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Small Business Lifestyle

Withlacoochee River levels continue to rise, residents being evacuated [Video]

RIDGE MANOR, Fla., (WFLA) The water levels from the Withlacoochee River continue to rise in Hernando County, which is putting residents and their homes in jeopardy. Rescue crews have been working around the clock to evacuate people. The flooding has forced the closure of US 301 between State Road 50 and State Road 575. []

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Small Business Lifestyle

Retrial begins for former Massachusetts corrections officer charged in girl’s 1988 death [Video]

A retrial began Tuesday for a former Massachusetts corrections officer accused of killing an 11-year-old New Hampshire girl 35 years ago. Marvin “Skip” McClendon Jr. was arrested at his home in Alabama in April 2022 and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the deadly stabbing of Melissa Ann Tremblay of Salem, New Hampshire.He did assault and beat Melissa Ann Tremblay, prosecutor Jessica Strasnick said. Tremblay’s body was found at the old Boston & Maine Railway Yard on Sept. 12, 1988.The sixth grader had been with her mother at the LaSalle Social Club in Lawrence, a block from the rail yard. She wandered out and was never seen alive again.Stab wounds to her abdomen, two stab wounds to her rib cage and her throat slit, Strasnick said.Prosecutors showed video of when police first talk with McClendon in his Alabama home alleging he knew details about the crime never made public.”Some of the things that he described had actually never been published,” Strasnick said.But his defense attorney says the DNA prosecutors have is not conclusive to McClendon. “It is not exclusive to one person by DNA profile. It’s not even exclusive to one family,” said defense attorney Henry Fasoldt. The jury failed to reach a verdict in his first murder trial last year.”We loved her, and I hope she knew how much we loved her,” said Tremblay’s cousin, Daneille Root.McClendon was working in carpentry at the time of the girl’s death. Officials said he worked for the Department of Corrections off and on between 1970 and 2002 before retiring and leaving Massachusetts.Investigators said McClendon had been a longtime person of interest in Tremblay’s murder. Prosecutors said DNA evidence led officials to a group of people related to McClendon. Court documents show investigators interviewed several people with the same surname last year.”To be here now, even though its the second trial, were pretty confident they found the right person,” Root said. Previous coverage:

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Small Business Lifestyle

Slain teen was wearing an ankle monitor that wasn’t being tracked at time of death; sources say [Video]

New details have emerged about the death of a 15-year-old killed one week ago in New Orleans East.Fifteen-year-old Jvoine Elow Jr. was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of his death, but it was not being actively tracked. The news has some in the criminal justice community ringing the alarm.WDSU Reporter Shay O’Connor was live at New Orleans Police Department Headquarters with more on where the investigation is ongoing.No one has been arrested in Elow’s death, and officials said if he had been tracked in real-time, it could have prevented his death.Matthew Dennis, the president of the Association of Supervised Ankle Monitoring Providers, said, “There’s nobody watching it. No one is making sure the young man is at home.”Dennis said had there been real-time tracking on Elow’s monitor ankle monitor, officials would have been immediately notified that the teen was not at home. Dennis said, “The equipment and the process that’s being used is perfectly fine working equipment. It’s broken only in the fact that it’s not being supervised.”Sources told WDSU that the 15-year-old had two open cases at the time of his death. According to his release order, the teen was to abide by the juvenile city-wide curfew and wear an ankle monitor. He had just finished an intensive in-home supervision program without any violations and was headed down the right path according to family and officials at Martin Luther King High where the teen attended school. His grandparents and brother were devastated at his passing. Eluteria Elow-King, the grandmother of Jvoine Elow Jr., said, “This has taken a toll on me. I just can’t deal with this. This is so hard. I’m going to miss him.”School officials told WDSU that the teen had just left a city-led youth program called Pathways when he went to the apartment complex and not home where his grandparents were expecting him.The teen was allegedly involved in a fight before being shot and killed. Rafael Goyeneche with the Metropolitan Crime Commission said that had the juvenile judicial system had been up to par on monitoring, it would have stopped what is now a rippling effect. Rafael Goyeneche said, “We need to know why something wasn’t done to address that. That technology is only effective if there are people monitoring the equipment.”District Attorney Jason Williams also released a statement on the situation:Obviously, there are no guarantees. However, if a judge, hearing officer or penal institution orders placement of an electronic monitoring device on a young person, that order should include real-time monitoring to immediately identify and alert of any curfew or location violations. This real-time monitoring would cause the juvenile to be quickly picked up and detained when a violation occurs, possibly preventing loss of life. The disciplined use of electronic monitoring technology with real-time tracking can not only interrupt juvenile criminal activity, but also play a vital role in protecting juveniles as well as the public at large.Live monitoring is especially critical for an electronic monitoring program aimed at juveniles, given that juveniles are naturally more impulsive and willing to test boundaries. They need to know that someone will notice and respond promptly if they deviate from whats expected. Without that accountability, theyre essentially positioned to fail, and in some cases, this can be very dangerous.A new law takes effect January 1st. that all ankle monitors must be monitored in real-time, whether it’s an adult or juvenile.If you know anything that could lead to an arrest in Elow’s death, call Crime Stoppers at 822-1111. Elow will be laid to rest this Saturday at his school, MLK High, in the Lower 9th Ward.Donate to Elow’s family for funeral expenses by clicking the link below:Fundraiser by Eluteria Elow-King : Help Honor Jvoine’s Life and Legacy (gofundme.com)