By CEDAR ATTANASIO

SEATTLE (AP) — Six puppies in rural Washington state will soon be up for adoption after being revived after a suspected drug overdose — and some of them might go home with the fire-station staff who saved them.

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Two people dropped off three of the sickened puppies at Sky Valley Fire, about an hour’s drive northeast of Seattle, on Sunday. Officials believe the animals either breathed or ate fentanyl.

Firefighters sprayed the anti-overdose medication naloxone up their noses, and also treated them with oxygen and even performed CPR. It wasn’t long before their tails started wagging, Battalion Chief Brandon Vargas said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, sheriff’s deputies tracked down the people believed to have dropped off the dogs and found three more puppies that also needed treatment. An animal cruelty or neglect investigation is underway. The pair claimed they were caring for the puppies temporarily, authorities said.

There have been a number of other cases nationally where pets have been saved after being exposed to fentanyl or other opioids.

The puppies have a clean bill of health, but are being quarantined for about one more week before being released for adoption, said David Byrd, manager of Snohomish County Animal Services.

The Everett animal shelter that has been monitoring their health has been overwhelmed with adoption offers, and asked people to not call the shelter with questions about the puppies.

“We definitely have some personnel that are interested in wanting to adopt those,” Vargas said.

In February of last year, the Texas Observer reported that James “Jim” Joseph Rodden—an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assistant chief counsel who acts as a prosecutor for ICE in immigration court in Dallas—operates a white supremacist X account named GlomarResponder, based on an overwhelming number of biographical details that the Observer matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation.

The account has over 17,000 followers and has routinely posted hateful statements, including that “America is a White nation,” that “‘Migrants’ are all criminals,” and that “All blacks are foreign to my people,” in addition to posts with apparent praise of Adolf Hitler.

After the Observer’s initial story was published, Rodden was apparently pulled from federal immigration court schedules. Three members of Congress sent letters to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security demanding an investigation into Rodden. ICE responded in a letter last March to Congressman Marc Veasey, who represents part of Dallas, stating that the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) “understands the seriousness of the allegations and will ensure the allegations are addressed appropriately, fairly, and expeditiously” and that typically “OPR administrative investigations are completed within 120 days.” ICE has not provided any further information since.

Upon receiving a tip from a source that works inside the Dallas Immigration Court, the Observer arrived at the courtroom of Judge Deitrich H. Sims Tuesday afternoon ahead of the day’s merits hearings for federal immigration cases. When the Observer opened the door to the courtroom, Rodden was sitting at the prosecutor’s desk. A court clerk said the Observer was not allowed to sit in on the hearings. The Observer also obtained a photo of Rodden exiting the courtroom Tuesday wearing his staff badge. 

James Rodden at the federal immigration court in Dallas on January 13, 2026.

ICE did not immediately respond to the Observer’s request for comment on Rodden’s employment status. 

Rodden’s apparent return to work as an ICE prosecutor in immigration court comes at a time when ICE’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics are driving national controversy and mass protests, especially after an ICE agent in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Good, a mother and award-winning poet, on January 7.

Rodden’s X account, GlomarResponder, is set to private but is still active. On September 28, 2025, the account responded to the question “Can anyone point to me exactly where America started going downhill?” The account responded: “November 6, 1860”—the date that President Abraham Lincoln, the president whose administration ended slavery, was elected.

The post ICE Prosecutor Who Runs Racist X Account Returns to Dallas Immigration Court  appeared first on The Texas Observer.

“After 30 years of organizing and a unanimous City Council vote, the Kingsbridge Armory is finally moving forward with a plan rooted in community priorities,” the author writes. “For the Bronx, this is a historic milestone. For New York City, it should be a model.”

A 2023 press conference where city leaders announced long-awaited renovation plans for the Kingsbridge Armory. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

New York’s recent mayoral transition is giving the city a fresh opportunity to reconsider not only what it builds, but also how projects get built and who gets to shape them. As Mayor Zohran Mamdani sets his housing and economic development agenda, he should look no further than the Bronx’s massive Kingsbridge Armory: a public asset that sat empty for three decades amid neighborhood-wide displacement, disinvestment and widening inequality. 

Late last year, I stood at City Hall with Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, Congressman Adriano Espaillat, New York City Economic Development Corporation leadership, and dozens of union workers to announce a milestone Bronx residents have organized for across generations, reflecting a hard-won shift in what New York City can be if it chooses to build with communities. 

After 30 years of organizing and a unanimous City Council vote, the Kingsbridge Armory is finally moving forward with a plan rooted in community priorities: family-sustaining jobs, small business protections, deep affordability, and environmental standards that match the urgency of this moment. For the Bronx, this is a historic milestone.  For New York City, it should be a model.  

What makes Kingsbridge different is not simply the scale of the building, but the scale of the community leadership behind it. From the very first day of planning, my organization, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, organized to ensure that the Armory redevelopment reflects the needs and leverages the assets of the people who live and work in Kingsbridge. In 2022, we helped launch and co-lead the Together for Kingsbridge visioning process alongside Councilmember Sanchez and NYCEDC, engaging more than 4,000 Bronx community members over seven months through meetings, surveys and workshops. 

People were clear: they wanted a project that prioritized young people, created family-sustaining jobs, built wealth for existing residents, supported local businesses and maximized community ownership. That process, which culminated with the “Together for Kingsbridge” vision plan, produced a community vision that helped set the terms for what the project should be. 

But visioning alone is not sufficient. Communities across the city know what it feels like to be asked for input after the major decisions are already made. Once the city selected a developer, we reimagined what it would mean for the community to be more than a stakeholder and instead to be a partner with real leverage. We signed on as a development partner and brokered an unprecedented agreement to take an ownership stake in the Armory, securing upfront commitments to community space, affordable commercial and manufacturing space, and family-sustaining jobs. 

The partnership worked both ways. While this agreement amounts to major wins for the community, it also strengthens the project’s ability to succeed. NWBCCC brought aligned funders and mission-driven capital to the table. We also initiated the process to identify commercial and community tenants who can thrive at the Armory, and we brokered critical conversations between the developer, community leaders, and key decision-makers. We didn’t just fight back against out-of-touch or ill-conceived ideas for the Armory—we fought forward as partners, helping shape a project that can actually deliver.  

We also organized to ensure the project will be built with union labor through a Project Labor Agreement, because public assets should not be developed on the backs of underpaid workers.  

And then, the night before the historic City Council vote, our coalition landed one of the most important safeguards of the project: a signed Community Benefits Agreement. That hallmark, legally-binding agreement not only enshrines our community priorities into the blueprint for the Armory; it establishes expectations for accountability and transparency so the commitments can be tracked, enforced and protected over time. After months of negotiating the agreement and years of community organizing, the plan for the Armory’s redevelopment is one that we can be proud of.

This is what community power looks like—aligning stakeholders, raising mission-aligned capital, and advancing a new model for development that actually gets projects built.  

The Kingsbridge Armory will unlock opportunities for generations of Bronxites. It can create real pathways for young people, anchor local entrepreneurship, and reinvest wealth back into the community that kept this vision alive. New York City has a choice to make in the new administration: it can continue the old pattern of top-down development that fuels displacement and distrust, or it can adopt the Kingsbridge model where communities are engaged early and meaningfully, and able to own and govern the future being built in their backyards.

Let Kingsbridge be a lesson to the city, the state, and the developers working in our neighborhoods: real community partnership is how progress becomes real and how it lasts. 

Sandra Lobo is the executive director of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.

The post Opinion: Kingsbridge Armory Deal Shows Community is Key to Building in New York appeared first on City Limits.

The man accused of an October homicide was “on the hunt” for the victim and shot the wrong person a day before the killing, Duluth authorities said Monday.

Branden Russel King, 32, of Duluth, was arraigned on a charge of intentional second-degree murder in the death of Chazz Toney, 35, in the Central Hillside neighborhood.

Toney was shot in the back of the head immediately after exiting a residence at 209 W. Third St. at 12:17 a.m. Oct. 10, according to court documents. Witnesses reportedly told police King had been hanging around outside the apartment, inquiring about Toney’s whereabouts, and was seen standing next to his body after the gunshots rang out.

Another man had been shot in the chest approximately 24 hours earlier, a few blocks away, but survived his injuries. King allegedly told a witness that it was “the wrong guy” and that he was “supposed to find” Toney.

Authorities have not revealed any motive for the killing, but court documents indicate the case has significant ties to local drug sales.

“This case revolves around allegations that Mr. King was basically on the hunt for one victim, to track him down and kill him,” St. Louis County prosecutor Vicky Wanta said. “In trying to track down the victim, he accidentally shot the wrong guy and then found the actual, intended victim the next day and ended up killing him. So, we actually have two victims as part of this case.”

Toney was found face down with two 9 mm shell casings near his body when officers responded to the scene. A woman was crying on top of the victim, whom she identified only as “Cash.”

A criminal complaint says investigators were able to identify King as a suspect based on surveillance video from the Damiano Center, a homeless shelter that shares an alley with the apartment. Multiple people who were shown the footage reportedly confirmed he was the man seen walking behind the building at 11:45 p.m.

Forensic analysis also suggested the casings recovered at the scene were likely fired from the same firearm that was used in the shooting shortly before 1 a.m. Oct. 9 near Third Avenue East and Sixth Street, the complaint states.

A witness went on to tell investigators she was inside the apartment at 209 W. Third St. when King arrived in the early morning hours of Oct. 9. She said he showed her a small handgun with a red laser sight, asking her if she had seen Toney and indicating he was the intended target.

The complaint says King returned to the apartment the next day, wearing a mask and again asking about Toney. The witness reported he was “lingering in the vicinity of the porch” until about an hour before the shooting.

According to the complaint, another witness who lives in the apartment told police Toney came over to visit, smoke marijuana and prepare dinner. Moments after he left, both women reported hearing gunshots outside.

One of the women said she looked out a window and saw King, still wearing the same clothing and mask and “appearing frozen,” near the victim. The other witness tried calling Toney’s phone; she reported hearing the rings outside and saw his legs moving, but he did not answer and quickly became motionless.

King also faces a second-degree assault charge for the Oct. 9 shooting. In that case, the victim was reportedly walking down Sixth Street when he said an unknown man approached him, said something about drugs and started shooting.

The victim, identified in search warrants as Waisu W. Moore, 47, told police he returned fire. He was struck three times, suffering a broken clavicle.

King has a long criminal record, including felony convictions for fifth-degree drug possession and receiving stolen property. Other offenses include fleeing from police, escaping from the Northeast Regional Corrections Center, theft, trespassing and giving police a false name.

He is currently on probation after pleading guilty in August to violating a domestic abuse no-contact order. Another complaint was filed late Friday, charging him with two gross misdemeanor counts of domestic violence; he was allegedly captured on video striking his girlfriend in a downtown alley Oct. 10, the same day he is accused of killing Toney.

Judge Shawn Pearson granted a request from Wanta to set unconditional bail at $1 million based on public safety concerns and flight risk. However, he is also currently subject to a probation violation hold without bail.

Based on his history, King faces up to the statutory maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted of murder.

But the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office could also convene a grand jury to consider an indictment for premeditated first-degree murder, which carries mandatory life without parole.

King’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 26.

The case was one of five reported homicides in the city last year, and one of three to involve gun violence. It was the only investigation that did not immediately result in an arrest.