By JONATHAN MATTISE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Austin Peay State University has reinstated a professor who was fired for his social media post after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Tennessee school is also paying the teacher $500,000 in the settlement.

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Austin Peay spokesperson Brian Dunn said Darren Michael returned to his position as a tenured faculty member at the public university in Clarksville effective Dec. 30. A copy of the settlement agreement obtained through a public records request includes a $500,000 payment and reimbursement of counseling, as reported earlier this week by WKRN-TV.

Tennessee’s governor, attorney general and comptroller signed a document authorizing the settlement payment.

Michael, a theater and dance professor, was among people who reported facing a conservative backlash and punishment at work for their online posts about Kirk’s fatal shooting in September. He was later moved to a suspension status.

In a Dec. 30 email to the university community, Austin Peay President Mike Licari said the school did not follow the required tenure termination process. The communication was another requirement under the settlement.

Licari added, “I deeply regret and apologize for the impact this has had on Professor Michael and on our campus community. I am committed to ensuring that due process and fairness are upheld in all future actions.”

Two days after Kirk’s killing, Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee circulated a screenshot indicating Michael on Sept. 10 had posted the headline of a 2023 news article reading, “Charlie Kirk Says Gun Deaths ‘Unfortunately’ Worth it to Keep 2nd Amendment.” Blackburn, who is also a candidate for governor, included a photograph and biography of Michael. She wrote, “What do you say, Austin Peay State University?” and tagged the university’s account.

Blackburn’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the settlement.

David L. King, Michael’s attorney, said the professor said “nothing that was threatening or otherwise offensive.” King decried the pressure applied by “outside forces” and said the ordeal “caused a great deal of harm” to Michael and his daughter.

By JOE REEDY

MEDINA, Ohio (AP) — The four suspects involved in the burglary of Shedeur Sanders’ home on Nov. 16 are from Atlanta and used a stolen rental car in the break-in, authorities said Thursday.

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The Medina County Sheriff’s Office also said during a briefing that the group had robbed others, including professional athletes.

Jarvet Myrick, Deandrez Jackson and Maurice Exavier Taylor are in custody after being arrested in Georgia and are awaiting extradition to Northeast Ohio. Carlos DeAnthony Morris remains at large and has an active warrant.

Detective Rodney Rees said that the suspects stole the rental car in the Atlanta area, drove to Ohio and stayed at a hotel in Medina Township the night before the burglary took place.

The suspects then robbed a house in the Atlanta suburb of Brookhaven upon returning to Georgia on Nov. 17, Rees said.

Myrick, the alleged driver, was arrested on Nov. 26. Jackson was arrested Dec. 16 and Taylor on Dec. 29. All three are facing second-degree felony burglary charges. All three were also arrested with guns. Jackson had warrants from when he was a juvenile and Taylor also had outstanding warrants. Myrick also was in possession of marijuana when he was arrested.

“They’re violent. They’re part of two burglaries we know of and possibly a third one where they were seen running away with guns in their hands,” Rees said. “They target high-end individuals who have a lot of money, and they go to their houses, they break in, and they take anything of value, and they go and sell it.”

It wasn’t immediately clear who would represent the suspects when they get to Ohio.

Sanders’ home in Granger Township, a Cleveland suburb, was burglarized while he was playing in his first regular-season NFL game during the second half of the Browns’ 23-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Approximately $200,000 in property was stolen from the home, which included totes, luxury bags and a ring.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders speaks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

The sheriff’s office previously stated that three people entered the home at 6:46 p.m. ET. Surveillance cameras in the home captured video of the people entering different parts of the house. They were wearing masks and gloves and were seen leaving the home just before 7 p.m.

Rees said they haven’t been able to recover the stolen items.

Investigators were able to use the security cameras at Sanders’ home and a neighbors as well as the Flock camera system, which can read license plate numbers, to identify the suspects and the stolen rental car as well as the camera at a Red Roof Inn, where the suspects stayed on Nov. 15.

The burglary added Sanders to a growing list of NFL players whose homes have been burglarized during games. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, and New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan have dealt with break-ins since the start of last season.

“Unfortunately, right now, they’re just targets. They’re taking advantage of them being some type of stature in the community and they’re hitting them when they’re away from home and they know they’re away from home,” Rees said.

Rees said authorities believe there is a ringleader who leads people to the high-profile athletes, but that has not been proven yet. He said the cases involving other professional athletes the suspects are accused of burglarizing were not made public yet.

Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons’ home was also burglarized last month while the team had a road game against San Francisco, but Rees said no one from this group is suspected.

Sanders, the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, played in eight games during his rookie NFL season. The fifth-round pick started the Browns’ final seven games and passed for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

“Preservation should absolutely preserve the buildings that enrich our communities, but not at the expense of the very institutions that made our communities what they are. Much as we would like to save both, this is not the case for West-Park.”

West Park Presbyterian Church at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. (Courtesy of Roger Leaf)

Presenting the case for a hardship at the Dec. 9 historic Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing on behalf of the West-Park Presbyterian Church felt like I had stepped into the twilight zone. What unfolded was not a sober evaluation of facts, law or safety, but a stunning display of selective memory, and offensive misstatements about a building that should never have been landmarked. 

A decade ago, LPC landmarked the West-Park Presbyterian Church at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue over the congregation’s clear and urgent objections. At the time, the structure was empty, without heat or running water, and had been surrounded by a sidewalk shed for over 10 years. The church had almost no resources to maintain the building, and it warned that landmarking would only accelerate both the building’s and the congregation’s decline.  

The Commission landmarked the building due largely to Councilmember Gale Brewer’s emotional promises, much like those she made on Dec. 9, about the funding she could raise to pay for restoration. She and others again insisted that money would be raised, that grants would be secured, and that the congregation would not be left alone to shoulder the immense financial weight of restoration. Ten years ago, the Commission believed them. They shouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

As soon as the building was landmarked in 2010, Gale Brewer’s support vanished, and the congregation was forced to dedicate all its resources to repairs instead of the ministry and social outreach for which it has been so widely praised. Not surprisingly, as the pressures of building maintenance grew, the membership rapidly declined. Its loss of pastoral leadership in 2017 was the final nail in the coffin. 

We heard repeatedly at the LPC hearing that the condition of the building was a calculated strategy of “demolition by neglect” by a greedy congregation, and the loudest voices came from the Center at West Park. This is the height of chutzpah, given that the Center at West Park was tasked with maintaining the building for the past eight years in return for a pittance in rent but never spent a dime on restoration.  

If a hardship is granted by LPC, it allows the church to sell the building to a new owner, who would demolish it and build a new property with space for worship and community activities. It would also fund social justice initiatives through the five boroughs through a decided fund created by The Presbytery of NYC. 

Granting this hardship is the only path forward for the survival of one the oldest faith communities on the Upper West Side. It would provide safe, accessible space for worship, funding for a pastor, and an unprecedented $30 million to endow a social justice fund to carry on its mission in struggling communities across the City. If the hardship is not granted, West-Park will almost certainly close its doors forever. 

The not-for-profit provisions of the landmarks law are meant to prevent a taking when the burden of landmark designation has deprived the owner of the value of the property for the continuance of its mission. Such a condition could not be clearer in the case of West-Park. In 2021, an independent appraisal valued the building at $49 million if it were not landmarked. Today, there is no question that the value of the building as a landmark is a tiny fraction of that amount. 

The landmarks law is clear—a hardship shall be granted to a non-profit if the building is no longer suitable or appropriate to which the owner is devoted. The church—the owner—is facing millions of dollars in repairs to the building that it can’t possibly afford. Without relief from the weight of the building, West-Park will be driven into bankruptcy. 

The Center at West-Park is not a party to this hardship application. It is neither the owner nor a tenant, and has no connection to the church despite its wildly inappropriate name. But it was given an unprecedented opportunity last month to make a case for forcing the church to simply hand them the keys to the building—all to preserve the views from the apartments of six of its board members. 

Preservation should absolutely preserve the buildings that enrich our communities, but not at the expense of the very institutions that made our communities what they are. Much as we would like to save both, this is not the case for West-Park. This application should be granted.  

Roger Leaf is chair of the West-Park Administrative Commission. He has served as trustee for First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York for the past 20 years. He previously served as a board member, chair of audit, budget and finance committees for the Presbytery of NYC.   

The post Opinion: Landmarks Should Grant West-Park Presbyterian Church’s Plea for Hardship appeared first on City Limits.

An ICE agent called 911 in St. Paul on Thursday and reported unknown vehicles were following federal agents, according to police.

The agents pulled into the St. Paul Police Department’s Western District parking lot on Hamline Avenue near University Avenue about 9:40 a.m.

“The agents believed their vehicles had been tampered with and trackers were placed on them,” the police department said in a statement. “The agents checked their vehicles and then left.”

People in vehicles who had been following left the area after speaking to St. Paul officers, according to the police department. No one was arrested or cited.

The incident came after an ICE officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, and during a surge of immigration enforcement in Minnesota. A man was charged in West St. Paul last month, accused of following ICE agents and pointing a gun.

After St. Paul officers used force during a federal immigration operation in Payne-Phalen at the end of November, there was an outcry from St. Paul city council members and community members.

St. Paul officials sent a cease-and-desist letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Dec. 19 to prevent them from using the city’s parking lots to stage immigration enforcement operations.

Thursday’s sighting of ICE vehicles at the police station raised concern, with someone posting on Reddit that local police were working with ICE.

The police department said Thursday it did not assist federal law enforcement with immigration enforcement operations.

“The St. Paul Police Department encourages anyone who feels that they are being followed or unsafe in their vehicle to call 911 and drive to a police station or well-lit area,” the department’s statement said.

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