8 • May 20-21, 2020 NATIONAL WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Space Force — the newest branch of the armed services — now has its own flag. Defense Department officials presented President Donald Trump with the Space Force flag during a short Oval Office event on Friday. The dark blue and white flag includes elements intended to evoke the vast recesses of outer space. The Space Force, which was President Donald Trump stands as Chief of Space Operations at US Space Force Gen. John Raymond, second from left, and Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman, second from right, hold the United States Space Force flag as it is presented in the Oval Office. Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett stands far left. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) officially established in December, is the first new military service since the U.S. Air Force was established in 1947. The 16,000 airmen and civilians that make up the Space Force technically remain part of the Air Force, which previously oversaw offensive operations in space. But Trump has made clear he sees the newest service as critical to the future of American defense. The president said during Friday’s ceremony that the U.S. is building a “super-duper missile” that can travel “17 times faster than what we have right now.” The flag includes a Delta Wing -- long a symbol in the Air Force -- meant to signify change and innovation. Dark and light shades of gray within bransonglobe.com Space Force unveils flag; Trump touts missile the delta were incorporated in a nod to the 24/7 nature of the Space Force’s work. The flag also features a globe, for the Space Force fighters’ home turf, and an elliptical orbit around the globe was incorporated to signify the force’s mission to defend and protect from adversaries and threats emanating in space. This flag was produced by artists and crafts people at the Defense Logistics Agency flag room in Philadelphia from a design finalized and documented by the Department’s Institute of Heraldry at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Wrongfully convicted Missouri man gets an $8 million settlement SIKESTON, Mo. (AP) — A southeastern Missouri city has agreed to an $8 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by a man who spent 17 years in prison for murder before the state Supreme Court overturned his conviction. Jonathan Douglass, the city manager of Sikeston, announced the settlement Friday with David Robinson, who sued the city after he was released from prison in May 2018 when a judge ruled there was clear evidence that he didn’t kill local bar owner Sheila Box in 2000, the Southeast Missourian reported. Robinson alleged in his lawsuit that Sikeston police knew he was innocent in Box’s death but helped stop his conviction from being overturned during two appeals. Robinson was convicted of killing Box as she left a Sikeston bar, even though no physical evidence linked him to the crime and two witnesses who placed him at the scene recanted their testimony. Another man, Romanze Mosby, confessed to several people in 2004 that he killed Box, but he would not sign an affidavit making the confession official and then killed himself in his cell five years later. His confession was never introduced as evidence. The state Supreme Court overturned Robinson’s conviction in May 2018 and he was released after a judge appointed to review the case for the court found there was clear and convincing evidence that Robinson had not committed the crime. Prosecutors decided not to retry him. Robinson said police framed him because they didn’t like him. He acknowledged to The Associated Press in an interview that he had a criminal record that began when he was 15. But he always said he was at a family gathering when Box was shot, and three relatives verified his alibi. Douglass said the city will pay about $75,000 of the settlement, with the rest coming from its insurance.
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