Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including a woman on trial for seditious conspiracy in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol took the witness stand without warning; Homeless veterans sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs over the lack of housing on the agency's flagship campus in West Los Angeles; An Arizona man who maintained his innocence for a 1980 double murder was put to death after the Supreme Court denied him a stay of execution, and more.

National

Militia commander indicted with Oath Keepers is final trial witness

Pushing back the schedule for closing arguments, another of the five defendants on trial for seditious conspiracy in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol took the witness stand Wednesday without warning to the court.

This artist sketch from Oct. 6, 2022, depicts the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four others charged with seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)

The good, the bad and the cringe: Pew says teens view social media as a neutral

Standing up to the barrage of trend pieces about what apps like Instagram are doing to childhood in the 21st century, the Pew Research Center released a report Wednesday with insights from the teens themselves about their social media usage.

(Image by Cyn Yoder from Pixabay via Courthouse News)

Regional

Homeless vets sue VA over lack of housing on West LA campus

Fourteen homeless veterans sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs late Tuesday night over the lack of housing on the agency's flagship campus in West Los Angeles.

"Veteran's Row," a homeless encampment that sprang up near the VA's West LA campus, which was cleared in 2021. (Image from complaint via Courthouse News)

Texas execution will go ahead without adherence to prayer precedent

A man facing the death penalty in Texas failed Wednesday to have his execution suspended to enforce his religious rights.

Stephen Barbee is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 16, 2022, for his convictions in the 2005 killings of his former girlfriend and her 7-year-old child in Texas. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via Courthouse News Service)

Discovery of exculpatory evidence won’t halt execution in Arizona

A man who maintained his innocence for a 1980 double murder was put to death in Arizona on Wednesday afternoon after the U.S. Supreme Court denied him a stay of execution that morning.

Murray Hooper is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 16, 2022, for his convictions in the 1980 killings of Pat Redmond and his mother-in-law, Helen Phelps, in Phoenix. (Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry via Courthouse News Service)

R. Kelly files for acquittal or new trial in Chicago

Two months after Chicago jurors found R. Kelly guilty on six federal child porn and sexual enticement charges, his lead attorney is attempting to overturn their verdict.

Musician R. Kelly leaves the Leighton Criminal Court building in Chicago on June 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Amr Alfiky, File)

Texas governor calls on Biden to squelch ‘invasion’ of migrants

Accusing the Biden administration of violating the Constitution by failing to protect Texas from an invasion by Mexican drug cartels and undocumented immigrants, Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday said the state will escalate its efforts to turn back those who enter illegally.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott arrives to speaks at an election night campaign event in McAllen, Texas, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Science

Earth regulates its own temperature over time, scientists say

Since the early 1980s, scientists have believed that silicate weathering plays a major role in stabilizing Earth's surface temperature, but they could really only theorize as to what unknown factor kept the planet, and by extension everything on it, alive despite climate changes. In a study published Wednesday in Science Advances, scientists say they've confirmed that theory.

Overview of Earth as it processes climate change. (Christine Daniloff, MIT; NASA via Courthouse News)

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