6/ Finally, it’s hard to put into words how devastating an allegation of abuse can be for a family. Paul Marshall was ultimately acquitted of harming his two twins. His son, 7-week-old Fox, died and Paul Marshall has always maintained his innocence.

Minnesota connection in this well-reported piece on officer suicide

One person who believes strongly in Barrientos-Quintana’s innocence is the victim’s sister, Tina Rosebear, who cared for Jesse Mickelson like a son.

Barrientos-Quintana was convicted at trial. But after the guilty verdict, the prosecutors wrote a memo to their supervisors listing eight ways that “The First 48” had caused problems for their case.

Months later, the police finally obtained security camera footage that showed Barrientos-Quintana at the grocery store just 33 minutes before the shooting. This is also not mentioned in the episode of “The First 48.”

About a half-dozen witnesses told police that the shooter was bald. “Shiny bald,” one even said. There is no mention of that in the episode, which clearly shows Barrientos-Quintana with a full head of hair at his arrest. His attorney told me she saw that as an “intentional omission.”

But 16 years later, that tidy narrative unraveled. Last year, the Minnesota AG’s Conviction Review Unit released a 180-page report concluding that Barrientos-Quintana's conviction “lacks integrity.” Barrientos-Quintana walked out of prison a free man in Nov. 2024. www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/CRU/R...

In the episode’s final scene, the detectives go to the victim’s family and tell them, “We have made an arrest.”

The family thanks them. There are tears.

A title card reads, “Edgar ‘Smokey’ Barrientos was subsequently convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life without parole.”

The show follows Sgts. Dale and Gaiters from the 911 call to the arrest of Barrientos-Quintana. The narrative is simple and clean: Witnesses name the shooter as “Smokey,” a nickname for Barrientos-Quintana. The investigators arrest him and he denies involvement, but his alibi doesn’t check out.

New language at the top of the CDC page on HIV prevention: www.cdc.gov/hiv/preventi...

Fun! I want to play

I find myself quoting this like once a day

There I fixed it for you

Having trouble wrapping your head around the size of the LA fires? Here's what it would look like if *just* the Palisades fire were in the Twin Cities. This is such a smart idea: calmatters.org/environment/...

I have a tendency to fall gleefully down rabbit holes which is how I wound up buying this Nankin Cafe postcard off of eBay just now — "My bow took me here for dinner":

🎶 BAH-BAAAAAAAHH, THIS IS THE SOUND OF SHOVELING

What in the bot is going on here

Yes this has solved all my gift-giving needs thanks Atlantic