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Muslim mayor blocked from White House decries “watch list”

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

A New Jersey mayor who was blocked from attending a White House celebration this week with President Joe Biden to belatedly mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan called Tuesday for the administration to end the federal “watch list” that he said illegally targets Muslims and others.During a news conference held Tuesday in South Plainfield by the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ), Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah and several other speakers condemned the list as illegal, discriminatory and unconstitutional. They also called on the U.S. Secret Service and other federal agencies to stop using and distributing the list, which the group says has more than 1.5 million names, a majority of which are “Arab or Muslim sounding.”CAIR has called on the Biden administration to cease the FBI’s dissemination of information from what is known as a Terrorist Screening Data Set that includes hundreds of thousands of individuals. The group informe...

Officials: US to send Ukraine $300 million in military aid

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is sending Ukraine about $300 million in additional military aid, including an enormous amount of artillery rounds, howitzers, air-to-ground rockets and ammunition as the launch of a spring offensive against Russian forces approaches, U.S. officials said Tuesday.The new package includes Hydra-70 rockets, which are unguided rockets that are fired from aircraft. It also includes an undisclosed number of rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, mortars, howitzer rounds, missiles and Carl Gustaf anti—tank rifles. The weapons will all be pulled from Pentagon stocks, so they can go quickly to the front lines. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid has not yet been formally announced.The latest shipment comes as Ukrainian officials say they are readying a counteroffensive — with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov declaring they are in the “home stretch, when we can say: ‘Yes everything is ready.’” Ukrainia...

Close call at high speed: video shows officer evade crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A police officer remarkably escaped injury Monday when a car careened across a highway at 120 mph while he conducted a traffic stop.Dashcam video of the crash released Tuesday by Fairfax County Police shows a black BMW sedan driven by a teenager coming within inches of the officer, who had stepped out of his patrol car to pull over a gray BMW for speeding. In the seconds before the crash, the black BMW can be seen skidding across a median on the Fairfax County Parkway near Braddock Road. It then strikes the car that had been pulled over and ricochets into the patrol car. The officer falls to the ground for a second, then quickly pops up to radio for help and check on injuries.Miraculously, no major injuries were reported, even though the black BMW had two teenage passengers in addition to the driver. All three in the black BMW were wearing seatbelts, police said. The driver of the black BMW was charged with reckless driving, a misdemeanor that can often result in...

Verdict reached in 'ComEd Four' bribery trial

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

CHICAGO -- After several days of deliberations, jurors have reached a verdict in the "ComEd Four" bribery trial.WGN-TV will update the story once the verdict has been announced. Watch WGN News at 5 in the video player above as we wait for the trial verdict. A former prosecutor said federal lawyers would start worrying about a mistrial in the "ComEd Four" bribery trial if jury deliberations stretched into a second week.The “ComEd Four” on trial are former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s confidant Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and former ComEd consultant Jay Doherty. All have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including bribery conspiracy.Potential jail time and fines for the “ComEd Four,” includes a guilty conspiracy verdict on Count 1 could lead to a maximum  $250,000 fine or 5 years imprisonment or both, according to the US Attorney’s office. Pritzker...

Toddler found unresponsive at suburban daycare, dies at hospital

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

ISLAND LAKE, Ill. — A toddler is dead after being found unresponsive at a daycare in the Northwest suburbs, according to police.Island Lake Police Department was called to the 200 block of West Burnett Road at around 8:46 a.m. on April 25 on reports of an unresponsive toddler at a daycare facility.On arrival, officers found a 23-month-old male from Island Lake unresponsive and not breathing.The toddler was taken by the Wauconda Fire Department to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital and later transferred to Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago.Four days later during the morning of April 29, the toddler was pronounced dead. An autopsy was performed Monday by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office and results will be released upon pending forensic pathology results. 3 people beaten, robbed in Little Village "Our hearts are broken and our deepest condolences go out to the grieving family of one of our very own Island Lake residents," said Island Lake Police Chief Jennifer Paulus...

Skilling: Partly sunny, milder Tuesday for Chicago

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

Tuesday marked the 11th consecutive day of below normal temps. Temps only reached 54 at O'Hare amid 30+ mph wind gusts and with just 18% of our possible sun.But, big changes are coming and warming will result.Temps surge to the low 60s inland Wednesday (the lakefront will stay in the 50s); the mid 60s Thursday and low 70s Friday.Even warmer air is on tap next week with temps likely to flirt with 80-deg by Tuesday and Wednesday.Lake breezes in coming days will produce cooling typical of this time of year along Lake Michigan. And the easterly flow will become better organized over the weekend. But east winds will become more southeast Sunday meaning the inland penetration of cool air will be present—but less pronounced then.Temps this week, with the milder readings expected in coming days, are likely to average almost 5-deg milder than last week. But next week's average temp is to surge nearly 15-deg warmer than this week—and that should be quite noticeable.May is a month of more freq...

Chicago man sentenced to 40 years for carjacking pregnant woman

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

CHICAGO -- A Chicago man has been sentenced to 40 years for carjacking a pregnant woman's car from her Downers Grove driveway.According to the DuPage County State's Attorney, the Downers Grove Police Department responded to a carjacking on Hawkins Street just before 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2019. Further investigation showed that the victim, a pregnant woman, was sitting in her vehicle in her driveway when two masked and armed individuals approached her. The suspect's allegedly ordered her out of the vehicle and drove off. FBI: Armored truck robbed in Homewood; bank robbed on North Side A friend of the victim witnessed the carjacking and followed the stolen vehicle. Authorities report that when the vehicle stopped in traffic, the victim's friend approached the vehicle and the suspect's exited the vehicle and fled.As the victim’s friend moved the victim’s vehicle off the roadway, one of the suspects entered the victim’s friend’s car and drove away.Authorities later identified Chicago ...

Tenn. child given new teddy bear with late mom's heartbeat after accidental donation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Thanks to a group effort between Build-A-Bear, a radio station and Goodwill, a 4-year-old girl has received a new teddy bear with her mother's heartbeat after her bear was lost last month.In mid-April, the girl's father told WATE that the bear belonging to his daughter was accidentally donated to a Goodwill Store in Tazewell, Tennessee. The girl's mother passed away, and her grandmother made her a bear with her mom's heartbeat in it, he explained. Father asks for help finding daughter’s lost teddy bear with heartbeat recording from late mother Local radio station WRIL said that the father went to the Goodwill to see if the bear was still there, but it was not, so a sign was placed at the store. The radio station shared a photo of that sign and the bear on social media, which garnered national attention. During the search for the bear, Build-A-Bear contacted WRIL for a description of the custom stuffed animal, and Public Relations Director Jamie Ludwig sha...

'Brutal and violent' stabbings shake California college town as police probe possible connection

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

DAVIS, Calif. (KTXL) — Two men are dead and a woman is in critical condition after three separate stabbing attacks that occurred in the late hours across several days in Davis, California. Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel described the attacks as "brutal and violent," and that they do not have the characteristics of an attack that would occur during the course of a robbery or a similar crime. Local law enforcement says that it has received similar descriptions of the suspects in at least two of the attacks, but that they are not able to "positively link the three crimes," and federal authorities have now joined the investigation. "These attacks were violent and brazen ... we ask that the public be vigilant and completely aware of your surroundings," Pytel said at a news conference, adding that people should move about the city in groups at least until there is an arrest in the case. Below is what officials have shared so far about the attacks. Stabbing at Central ParkOn the morning o...

Biden calls for banking safeguards after feds seize First Republic Bank

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – First Republic Bank was seized by regulators early Monday, marking the third bank failure in 2023 and the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.President Biden is trying to reassure Americans that the U.S. banking system is strong but at the same time, the administration says more action is needed to safeguard the banking industry.Government regulators stepped in by taking control of First republic bank and quickly selling off most of its assets to JP Morgan Chase. As part of the deal, the FDIC provided $50 billion dollars in financing to Chase.“These actions are going to make sure the banking system is safe and sound and that includes protecting small businesses across the country who need to make payroll for workers and their small businesses,” President Biden said.While the Biden administration says all is well with the U.S. banking system, First Republic is the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. Rules that were put into place after...