Jennifer Peltz, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - A newspaper with a photograph of Etan Patz is seen on May 28, 2012, at a makeshift memorial in the SoHo neighborhood of New York, where Patz lived before his disappearance on May 25, 1979. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Prosecutors may appeal to US Supreme Court on 1979 missing child Etan Patz case

August 8, 2025

Prosecutors say they may appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to restore a murder conviction in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz. A federal appeals court recently overturned the conviction of Pedro Hernandez. He is the former shop clerk who became a suspect over 30 years after the New York City first-grader vanished. Prosecutors asked the appeals court Friday to hold off sending the case back to a lower-level federal judge to set a retrial date. A message seeking comment was sent to Hernandez’s lawyers. Hernandez already has been tried twice, as his 2017 conviction came after a prior jury couldn’t reach a verdict.

FILE - This undated image provided by the U.S. Department of State shows Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a historic leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. (U.S. Department of State via AP)

US won’t seek death penalty for Mexican drug lords Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and Rafael Caro Quintero

August 5, 2025

U.S. prosecutors won’t seek the death penalty in their cases against Mexican drug lords Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Rafael Caro Quintero. Prosecutors disclosed their decision in brief letters to judges on Tuesday. Caro Quintero and Zambada have pleaded not guilty to an array of drug trafficking charges. It is unclear whether taking the death penalty off the table signals any possibility of a plea deal with either or both men. Prosecutors declined to comment. The men’s lawyers welcomed the decision but were circumspect about what happens next. The prosecutions are separate, but they similarly target two of Mexico’s most notorious narcos.

The New York Post is seen at a newsstand in Manhattan, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)

Post to Coast: New York Post plans a California newspaper

August 4, 2025

The New York Post is launching a California tabloid newspaper and news site next year. The company announced the plan Monday. The California Post will add another title to Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. And the new paper stands to bring an assertive, irreverent and conservative-friendly fixture of the Big Apple media landscape to the Golden State. Plans for the Los Angeles-based paper call for a print edition seven days a week, plus a website, social media accounts and videos and audio pieces. The venture is being launched into a turbulent atmosphere for the news business. But the Post expects its voice, editorial lens and coverage will be a hit in California.

FILE - French bulldogs compete in breed group judging during the 148th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, May 13, 2024, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

PETA sues American Kennel Club over standards for French bulldogs, other breeds

July 8, 2025

The animal rights group PETA is suing to try to force the American Kennel Club to abandon the standards it backs for French bulldogs and some other breeds. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York, PETA contends that the influential club is promoting unhealthy physical features in Frenchies, bulldogs, dachshunds, pugs and Chinese shar-peis. The AKC says it categorically rejects PETA’s assertion that the standards create unhealthy dogs. The club also raps what it calls PETA’s “mischaracterizations” of the standards in question. The lawsuit turns up the heat around a debate over attributes that have been honed to define some breeds, including French bulldogs. The AKC ranks Frenchies as the United States’ most popular breed.

Anne Burrell, TV chef who coached the ‘Worst Cooks in America,’ dies at 55

June 17, 2025

TV chef Anne Burrell, who coached culinary fumblers through hundreds of episodes of “Worst Cooks in America,” has died. The Food Network confirms that the 55-year-old Burrell died Tuesday at her New York home. Medical examiners are set to determine what caused her death. Burrell worked in upscale New York City restaurants before beginning her two-decade television career on “Iron Chef America.” She started hosting “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef” in 2008. She was known for bold and flavorful but not overly fancy dishes and for her 27 seasons on “Worst Cooks in America.”

Musk’s X sues New York over requirement to show how social media platforms handle problematic posts

June 17, 2025

Elon Musk’s X has sued to try to stop New York from requiring reports on how social media platforms define and handle problematic posts. The company sued Tuesday, after successfully challenging a similar measure in California. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed her state’s legislation late last year. The law is poised to take effect later this year. X maintains that the measure impinges on free speech rights and on a 1996 federal law that lets internet platforms moderate posts as they see fit. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office hasn’t immediately responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Harvey Weinstein appears for his retrial at a Manhattan court, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith, Pool)

Weinstein retrial nears end as lawyers argue: sexual predator or #MeToo ‘poster boy’?

June 3, 2025

Closing arguments are underway at Harvey Weinstein’s New York sex crimes retrial. His lawyer portrayed Weinstein Tuesday as the falsely accused “poster boy” of the #MeToo era. A prosecutor, on the other hand, said the former movie mogul preyed on less-powerful women he thought would never speak up. Closing arguments are due to conclude Wednesday. The majority-female jury is expected to start deliberations at some point in the day. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman in 2013 and forcing oral sex on two others, separately, in 2006.

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on Friday, May 30, 2025 in New York. (Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Harvey Weinstein doesn’t plan to testify at sex crimes retrial

June 1, 2025

An attorney for Harvey Weinstein says he doesn’t plan to testify in his New York sex crimes retrial. Lawyer Arthur Aidala says trial will move on to closing arguments Tuesday without Weinstein taking the stand. The former Hollywood honcho is being retried in the New York rape and sexual assault case because the state’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction. He denies the allegations. The 73-year-old didn’t testify at previous trials in New York and California.

For kids with autism, swim classes can be lifesaving

May 20, 2025

Some studies have shown that children with autism are more at risk of drowning. Experts say swimming instruction can help, but classes specifically designed for kids with autism aren’t always easy to get. One such class took place recently at the Small Fish Big Fish swim school in Florida. That’s a state where officials have documented more than 100 drownings of children with autism since 2021. The risk stems in large part from a propensity to wander off or underappreciate perils. Parents of children in the swimming class say they see it as potentially lifesaving.

Jennifer Peltz.