Latest news with #PitkinCountySheriff'sOffice
Hans India
02-07-2025
- Hans India
Apple iPhone's Satellite SOS Feature Rescues Injured Mountaineer Stranded at 10,000 Feet
In a remarkable real-world rescue, Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite feature once again proved life-saving—this time for a 53-year-old mountaineer who found himself stranded in a remote mountainous region without access to any mobile or Wi-Fi network. The climber had just completed the summit of Snowmass Mountain and was descending using a glissading technique—a method of sliding down snow-covered slopes. Unfortunately, during the descent, he sustained a wrist injury that left him unable to continue the journey on foot. Isolated at an altitude of 10,000 feet and surrounded by unforgiving terrain, the injured mountaineer was cut off from all regular communication channels. But thanks to his iPhone's satellite messaging feature, available on iPhone 14 and newer models, he was able to send a distress message. Using the satellite connection, he contacted a family member, who in turn reached out to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office and Mountain Rescue Aspen. Rescue personnel swiftly responded to the alert, dispatching a team of 17 trained volunteers to locate and assist the climber. According to a KDVR report (via Apple Insider), the clarity and immediacy of the satellite-enabled message played a crucial role in the swift response and successful rescue operation. Authorities later emphasized the significance of carrying emergency communication tools while exploring remote areas. In this case, the iPhone's satellite SOS feature made a critical difference. The Emergency SOS via satellite feature allows users to send concise messages by pointing their phone toward the sky, following on-screen prompts. Once the distress message is sent, two-way communication is established, enabling coordination with rescue teams. This technology connects directly to satellites in orbit, bypassing traditional mobile networks. It's currently available in selected countries including the US, UK, Italy, and Japan—but notably, it is not yet accessible in India. This incident adds to the growing list of real-world situations where Apple's advanced safety features have helped save lives—underscoring the power of technology in moments of crisis.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Coloradans get a glimpse of how the rule of law is being dismantled
Tina Peters in a July 21, 2022, booking photo. (Newsline illustration from photo courtesy of Pitkin County Sheriff's Office) The MAGA movement makes no secret of its contempt for the previously uncontroversial notion that the republic, in the words of John Adams, is 'a government of laws, not of men.' Instead, it is restructuring the government as a function of one man, President Donald Trump, who alone decides what the law is. This transformation, from republic to proto-monarchy, was articulated by Trump himself last month, when in a social media post he declared, 'He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.' He who thinks he's saving the country now is trying to save Colorado. The Trump Department of Justice began meddling this week in the case of Tina Peters, the former Republican Mesa County clerk who participated in a breach of secure election equipment. Peters was convicted in a state court of violating state law by a jury of her peers, and she was sentenced to almost nine years in prison. But the message from Trump is that no laws, not even state criminal statutes, are legitimate if the outcome of their application is that one of his supporters faces justice. This is an attack on state sovereignty, and if Trump prosecutors succeed in modifying Peters' sentence or conviction it will do grievous harm to the rule of law in Colorado. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Peters earned a national reputation as a fanatic proponent of baseless election conspiracies, especially those that concerned the election equipment in her own office. She teamed up with other election deniers in a scheme to prove the equipment couldn't be trusted and allowed unauthorized access to sensitive software and system passwords. In 2022, a Mesa County grand jury charged Peters with multiple felony counts in connection with the security breach in her office. The grand jury was randomly selected from among local citizens, the same pool of people who elected Peters clerk. The prosecutor was District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, an elected Republican. The jury in Peters' trial similarly comprised everyday Mesa County citizens. They found her guilty on three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one felony count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, and several misdemeanors. During an October sentencing hearing, Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis, a Republican, told the court that Peters' actions had caused distrust in the county's election system, and he said, 'She's made a laughingstock of this community.' Rubinstein emphasized the gravity of Peters' crimes. 'This case is by far the most aggravated attempt to influence a public servant I ever saw in my career,' he told District Judge Matthew Barrett. 'It should yield the most aggravated sentence.' Barrett appeared to agree. Handing down a lengthy prison sentence, he said to Peters, 'You are a charlatan … You betrayed your oath.' This is all to emphasize that at no point during the trial did anyone make a plausible case that Mesa County elections were actually compromised, that Peters joined the conspiracy in good faith, or that the prosecution and judge were guided by anything other than facts and the law. That's why a court filing this week that cast doubt on the integrity of the Peters prosecution was so disturbing. The document, transparently motivated by politics, was signed by Yaakov Roth, acting assistant attorney general in the DOJ's Civil Division; J. Bishop Grewell, the acting U.S. attorney for Colorado; and assistant U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly in Colorado. They said they're reviewing the Peters case to determine, in upside-down world-fashion, whether it was 'oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice or legitimate governmental objectives.' Again, there is zero evidence that Peters' prosecutors were motivated by politics. Conversely, everywhere you look there is abundant evidence that the Trump administration is eager to twist the law to serve its interests. Trump, a convicted felon, has long tried to undermine the courts and launched personal attacks against individual judges. He pardoned nearly every one of the Jan. 6 defendants, including the most violent insurrectionists. Trump's DOJ has sacked officials who worked on legitimate investigations into him and prosecutors who handled Jan. 6 cases. And the department pursued an apparent quid pro quo in which it would drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for Adams' assistance in the administration's immigration enforcement, an abuse of power that sparked a mass resignation. It's especially alarming to see Grewell's name on the filing in the Peters case, since he's the DOJ's top lawyer in Colorado. Grewell was named acting U.S. attorney in early January and has worked in the Colorado District office for more than a decade. He's not just some faceless D.C. functionary. He's a longtime Coloradan who's served under Democratic and Republican administrations. But with this move, it's clear he's corrupted, and Coloradans can no longer trust that he will fulfill his duties honestly. The rule of law in America was established over generations in institutions that, though flawed, were generally trusted by many to operate with impartiality and integrity. Now that trust is being squandered, and Coloradans this week got a glimpse into how the Trump administration is dismantling the hard-won authority of the law. Once it's gone, the only authority left will be that of a criminal who acts like a king. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
