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Former tribal leader sentenced for taking bribes in North Dakota

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A former government official of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation has been sentenced to five years in prison for accepting bribes and kickbacks from a construction contractor at Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Randall Phelan, 58, of Mandaree, was an elected representative of the governing body of the Three Affiliated Tribes from 2013 to 2020. Investigators said Phelan solicited and accepted bribes totaling more than $645,000 and helped the contractor’s business by awarding contracts, fabricating bids and managing fraudulent invoices.He was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty in October to conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, honest services wire fraud and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. He had faced a maximum of 20 years in prison.Co-conspirator Delvin Reeves, who was a project manager, was sentenced in November to about five years in prison after pleading guilty in 2021 to one ...

More money from Ontario needed to end ‘stalemate’ over Stellantis battery plant: feds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada offered Stellantis and LG Energy Solution a deal similar to the one Volkswagen accepted in March to build an electric-vehicle battery plant, but Ottawa wants Ontario to pony up a bigger share of the cash to make this deal happen, a federal minister said Tuesday.Speaking from Seoul, South Korea, where he was participating in an economic security summit, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the Stellantis battery plant is a good investment for Canada.But it’s also a good investment for Ontario, he said, and the province needs to step up.“I would say now what we need and the message to our colleagues in Ontario is, ‘Pay your fair share and we will bring this stalemate, if you want, to a conclusion,'” he said.Stellantis and LG announced in March 2022 that they were investing $5 billion to build a joint lithium-ion battery production factory in Windsor, Ont. It was to open next year, but Stellantis said Monday it had halted constructi...

Senate votes to block 2nd DC crime law; Biden veto expected

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted to overturn a District of Columbia law enacted last year to improve police accountability, the second time this year that Democrats have joined with Republicans to try and block the district’s crime regulations. President Joe Biden is expected to veto the resolution, which the House passed last month. The White House said in a statement of policy that the president doesn’t support every provision of the D.C. law, which was passed in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. But Biden supports “commonsense police reforms” that are part of it, such as banning chokeholds, limiting use of deadly force, improving access to body cameras and requiring increased de-escalation training.“Congress should respect the District of Columbia’s right to pass measures that improve public safety and public trust,” the White House said.Still, eight Senate Democrats supported the GOP-led effort to overturn the law, as members of both parties have expr...

Consultants: Design issues, operations lapses led to big Kansas oil spill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Pipeline design issues, lapses by its operators and problems caused during its construction led to a massive oil spill on the Keystone pipeline system in northeastern Kansas, according to a report for U.S. government regulators.An engineering consulting firm said in the report that the bend in the Keystone system where the December 2022 spill occurred had been “overstressed” since its installation in December 2010 — likely because construction activity itself altered the land around the pipe. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration posted a redacted copy of the report online Monday, about three weeks after it was completed by RSI Pipeline Solutions, based in the Columbus, Ohio, area.The report raised questions about Canada-based TC Energy’s oversight of the manufacturing of its pipeline, saying the report’s authors could find no record of a pre-installation inspection of the welds on the Wa...

1 killed, 1 critical after Fox Lake restaurant shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

FOX LAKE, Ill. -- An argument between two brothers reportedly turned deadly following a shooting inside a restaurant kitchen in Fox Lake Tuesday evening.According to the Fox Lake Police Department, officers responded to the Dockers Restaurant & Lounge on the 20 block of West Grand Avenue just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Second man charged in robbery, shooting that critically injured Dakotah Earley last year Fox Lake police said an argument ensued between two brothers inside the restaurant kitchen before shots were reportedly exchanged. It's unclear if both involved had a gun.One of the brothers passed away following the incident. The other was taken to a local hospital and is in critical condition.Many of the restaurant patrons reportedly didn't know what was going on until police arrived. "We were wondering why we didn't get our delivery right away," Fox Lake Chief of Police said patrons told authorities. "They didn't get served so they had gotten up to leave."There is no threa...

Seeking solutions from those most impacted by violence in Chicago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

CHICAGO — Politicians, pundits and pontificators on social media offer no shortage of simple sounding solutions to Chicago’s violence problem: ‘Lock people up!’ ‘Give people jobs!’  are common refrains. But if solutions were as simple as soundbites Chicago and other big cities wouldn’t have just endured their most violent few years in decades. “It annoys me,” Michelle Rashad said of the people who offer soundbite solutions to problems that plague her community. “Even that mindset allows us to normalize [violence] and say ‘Okay, if that person just had a job they wouldn’t be out here.’Rashad was born and raised in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. She excelled at Lindblom High School and travelled internationally after learning to speak Mandarin as a teenager. She was working a job in the corporate world in 2016 when she saw Black Lives Matter demonstrations downtown outside her office window.  “I had all this anger inside myself and I was saying ‘What are you goi...

Mayor Johnson meets with migrants in Chicago on second day in office

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

CHICAGO -- Mayor Brandon Johnson said he wanted to get a first hand look at the conditions new migrants coming to Chicago are experiencing on Tuesday.Mayor Johnson arrived at the Pietrowski Park Fieldhouse Tuesday evening, which the Chicago Park District converted last week into a respite site.Prior to stopping to the migrants, Mayor Johnson visited the 12th Police District, where roughly 70 migrants are currently living. Most are from Venezuala and have been at that police station for up to two weeks. Lawsuit aims to stop migrants from moving into old Chicago high school Some tell us they have been sick, one woman there is five months pregnant and hasn’t seen a doctor after her nine month journey to the United States.In his first day in office, Mayor Johnson signed several executive orders on Monday, one of them on immigration, creating a deputy mayor for immigrant, migrant and refugee rights. The Deputy Mayor will be responsible for coordination and communication between city de...

Chill comes in for midweek, but warmup on the way

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

Sharp cooling hits with the passage of a PNEUMONIA FRONT—so named because of the jarring temp changes such fronts produce. This front is dropping southward and will pass the area taking temps down from afternoon highs in the low 80s to the low and mid 50s by 9 and 10pm.  Such fronts sweep "NNE" winds into Chicago—winds which have traveled the length of Lake Michigan over chilly water. That helps drive the sharp temp drops they produce---in the case of Tuesday evening's front, a drop of 20 to 30-deg in a matter of hours—between 6 and 9 p.m. 'Pneumonia Front' to send temps crashing Tuesday night A COOL, SUNNY WEDNESDAY IS AHEAD---but smoke of Canadian wildfires is settling into the area ALOFT. This will lend the sky a hazy orangish hue.  Temps will be CHILLY WEDNESDAY—limited to the low and mid 60s inland and to the 50s at the lake.Temps come back closer to seasonal norms (i.e. low 70-deg highs and upper 40 to low 50-deg lows) the remainder of this work week and ...

WATCH: Northbrook student asks friend of 10 years to prom in grand fashion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

NORTHBROOK, Ill. — It may be one of the coolest and most heartfelt "promposals" you'll see all year. This past weekend, at the end of the Northbrook Park District ice show, Glenbrook North High School student Maddie surprised her longtime friend, Nicholas, with a sign that read, "Will you go to prom with me?" Westmont teen gets help from WGN’s Skycam9 for the ultimate promposal Nicholas, who graduated from Glenbrook South, yelled out a big 'Yes' in front of a cheering crowd. Maddie and Nicholas, who both have Down syndrome, have been friends for a decade. Their prom is scheduled for Saturday, May 20. 

Indiana high school student drowns in pool during PE class

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:14 GMT

WHITELAND, Ind. (WXIN) — A female high school student in Indiana has died after drowning in a swimming pool during physical education class on Tuesday. Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation originally referred to the student's death as the result of a medical emergency. It was the Johnson County Coroner who later confirmed that the student was pulled from the Whiteland Community High School swimming pool. Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation clarified on Tuesday evening that the student did in fact drown in the pool and that the drowning occurred during PE class. Say goodbye to AM radio: Why carmakers are removing it from new models "Despite the efforts of our staff and emergency responders, the student has passed away," the school corporation said. "The specific cause and circumstances surrounding this tragedy are not yet known, and a thorough investigation will take place."The school corporation extended their deepest sympathies to the friends and family of the dec...