By SOPHIE BATES

A woman who allegedly pushed razor blades into loaves of bread at two Biloxi, Mississippi, Walmart stores was arrested on Tuesday.

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Camille Benson, 33, of Texas, has been charged with attempted mayhem. Her bond is set at $100,000.

Customers reported finding the razor blades at a Walmart Supercenter and a Walmart Neighborhood Market, said Lt. Candace Young, a public information officer for the Biloxi Police Department.

Walmart employees told police a customer first reported finding a razor blade in a loaf purchased from the Walmart Supercenter on Dec. 5. On Dec. 8, a customer who bought a loaf at the Walmart Neighborhood Market also reported finding a razor blade.

After another customer complained to the Walmart Supercenter on Sunday, employees inspected the merchandise and found several more loaves had been tampered with, law enforcement officials said.

The police department was notified on Monday.

In a press release, the department asked all citizens who bought bread from those Walmart locations to inspect the loaves and report any findings.

“The health and safety of our customers is always a top priority,” Walmart said in a statement. “We have removed and thoroughly inspected all potentially affected products at impacted stores in Biloxi. We appreciate law enforcement for their swift action and will continue cooperating with them as they investigate.”

The Biloxi Police Department said it does not believe any other stores have been targeted.

If customers purchase a product that has been tampered with, they should immediately throw it out and visit their local Walmart for a full refund, the company said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is ordering a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.

The moves comes after U.S. forces last week seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, an unusual move that followed a buildup of military forces in the region. In a post on social media Tuesday night announcing the blockade, Trump alleged Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes.

This is a breaking news story. More information will be added as it comes in.

The Washington County Board on Tuesday unanimously approved the property tax levy and budget for 2026. The $148.9 million levy represents a 6.95 percent increase over 2025 — the lowest county levy increase proposed in the metro area, according to county officials.

That means the owner of a median-valued home ($423,700) that had a median increase in value (1.7 percent) will see a $41 increase in the county portion of property taxes for 2026, or a 4.2 percent increase from 2025, said County Administrator Kevin Corbid.

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The board also set a levy of $1.2 million for the Land and Water Legacy Program and $660,000 for the Washington County Regional Rail Authority, the same as in previous years.

The 2026 budget approved by the board on Tuesday, also by a 5-0 vote, includes $300 million in operating expenses, $117.5 million in capital projects and $16.8 million in debt service. “It provides critical funding for mandated and core services that directly impact residents’ lives and support the community,” Corbid said.

The budget includes cost shifts from the federal government to the county for existing mandated services; adjustments to employee compensation and increases to health care costs, and inflationary pressures on fuel, equipment and construction costs, he said.

The difference between what the levy supports and what the budget calls for in revenue will be provided by funding from other sources, including state and federal reimbursements, grants and fees for services, he said.

Capital investments

The county plans for capital investments in 2026 include: $113.2 million for road and bridge projects; a $17 million makeover of the Park Grove Library in Cottage Grove; $1.3 million for the development of the new Central Yard Waste site in Afton; $1.8 million for improvements to county parks; and $200,000 for electric-vehicle charging stations.

The budget also addresses waitlists and backlogs in human services due to growing service demands and lengthier assessment requirements, and maintains the same ratio of five employees per 1,000 residents, Corbid said.

The county’s five-year capital improvement plan, which will oversee projects through 2030, was approved in a separate, 4-1 vote. Commissioner Michelle Clasen, who represents the Woodbury area, voted no.

The plan includes more than $493.8 million in community investment — including a proposed $40 million bond sale in 2027 — across 105 projects or programs in the 2026-2030 timespan, Corbid said. It calls for 69 percent of the funds to be spent on roads and bridges, 27 percent on public facilities and 4 percent on parks and land. It also plans for the maintenance of 296 miles of county highway along with separated trails, intersections, signs, culverts and roundabouts.

Funding sources for the capital improvement plan include intergovernmental revenue — meaning funds coming from other levels of government — as well as the county’s transportation tax, wheelage tax and bond proceeds.

The five-year capital improvement plan includes more than $17.6 million in investments in the county’s parks and trails; Washington County maintains 4,800 acres of parkland, with 75 miles of trails and five beaches. Among the 16 planned projects: Hardwood Creek Regional Trail extension, Big Marine Park Reserve improvements, Lake Elmo Park Reserve facility improvements, Lake Elmo Park Reserve single-track trail and Cottage Grove Ravine Regional Park lighted trails.

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The five-year plan also includes $132.2 million in investments for 21 public facilities projects and programs in the county, including Public Works South Shop maintenance facility construction; R.H. Stafford Library improvements; Park Grove Library remodel project; Central and South Yard Waste sites, and countywide facility improvements.

County officials also have $343.8 million in planned investments for 68 road and bridge projects and programs across the county in the five-year plan. They include: County Highway 50 corridor studies and intersection improvements in Forest Lake; County Highway 27 corridor expansion project from Interstate 694 to County Highway 12 in Mahtomedi; Highway 36/Lake Elmo Avenue (County Highway 17) interchange project in Lake Elmo; County Highway 16 corridor safety and pavement preservation projects in Woodbury, and the County Road 19A to 100th Street realignment project in Cottage Grove.

By TODD RICHMOND

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A colleague of the Milwaukee judge accused of helping a Mexican immigrant evade arrest testified Tuesday that she was shocked by her fellow judge’s behavior.

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“Judges shouldn’t help defendants evade arrest,” Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kristela Cervera testified at Hannah Dugan’s trial.

The testimony on the second day of trial came after officers involved in the arrest told the jury that Dugan’s behavior on April 18 made it more dangerous for them to do their jobs.

Dugan is on trial on charges of obstruction and concealment in connection with the incident. The maximum sentence for obstruction, the more serious charge, is five years in prison, though federal judges have much discretion to go lower.

The highly unusual charges against a sitting judge are an extraordinary consequence of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Dugan’s supporters say Trump is looking to make an example of her to blunt judicial opposition to immigration arrests.

Eduardo Flores-Ruiz was scheduled to appear before Dugan on the morning of April 18 on state battery charges. Prosecutors allege that after Dugan learned that federal officers were in the hallway waiting to arrest him, she cleared a path for him to escape by directing the officers to the chief judge’s office and then leading Eduardo-Flores out of her courtroom through a private door.

Cervera testified that she was irritated that Dugan used her as backup during the incident, making her come out of her courtroom into the hallway while still wearing her robe.

Dugan proceeded to angrily confront two officers waiting to arrest Flores-Ruiz, telling them repeatedly that they needed a judicial warrant before sending them to the chief judge’s chambers, Cervera testified. She escorted the officers to the chambers while Dugan returned to her courtroom, she said.

Dugan approached her three days later and said she was “in the doghouse” with the chief judge, saying something to the effect that the chief was upset with her because she had “tried to help that guy,” Cervera testified.

When she learned that Dugan had led Flores-Ruiz out the private door, “I was shocked,” Cervera testified.

FBI agent Phillip Jackling testified on Tuesday that he was concerned that his team was divided when Dugan directed agents to speak with the chief judge.

Dugan appeared angry when she approached him in the hallway outside her courtroom, he said. Another member of the arrest team, Customs and Border Protection Supervisory Officer Joseph Zuraw, said Dugan jerked her thumb over her shoulder and told him to “get out” before directing him to the chief judge’s chambers.

Four of the arrest team’s six members were in the chief judge’s chambers or a hallway leading to the chambers when Flores-Ruiz left the courtroom, the agents testified. Zuraw said he remembered thinking: “This is a bad spot we’re in right now. It’s a bad spot because we don’t’ have a decent number of officers to safely make an arrest.”

The team followed him outside the courthouse and had to chase him down through traffic when they could have safely arrested him in the building, they testified.

Dugan’s defense team has suggested that agents could have arrested Flores-Ruiz at any point in the hallway and Dugan shouldn’t be blamed for their decision to wait until he was outside.

Defense attorney Steven Biskupic said in opening statements that the judge had no intention of obstructing agents. He said that Dugan was just following a draft courthouse policy that called for court personnel to refer immigration agents looking to make an arrest in the courthouse to supervisors.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in November that Flores-Ruiz had been deported.

Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report from Madison, Wisconsin.