By KATE PAYNE, Associated Press/Report for America

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The trial for the Florida State University student accused of killing two people and wounding six others in a mass shooting on campus in April is set to go to trial this November.

At a case management conference in a Tallahassee courthouse on Wednesday, Second Judicial Circuit Judge Lance Neff set jury selection in the case of 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner to begin Nov. 3.

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Ikner’s attorney, public defender Peter Mills, said he needs more time to delve into the case, which involves extensive video surveillance footage and witness testimony.

“I object to that, judge,” Mills said of the trial schedule. “I am still investigating the case. My client’s entitled to effective assistance of counsel.”

Neff indicated he’s open to hearing out Mills’ concerns, saying, “we can talk about what, what you need” in order to investigate the case.

As far as the prosecution, Second Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jack Campbell said, “we’ll be ready.”

So far, the defense has not participated in discovery, the process of exchanging information between the parties about evidence and witnesses. But that is expected to change, Ikner’s attorney said.

Ikner faces two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder. He is the stepson of a local sheriff’s deputy, and investigators say he used his stepmother’s former service weapon to carry out the shooting.

Prosecutors in the case intend to seek the death penalty.

Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Anna Hover has been hired to be the new executive director of Silver Sobriety, a Stillwater-based nonprofit organization devoted to providing older adults with affordable non-residential recovery services for alcohol and drug addiction.

An open house to welcome Hover and to celebrate the organization’s 10th anniversary will be held 7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. Thursday, July 17, at Silver Sobriety’s new location at 1825 Curve Crest Blvd.

Silver Sobriety offers education, recovery services and support to adults ages 50 and older. Separating treatment by age is important, co-founder Win Miller said, because older adults may not relate to younger people whose problems, life experience and drugs of choice are different from their own.

Hover “understands the suffering of both the alcoholic/addict and the family members,” Miller said. “That makes her well-qualified for our job.”

Hover also has nonprofit experience, Miller noted, including the founding of her own nonprofit organization called Magnolia Mouths Media.

Hover works as an interpretive facilitator at the Minnesota State Capitol with the Minnesota Historical Society and as a tour guide at Paisley Park. She serves on the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities in St. Paul and on Ramsey County’s Public Safety Advisory Board.

For more information, go to www.silversobriety.org.

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The Minnesota State Fair is hiring for its 2025 fair-time positions, including ticket sellers, ride attendants and barn attendants.

The state fair will run Aug. 21 to Sept. 1 this year. The fair hires about 3,000 employees to work during this 12-day window, according to a news release.

Jobs are available for people ages 16 and older, and most positions don’t require prior experience. Shifts are usually 6-12 hours each day of the fair. Wages start at a minimum of $11.50 per hour and can increase from there depending on the position, according to Lara Hughes, marketing and communications manager.

Passionate about the state fair or looking for a 12-day summer job? Stop by the fair’s Employment Center, 1640 Como Ave. in St. Paul. Register online on at mnstatefair.org before visiting the Employment Center to streamline the hiring process.

Applicants can also attend the annual job fair from 4-7 p.m. July 23 at the North End Event Center on the fairgrounds. Resumes are not needed at the job fair, and anyone in line by 6:45 p.m. can participate.

For more information, go to mnstatefair.org.

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NORMANNA TOWNSHIP — Law enforcement shot and killed a man suspected of starting several fires at his neighbors’ homes and shooting a gun at responding officers.

St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said in a video posted to Facebook on Tuesday afternoon that a call for a report of a structure fire on Heritage Road in Normanna Township came in at around 9:20 a.m.

The first caller said their neighbor had “sprayed” gasoline on a family member and lit their home on fire. Then another neighbor called to report that the suspect was armed with a rifle. The suspect, who lived next door to the reporting party, attempted to light the second neighbor’s house on fire, Ramsay said. Meanwhile, the suspect’s own home was “engulfed” in fire.

Ramsay said a lone volunteer firefighter from Normanna Township arrived to put out both fires at each neighbor’s house. At 9:27, the firefighter and a neighbor reported hearing shots fired.

The firefighter “believed he was shot at” but not hit, Ramsay said, and the firefighter sheltered in place. At 9:36 a.m., an officer from the Duluth Township Police Department arrived, and the suspect shot at that officer, Ramsay said. The officer was not hit and did not return fire, Ramsay said.

At 9:52 a.m., the suspect “engaged” five deputies from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, causing “all five deputies to discharge their weapons, striking the suspect,” Ramsay said.

Deputies unsuccessfully attempted lifesaving measures on the suspect, Ramsay said. No one else was injured.

The officers, whose names were not released, are on administrative leave, as is standard procedure. “I could not be more proud of our deputies,” Ramsay said. “They used their training, their experience, and teamwork to protect the community and to safely end this very dangerous and chaotic situation.”

Ramsay said he requested the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigate the deputies’ use of force and turned the scene over to them.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension posted the following statement: “BCA agents and crime scene personnel are on scene of a use-of-force incident in St. Louis County.”

That same initial report included the promise of further details “after the preliminary investigation is complete.”

Ramsay said “homemade devices” were found on the scene and are believed to have been “designed to shoot projectiles at first responders as they approached on the road.”

While Ramsay did not identify the suspect, authorities were initially dispatched to 6258 Heritage Road, home to Adam Clinton Wolf, shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Three neighbors had a restraining order against Wolf, 57, and he was awaiting a hearing for allegedly violating that order for a second time, court documents show.

The most recent incident to prompt charges occurred Oct. 13, when Wolf reportedly banged pieces of metal and shouted homophobic insults at the occupants of a neighboring residence.

He was found guilty of violating a restraining order July 1, 2023. If convicted again, the newest charge would have been considered a gross misdemeanor. The case had been scheduled for a July 8 hearing, but it was postponed last week.

Judge Leslie Beiers wrote that, if successfully prosecuted, the charge could be considered a “qualified domestic-violence related offense.”

A neighbor had also sought reimbursement totaling over $5,000 for the cost of installing a 6-foot-tall, 80-foot-long fence “to keep Mr. Wolf on his own property and to deafen the sound of his rages and insulting slurs toward my family and me.”

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