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Wisconsin Supreme Court chief justice accuses liberals of ‘raw exercise of overreaching power’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The conservative chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court accused her liberal colleagues of a “raw exercise of overreaching power” after they flexed their new majority Wednesday and fired the director of the state’s court system.The four liberal justices, on just their second day as a majority on the court after 15 years under conservative control, voted to fire Randy Koschnick. Koschnick held the job for six years after serving for 18 years as a judge and running unsuccessfully as a conservative in 2009 against then-Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, a liberal. “To say that I am disappointed in my colleagues is an understatement,” Chief Justice Annette Ziegler, now a member of the three-justice conservative minority, said in a lengthy statement after Koschnick was fired. Ziegler said the move undermined her authority as chief justice. She called it unauthorized, procedurally and legally flawed, and reckless. But she said she would not attempt to stop i...

Investigators say weather worsened quickly before plane crash that killed 6 in Southern California

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

The weather was quickly worsening before a plane crashed in Southern California last month, killing all six people on board, federal investigators said Wednesday.The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report on the July 8 crash near Murrieta, with new details that added to questions about whether the pilots could see the runway as they attempted to land.The NTSB said the Cessna 550 business jet hit the ground 800 feet (240 meters) short of the runway threshold at French Valley Airport and caught fire.The airport’s automated weather station recorded clear skies and visibility of 10 miles less than an hour before the crash, but 20 minutes later, there were clouds at 300 feet (90 meters), and visibility was down to three-quarters of a mile. The NTSB said visibility was just a half-mile in fog around the time of the crash.The plane was making its second attempt to land after a missed approach, which usually happens when pilots can’t see the runway. Air traff...

Advocates accuse New York City of using migrants as ‘props’ in bid for federal money

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — For days now, newly arrived international immigrants have waited night and day outside New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel, sleeping shoulder-to-shoulder on the sidewalk in hopes of a bed in the city’s shelter system. And for weeks, Mayor Eric Adams has said the city is out of room and sought to dissuade more migrants from arriving.The scene outside the former hotel — now a migrant shelter and intake center — has underscored the extreme overcrowding in a homeless housing system filled to record levels. City officials and activists alike call it heartbreaking.But some critics accuse New York City officials of exploiting the lines outside the Roosevelt as part of a campaign to pressure state and federal officials to come up with more money to tackle the crisis and discourage more migrants from entering the U.S. from Mexico.“Mayor Adams should not be using asylum seekers as props to get the attention of the Biden administration or discourage asylum seekers...

Police raid in Rio favela sets off gunbattle that kills 9 people and wounds 2 officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A police raid in a low-income neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro set off a gunbattle that killed nine people and wounded two officers Wednesday, marking the latest incident in a wave of lethal policing in Brazil. In a statement, Rio’s police said suspected criminals in the Vila Cruzeiro favela shot first, wounding the officers and prompting police to return fire. Nine people hit by bullets were taken to a state hospital, where they were declared dead, according to the statement, which said intelligence work had uncovered a meeting in Vila Cruzeiro among crime leaders who control the region.Vila Cruzeiro has been the site of bloodshed during police operations in the past. A firefight in resulted in more than 20 deaths in May 2022, just months after another raid saw eight people killed. The Rio de Janeiro state government’s strategy for tackling violence and organized crime has come under criticism in recent years, particularly given there is little insight i...

Bike-riding suspect arrested after employee at east-end apartment complex shot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

A 60-year-old man is facing a number of charges including attempted murder after a woman was shot by a man on a bicycle in the east end earlier this week.Police say they were called to a building on Eastmount Avenue near Broadview and Danforth Avenues just before 8:30 a.m. on Monday and found a woman in her 50s suffering from a gunshot wound. She sustained serious, but non life-threatening injuries.CityNews was told by residents of the building the woman works for the property management company Capreit. A bullet hole could be seen in the window of her office on the ground floor.Police have arrested 60-year-old Brian O’Donnell and charged him with attempted murder, aggravated assault, discharge of a firearm with intent to wound, two counts of unauthorized possession of a prohibited firearm, disguise with intent, careless storage of a firearm, and possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition. A motive for the shooting has not been revealed.

Federal funds will pay to send Iowa troops to the US-Mexico border, governor says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — About a hundred Iowa National Guard troops will be sent to the U.S.-Mexico border for the month of August in a federally funded operation, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday.The move reflects a broader trend across the country of Republican governors joining forces with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to counter President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, which they say have created a crisis at the border.“Since the administration refuses to invest in securing the border and protecting its citizens, Texas has asked other states to help, and Iowa is ready and willing to assist,” Reynolds said in a statement.The Biden administration sent 1,500 active-duty troops for a 90-day deployment in May, amid concerns that the end of asylum restrictions linked to the pandemic would lead to an increase in illegal border crossings. Even when the restrictions were in place, a record number of people were crossing the border. Instead, numbers have fallen, and...

12 face federal charges after allegedly trafficking fentanyl-laced drugs on Chicago's South Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors have charged 12 people who allegedly trafficked fentanyl-laced drugs on the South Side of Chicago.The charges were announced Wednesday and came after what the U.S. Attorney's Office called a multi-year investigation led by the FBI, which included controlled narcotics purchases, surveillance and wiretapping. FBI offers $20k reward after several BMO Harris bank robberies in western, southern suburbs Law enforcement agents seized nearly $400,000 in alleged cash proceeds, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, Bentley and Mercedes-Benz cars and a custom-built motorcycle during the investigation.According to a news release, some of the people charged allegedly sold or tried to sell drugs in other states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio.Personnel with the FBI Chicago Field Office, Chicago Police Department, Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Rock County, Wisconsin Sheriff's Office and Indiana State Police assisted with the investigation.

Battle over abortion access moves from Indiana to Illinois

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

CHICAGO — Lawyers representing anti-abortion pregnancy centers are expected to appear before a federal judge in Rockford, just days after new abortion restrictions went into effect across the border in Indiana.The Thomas More Society representing the National Institute of Family & Life Advocates is expected to file for an injunction Thursday, asking a federal judge to block the Illinois Attorney General from enforcing Senate Bill 1909, which anti-abortion proponents say is unconstitutional.“It has a very chilling effect on our pregnancy centers because they don’t define what is ‘deceptive,'" said NIFLA attorney Anne O’Connor, adding that it’s a matter of free speech. With help from the conservative Thomas More Society, the lawsuit filed last week focuses on Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the new Illinois Senate Bill.“Pregnancy centers should be free to serve women and offer the support they need without fear of unjust government punishment," O'Connor added. Misleadi...

After comeback from cancer, Sox closer Liam Hendriks has Tommy John surgery on right elbow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks, who made a comeback this season from cancer, had surgery Wednesday to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.The typical recovery time after Tommy John surgery is 12-14 months, which means the right-hander could miss all of next season. The White Sox said before their game against Texas that the procedure was successfully performed by Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister. Liam Hendriks gets to receive award for perseverance after beating cancer The 34-year-old Hendriks began the season on the injured list to continue his treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He publicly revealed his cancer diagnosis on January 8, completed treatment on April 3 and announced he was cancer free on April 20, then made his season just more than a month after that.Hendriks last pitched June 9, two days before he was placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. He went 2-0 with one save and a 5...

Colorado prison escapee caught living 'flashy' life in Florida after 5 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:44:32 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — A man who escaped from a federal prison in Littleton, Colorado in 2018 has been apprehended in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Authorities say they found him living a "flashy" assumed identity.Allen Todd May, 58, had been on the run since Dec. 21, 2018, when he escaped from the Englewood Federal Correctional Institution. May originally stole a Bureau of Prisons work truck and drove off the prison grounds without anyone noticing.Hours later, he used a credit card to rent a U-Haul truck from a Denver facility and then abandoned it behind a Waffle House in Fort Worth, Texas. May was seen at his mother’s house in Houston the day after his escape, but a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman told Nexstar's KDVR the trail for May turned cold for years until an anonymous tipster surfaced a few months ago.A source provided KDVR with this photo showing prison escapee Allen May after his arrest. Investigators say he assumed the name "Jacob Turner" while on the run in Florida."Thi...