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94090, Albuquerque, NM 87199-One suspect was in custody and ar-
rest warrants were issued Wednesday
for two more in the death of Joshua
Brown, a key witness in the murder
trial of former officer Amber Guyger,
who was convicted of killing a neigh-
bor in his own apartment, Dallas po-
lice said.
Deputy Police Chief Avery Moore
said Brown was killed in a drug deal
that devolved into a gunbattle. Brown
was found shot to death in a parking
lot Friday, two days after Guyger was
sentenced to 10 years in prison for the
September 2018 fatal shooting of Bo-
tham Jean. The accountant was eating
ice cream in an apartment Guyger mis-
took for her own.
Moore said the man in custody, Jac-
querious Mitchell, told authorities he,
his uncle Michael Mitchell and Thad-
deousGreen had gone to Dallas from
Louisiana to buy drugs from Brown.
An argument ensued, however, and
Jacquerious Mitchell told authorities
he was shot by Brown.
One of the other men then shot
Brown, Moore said. Those men fled the
scene, and a manhunt was underway
for their capture, Moore said. Jacque-
rious Mitchell was in critical condition
in a Dallas hospital, police said.
Moore said 12 pounds of marijuana,
other drugs and $4,000 were seized
from Brown’s apartment.
The NAACP Legal Defense and Edu-
cational Fund and some community
leaders in recent days had called for an
independent investigation into
Brown’s death and the Dallas police
department. Moore said some had
suggested police were somehow in-
volved.
“I assure you that is simply not
true,” Moore said. “I encourage those
leaders to be mindful of their actions
moving forward because their words
have jeopardized the integrity of the
city of Dallas as well as the Dallas Po-
lice Department.”
Brown’s testimony was crucial be-
cause he lived on the same floor as
Guyger and heard them talking – but
said he did not hear Guyger shout ver-
bal commands or warnings before
shooting Jean.
Sherrilyn Ifill, the defense fund’s
president, said Monday that it is criti-
cal to public confidence in the criminal
justice system that witnesses who
speak out against police violence are
fully protected.
“The circumstances surrounding
the murder of Mr. Brown cries out for
answers,” Ifill said.
Contributing: The Associated Press1 arrested,2 sought inmurder ofcop witnessJohn Bacon
USA TODAYForget fall. Portions of the central
USA will feel downright winterlike
over the next few days as a potent
snowstorm and bitter cold takeaim on
the region.
The powerful system is expected to
produce heavy snow, as much as 12
inches, from the north-central Rockies
into the northern Plains, the National
Weather Service said. Winter storm
warnings and watches already are
widespread across the region, all the
way from Idaho to Minnesota.
Significant travel impacts, tree
damage and sporadic power outages
will be possible where the heaviest
snow occurs, the weather service in
Grand Forks, North Dakota, warned.
Both Denver and Minneapolis could
see their first snow of the season.
Temperatures also will plunge by as
much as 60 degrees in the span of 12 to
24 hours as the cold air swiftly re-
places preceding mild conditions, Ac-
cuWeather said.
“Within 48 hours, Denver may go
from 80 degrees and sunshine on
Tuesday to 20 degrees and snow
Wednesday night,” AccuWeather me-
teorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
The snowstorm will come in two
parts: According to AccuWeather, af-ter the first part of the storm clobbers
the northern and central Rockies and
High Plains into Thursday, the second
part of the storm will ramp up over the
eastern portions of the Dakotas to
western Minnesota late this week.
“There’s a chance blizzard condi-
tions unfold in part of this area as tem-
peratures plummet, winds increase
and rain changes to heavy snow to end
the week,” Sosnowski said.
Travel could be extremely hazard-
ous, the weather service warned.
Teeth-chattering cold will also
spread across the northern tier of the
U.S., all the way from the Northwest to
the Midwest. By late in the week, high
temperatures may be stuck in the 40s
over the northern Great Basin, 30s
over a large part of the northern Plains
and 20s over parts of the Rockies and
northern High Plains, the Weather
Channel said.
A number of daily record lows will
be in jeopardy in such cities as Denver;
Portland, Oregon; and Salt Lake City.Sunflowers bow and break under the falling wet snow in Great Falls, Montana,
last month.RION SANDERS/THE GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE VIA APSnow, bitter coldtemperaturesto blast central USRegion on alert fromIdaho to MinnesotaDoyle Rice
USA TODAY“Within 48 hours, Denvermay go from 80 degreesand sunshine on Tuesday to20 degrees and snowWednesday night.”
Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather meteorologistAttention, dog owners: your furry
friend could extend your life.
A study published Tuesdayby Cir-
culation: Cardiovascular Quality and
Outcomes, a peer-reviewed journal of
the American Heart Association, says
owning a dog is linked with living long-
er.
The meta-analysis looked at stud-
ies published from 1950 to May 2019
that evaluated dog ownership and its
association to mortality. The research
included 10 studies that yielded data
from more than 3 million participants.
Scientists found dog owners were
likely to live longer than those who
didn’t have dogs: Dog owners had a
24% risk reduction for death from any
cause, according to the study. For peo-
ple with heart problems, living with a
dog had an even greater benefit, au-
thors said.
The potentially life-extending
benefits of dog ownership could be
traced in part to increased physical ac-
tivity from walking the dog, authors
speculated. The study found dog own-
ers were less likely to die from heart
disease compared with nonowners.
Authors said the study’s conclu-
sions could be influenced by other
traits, such as avoiding smoking or al-
cohol.
Keith C. Ferdinand, professor at Tu-
lane University School of Medicine,
said that 10 timesmore women die
from heart disease and stroke than
breast cancer. He said dogs address
multiple factors that contribute to car-
diovascular diseases, including men-
tal and physical health.
“Having a family pet may assist a
person with managing stress, increas-
ing activity and decreasing isolation
and loneliness,” Ferdinand said. Ferdi-
nand was not involved with the new
study.
By walking a dog 20 to 30 minutes a
day, owners meet the American Heart
Association’s recommended weekly
activity of 150 minutes of moderate ex-
ercise to improve overall cardiovascu-
lar health, he said.
He warned against people misinter-
preting the study’s results. Owning a
dog does not overcome cardiovascular
risk factors such as high blood pres-
sure, cholesterol, diabetes and smok-
ing.
Secret to a
longer life?
Get a dog,
study says
Adrianna Rodriguez
USA TODAY
BOSTON – As U.S. District Judge In-
dira Talwani prepared to sentence a Los
Angeles business executive in the na-
tion’s college admissions scandal last
month, she first had something to say
about the motives of parents like him.
The father and businessman, Devin
Sloane, told the judge he “wanted what
was best for my son.” That’s why he paid
$250,000 to Rick Singer, the master-
mind of a nationwide admissions
scheme, to get him into the University of
Southern California posing as a water
polo recruit.
But was Sloane really trying to help
his child, the judge asked, or to make
himself look good?
“I find that’s at issue in all of these
cases,” Talwani said from the dais in the
packed courtroom. “It’s not basic care-
taking for your child. It’s not getting
your child food or clothing. It’s not even
getting your child an education. It’s get-
ting your child into a college that you
call ‘exclusive.’
“Are they doing this for their children
or their own status?”
Talwani, 59, a President Barack Oba-
ma appointee to the U.S. District Court
of Massachusetts, has handed down
each of the five sentences so far to par-
ents charged in the “Varsity Blues”
scandal. Each has gotten some amount
of prison time. Sloane, founder and CEO
of waterTALENT, received four months.
Four more parents who have pleaded
guilty are set to be sentenced by Talwani
this month. Talwani on Tuesday sen-
tenced the case’s first couple, Gregory
and Marcia Abbott, to one month in
prison each. The Abbotts, who reside in
New York and Aspen, Colorado, paid a
total of $125,000 to have their daugh-
ter’s college entrance exams answers
fixed to get her into Duke University, her
mother’s alma mater.
The judge isn’t just doling out prison
terms. In holding parents accountable,
Talwani has embraced the admission
scam’s societal significance, openly ad-
dressing the public outage that sur-
rounds it.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the
University of Richmond School of Law,
said the case and Talwani’s remarks “re-
flect what people are thinking in the
broader society.”
When parents such as Stephen Sem-
previvo said they paid into Singer’s
scheme out of fear during the college
admissions process, Talwani pushed
back. The former Cydcor executive paid
$400,000 to get his son into George-
town University as a fake tennis recruit.
“Think about how terrifying that
process is for the applicant whose par-ents didn’t go to college,” Talwani said
at his sentencing hearing. She singled
out inner-city and rural children who
lacked resources but made it to college
anyway. “Their legitimacy is chal-
lenged every day that somehow they
were the ones who got a break to get
there.”
Semprevivo’s attorney argued his
client was a victim of Singer’s manipu-
lation, but the judge returned the dis-
cussion to the father’s privilege.
“I don’t criticize you for being taken
into a crime by someone with skills of
masterful deception. That’s how
crimes happen all the time,” Talwani
said. “I think the question that people
need to ask is, what makes your chil-
dren entitled to a side door (into col-
lege)?”
The judge sentenced Semprevivo to
four months in prison.
On Tuesday, the Abbotts delivered
passionate statements to the judge,
recounting how they took part in Sing-
er’s scheme only to help a daughter
whose battle with Lyme disease had
forced her out of the classroom. It
came as their son was dealing with ad-
diction and their 31-year marriage was
falling apart, they said.
But before sentencing the couple,
Talwani discussed the need to send a
message to wealthy parents who
weren’t dissuaded by the steep price
tag of Singer’s cheating scheme.
“That is the piece I am struggling
with,” Talwani said.
“When you are confronted with this
option, the question isn’t whether I
have the money to pay for this, the
question is whether I should do this or
don’t do this?”Judge: ‘What makes
your children entitled?’
Devin Sloane, shown Sept. 24,
admitted to paying $250,000 to get his
son into the University of Southern
California as a fake athlete.APJoey GarrisonUSA TODAY