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Donald Trump’s lawyers ask judge to exit criminal case, echoing claims of political bias

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Within hours of his historic arraignment this spring, Donald Trump fixed his ire on the judge, complaining that he’s “a Trump hating-judge” with a family full of “Trump haters.”On Friday, the former president’s lawyers doubled down on that criticism, demanding Judge Juan Manuel Merchan step aside from his New York City criminal case because of what they say is anti-Trump bias and a conflict of interest arising from his daughter’s work for some of Trump’s Democratic rivals.Trump’s lawyers allege that Merchan, a respected jurist in Manhattan’s criminal court, tipped the scales in two other Trump-related cases by involving himself in plea negotiations for Trump’s longtime finance chief and requiring him to testify against Trump’s company in exchange for a five-month jail sentence.Trump’s lawyers, Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche, also asked Merchan to explain three political donations totaling $35 that were made to Democratic causes in his name during the 2020 elec...

Toronto screening of Sean Penn’s Ukraine film to help launch global non-profit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

TORONTO — The global launch of a new non-profit group against authoritarianism will include an invitation-only Toronto screening of Sean Penn’s documentary about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy next week. “Superpower,” co-directed by Penn and Aaron Kaufman, focuses on Zelenskyy’s leadership amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his country’s battle for survival. Organizers say the June 6 screening in Toronto will be the first of several around the world as part of the launch of U.S.-based Humanity for Freedom, which is led by Kaufman and Dane Waters, an American political strategist and writer.Organizers say the Toronto portion of the “72 Hours for Freedom” event was planned in partnership with Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Yuliya Kovaliv and Canadian entrepreneur Jay Rosenzweig, who is also executive producer of “Superpower” and the board chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.Penn previously told The Associated Press that he had his first on-camera me...

After loss, couple's love story blooms in suburban garden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

Just as buds are beginning to blossom, a special home garden in the North Suburbs is fueling new life for both animals and the woman who tends it.Gardens have the power to nourish our souls and in the case of Jane Fulton Alt, it turned out to be the one thing that brought hers back after losing her beloved husband.Five years ago, Howard Alt, decided to build a garden. Not just any garden, but one packed full of native plants, flowers and shrubs that would nourish insects, birds and everything in between."He was here in the garden nonstop. He loved it,” Fulton Alt said. “He loved it."She said he plotted, planted and poured everything he had into it. And as his passion for native gardens grew, so did his wife's concern about the project which grew to wrap two streets in an eclectic array of native flora and fauna"I said, ‘Howard, who's going take care of this garden when you're gone?’ And he just smiled at me,” she said. More from Erin: ‘Faces of Parkinson’s’: Mother, daughter highl...

'Wear Orange Day': Peace March and Rally held on National Gun Violence Awareness Day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

CHICAGO -- As families across the nation suffer daily from senseless shootings, Friday's Peace March and Rally brought awareness to “National Gun Violence Awareness Day," also known as "Wear Orange Day."The summer months are a time when we often see a spike in gun violence, but community leaders and students marched through Chicago's Austin neighborhood shouting various chants like "No more silence, an end to gun violence.""This is something that is deeply personal to me as the mayor of the city of Chicago, but here is what I am encouraged by that the pain and suffering that our communities have experienced over decades of disinvestment," Mayor Brandon Johnson said. "We’re not allowing that to stop us from bringing people together to bring about the investment so that we can finally put an end to this violence." Related: Man gets new trial in Chicago honor student’s death Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, the mother of Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed at the age of 15 in 2013, ...

Chase online banking bug caused double transactions, fees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Customers of Chase's online banking services saw double transactions, fees and payments in their accounts on Friday, in a glitch that was not fixed until late in the day.Numerous Chase customers had posted on social media that their rent or bill payments were taken out of their accounts twice and reported hold times with customer service approaching more than an hour. The New York-based bank is one of the country’s largest financial institutions with millions of online customers.Transactions over Zelle, the bank’s own peer-to-peer payment service, were also impacted with Chase customers.Chase said late Friday that the bank had “resolved the underlying issue” and was in the process of issuing refunds or reversing transactions for customers.Online banking services, while usually reliable, sometimes spectacularly fail or have temporary outages that tend to spook their customers. Banks typically will resolve an error in their services within hours, and no customer is lia...

17-year-old injured in Bolingbrook shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. — A teenage girl was shot in Bolingbrook Friday afternoon.According to police, the 17-year-old was shot in the area of Lexington Drive and Lee Lane. She was taken to the hospital where she has stabilized.Police believe two male teens are responsible for the shooting and are searching for them.Police say the shooting is not random but they have issued a shelter in place alert for residents in the area.Anyone with information about this incident can contact the Bolingbrook Police Department Investigations Division at 630-226-8620 or to remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at 630-378-4772

What's the outlook for the Cubs, White Sox as June begins?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

Jared Wyllys of CHGO joined WGN News Now's "9 Good Minutes" to discuss the Cubs & White Sox as they start the month of June.CHICAGO — Many consider Memorial Day or the end of May as the first place to take a look at the progress of a Major League Baseball team. Many Cubs and White Sox fans are doing that right now, and to be frank, it could be a little bit rough. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)For those on the south side, the disappointment is much greater than those on the north considering the pressure on that group in 2023. With perhaps their current era in the balance, the White Sox were 8-21 at the end of April and were only able to pick up one game in May (15-14). Key starting pitchers Dylan Cease (3-3, 4.88 ERA) and Lance Lynn (4-6, 6.55 ERA) have not been able to find their groove while the lineup has once again dealt with a fair amount of injury. Only a mediocre division has kept the White Sox in a postseason conversation as their 23-35 record has them 7 1/2 games b...

4 injured in late-night multivehicle crash in Skokie, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

SKOKIE, Ill. — Four people were hurt in a serious crash in Skokie late Thursday night. The crash occured just after 11 p.m. in the area of Monticello and Lee when a vehicle traveling northbound struck another car traveling east, Skokie police said. Bicyclist, 56, hit by car in Hoffman Estates The driver failed to stop at a posted sign and crashed into another car, police added. The impact of the crash sent one of the vehicles onto a nearby neighbor's lawn, just feet from crashing into the nearby home. No charges expected after teen riding bike critically injured after driver hits him in Batavia According to police, one occupant had to be extracted from the wreckage. All four people were taken to nearby hosptials with non-life-threatening injuries. An investigation is ongoing.

Lawmakers passed police transparency bill, so why hasn't it reached the governor?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for June 2, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) — A bill passed by Texas lawmakers to make police records less secret appears to have gone missing itself. The unusual way it has stalled before being sent to Gov. Greg Abbott for review has many of the main players involved keeping quiet and KXAN digging into a winding legislative timeline that threatens to derail policy years in the making.Nearly a week after a final version of House Bill 30 was approved overwhelmingly in both the House and Senate, listed as enrolled online and signed by Speaker Dade Phelan, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had yet to sign the measure in the Senate. This step is a legal requirement in the Texas Constitution before going to the governor to sign or veto.As unfinished business from the regular session’s final days spilled into a special session with high-profile divisions among those three Republican leaders on other issues, questions are now swarmi...

Mother successful in campaign for safer streets after son hit by car

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:42:27 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A mother’s campaign to make an intersection safer after her 8-year-old son and his babysitter were hit by a car was successful. On May 12, Kirsten Matetich’s son, Ross, and his babysitter were walking home from a restaurant when they entered the intersection of Windsor Road and Winstead Lane – a MoPac Expressway exit lane in Tarrytown – when the pedestrian signal indicated to walk. PREVIOUS: 8-year-old boy hit by car, mother insists city make intersection where it happened safer As they entered the road, a car turning left onto Windsor Road from MoPac slowly ran into them. While the driver should have yielded, the light was green, Matetich said. Her son and babysitter sustained some minor injuries but are doing fine now physically.Matetich started a petition demanding changes to the intersection. Nearly 700 people signed the petition.City officials –  including District 10 Council Member Alison Alter, whose jurisdiction the area is in – heard Matetich’s call for ac...