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‘Risk it all’: Migration rises ahead of end to asylum rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Under a set of white tents at the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, dozens of Venezuelan men waited. Some sat on curbs and others leaned on metal barricades. When the gates eventually opened, the long line of men filed slowly up the pedestrian pathway to the bridge and across the Rio Grande River to Mexico.In the past few weeks, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have been facilitating these expulsions three times a day as roughly 30,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have entered the U.S. in this region since mid-April. That’s compared with 1,700 migrants Border Patrol agents encountered in the first two weeks of April.In the other end of the state, in El Paso, officials are dealing with another increase of migrants and worry that thousands more are waiting to cross.All this comes as the U.S. is preparing for the end of a policy linked to the coronavirus pandemic that allowed it to quickly expel many migrants, and it spotlights co...

As Trump probes intensify, foes of ex-president see opening

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — An investigation into Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents has intensified in recent weeks, with prosecutors summoning a broad range of witnesses before a federal grand jury and zeroing in on questions of whether the former president or others obstructed government efforts to recover the records.It remains unclear when the investigation led by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith might end or whether Trump might face charges over documents found at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate. But as probes in Washington and Atlanta proceed, Republican critics of Trump see an opportunity for intensifying legal woes to knock him off his frontrunner mantle in the 2024 presidential race in a way that an earlier indictment in New York failed to do.The ongoing investigations “are the ones that have the meat,” said Bobbie Kilberg, a longtime Republican donor who has become a vocal Trump critic. ”It’s very, very serious,” she said. “It ought to hav...

Jury hears final arguments in writer’s claims against Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump should be held accountable for sexually attacking an advice columnist in 1996 because even a former president is not above the law, a lawyer for the columnist told a jury Monday in closing arguments in the lawsuit that accuses Trump of rape.A lawyer for Trump responded by calling the accuser’s account “unbelievable” and “outrageous.”Once the final arguments were complete, the judge sent the jury home with instructions to return Tuesday to hear about an hour of instructions before beginning deliberations. Jurors will be asked to decide whether Trump committed battery and defamed writer E. Jean Carroll and whether damages should be awarded.In recapping Carroll’s case, attorney Roberta Kaplan showed jurors video clips of Trump from his October deposition and replayed the “Access Hollywood” video from 2005 in which Trump said into a hot mic that celebrities can grab women’s genitals without asking.Kaplan recalled Trump’s c...

3 boys violently carjacked elderly person, used stolen vehicle in pharmacy robbery: police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

Toronto police say three boys between the ages of 14 and 17 violently carjacked an elderly person, then used the stolen vehicle in an armed pharmacy robbery the next day before crashing it into a pole while trying to flee.The wild scenario that ultimately led to their arrests began on Thursday, May 4, when police responded to a call for a person with a gun in the Finch Avenue West and Weston Road area.That’s where police say an elderly person was sitting in their vehicle and was approached by the trio.Police say one of the suspects pointed a gun at the victim, demanding their keys.The suspects proceeded to pull the victim out of the vehicle, ripping their shirt and removing their necklace during the struggle.The next day officers from York Region responded to a robbery call in the Hwy. 7 and Marycroft Avenue area where police say the same three suspects attended a pharmacy in the vehicle stolen the previous day.“Two of the suspects entered, went behind the pharmaceutical...

Illinois moves toward gender inclusivity as others move away

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois bills that would update existing laws to be more gender inclusive and add protections for LGBTQ marriages are ready for action by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who said he will sign them.The trio of state bills passed last week are meant to move the state in the “opposite direction” of those restricting LGBTQ youth, said Sen. Mike Simmons, the bills’ sponsor and the first and only current “out” LGBTQ lawmaker in the Illinois Senate.Illinois is one of several U.S. states that have moved to counteract a surge of anti-LGBTQ legislation in mostly Republican-led states.On the same day just a few hours away, Indiana’s governor signed a bill that will require schools to notify a parent if a student requests a name or pronoun change at school, one of several bills this legislative session targeting LGBTQ people in the state. Illinois’ neighbors to the west, Missouri and Iowa, have gone in a similar direction by restricting gender-affirming care and the bathrooms transgender st...

AP photos from Sri Lanka, Ukraine were Pulitzer finalists

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

The Associated Press was a finalist in two Pulitzer Prize categories — for breaking news photography of Sri Lanka’s political crisis, and for feature photography of the elderly in Ukraine.That was in addition to the two Pulitzers AP was awarded on Monday: one for its coverage of the siege of Mariupol, Ukraine; the other for breaking news photography in Ukraine.The AP images from Sri Lanka captured the full range of human emotion. Protesters pumping their fists in the air shouting anti-government slogans, and also shielding themselves from tear gas and water cannons. Crowds of Sri Lankans storming the office of the prime minister after the president fled the country, and others celebrating inside the president’s official residence by jumping in the pool and using the gym equipment.The Sri Lanka photos were made by Eranga Jayawardena and Rafiq Maqbool. In Ukraine, the grueling effects of war on the elderly were shown by AP photographers in a range of settings: people being...

Multiple in custody after fatal shooting of CPD officer: Sources

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

CHICAGO — Sources tell WGN that several people have been taken into custody in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Chicago police officer Areanah Preston, who was shot and killed outside her home in Avalon Park Saturday.A day after the shooting incident, police reported a SWAT incident in the 7600 block of South Bishop Avenue around 8:25 p.m. Sunday night. Police cleared the scene early Monday morning.Police have not identified why the SWAT situation took place. Meanwhile, multiple individuals were taken into custody near the corner of 77th Street and Bishop Avenue early Monday morning, a source told WGN. Areanah Preston, 24. (Credit: CPD News Affairs)Preston had just completed a tour of duty when she was found with a gunshot wound outside her Avalon Park home in the 8100 block of South Blackstone Avenue, around 1:42 a.m. Saturday.Originally reported as being off-duty at the time of the shooting, Chicago police later ruled that Preston was on-duty at the time of the incident. CPD in...

Iconic 'Superdawg' celebrates 75 years of serving Chicago's favorite foods

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

CHICAGO — Superdawg, a fixture in Chicago’s food scene, is turning 75-years-old on Tuesday May 9. There will be a city ceremony that will dedicate an honorary street named for the founders of the beloved fast food joint.  Since it opened at 6363 N. Milwaukee Ave. in 1948, it’s been one of the city’s favorite hot dog stands. It is still a functioning 1950s-era a throwback drive-in restaurant, complete with service from “car hops.”  The iconic building is decorated with the 12-foot-tall papier mâché  “Superdawg statues” known as Maurie and Flaurie, named for the restaurant’s founders, Maurie and Flaurie Berman.“So Maurie and Flaurie became the Superdawg characters on the roof, papier mâché bending as hot dogs do toward each other,” said Scott Berman, the oldest son of Maurie and Falurie, and a co-owner of Superdawg. “He is standing in a strongman pose and she is standing in a demure pose, looking lovingly at him.”The Bermans met at Von Steuben High School and opened Superdawg as a way...

Skilling: Cloudy week, but sunshine right around corner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

Temps down more than 30 degrees from Sunday's levels Monday, largely the product of a winds off the 48 degree lake waters. Warming returns over coming week with temps surging from 69 Tuesday to 77 Wednesday, 81 Thursday and 79 Friday, but expect easterly lake breezes to cool immediate lakeshore areas each day this week. Weather dries and mixed sun appears Tuesday with lots of sun Wednesday, but we weather returns with Gulf moisture late week and this weekend.What a difference a day makes! Chicagoans experienced a jarring 24 hour temp pullback of more the 30 degrees Wednesday afternoon--and this after the warmest weekend of 2023, including Sunday's recording a record-tying 87 degree high.The southbound pnuemonia front which induced Sunday afternoon and evening's sharp pullback ignited explosive t-storm development mainly south of Chicago late Sunday into Sunday night. These storm's lightning displays and hail production impressive there with some stunning rainfalls--like the 3.66" wh...

CPSA joins FOP, calls out City for sending migrants to police stations for days on end

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:36:22 GMT

CHICAGO — Another police union is calling out the City of Chicago for sending newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers to police stations for extended periods of time.James Calvino, president of the Chicago Police Sergeants' Association, penned an open letter to the City where he claims, "families are remaining in stations for days and, sometimes weeks at a time."The full letter can be read at the bottom of this article.WGN previously reported on migrants having to camp out in the entrance of the Chicago Police Department's 14th District police station, where Chicago Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara voiced his displeasure over how the migrant situation at police stations is being handled. Paul Lisnek discusses latest on migrants, ComEd four verdict and more "Apparently the police department is now a homeless shelter and taxi service,” said Catanzara at the time. “We’ve been receiving calls for the better part of a week plus now about this issue, that’s only gett...