By James Herold
Every day, the news cycle never seems to take a break. From a former NBA player planning to go to Russia to save WNBA star Britney Griner to two men charged in the attempted kidnapping/murder of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, here are your Top 5 News Stories this last week.
1. Former NBA player Dennis Rodman says he’s going to Russia to seek release of WNBA star Brittney Griner
WASHINGTON — Former NBA player Dennis Rodman said Aug. 20 that he plans to visit Russia to seek the release of Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was sentenced to nine years in prison on drug charges earlier this month.
“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman told NBC News at a restaurant in D.C. “I’m trying to go this week.”
2. Police: Bomb threat against Ionia elementary school not credible
IONIA, Mich. — Boyce Elementary School in Ionia was closed Monday, Aug. 22 following an overnight bomb threat, according to school officials.
The bomb threat came in around 3:45 a.m., and authorities conducted searches of the elementary school with K-9 units.
While police said the threat did not appear to be credible, Boyce Elementary School closed Monday for investigation out of an abundance of caution. It would have been the school’s first day of classes.
3. Attorney for Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz presents case to jury
The attorney for Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz presented her opening statement to the jury on Monday, Aug. 22, arguing for Cruz’s life to be spared during the penalty phase of his trial.
The jury will determine if Cruz will be sentenced to death for shooting and killing 14 students and three staff members at his former South Florida school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, on Feb. 14, 2018.
4. Trump files motion for special master to review items seized in Mar-a-Lago raid
Former President Donald Trump filed a motion in federal court in Florida on Aug. 22, seeking the appointment of a special master to review materials seized by the Justice Department from his Mar-a-Lago estate in a raid earlier this month.
The motion from Trump seeks an injunction that would bar the government from any further review of the seized materials until the appointment of a special master, and also requests a “more detailed” receipt from the government of items that were seized.
5. Two men guilty of conspiring to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich – A jury on Aug. 23 convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, a swift victory for prosecutors in an eerie plot that was described as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists.
Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were also found guilty of conspiring to obtain a weapon of mass destruction, namely a bomb to blow up a bridge and stymie police if the kidnapping could be pulled off at Whitmer’s vacation home.
