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A former fundraiser for Rep. George Santos has been charged with wire fraud and identity theft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A former fundraiser for U.S. Rep. George Santos was indicted Wednesday on federal charges that he impersonated a high-ranking congressional aide while soliciting contributions for the New York Republican’s campaign.Sam Miele was charged with four counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in an alleged scheme to defraud donors and obtain money for Santos under false pretenses. Prosecutors said Miele impersonated a high-ranking aide to a House member with leadership responsibilities, using a fake name and email address to trick at least a dozen prospective donors.Santos was not charged in the case.The indictment did not name the person who was impersonated by name, but the details of the charges match with multiple news reports identifying the aide as Dan Meyer, now retired as the longtime chief of staff to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who at the time was minority leader.Miele pleaded not guilty to the charges in Brooklyn federal court and was...

Court watchdog files complaint against a judge who ordered ‘religious-liberty training’ for lawyers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

A court watchdog has filed a complaint against the federal judge who ordered “religious-liberty training” for a trio of Southwest Airlines lawyers as part of their punishment for not fully following his orders in a case involving speech about abortion.The leader of Fix the Court says U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr’s choice of training conducted by a Christian legal-advocacy group is “strange and unprecedented.”Fix the Court, a small, nonpartisan group known mostly for monitoring the U.S. Supreme Court, filed the judicial-misconduct petition Tuesday with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal in New Orleans. The group’s executive director, Gabe Roth, took particular aim at the Dallas judge’s selection of Alliance Defending Freedom to conduct day-long training for three Southwest lawyers in a case involving a flight attendant who said she was fired for comments objecting to abortion. The conservative ADF has represented clients opposing abortion, same-sex marriages and ...

Ada Deer, influential Native American leader from Wisconsin, dies at 88

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Ada Deer, an esteemed Native American leader from Wisconsin and the first woman to lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has died at age 88.Deer passed away Tuesday evening from natural causes, her godson Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, confirmed on Wednesday. She had entered hospice care four days earlier.Born August 7, 1935, on a Menominee reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin, Deer is remembered as a trailblazer and fierce advocate for tribal sovereignty. She played a key role in reversing Termination Era policies of the 1950s that took away the Menominee people’s federal tribal recognition.“Ada was one of those extraordinary people who would see something that needed to change in the world and then make it her job and everyone else’s job to see to it that it got changed,” Wikler said. “She took America from the Termination Era to an unprecedented level of tribal sovereignty.”Deer was the first member of the Menominee Tribe to graduate ...

Tuohys’ lawyers to respond to Michael Oher’s accusations as he fights conservatorship

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Lawyers for a prominent Memphis couple planned to speak with reporters Wednesday about former NFL player Michael Oher’s effort to take control of his finances in a now-public dispute involving those who inspired the Oscar-nominated movie “The Blind Side.”Attorneys for Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy scheduled a news conference to discuss Oher’s accusations that they enriched themselves at his expense. Oher moved in with the Tuohys before his senior year of high school, a story that led to a movie that received an Academy Award nomination for best picture in 2010. The Tuohys have called the allegations ridiculous and part of a shakedown attempt.Oher filed a petition Monday in a Tennessee probate court accusing the Tuohys of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago. Oher, now 37, wants a full accounting of assets considering his life story produced millions of dollars, though he sa...

Review: ‘Blue Beetle’ is a little more than a bug in in the superhero system

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

Franz Kafka never realized how close he came to kickstarting a superhero franchise. Ever since Gregor Samsa awoke in his bed to find himself transformed into a monstrous dung beetle in “The Metamorphosis,” we’ve had spider-men, wasps, ant-men, crime-fighting ticks and mighty mantises — such a super swarm of insectoids that you might be tempted to reach for a fly swatter. We’re now back to the beetle with the new DC Comics film “Blue Beetle,” which opens in theaters Thursday. But what distinguishes “Blue Beetle” isn’t its place in the bug brigade but the person doing the metamorphosizing.Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) is the first Latino superhero in a leading role in a DC film. It’s not just token casting, either. “Blue Beetle,” directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, is firmly rooted in the experience of the Reyes clan, a close-knit Mexican-American family scraping by in the shadow of the gleaming Miami-like ...

Hearing for suspect accused of 2022 armed robbery not long after his early prison release

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

CHICAGO — A court hearing was held Wednesday for a suspect in an armed robbery last year, not long after his early release from prison.38-year-old Michael Brewer is accused of robbing a man at gunpoint as he arrived home last summer in the city's West Beverly neighborhood. Court documents reveal he is accused of pointing a gun at the victim's face, who is a man in his early 30s.Brewer was on parole at the time of the alleged crime. His criminal history dates back to the early 90s, with multiple convictions related to gun crimes, including armed robberies.Brewer was convicted and sentenced in a 2014 case of aggravated vehicular hijacking, where he was accused of carjacking a 79-year-old at gunpoint. He was sentenced to 12-years, but was released early in January 2020.In this most recent case, an indictment filed in Cook County shows Brewer is accused of stealing multiple items at gunpoint from the victim in the area of 105th Street and Maplewood.Those items include a cellphone, walle...

Kids in mental health flooding emergency rooms — and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

For Wednesday, Aug. 16, WGN’s Dina Bair has new medical information, including: More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch Kids in mental health flooding emergency rooms A joint report published in the journal, Pediatrics, says the emergency room is oftentimes the only place they get treatment. ER physicians say not only are they not equipped to deal with those cases, but they take away from the patients they are trained to treat. The report recommends emergency departments add dedicated spaces for psychiatric screening and treatment. But they still say it would be best if children had community centers and resources to treat them continuously. RSV vaccines for infants The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends infants older than eight months old be given the new RSV vaccine.   The contagious respiratory illness is common and can be deadly for high-risk children. The FDA has approved a new vaccine under the name Beyfortus. The CDC also recommends the shot. Clinical trials fou...

Aldi to buy 400 Winn-Dixie, Harveys Supermarkets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - Discount grocer Aldi said Wednesday it plans to buy 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets in the southern U.S.Under a proposed merger agreement, Aldi will acquire all outstanding shares of Jacksonville, Florida-based Southeastern Grocers Inc., the parent company of Winn-Dixie and Harveys. If the deal is approved by regulators, it's expected to close in the first half of 2024.Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Both Southeastern Grocers and Aldi are private companies. Aldi is based in Germany with a U.S. headquarters in Batavia, Illinois.Aldi said the deal supports its long-term growth strategy in the U.S., where it expects to have 2,400 stores by the end of this year. The Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets it’s acquiring are primarily in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.Aldi said it will convert some locations to its own brand and format, which cuts costs with features like lean inventories and self-bagging. However, it will sti...

Brothers killed, 4 officers and hostage injured after standoff in Tennessee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Two brothers were killed and five people – including four police officers and a hostage – were injured in a standoff that began Tuesday afternoon and ended early Wednesday morning in Clarksville, Tennessee.According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), Clarksville officers attempted to execute arrest warrants Tuesday afternoon for 31-year-old Brandon Green and 33-year-old Leonard Green, who were both accused of aggravated burglary.However, the brothers allegedly barricaded themselves in an apartment with a hostage, resulting in several hours of negotiations with officers. Late at night, as the standoff was ongoing, one of the suspects allegedly fired several shots toward police, injuring an officer. The officer was taken to the hospital with a foot injury.(Courtesy: Caitlin Marie Knight)(Courtesy: Caitlin Marie Knight)Officials said officers eventually entered the home and a shootout occurred, which led to the Green brothers being shot and kill...

Austin hospital explosion suspect accused of asking someone to hide box of  'destructive device' components

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:04:22 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Recently-filed court documents reveal the man connected with an explosion at an Austin hospital Aug. 9 was accused of asking someone to remove something from his home prior to officials searching it.According to an arrest affidavit, Raymond Luke Garner, 38, was accused of corruptly concealing, attempting to conceal, and counseling, inducing, and procuring another to conceal an object with the intent to impair the object's availability for use in an official proceeding. When it announced his arrest, the Austin Police Department also said he was charged with a third-degree felony of Components of Explosives. KXAN has reached out to his attorney and will update this story when we receive a response. RELATED: 1 arrested after St. David’s parking garage explosion An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, conducted the report and said Garner, shortly after being detained for questioning and then released, sent a message to an individu...