Philip Marcelo, Author at The Rapid City Post

An MS-13 leader is sentenced to 68 years in case involving 8 Long Island murders

July 2, 2025

The leader of an MS-13 gang clique in New York City’s suburbs has been sentenced to 68 years in prison in a federal case involving eight Long Island murders, including the 2016 killings of two high school girls. Alexi Saenz had faced up to 70 years in prison at his sentencing Wednesday in Central Islip federal court. He pleaded guilty last year to his role in authorizing the killings, which focused the nation’s attention on MS-13 violence. Saenz’s lawyers sought 45 years behind bars. Prosecutors previously withdrew their intent to seek the death penalty.

FILE - Revelers walk along Market Street during a Pride Parade, June 30, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File)

NYC, San Francisco and other US cities capping LGBTQ+ Pride month with a mix of party and protest

June 28, 2025

The monthlong celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride is reaching its rainbow-laden crescendo as New York and other major cities around the world host major parades and marches. Sunday’s festivities in Manhattan, the nation’s oldest and largest Pride celebration, kick off with a march that passes the landmark Stonewall Inn. In San Francisco, marchers will head down the city’s central Market Street. Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis and Toronto, Canada are among the other major North American cities hosting Pride parades on Sunday. Organizers say this year’s events are taking a more defiant stance than in previous years in the face of rollbacks of LGBTQ+ friendly policies.

FILE - Members of the Goya family wait for a ride, with their belongings, in front of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

New York City closes arrival center for migrants in once grand Manhattan hotel

June 24, 2025

New York City has closed the arrival center for migrants it had established in a once grand Manhattan hotel. The Roosevelt Hotel served as the first stop for tens of thousands of immigrants arriving in the city seeking free shelter and services until its closure Tuesday. The hotel had been an emblem of the city’s fraught efforts to manage the flood of new migrants when it opened two years ago. Migrant families lined the sidewalk outside the hotel waiting for shelter beds. It is not clear what happens next to the storied hotel, which is blocks from Grand Central Terminal.

FILE - The Unit 2 reactor at Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, N.Y., is seen, April 26, 2021, almost one year after it was shut down. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

New York governor seeks to build the state’s first new nuclear power plant in decades

June 23, 2025

New York’s governor is calling for the construction of the state’s first new nuclear power plant in decades. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday directed the state’s power authority to develop a plant in upstate New York. The Democrat says she envisioned an advanced facility that would help create a clean, reliable and affordable electric grid for the state. Hochul says the state needs to secure its “energy independence” if it wants to continue to attract large manufacturers. She wants the power authority to develop “at least” one new nuclear energy facility with a combined capacity of at least one gigawatt of electricity.

FILE - Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

Mahmoud Khalil can remain jailed over claims he lied on green card application, judge says

June 13, 2025

A federal judge says the Trump administration can continue to detain Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil on allegations that he lied on his green card application. U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz conceded in a brief filing Friday that the Republican administration can continue to hold the legal U.S. resident on those grounds since they were not addressed in his ruling earlier this week. The judge previously determined that Khalil couldn’t continue being held based on the U.S. secretary of state’s determination that he could harm American foreign policy. Khalil has been detained since March. He denies that he wasn’t forthcoming on the application.

FILE - Authorities work at the home of suspect Rex Heuermann, bottom right, in Massapequa Park, N.Y., July 24, 2023. Heuermann has been charged with killing at least three women in the long-unsolved slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Daughter of accused Gilgo Beach killer believes her father ‘most likely’ did it, new film says

June 10, 2025

The daughter of Rex Heuermann, the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer, told a new documentary she believes her father “most likely” responsible. The admission from Victoria Heuermann comes near the end of “The Gilgo Beach Killer: House of Secrets,” a three-part documentary released Tuesday on NBC’s streaming service Peacock. Her mother, Asa Ellerup, is also prominently featured in the documentary and steadfastly defends her ex-husband’s innocence. Heuermann’s lawyer didn’t immediately comment. The Manhattan architect has pleaded not guilty to killing seven women, most of them sex workers, and dumping their bodies on a desolate stretch of beachside road on Long Island.

FILE - Nicole Daedone, center, founder and former CEO of OneTaste, departs Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 in New York. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)

Leaders of ‘orgasmic meditation’ women’s wellness company OneTaste convicted in forced labor trial

June 9, 2025

The leaders of a sex-focused women’s wellness company that promoted “orgasmic meditation” have been convicted of federal forced labor charges. A Brooklyn jury on Monday found 57-year-old Nicole Daedone and 44-year-old Rachel Cherwitz guilty after deliberating for less than two days following a roughly monthlong trial. Daedone is the founder of OneTaste Inc., and Cherwitz is the California company’s former sales director. Prosecutors argued the two had groomed adherents to do their bidding for years. Daedone’s defense lawyer cast her as a “ceiling-shattering feminist entrepreneur” who created a unique business around women’s sexuality and empowerment.

Detained Columbia graduate claims ‘irreparable harm’ to career and family as he pleads for release

June 5, 2025

A Columbia graduate facing deportation over his pro-Palestinian activism on campus has outlined the “irreparable harm” caused by his continued detention as a federal judge weighs his release. Mahmoud Khalil said in court filings unsealed Thursday that the “most immediate and visceral harms” he’s faced during his months in custody relate to missing out on the birth of his first child. He also cited potentially “career-ending” harms from the ordeal, noting that Oxfam International has already rescinded a job offer. Khalil’s statement was among a number of legal declarations submitted by his lawyers highlighting the wide-ranging impacts of his arrest.

FILE - Chiefs signs and logos are displayed Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y., Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

New York won’t rescind Native American mascot ban despite Trump’s threat of cutting federal funds

June 5, 2025

New York education officials have refused to rescind the state’s ban on Native American mascots and team names, despite threats from the Trump administration that it risks losing federal funding. State officials suggested in a letter to the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday that they could instead broaden the state ban to include names and mascots derived from other racial or ethnic groups that the department deems offensive. The federal agency last week determined New York’s ban is discriminatory because names and mascots that are still permitted are also derived from other racial or ethnic groups, such as the “Dutchmen” and the “Huguenots.”

Trump’s education secretary threatens to pull funding from NY over its Native American mascot ban

May 30, 2025

President Donald Trump’s top education official says her department has determined that New York is discriminating against a school district that is refusing a state order to get rid of its Native American chief mascot. U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said on a visit to Massapequa High School on Long Island on Friday that the state could risk losing federal funding or face a Justice Department investigation. McMahon says her department will be asking the state to voluntarily sign a resolution rescinding its ban on Native American mascots and allowing districts to continue using the image and name of their choosing.

FILE - Signs, including some advising drivers of congestion pricing tolls, are displayed near the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel in New York, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Judge temporarily blocks Trump from retaliating against New York over congestion toll

May 27, 2025

A federal judge has temporarily prevented President Donald Trump from retaliating against New York over its Manhattan congestion toll. Judge Lewis Liman on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the federal government from withholding federal funds or taking other punitive actions against the state for imposing a new toll on drivers entering the busiest part of Manhattan. The toll had been approved under former President Joe Biden, but Trump has been a vocal critic of the program. The native New Yorker’s namesake Trump Tower and other properties are within the congestion zone, which generally covers Manhattan south of Central Park.

Former New York state trooper pleads guilty to faking his own shooting

May 21, 2025

A former New York state trooper has pleaded guilty to charges that he shot himself then falsely claimed he was wounded by an unknown gunman on a Long Island highway. Thomas Mascia formally changed his plea during a court appearance Wednesday in Mineola. He had been charged with official misconduct, tampering with evidence and falsifying documents. Mascia’s parents also pleaded guilty Wednesday to firearms charges. Prosecutors say Mascia shot himself in a park, stashed the gun, drove to the highway and called for backup. His lawyer has said Mascia suffers from untreated mental health issues.

This undated photo provided by the Library of Congress shows the Thomas Indian school in Irving, N.Y. (Library of Congress via AP)

NY governor apologizes for ‘atrocities’ at state boarding school for Native Americans

May 20, 2025

New York’s governor has formally apologized for the “atrocities” she says were committed at an upstate boarding school where Native American youths were forcibly separated from their families and forced to assimilate into American society. Gov. Kathy Hochul also said on her Tuesday visit to Seneca Nation land that her budget will include funding to create new education materials about local indigenous communities and their contributions. Seneca President J. Conrad Seneca, who invited the Democrat, said the apology was overdue. The Thomas Indian School in western New York operated from 1875 to 1957 and was among hundreds of such boarding schools across the U.S.

Philip Marcelo.