757Teamz Top 15

#6 Gloucester 15, Kecoughtan 0

Leigha Germain led Gloucester with five goals, followed by Reese Miller with four and Addy Jeffrey with two.

#15 Catholic 7, Walsingham Academy 1

Ava Morgan, Chloe Kiser and Lila Large each scored two goals and Anya Lindquist scored one for the Crusaders.

Non-district

Nansemond-Suffolk 4, Landstown 2

G-NSA-Farrell 2, DeFeo, Mugaisi.

Mackenzie Farrell scored two goals for the Saints.

757Teamz Top 15

#1 Kellam def. #5 First Colonial, 3-2

(25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 14-25, 15-13)

Joel Eanes had 18 kills and Dylan Calkin had 11 kills. The Knights combined for 27 blocks in their season opener.

#2 Ocean Lakes def. Landstown, 3-0

(25-16, 25-9, 25-15)

Barrett Scharfe and Vincent Yi combined for 22 kills while Donavon Velazquez tallied 36 assists and eight aces.

#4 Granby def. #10 Great Bridge, 3-0

(26-24, 25-15, 25-19)

Gabe Sol led the Comets with 10 kills and seven blocks. Davis Mendoza helped seal the Comets’ win with 15 digs. AJ Angeles had 35 assists and four aces.

# 8 Warwick def. Menchville, 3-0

Steven Harris had 19 assists and one dig, Pablo Ramos had 16 kills and eight digs, Tyler Sundee had seven kills and two aces, and Chase Schaffer had four kills.

Gloucester def #12 Denbigh, 3-1

(25-21, 25-27, 25-13, 25-23)

Hayden Simmons had 12 kills for the Dukes, while Colter Callis had eight kills and 17 assists. Grayson Shield had one kill, 24 assists and four aces, and Kohlby Wilson added seven kills, two aces and one block.

Princess Anne def. #13 Cox, 3-1

(12-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-12)

Walt Clevenger had 19 kills and three aces. Maciej Majcherczyk added 13 kills and five aces, and Will Murphy contributed 32 assists.

Beach District

Salem def. Bayside, 3-0.

Captain DJ Artimisi and Collin Mahaffey both made 12 kills, and Rylan Taylor had 29 assists. Artimisi made 29 digs, keeping numerous rallies going.

757Teamz Top 15

#1 Grafton def. #13 Poquoson, 3-0

(25-19, 25-16, 25-14)

Alexis Keeter had 16 kills and 11 digs in the Clippers’ season opener. Allyson Burke had 21 digs, Alana Washington had five aces and four blocks, and Kaylie Klemm had 12 assists.

#2 First Colonial def. #3 Kellam, 3-1

(27-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-19)

Jules Dooren had 47 assists for the Patriots, while Keely Heffelfinger had 20 kills, four aces, three blocks and 12 digs. Gabby Taylor had 11 kills, and Madison Horn had nine kills.

#7 York def. Warhill, 3-0

(25-17, 25-23, 25-12)

Ramsie Pittman had 12 kills and 15 digs. Ivy James had 17 assists with 9 digs. Kiran McVey had 14 aces. York is 1-0 to start the season.

#8 Cox def. #5 Princess Anne, 3-0

(25-16, 25-10, 25-16)

Senior Captain Marissa Moore has 13 kills. Senior Caitlyn Graves had 14 digs and 6 aces. Setter, Olivia Fortier and Leah Whitney totaled 26 assists.

#15 Bruton def. Smithfield, 3-0

(25-21, 25-20, 25-19).

Sienna Owens delivered 9 aces, Jolie Faw 4 blocks, 6 kills, Allie Millner 5 blocks, 6 kills, Cassie Hall and Mina Faw with 6 kills each. The Panthers are now 3-0.

Peninsula District

Menchville def. Warwick, 3-0

(25-22, 25-19, 25-9)

Lilly Abbitt: 13 kills, Caroline Clements: 7 kills, Emma Wade: 29 assists

Kecoughtan def. Hampton, 3-0

(25-18, 25-17, 25-10)

Madison Rumburg scored two aces, along with five assists and one kill; Leila Harris added three aces, six kills and a block; and Emory Racz helped the Warrior cause with three digs and two aces.

Beach District

Kempsville def. Green Run, 3-1

(25-16, 25-5, 25-11)

The Chiefs had 23 aces as a team. Alise Barbour had 8 kills and 4 aces, while Megan Willey had 7 kills and 5 aces.

Salem def. Bayside, 3-0

(25-23, 25-12, 25-12)

Luci Elmquist had 12 aces.  Alexis Morgan had 16 kills. Margaret Adolphe had 7 digs.

Ocean Lakes def. Landstown, 3-0

Gabby Carr and Kayla Bennett combine for 22 kills, while Julianna Lloyd contributes 34 assists.

Non-district

Lakeland def. I.C. Norcom, 3-1

(25-15, 25-21, 19-25, 25-22.)

Great Bridge def. Granby, 3-0

(25-12, 25-9, 25-12)

Hailey Hossfeld had 18 digs, Grace Slovensky had 9 kills, 10 assists and 5 aces. Isabel Burgdorf with 5 kills, 2 aces, and 7 digs.

Private

Summit Christian Academy def. Cape Henry Collegiate, 3-2

(25-17, 16-25, 16-25, 25-23, 15-11)

Greenbrier Christian Academy def. Gateway Christian, 3-0

(25-17, 25-7, 25-22)

Vivi Tucker had 20 digs and Julia Dailey and Logan Turchetta combined for 15 kills as GCA topped the Crusaders.

Golf

Beach District

Cox 291, Princess Anne 354

Easton Hamrick from Cox is the medalist, shooting a 5-under score of 67.

First Colonial 300, Kempsville 325, Salem 360

Bryce Jones medaled with a 68 at Stumpy Lake Golf Course.

Kellam 289, Landstown 332, Bayside 367

Jarell Armenio from Kellam and Caiden Brewton from Bayside tied for first place at Kempsville Greens, scoring 68.

Ocean Lakes 339, Tallwood 352, Green Run 353

Joshua Han, the medalist, shot an 80 at Heron Ridge Golf Course.

Southeastern District

Hickory 324, Nansemond River 346

Hickory’s Paul Fulfer shot a 75 at the Battlefield golf club.

Aug. 28—LOCKPORT — A top city official said he didn’t know the Lockport Cave and Underground Boat Ride planned to reopen until Monday morning when news outlets began calling him.

The Lockport Cave operation had remained closed since June 12, when its tour boat capsized, killing a Niagara Falls man and injuring 11 other passengers. One day later, Jason Dool, Lockport’s chief building inspector, deemed the attraction unsafe for occupancy.

Dool on Monday said he has had no recent communication with the operators of the business, which revealed Sunday that it would resume offering candlelight walking tours in the underground space. The announcement didn’t say anything about the boat tours.

“I had no knowledge that any of this was happening,” Dool said in an interview.

He said he is waiting to see proof that the company has corrected the electrical issues he found during an inspection one day after the fatal incident.

Thomas Callahan, the attraction’s co-owner, did not respond to messages seeking comment Monday. An employee who answered a knock at the door of the Lockport Cave said the company couldn’t talk to a reporter because of potential litigation.

The business announced Sunday on its Facebook page that it was now taking reservations for its cave walking tour.

“The staff and management of the Lockport Cave would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this unique and difficult period,” the company said on its website.

It’s not clear whether this means the City of Lockport has completed its investigation into the fatal incident.

Lockport Mayor Michelle Roman and Lockport Police Chief Steven Abbott did not answer requests for comment on Monday. Roman and Abbott have declined throughout the summer to provide updates on the status of the police-led investigation.

The fatal incident drew international attention and raised questions about who, if anyone, was responsible for oversight of the cave boat tour.

Twenty-eight passengers, all connected to the Niagara County tourism industry, and one operator were on the boat when it capsized, pitching everyone into the water.

Authorities described a chaotic scene in the darkened passageway as they worked to rescue those who couldn’t get themselves to safety.

Harshad Shah, 65, was pinned under the boat and drowned before he could be saved. He was a native of India and the longtime president of the Budget Host Inn in Niagara Falls. His wife also was on board and was injured in the incident.

Dool said he was called to the scene one day later by the Lockport police chief because of concerns about electrical installation in the tunnel area.

Dool previously said he found a broken conduit that left wiring exposed, including to water; areas where the wrong wiring was used; and a rusted panel box.

A sign posted June 13 on the door leading to the underground boat tour said the venue was unsafe for occupancy because of “electrical hazards.”

That sign was no longer on the door Monday, something that surprised Dool because, he said, only a city employee can remove it.

“To my knowledge,” he said, “they have not corrected any of the electrical issues that were identified in the cave.”

Dool said he expected to know more by Tuesday about next steps for the city and the attraction.

June 12 was not the first time a tour boat capsized in the cave. A similar incident took place in 2015, The Buffalo News previously reported, though no one was seriously injured in the earlier incident.

The News on June 16 requested records related to that earlier incident, and whether any follow-up inspection or response was made, from the state Power Authority, which oversees the Canal Corporation. The Authority has not yet provided any records.

(c)2023 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Coby Mayo hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning and the Norfolk Tides got strong back-end relief pitching in an 8-6 victory over the Worcester Red Sox before 7,213 fans Tuesday night at Polar Park in Massachusetts.

The Tides (77-49, 29-23 in second half) took a 1-0 lead in the series, which could serve as a preview of the International League Championship Series. Norfolk won the first half of the season, while the Red Sox (70-56, 31-20) lead the second-half standings by a game over the Durham Bulls.

Worcester struck first when Yu Chang hit a three-run homer off Tides starter Cade Povich in the bottom of the second inning.

Norfolk had an immediate answer in the top of the third when Heston Kjerstad hit an RBI triple and Kyle Stowers drilled a two-run homer to tie it. It was Stowers’ 14th of the season.

.@KyleStowers ties it up with a two-run blast in the third!

He now has 36 home runs in his career as a Tide, tying him with Jordan Westburg for 2nd most in a career since the Tides became an Orioles affiliate in 2007.#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/ac1GDSSpCO

— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) August 29, 2023

The Red Sox took the lead back at 5-3 in the bottom of the third on Bradley Zimmer’s two-run single.

The Tides got one run back in the fourth on Connor Norby’s infield RBI single, but Worcester made it 6-4 on Ronaldo Hernandez’s solo homer off Morgan McSweeney in the bottom of the fifth. It was his 17th of the season.

Norfolk tied it again in the seventh on Josh Lester’s groundout and a two-run throwing error by Chang.

Meanwhile, the Tides’ bullpen shut down Worcester after the fifth inning. McSweeney settled down to pitch a scoreless sixth, and Bryan Baker, Nick Vespi (4-0) and Wandisson Charles each tossed a hitless inning. Charles earned his fourth save.

Norfolk scored the go-ahead runs with two outs in the top of the ninth. After Kjerstad and Joey Ortiz both lined out sharply to right, Daz Cameron singled to left. That set the stage for Mayo, who went deep to left off Worcester’s Cam Booser (3-3) for his seventh homer as a Tide.

.@cobymayox TO THE MOON!🚀🚀🚀

The Tides take a two-run lead in the ninth!#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/gQlyG7wzJw

— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) August 30, 2023

The teams will play again at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday. Tides right-hander Justin Armbruester (2-2, 3.67) is expected to take the mound against Red Sox lefty Shane Drohan (4-6, 6.39).

RICHMOND (AP) — Virginia lawmakers will reconvene in Richmond next week to consider a compromise General Assembly negotiators recently reached on the long-delayed state budget.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin has called the part-time Legislature into session Sept. 6 to consider the deal, his office said in a news release Tuesday.

“To make Virginia more affordable for families and local businesses, we must deliver on our shared goals for more jobs, safer and healthier communities, greater workforce and educational opportunities and much needed tax relief for Virginians. Together, we can get the job done,” Youngkin said.

Last week, negotiators representing the Republican-controlled House of Delegates and Democratic-controlled Senate announced the bare-bones outlines of a compromise budget that would boost education spending and offer some tax relief, mostly in the form of one-time rebates. The full details of the plan, hashed out privately by the negotiators, haven’t been released.

This year’s budget bill is long overdue.

The politically divided General Assembly ended its regular session in February without full agreement on adjustments to the two-year state budget initially adopted in 2022. The state operates on a two-year budget cycle, with the plan initially adopted in even-numbered years and amended in odd-numbered years. Because there’s an underlying budget, the gridlock over this year’s adjustments did not impact the functioning of the state government.

Still, lawmakers have faced criticism for failing to finish one of their most important jobs.

Separately on Tuesday, the state’s Department of General Services announced the completion of the new building on Capitol Square that will house legislative offices and meeting rooms.

The new General Assembly Building will open to the public Oct. 11, the department said in a news release. Lawmakers and their staffs will begin the process of moving into the building in the coming weeks.

“The new GAB will enable constituents, visitors and all interested parties to more easily observe and actively participate in the lawmaking process,” House Speaker Todd Gilbert said in a statement. “It’s a beautiful new addition to our capital’s skyline and a building worthy of the consequential work that will be conducted within its walls.”

The building was constructed on the same footprint as the one it replaced. It will be connected to the nearby Capitol by a tunnel currently being constructed at an estimated cost of at least $25 million. The tunnel to the Capitol is expected to open ahead of next year’s regular General Assembly session, the department said.

The public comment period remains open for citizens to register their thoughts on Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s misguided plan to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. While the public should weigh in on the issue and urge the governor to reverse course, it’s abundantly clear that Youngkin doesn’t much care what Virginians think.

Previous comment periods have elicited an outpouring of support for the multistate, market-based, cap-and-trade program — to no effect. Youngkin remains committed to this, despite the consequences, and it increasingly appears that only the courts or a strong rebuke at the ballot box will stop him.

Virginians have until midnight on Wednesday to submit comments on the final stage of the administrative effort to remove the commonwealth from RGGI, the emissions-limited partnership the General Assembly voted to join in 2020. Those interested should visit Virginia’s Regulatory Town Hall website at townhall.virginia.gov/L/comments.cfm?stageid=10026

Citizens have done this before. This marks the third such public comment period of the process, which solicited input on the notice of action, the proposed rule and now this final rule. Each has logged thousands of comments, the overwhelming majority of which have urged the governor to abandon his wrong-headed quest for withdrawal.

Youngkin has argued that his administration is within its right to seek Virginia removal from RGGI, but membership was authorized by state law, not executive order or administrative enrollment. Can the governor simply nullify a law with which he disagrees? What precedent would it set if he is allowed to do so?

Those are excellent questions which a lawsuit filed on July 31 by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of a group of environmental organizations intends to resolve. It is difficult to believe the courts would conclude that the governor can overturn a law he doesn’t like, but stranger things have happened.

Youngkin’s fellow Republicans seem to understand that. Why else would GOP leadership in the House, following a 2021 election which netted them the majority, introduce a bill to repeal the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which authorizes membership in RGGI, if the governor could withdraw through the regulatory process? Youngkin only seriously pursued this avenue when the legislation failed.

Since Virginia became a member and began receiving its share of the proceeds from the sale of carbon emissions credits, the commonwealth has received $589 million. That money is split between projects to bolster flood protections and community resilience, and a state fund that supports energy efficiency programs for low-income households.

Those funds have benefitted Hampton Roads, with local communities receiving the lion’s share of money from the Community Flood Preparedness Fund as well as funding for greater energy efficiency.

How does the governor propose to offset the loss of so much critical funding? Quite simply, he does not. Youngkin’s December budget proposal called for a $200 million one-time payment for a new Virginia Revolving Loan Fund, but that’s less than the ongoing revenue Virginia has already received for the flood fund through RGGI.

As for the energy-efficiency programs, the governor’s budget makes no mention of them nor does it call for investing a sum equivalent to the funding for those programs received through RGGI. Youngkin would apparently have low-income Virginians fend for themselves, despite the overall benefits of greater energy efficiency.

One would think thousands upon thousands of Virginians calling for the commonwealth to remain in RGGI would give him pause. But he doesn’t care, meaning Virginias must hold out hope for legal intervention or, barring that, push back in November at the ballot box. If Youngkin won’t heed Virginians’ wishes, he should pay the political price.

So tell the governor what you think. Comment on this regulatory action and tell Youngkin, loudly and clearly, that his actions are not what Virginia wants. His persistence will be tested in the courts and his vision for Virginia’s environmental future — of more flooded communities, more extreme weather, more global warming and rising seas — should be soundly rejected.

NORFOLK (AP) — The U.S. government is trying to stop a planned expedition to recover items of historical interest from the sunken Titanic, citing a federal law and an international agreement that treat the shipwreck as a hallowed gravesite.

The expedition is being organized by RMS Titanic Inc., the Georgia-based firm that owns the salvage rights to the world’s most famous shipwreck. The company exhibits artifacts that have been recovered from the wreck site at the bottom of the North Atlantic, from silverware to a piece of the Titanic’s hull.

The government’s challenge comes more than two months after the Titan submersible imploded near the sunken ocean liner, killing five people. But this legal fight has nothing to do with the June tragedy, which involved a different company and an unconventionally designed vessel.

The battle in the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, which oversees Titanic salvage matters, hinges instead on federal law and a pact with Great Britain to treat the sunken Titanic as a memorial to the more than 1,500 people who died. The ship hit an iceberg and sank in 1912.

The U.S. argues that entering the Titanic’s severed hull — or physically altering or disturbing the wreck — is regulated by federal law and its agreement with Britain. Among the government’s concerns is the possible disturbance of artifacts and any human remains that may still exist.

“RMST is not free to disregard this validly enacted federal law, yet that is its stated intent,” U.S. lawyers argued in court documents filed Friday. They added that the shipwreck “will be deprived of the protections Congress granted it.”

RMST’s expedition is tentatively planned for May 2024, according to a report it filed with the court in June.

The company said it plans to take images of the entire wreck. That includes “inside the wreck where deterioration has opened chasms sufficient to permit a remotely operated vehicle to penetrate the hull without interfering with the current structure.”

RMST said it would recover artifacts from the debris field and “may recover free-standing objects inside the wreck.” Those could include “objects from inside the Marconi room, but only if such objects are not affixed to the wreck itself.”

The Marconi room holds the ship’s radio — a Marconi wireless telegraph machine — which broadcast the Titanic’s increasingly frantic distress signals after the ocean liner hit an iceberg. The messages in Morse code were picked up by other ships and onshore receiving stations, helping to save the lives of about 700 people who fled in life boats. There had been 2,208 passengers and crew on the Titanic’s maiden voyage, from Southampton, England, to New York.

“At this time, the company does not intend to cut into the wreck or detach any part of the wreck,” RMST stated.

The company said it would “work collaboratively” with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. agency that represents the public’s interest in the wreck. But RMST said it does not intend to seek a permit.

U.S. government lawyers said the firm can’t proceed without one, arguing that RMST needs approval from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who oversees NOAA.

The company has not filed a response in court, but it previously challenged the constitutionality of U.S. efforts to “infringe” on its salvage rights to a wreck in international waters. The firm has argued that only the court in Norfolk has jurisdiction, and points to centuries of precedent in maritime law.

In 2020, the U.S. government and RMST engaged in a nearly identical legal battle over a proposed expedition that could have cut into the wreck. But the proceedings were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic and never fully played out.

The company’s plan then was to retrieve the radio, which sits in a deck house near the grand staircase. An uncrewed submersible was to slip through a skylight or cut the heavily corroded roof. A “suction dredge” would remove loose silt, while manipulator arms could cut electrical cords.

The company said it would exhibit the radio along with stories of the men who tapped out distress calls “until seawater was literally lapping at their feet.”

In May 2020, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith gave RMST permission, writing that the radio is historically and culturally important and could soon be lost to decay. Smith wrote that recovering the telegraph would “contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived, and those who gave their lives in the sinking.”

A few weeks later, the U.S. government filed an official legal challenge against the 2020 expedition, which never happened. The firm indefinitely delayed its plans in early 2021 because of complications wrought by the pandemic.

NORFOLK — A new development is bringing another grocery store option to Lamberts Point and the area near Old Dominion University.

Discount grocer Lidl is coming to the Railyard at Lambert’s Point, a developer said Tuesday. Rich Meredith with Meredith Construction said his company signed a deal with the Germany-based grocer last week.

However, an opening date is probably more than a year away, he said. Developers need to demolish a building at the corner of 24th Street and Hampton Boulevard, then prepare the site for Lidl. Making the site ready for construction could take a few months.

Then, depending on several factors, it would take up to another year for the grocer to complete construction, he said. Meredith estimated an opening date in at least late 2024 or early 2025.

The grocery store is part of a long-planned mixed-use development on the western side of Hampton Boulevard near 25th Street. One store, Nothing Bundt Cakes, is already open, and other confirmed tenants include a Sushi King, Jimmy John’s, a Domoishi ramen restaurant, a Pilates studio and others, according to the development website.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, [email protected]

PORTSMOUTH — A judge on Tuesday threw out all charges against a Portsmouth home day care operator accused of causing several children to be injured in a fire after determining prosecutors failed to properly turn over information to the defense.

Circuit Court Judge Brenda Spry announced her decision after hearing arguments from the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and defense attorney Michael Massie, who represents day care owner Dewanna Seward. Prosecutors said afterward they plan to appeal.

Spry ruled all 19 of Seward’s charges — which included multiple counts of child abuse and neglect, child cruelty and unlawful wounding — be dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors can’t refile them later. If Seward, 32, had been convicted of all counts, she could have been sentence to decades in prison. Her trial was supposed to have begun Thursday.

“It makes me sick to my stomach to do it, but this case is dismissed with prejudice,” Spry told the lawyers.

The judge determined that prosecutors had failed to adequately follow discovery rules, which dictate what information both sides of a criminal case must provide to each other and when they must hand it over.

Spry noted Tuesday it was far from the first time she’d admonished members of the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office about not properly following discovery rules. She said she’d had four or five criminal cases in the last month alone in which the issue was raised, including another one on the docket Tuesday.

The main issue in Seward’s case centered on the list of witnesses prosecutors planned to call. But the judge and Massie also expressed concern with the fact that they didn’t hand over more than 7,000 pages of medical records to the defense until just a few days before the trial was set to begin.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Elke Daniel told the judge last week that she’d hand-delivered the witness list to Massie at a previous hearing, but conceded it was “deficient” and didn’t contain some required information. Massie said he’d never seen it and pointed out that it wasn’t in the court file and there was nothing on the document indicating it had ever been sent.

“Trial preparation is real and there are consequences if you don’t prepare,” Massie told Spry. “There are rules that have to be followed, and basically what they’re asking you to do is to not follow the rules.”

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Warman agreed mistakes made by the prosecutor assigned to the case were serious, but argued that tossing the case aside was a “nuclear option” not warranted under the circumstances.

“I understand the court’s frustration,” Warman told the judge. “But dismissing with prejudice is an extreme remedy in a case like this.”

Parents of the children harmed in the fire declined to comment afterward. But several of them gathered in the courthouse parking lot after last week’s hearing to express their frustration and anger with how it was handled.

Prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday they will continue fighting to get the case to trial.

“The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office will exercise all available appellate rights to seek justice for the victims in this matter,” spokeswoman Tamara Shewmake wrote. “To be clear, this office agrees that court rules are not suggestions and takes seriously its discovery obligations and requires strict and documented compliance. As such, any individual non-compliance is addressed internally through the personnel process. This office remains open to immediate feedback from judicial officers should related concerns arise and will act accordingly.”

The fire happened in April 2022 at Seward’s townhouse in the Charlestowne Condominiums complex on Greenwood Drive, where she ran an unlicensed day care.

Seward left the children without an adult while she went to the store, according to her attorney. A fire broke out and seven of the children were injured, three seriously, with most of their injuries being due to smoke inhalation. A neighbor caught five children trapped on the second floor in his arms after they jumped from a window.

After Tuesday’s hearing, Massie grew emotional as he talked about how the case ended. He said he was saddened for the children and their families but believed the judge made the right decision under the law, and out of fairness to his client.

“I was a prosecutor for six years,” Massie said. “When it’s a case that involves children you always want to make sure that you do a really good job. That justice is served. That didn’t happen for them (in this case) and it should have happened for them.”

Jane Harper, [email protected]