whale traveling this far into the Delta is unusual, it has happened before.

In 1985, a whale known as Humphrey spent several weeks in the Rio Vista area before eventually returning through San Francisco Bay to the ocean.

In 2007, a mother-and-calf pair known as Delta and Dawn spent about 20 days in the Sacramento River Delta before making a similar trek back to the ocean.

Multiple humpback whales have also been sighted in San Francisco Bay over the past week, which the center said is normal for this time of year.

Whale identified through photo catalog The Marine Mammal Center said CRC-11620 is a well-known individual that has been documented more than a dozen times over the past 24 years in California and Mexico.

Its first recorded sighting off California was in 2002. Before this week, CRC-11620 was recorded in Baja California in February 2026.

The Marine Mammal Center said it is not known whether the whale is simply passing through the Delta or whether an underlying health issue could be influencing its movements.

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By Madisen Keavy

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KOVR) — A Sikh truck driver from Northern California was stabbed 17 times in an unprovoked attack at a Wyoming truck stop on Sunday, his attorney says.

The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office in Wyoming confirmed the attack happened just before 3:30 a.m. on Sunday. The driver, a Sacramento man who said he only feels safe sharing his last name of Singh, stopped near the Bitter Creek rest area on Interstate 80 in Wyoming for a bathroom break.

He told attorney and Jakara Movement Director of Legal Services Jasjit Singh that he was first punched in the back of the head in the rest area bathroom. His attacker, another truck driver, didn’t speak as Singh repeatedly asked why he was being attacked.

The man began to stab Singh until he was able to push him off and run outside.

A family at the rest area saw Singh’s condition after the attack. A father and son followed the suspect, who attempted to drive off in his own tractor-trailer, until Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers arrived.

The family returned to the rest area to help Singh, who called 911. Singh was transported by helicopter to a trauma facility, according to the sheriff’s office.

The suspect was located in Rawlins, further east down I-80, by Highway Patrol troopers and taken into custody without incident.

Concern about attack’s motive There is no known motive for the attack at this time and there is no threat to the public, officials said. The investigation is ongoing.

Singh, the driver, is getting support from the Jakara Movement, a California-based grassroots community-building organization that empowers, educates, and organizes Punjabi Sikhs and other marginalized communities.

Jasjit Singh told CBS News Sacramento Thursday there are concerns about why the driver was attacked and whether it was motivated by bias.

The driver was not wearing a turban at the time, Singh said, but he was wearing a kara, which is a metal bracelet traditionally worn by Sikhs. Singh says the victim believes his appearance may have played a role in the attack.

“He feels like that may be part of the targeting,” Singh said. “How did this individual choose him? In the middle of the night?”

There has been no official determination from investigators that the attack was motivated by the victim’s religion, ethnicity or appearance.

Singh also points to the fact that the attacker was another truck driver.

“What drove this individual to do this? This is another truck driver,” Singh said.

The Bitter Creek rest area is along a heavily traveled stretch of I-80 through Wyoming.

Lawmakers respond to unprovoked attack Jasjit Singh says there have been concerns about the rhetoric coming from Washington and how it could affect South Asian and Sikh truck drivers.

“Now you have this additional fear that as a South Asian or as a Sikh Punjabi Sikh truck driver, you have to deal with these fears on how you look,” Singh said.

Singh stressed that the Sikh community has spent decades building relationships with other communities.He is urging people to come together rather than allowing rhetoric to lead to violence.

“We are really begging that folks really come together and realize that we’re really stronger together,” Singh said. “Nothing should lead to an attack on someone’s life.”

The attack comes days after a social media post from the Department of Homeland Security targeted a specific group of commercial truck drivers and drew criticism from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic lawmakers.

The post, which has since been taken down, shows the character Optimus Prime from the “Transformers” franchise facing a man and includes the phrases “America for Americans,” “Self-deport or find out” and “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive, Mr. Singh.”

In response to the Wyoming rest stop attack, Newsom’s chief deputy director of communications shared a statement with CBS News Sacramento.

“Our thoughts are with this individual and his family during this time. The Trump Administration for over a year has been pushing misinformation to smear an entire workforce and target diverse communities. The President’s now-redacted social media post is one proof point — his hateful rhetoric is hurting our communities,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo said.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi , an Illinois Democrat, said in a statement that he is “horrified by the brutal attack on a Sikh truck driver who was stabbed 17 times at a Wyoming rest stop. This comes amid rising hatred targeting Sikh and South Asian Americans, with even the Trump Department of Homeland Security recently posting a racist caricature of a Sikh truck driver telling him to ‘get off our roads’ and ‘self-deport or find out.’

“Those spreading this hate, including officials in our own federal government, need to stop. Those who turn it into violence must be held accountable. And all of us need to stand together against both. America must be better than this. I’m praying for Mr. Singh’s full recovery and grateful to the family whose quick action helped save his life.”

Earlier this month, Krishnamoorthi spoke out against the DHS post, warning that it fueled xenophobia against Sikh and South Asian Americans. He later led representatives, including California’s Ami Bera, in demanding action from President Trump.

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