By HOLLY RAMER

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A woman charged in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vermont wants to delay the government’s decision on whether to seek the death penalty by at least six months.

Teresa Youngblut, of Washington state, is part of a cultlike group known as Zizians that has been connected to six killings in three states. She’s accused of firing at agent David Maland during a traffic stop on Jan. 20, the same day President Donald Trump was inaugurated and signed a sweeping executive order lifting the moratorium on federal executions.

Attorney General Pam Bondi later cited Maland’s death in directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in cases involving the murder of law enforcement officers unless they find significant mitigating circumstances. But Youngblut’s lawyers argue the government has set a “radically inadequate” and “extraordinarily rushed” timeline for that determination.

In a motion filed late Monday, Assistant Federal Public Defenders Steven Barth and Julie Stelzig said the government has set a July 28 deadline for them to explain why the death penalty should not be sought, even though Youngblut has yet to be charged with a crime eligible for such punishment.

For now, she’s charged only with using a deadly weapon against law enforcement and discharging a firearm during an assault with a deadly weapon. And even if a new indictment is imminent, she would only have a few weeks to submit evidence to the committee of lawyers that advises the attorney general on capital cases, her lawyers noted. In contrast, the average time between an indictment and a meeting of the committee is more than 14 months, they said.

“Faced with a July 28 deadline, the defense is bound to overlook not just a few isolated pieces of mitigating evidence, but whole areas of Ms. Youngblut’s life that may ultimately prove fertile sources of mitigation,” wrote the attorneys. “The government’s schedule promises to turn Ms. Youngblut’s submission into a near-pointless formality.”

Though Youngblut sought out a public defender experienced in death penalty cases early on, the first qualified lawyer withdrew and a new one did not join the team until recently, her lawyers said. They attributed the delay in part to a shortage of such lawyers due to the significant uptick in potential death penalty cases.

Youngblut’s attorneys have asked the court to give her until at least Jan. 30, 2026, to submit her mitigation evidence to the committee and to prohibit prosecutors from making a decision about the death penalty until after the material has been reviewed. Prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

At the time of the shooting, authorities had been watching Youngblut and her companion, Felix Bauckholt, for several days after a Vermont hotel employee reported seeing them carrying guns and wearing black tactical gear. She’s accused of opening fire on border agents who pulled the car over on Interstate 91. An agent fired back, killing Bauckholt and wounding Youngblut.

The pair were among the followers of Jack LaSota, a transgender woman also known as Ziz whose online writing about veganism, gender identity and artificial intelligence attracted young, highly intelligent computer scientists who shared anarchist beliefs. Members of the group have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on a California landlord in 2022, the landlord’s subsequent killing earlier this year, and the deaths of a Pennsylvania couple in between.

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LaSota and two others face weapons and drug charges in Maryland, where they were arrested in February, while LaSota faces additional federal charges of being an armed fugitive. Maximilian Snyder, who is charged with killing the landlord in California, had applied for a marriage license with Youngblut. Michelle Zajko, whose parents were killed in Pennsylvania, was arrested with LaSota in Maryland, and has been charged with providing weapons to Youngblut in Vermont.

“Through cap and invest, we can both clean up our air and create consistent revenue that invests in our communities and puts money back into New Yorkers’ pockets.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul. (Don Pollard/Office of Governor Hochul)

The future of energy affordability in New York is being decided right now, and so far, we’re not impressed. Last year, days away from the expected rollout of proposed regulations for the state’s cap-and-invest program, Gov. Kathy Hochul decided to kick the climate can down the road.

Now, these life-saving regulations remain under bureaucratic lock and key while overburdened communities continue to pay for pollution, climate disasters, and skyrocketing costs with their wallets and health. This summer, as we discuss the first phase of the program, is a moment for bold leadership from the governor. The stakes couldn’t be higher for working-class New Yorkers, communities of color, and anyone who believes that clean air and economic justice go hand in hand.

The cap-and-invest program is simple: require corporate polluters to pay for their emissions and allow the state to invest that money in good-paying jobs that build out an infrastructure of energy efficiency, climate adaptation, public health, and energy affordability for New Yorkers. Currently, New York doesn’t have a tool that reduces our statewide emissions and raises ongoing funding for climate action. Through cap and invest, we can both clean up our air and create consistent revenue that invests in our communities and puts money back into New Yorkers’ pockets. 

This revenue can be used to make direct payments to help New Yorkers cut down on consumer costs. A report created in collaboration with Resources for the Future (RFF) and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA) makes one thing clear: We don’t have to choose between climate action and economic justice. Our study shows that many New Yorkers could save money under a cap-trade-and-invest program, especially when payments to New Yorkers are targeted by region and income.

Furthermore, a high price for corporations to pay to pollute yields the greatest savings for many New Yorkers, particularly those in households making less than $200,000 per year. By requiring polluters to pay for the toxins they dump in our air, we can clean up our air and improve public health without increasing costs for everyday New Yorkers. The RFF and NYC-EJA report proves that we can make New York a safe and affordable place to live, but only if we make corporate polluters pay for their emissions and close the loopholes that let them off the hook. 

The truth is, we can’t afford to move any slower when it comes to reducing pollution and implementing climate solutions. The climate crisis is here, and New Yorkers are feeling the pain as we see extreme temperatures and weather events. Not to mention, we’ve been paying for the climate crisis while corporations and billionaires destroy our planet and environment for profit. 

The Climate Action Council (CAC) and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority estimate that we need a minimum of $10 billion annually to reduce our emissions and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate, with the potential of that number increasing every year.

The costs to address the climate crisis may seem overwhelming, but the savings and benefits of climate action are far greater. Research from the Climate Action Council showed that making immediate climate investments to meet the mandates of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (or the “Climate Act”) would result in net benefits to New York ranging from $80 to $150 billion over 30 years. This, coupled with a reduction in statewide emissions, will help reduce the damage of climate change, saving New York State an estimated $260 billion. 

Until Gov. Hochul implements the cap-and-invest program, New Yorkers will continue to pay for higher costs driven by food and water shortages, disease and sickness, climate disasters, deteriorating infrastructure, and fossil fuels. The math is clear despite the preference to hide behind the pretense that there isn’t enough information or available tools to act today.

We must design the program so that money, savings, and health benefits from its implementation go to disadvantaged communities. If the state fails to include measures like banning trading in or near these communities, then New York will be forced to repeat the same environmental injustices as seen in California and risk creating or worsening existing pollution hot spots.

New York policymakers must stand firm. Low-income New Yorkers already pay the price of pollution with their health and medical bills, as asthma rates soar in communities near power plants and highways. They shouldn’t have to pay twice—once with their lungs, and again with their wallets.

The Climate Act, which requires a statewide reduction of pollution, was meant to be a groundbreaking law for climate and justice, and it still can be if it’s actually funded and implemented. Gov. Hochul has a choice: Will she make corporate polluters pay and fight for our right to breathe clean air, or will she keep letting them poison and destroy our communities and charge us more while they’re at it?

She cannot delay any longer. She can reduce our emissions, cut consumer costs, and help with energy affordability today. In the meantime, we must demand that our leaders put people over big polluters and make the transition to a cleaner, healthier, more affordable future for all. 

Eddie Bautista is executive director of New York City Environmental Justice Alliance.

The post Opinion: It’s time to Cap Pollution, Lower Energy Bills, and Invest in NY’s Future appeared first on City Limits.

Ramsey County commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved a salary increase of 3% for board members.

With the approved increase, effective Jan. 1, board members’ salaries will increase from $104,077 to $107,199. The board chair’s salary will increase from $109,338 to $112,559.

County employees with settled bargaining agreements and unrepresented employees received a general wage increase of 3% in 2025. The seven-member board typically sets commissioner salary increases at a rate that matches general wage increases for county employees in the previous year, according to county officials.

Board members cited that precedence ahead of the vote.

“I just wanted to just mention again, that this is similar across our entire organization,” said District 6 commissioner Mai Chong Xiong at Tuesday’s meeting. “That this is just average of what we had bargained and negotiated last year through all of our contracts, so it is nothing above what our county staff are receiving. So just wanted to mention that, and that it’s because of our charter that we are required to just do this every single year.”

St. Paul city officials also often receive a cost of living increase, Xiong said, adding that the county’s process is likely one of the more transparent ones. Ramsey County is the only county in the state that’s required to vote on commissioner salaries prior to elections, said board chair and District 5 commissioner Rafael Ortega.

Commissioners are awarded $800 per month for everyday expenses they incur while working as elected officials, according to county officials. Commissioner aides receive $400 per month. These amounts were not increased by Tuesday’s vote.

In Ramsey County, salary increases also were approved last year, going from $101,280 to $104,077 for commissioners and from $104,477 to $109,338 for the chair.

The current annual salary for commissioners in Hennepin County is $128,337, according to Hennepin County officials. A July proposal by Hennepin County commissioners to increase their annual salaries to $182,141 was later withdrawn following pushback from county residents.

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By MARYCLAIRE DALE

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Striking city workers waved signs at traffic near Philadelphia City Hall and formed picket lines outside libraries, city offices and other workplaces as nearly 10,000 blue-collar workers walked off the job Tuesday

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Seeking better pay and benefits, District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees announced the strike on its Facebook page early Tuesday.

Mayor Cherelle Parker said the city would suspend residential trash collection, close some city pools and shorten recreation center hours, but vowed to keep the city running. Police and firefighters are not on strike, but the DC33 membership includes 911 dispatchers, trash collectors, water department workers and many others.

By midday Tuesday, three librarians in town from Knoxville, Tennessee, for a convention arrived to tour the Free Library of Philadelphia on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, only to find the wrought iron gates closed as workers cheerfully protested outside. They stopped to chat with them and offer their support.

“We’re just out here trying to get fair wages, to try to get a better cost of living, because, as you know, everything in the world right now is going up,” said Dhafir Gerald, 48, a library security guard who said he loves the city because it gave him a second chance after a long-ago incarceration.

“The city has the money to pay us,” said Gerald, who makes about $46,000 a year after six years of service, the first few with the sanitation department. “We are the backbone of the city.”

Parker, a pro-labor Democrat, promised that Fourth of July celebrations in the nation’s birthplace would go on as usual.

“Keep your holiday plans. Don’t leave the city,” she said at a Monday afternoon news conference that followed hours of last-minute negotiations.

In a statement Tuesday, the mayor said the city had “put its best offer on the table.” The city offered raises that amount to 13% over her four-year term, including last year’s 5% bump, and added a fifth step to the pay scale to align with other city unions, she said.

FILE- Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker speaks during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Nov. 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)

“The City of Philadelphia remains committed to reaching a fair and fiscally responsible contract with our municipal workers who are a part of DC 33,” Parker said. “We are ready, willing and able to resume negotiations with the union at their convenience.”

City officials urged residents to be patient and not hang up should they need to call either 911 or the city’s nonemergency helpline. They said they would open drop-off sites for residential trash.

District Council 33 is the largest of four major unions representing city workers. Union president Greg Boulware did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Union leaders, in their initial contract proposal, asked for 8% annual raises each year of the three-year contract, along with cost-of-living hikes and bonuses of up to $5,000 for those who worked through the pandemic. The union also asked the city to pay the full cost of employee health care, or $1,700 per person per month.

In November, the city transit system averted a strike when the parties agreed to a one-year contract with 5% raises.

A DC33 trash strike in the summer of 1986 left the city without trash pickup for three weeks, leading trash to pile up on streets, alleyways and drop-off sites.

“Like any workers in this country, I think that they have a right to expect a livable wage, and it’s really nice to see our country’s ability to still have strikes and still have public dissent,” Nick Shuhan, a 34-year-old editor and property manager who lives in Center City, said Tuesday. “So I stand with them.”