Category: News
Dolton man convicted in Hammond apartment double slaying
A jury convicted a Dolton, Illinois man Thursday in connection with a double slaying last year at the Renaissance Towers in Hammond.
Marvin “Geno” Clark, 33, was convicted of four counts of murder and three counts of burglary, plus four gun enhancements. Two of the murder counts were while committing a burglary.
His sentencing is April 7.
The victims — Gary Shanklin, 23, of East Chicago, and Montelle “Monty” Lang, 29, of Chicago — were found shot to death at the bottom of a stairwell. Hammond Police were called around 3:30 a.m. May 18 to the apartments on the 500 block of Michigan Street.
Authorities alleged co-defendant Anthony Smothers showed up at his ex-girlfriend Jailen Perry’s apartment with Clark and co-defendant Daniel “Danny” Harmon from an Illinois bar.
Police learned Smothers was on the phone with the woman when Lang, her new boyfriend, had choked her a week earlier in front of at least one of their kids.
Shanklin was friends with Lang — they stopped over after a party.
When Perry didn’t let the trio in, the men took off a screen and climbed through a living room window. Lang and Shanklin started arguing with them.
Perry told police Smothers was heavily drunk. Smothers pulled a gun and pointed it at her. The two men with Smothers stopped Shanklin and Lang from leaving.
He and Perry got into a physical confrontation. Smothers handed the gun to Harmon so he could freely attack Perry. She led Smothers outside the apartment trying to “defuse” the confrontation just before the shooting.
She told the victims to go out her front door while she talked with Smothers. He followed her outside her unit as they argued by the building’s east side. The woman heard shots. The two men with him, then Smothers fled.
“He’s dead,” Harmon said while leaving.
In closing statements Thursday, Deputy Prosecutor Milana Petersen said Clark showed up in a ski mask with Smothers and Harmon.
“He knew there would be a fight,” she said.
Perry identified Clark as one of the men there, Petersen said. Under a legal concept known as accomplice liability, she told jurors they didn’t need to technically prove who shot whom.
Both victims were unarmed.
Defense lawyer John Cantrell disputed Perry’s credibility, who testified Tuesday.
Police had no proof that she was on a Facetime call with Smothers as he was headed over on May 18, he argued. They had five missed phone calls on her cell.
Initially, she told police she didn’t see Clark with a gun. Then, in court, she testified he had two guns.
She was trying to cover for Smothers, her children’s father, or herself, he alleged.
The apartment video was cut off in 15-second “snippets” here and there, he said. The three men had “no plan” to kill Lang and Shanklin.
There was no evidence they tried to break into her apartment through the window screen as there was no DNA or obvious damage from the outside, he said.
The only person who had a feasible motive was Smothers, Cantrell said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/dolton-man-convicted-in-hammond-apartment-double-slaying/
Hammond bus driver, aide charged after autistic girl, 6, left with bump, scratch
A School City of Hammond school bus driver and bus aide are facing criminal charges after the aide allegedly “manhandled” a 6-year-old girl with autism while trying to get her harness strapped into a seat.
The child was left with a bump and a scratch.
The driver, Tammy Allenbaugh, 62, and aide, Linda Verduzco, 85, were each charged Wednesday with battery resulting in bodily injury to a disabled person, battery resulting in bodily injury to a person less than 14 years of age, neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, battery against a disabled person, battery on a person less than 14 years old and neglect of a dependent.
A representative from the School City of Hammond did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Court records show Allenbaugh was placed on administrative leave. Verduzco, a former certified nursing assistant hired in January, was fired.
Allenbaugh posted a $6,000 bond Thursday. Verduzco has not been apprehended after she was charged. She is ordered held on a $6,000 cash bond.
At first, Allenbaugh told an Indiana Department of Child Services investigator that she didn’t see what happened.
The incident was captured on school bus cameras around 2:45 p.m. Feb. 18.
A charging affidavit states that the girl was on a special education bus headed home from Frank O’Bannon Elementary School. The bus made three stops twice a day.
On camera, the girl grabs seatbelts as Verduzco pulls her by her harness to her seat. About halfway back, Verduzco has to drag her back.
“Stop that right now,” Allenbaugh tells the child.
Verduzco pulls the child’s backpack from her, causing her to cry. As she struggles to get the child strapped in, Verduzco shoves her into a seat corner. An audible “thump” is heard.
“I’m sorry,” the child says.
“No, you’re not,” Verduzco responds.
As the child struggled against the harness, Verduzco pressed her elbow into the girl’s neck, charges allege.
Verduzco sat down and elbowed the child twice in the chest during the ride home. Later on, she appears to have the child in a headlock.
The girl appears to be “smacking” and “kicking” at Verduzco.
The bus driver comes back and films the girl’s behavior with her cellphone.
Do we have to take her back to school, Verduzco asks. Can we drop her off in an alley, she said, before laughing, according to the affidavit.
The bus driver got off and showed the mother her video, without mentioning Verduzco, the mother later said. In the video, the mother is seen getting the girl off the bus and reprimanding the child.
School officials later told her to file a police report after DCS contacted her on Feb. 20.
She admitted her daughter could be “rowdy” sometimes. The school’s principal called her, saying the child had a “bad day” on Feb. 18, was “very disruptive” and would be “suspended for several days.” He then asked about the scratches.
When police later went to arrest Verduzco, she asked if it was for the “little girl.” Defendants are released in 48 hours if they are not charged within that timeframe.
She told investigators on Feb 25 that she worked at St. Margaret Mercy for nearly 30 years. That afternoon, the child had lost a hat.
On the bus, she “resisted” getting strapped in, Verduzco said. She “denied” intentionally hurting the girl. The video was “horrible” and “embarrassing.”
She didn’t remember elbowing the girl or putting her in a headlock. She said the alley remark — if she made it — was a joke. She claimed the girl kicked her and cursed at her.
She didn’t write a report because she didn’t want the “sweet” and “beautiful” girl to get in trouble.
Verduzco said she was a “Christian woman,” the video was “embarrassing,” and the child cursed at her and made an obscene gesture, charges state. She “blamed those behaviors on (the girl’s) family,” according to the affidavit.
mcolias@post-trib.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/hammond-bus-driver-aide-charged-autistic-girl-6-injured/
The Way We Were: Naperville HS stages Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ in 1940
This photo is from Naperville High School’s 1940 production of the “H.M.S. Pinafore,” also known as “The Lass That Loved a Sailor,” the comic opera written by Gilbert and Sullivan. It dates back to 1878 and is still being staged by high school, college and community theater groups today.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/photo-naperville-high-pinafore-theater-gilbert/
What If The Automatic Stock Buying Just…Stops?
What If The Automatic Stock Buying Just…Stops?
Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance
My readers know that for the last couple of years I’ve repeatedly warned about the “passive bid” in markets. By that I mean the constant, automatic buying of stocks driven by retirement plans, ETFs, and other systematic investment programs.
This bid isn’t discretionary. It doesn’t ask whether valuations are reasonable and it doesn’t care whether earnings justify prices. It simply asks one question: did money flow in? If the answer is yes, it buys. It buys regardless of valuation, regardless of timing, and regardless of fundamentals.
This dynamic has created a market that behaves very differently from the one investors grew up with. Instead of price discovery driven by valuation and earnings expectations, we increasingly have price formation driven by flows.
And now one recent data point hints that this dynamic may be changing.
According to Vanguard data cited by the WSJ, a record 6% of workers in Vanguard administered 401(k) plans took hardship withdrawals last year, up from 4.8% in 2024 and roughly 2% before the pandemic.
Hardship withdrawals have now risen for six straight years. The median withdrawal was $1,900 and the most common reasons were avoiding foreclosure or eviction and covering medical expenses.
In isolation, that is not a market moving number. But what it represents is worth paying attention to. Because retirement accounts, which have become the backbone of passive investing, are increasingly doubling as emergency financial backstops.
For years I have argued that the market is being structurally bid higher by passive investment flows. Retirement plans, target date funds, ETFs, and automated investment programs buy stocks consistently month after month. These programs operate on autopilot. The result is a forced buyer in the market.
When contributions arrive, the funds buy the underlying securities, typically weighted by market capitalization. That means the largest companies receive the most buying pressure. This helps explain why a small group of mega cap stocks has dominated market performance. The so called Magnificent Seven, Tesla, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, and Google, have dramatically outperformed the broader market in recent years because of the passive bid, in my opinion.
At the same time, market breadth has often been remarkably weak. The number of advancing stocks has frequently lagged even as major indexes push to all time highs.
In other words, indexes have been rising while much of the market has moved sideways or lower. That is what happens when capital flows are allocated by size instead of value. It’s also why if I needed to start buying the S&P regularly to invest, today I’d prefer something like the equal weighted Invesco S&P 500® Equal Weight ETF (RSP) as opposed to a weighted ETF like State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).
Regardless, for a long time the biggest question in my mind was not how passive flows drive markets higher. It was what happens if those flows slow or reverse.
Most retirement contributions come directly from paychecks. That means the passive bid is ultimately tied to employment. If fewer people are working, fewer contributions go into retirement plans. And if people start pulling money out, whether due to unemployment, financial stress, or emergencies, those funds must eventually sell assets to meet withdrawals.
That is where things get interesting.
In an interview last year, I pointed out how market analyst Mike Green laid out the mechanics of how a passive driven market could unwind. His thesis is simple but unsettling. Passive funds behave like systematic trading programs. When money flows in they buy. When money flows out they sell. Unlike traditional active managers, passive funds maintain almost no cash buffers. They are designed to remain fully invested. That means redemptions require selling into the market.
In a market where passive vehicles now represent more than half of US equity ownership, that dynamic could create structural fragility. Green’s broader point is that passive investing has fundamentally changed how markets behave.
Historically, stock markets were supposed to discount the future. Investors would anticipate recessions or slowdowns before they happened. But if flows dominate price formation, markets may no longer react to economic risks until the flows themselves change. And since those flows are tied to employment, the market may not respond to a downturn until jobs actually start disappearing.
At that point the feedback loop could become destabilizing.
Less employment means fewer contributions. Fewer contributions mean less passive buying. Withdrawals could mean forced selling. If the marginal buyer disappears at the same time sellers emerge, liquidity could vanish quickly.
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Another structural feature of passive investing is the self reinforcing momentum loop it creates. Because passive funds allocate capital based on market capitalization, rising companies receive larger inflows. This pushes their prices higher, increasing their index weight, which then forces funds to buy even more of them. It becomes a positive feedback loop.
This is one reason mega cap stocks have grown so dominant in index performance. The bigger they become, the more passive money must own them. This system works beautifully as long as the flows keep coming. But markets built primarily on momentum can be fragile when the direction changes.
It’s important to stress one key point: we are not anywhere close to a catastrophic situation today. Even the Wall Street Journal data that sparked this discussion paints a more nuanced picture. While hardship withdrawals have increased, overall retirement savings remain robust. In fact, the average 401(k) balance climbed 13% in 2025, reaching a record $167,970. Participation is rising as well—last year, a record 45% of workers increased their savings rate, largely driven by automatic escalation features built into many retirement plans.
In other words, the passive inflow machine is still very much running. Still, the WSJ data highlights something investors should keep in mind. Retirement accounts are no longer just long term investment vehicles. They are increasingly financial shock absorbers for households. If economic stress grows, those accounts could shift from being steady sources of inflows to sources of withdrawals.
And in a market where passive flows have become one of the dominant drivers of price, even small shifts in direction could matter.
For years I have described passive flows, along with options gamma, as tails that increasingly wag the market dog. As long as those tails keep pushing prices upward, the system works. But if the direction of those flows changes, investors may discover just how much of the market’s strength has been structural rather than fundamental.
QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.
This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. If you see numbers and calculations of any sort, assume they are wrong and double check them. I failed Algebra in 8th grade and topped off my high school math accolades by getting a D- in remedial Calculus my senior year, before becoming an English major in college so I could bullshit my way through things easier.
The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/06/2026 – 12:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/what-if-automatic-stock-buying-juststops
NHL trade deadline: Chicago Blackhawks deal captain Nick Foligno to Minnesota Wild
The Chicago Blackhawks traded away another veteran before Friday’s 2 p.m. deadline, sending captain Nick Foligno to the Minnesota Wild and ending the forward’s three-season stint with the team.
Coach Jeff Blashill confirmed the news of the deal, first reported by ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and NHL insider Frank Seravalli. Details of what the Hawks received have yet to emerge.
It’s general manager Kyle Davidson’s third deal of the week after sending defenseman Connor Murphy and centers Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach to the Edmonton Oilers in separate trades Monday and Wednesday. The Hawks received a 2028 second-round pick for Murphy and got left wing Andrew Mangiapane and a top-12-protected first-round pick in 2027 for Dickinson and Dach.
Foligno, 38, will be an unrestricted free agent after the season — his 19th in the NHL — and wasn’t expected to return to the Hawks, who are building around young star Connor Bedard. Still, Foligno made clear Thursday his feelings about leading the team.
“I made it no surprise how much I care about this group,” he said, referring to conversations with Davidson. “I believe in this group so much and it’s been an absolute honor to be the captain here.
“There’s a competitor inside you, too, that wants to be playing meaningful games.”
In Minnesota he’ll get to play with his brother Marcus for a team that’s third in the Western Conference with 82 points.
The Hawks acquired Foligno and Taylor Hall in a June 2023 trade with the Boston Bruins, and in January 2024 Foligno signed a two-year, $9 million extension through the 2025-26 season.
He was named the 35th captain in franchise history on the eve of training camp in September 2024. He replaced Jonathan Toews, a three-time Stanley Cup winner who had stepped away from the NHL a year earlier because of health issues.
Foligno had 35 goals and 48 assists (83 points) in 189 games with the Hawks, who finished with the second-worst record in the NHL in his first two seasons. At 23-28-10 (56 points) entering Friday, they’re near the bottom of the league again.
The Ottawa Senators selected Foligno with the No. 28 pick in the 2006 draft, and he played five seasons there, followed by stints with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Bruins before the Hawks acquired him. He spent six years as Blue Jackets captain from 2015-21.
The trades this week mean the Hawks will need all new captains — Dickinson, 30, and Murphy, 32, were the alternates. Bedard, 20, was given the “A” after the Murphy deal, and Tyler Bertuzzi will wear the “A” in Friday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks at the United Center.
Foligno has 608 points in 1,270 career games. He scored his most recent goal, No. 250, on Sunday in Salt Lake City in the Hawks’ 4-0 win over the Utah Mammoth.
Foligno and his dad, Mike, are one of two father-son duos in NHL history to have played 1,000 regular-season games each. Hawks legend Bobby Hull and son Brett is the other.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/chicago-blackhawks-trade-nick-foligno-minnesota-wild/
Law & Order column: Bill would encourage non-citizens to report crimes
Several Lake County lawmakers are backing a proposed state bill that would create a pilot program to help certain non-citizen victims of crimes.
The bill, Illinois House Bill 2731, would authorize the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office to create a program to represent victims in filings for victim-based remedies in federal immigration proceedings.
The goal of the bill is to encourage non-citizens to report crimes. Fear of deportation often prevents undocumented residents from reporting crimes, local authorities say.
“Victims of violent crime should feel safe coming forward and working with law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable,” said State Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, who is one of the bill’s sponsors. “This bill builds on the Lake County State’s Attorney’s innovative work supporting crime victims by allowing their office to provide direct legal assistance to immigrant victims of crime, strengthening protections as they pursue justice.”
State’s Attorney Eric. Rinehart supports the bill.
“HB 2731 recognizes that immigration-related fears can prevent victims from coming forward,” he said. “By providing legal guidance in appropriate cases, we can enhance public safety and hold offenders accountable.”
To qualify for assistance under the pilot program, an individual must be a non-citizen victim who has never been placed in removal proceedings, must have suffered a violent crime in Lake County, and must not be barred from seeking immigration remedies before the administrative body.
Other HB 2731 sponsors include state Reps. Rita Mayfield of Waukegan and Bob Morgan of Deerfield. The bill has support in the state Senate from Sens. Mary Edly-Allen of Libertyville and Adriane Johnson of Buffalo Grove.
Hit and run
The Lake County Coroner’s Office has identified the woman who was killed in a hit-and-run accident last month in Winthrop Harbor.
Shanna White, 50, died of blunt force injuries, according to autopsy reports.
White was hit by a vehicle at around 11:10 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the 1400 block of Sheridan Road. The vehicle fled following the collision, police said.
White was brought to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Winthrop Harbor and the Major Crash Assistance Team are investigating the incident. Winthrop Harbor Police said they expect to release additional information about the incident in the near future.
Jail brawl
Nine Lake County jail inmates were charged with battery after a recent fight inside the Waukegan lockup.
According to the sheriff’s office, the altercation took place on Jan. 31, and charges were filed in mid-February.
The fight erupted while inmates were outside their cells. Corrections officers were able to break up the fight, and no jail staffers were hurt, Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.
Some of the inmates suffered cuts and bruises, and one had his nose broken, police said.
“Based on the preliminary investigation, the incident appears to have originated from a prior dispute between several inmates that began before their incarceration,” Covelli said. “Other inmates subsequently became involved.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/law-and-order-column-9/
Trump Says He’s “Not Concerned” About Biggest Gas Pump Price Spike In Years
Trump Says He’s “Not Concerned” About Biggest Gas Pump Price Spike In Years
Americans are experiencing a sharp rise in gas prices this week, with the national average gasoline price posting its largest weekly jump since the early days of the Russia-Ukraine war. If fuel prices continue to climb as the U.S.-Israeli Operation Epic Fury intensifies against Iran, the fallout for consumer sentiment may weigh on the broader economy and affect voting polls in the near term.
The surge in gasoline and diesel prices at pumps nationwide doesn’t appear to be a concern for President Trump (at least not yet).
“I don’t have any concern about it,” the president told Reuters in an interview on Thursday evening when asked about rising prices.
“They’ll drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.”
The president’s comments come as the national average gas price at the pump has jumped nearly 11% this week to $3.32 per gallon, according to the latest figures from the travel organization AAA.
The nearly 11% surge in the national average is the biggest weekly jump since the week of March 6, 2022, when there was a 12.6% spike due to energy market chaos stemming from the war in Eastern Europe.
Surging WTI futures on Friday morning, now at $86/bbl (Brent crude futures above $90/bbl), suggest that pump prices could be headed higher into the weekend. This is a very big concern for the Trump administration, despite Trump downplaying the whole price surge.
“We have slightly higher oil prices for a little while, but as soon as this ends, those prices are going to drop, I believe, lower than ever before,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
Current WTI fut pricing suggests $3.80-ish for gas at the pump.
Trump has often touted low pump prices as one of his major accomplishments in making the economy more affordable for Americans after the inflation storm during the four years of the Biden-Harris administration. To be fair, gas prices nationwide are still relatively low compared to those years.
On Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News that any increase in pump prices would be a temporary bump and a “very small price to pay” for accomplishing Trump’s goals in the Middle East. The U.S. is more sheltered than ever to withstand a global energy shock, thanks to Trump’s ‘pump baby pump’ pro-energy policies.
To mitigate the incoming energy shock created by the paralyzed Strait of Hormuz, Trump ordered the government to provide risk insurance for tankers transiting the waterway earlier this week. However, as we have already explained, and as Qatar’s energy minister warned this morning, the risks of both an energy shock and a financial shock are soaring.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/06/2026 – 12:00
Worship news: Meet and greet, worship night and more
CROWN POIN
Bethel Church: 10202 Broadway — Bethel Church will have a meet & greet on March 22. Attendees will be able to meet some of the pastors and staff at the Crown Point campus and get to know other new faces. For more information, visit https://bethelweb.org/events?sapurl=Lys4ZWE4L2xiL2V2LytibXA2d3A1P2JyYW5kaW5nPXRydWUmZW1iZWQ9dHJ1ZSZyZWNlbnRSb3V0ZT1hcHAud2ViLWFwcC5saWJyYXJ5LmNhbGVuZGFyJnJlY2VudFJvdXRlU2x1Zz0lMkJqcDh5dnJr.
St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church: 101 W. Burrell Dr. — St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church will have “Be a Man!,” an event to explore the ten directives for “becoming the man God created you to be.” The event will begin at 7 p.m. March 9. For more information, call 219-663-2201.
St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church: 101 W. Burrell Dr. — St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church will continue its “John Paul II Letter to Women” event, held Mondays during Lent, with the next gathering from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. being March 9. Attendees will get soup, bread and crackers for a two-hour feast with facilitator Paula Burrell. Materials will be provided. For more information, call 210-663-2201.
HOBART
Bethel Church: 704 W 700 N — Bethel Church will bring all campuses together in Hobart for a night focused on worship beginning at 6:30 p.m. March 20. There will be no program, but attendees can expect to sing and pray. For more information, call 219-663-9200.
MERRILLVILLE
Unity A.M.E. Zion Church: 5757 Massachusetts St. — Unity A.M.E. Zion Church will have a 30th anniversary celebration March 7 and March 8, with a banquet at Avalon Manor at 5 p.m. March 7 and a worship service at 11 a.m. March 8. Banquet tickets are $100 and may be purchased online by calling 219-885-8445. Will call is available.
VALPARAISO
Valparaiso Baptist Church: 612 Emmettsburg St. — Valparaiso Baptist Church will have Family Night beginning at 6 p.m. March 11. There will be Teens of Truth and Team Kid at 6 p.m., with an adult bible study at 7 p.m. For more information, text 833-458-8611.
To submit worship news, email cnance@post-trib.com.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/worship-news-meet-and-greet-worship-night-and-more/
Appeals Court Rules Trump Can Suspend Refugee Admissions
Appeals Court Rules Trump Can Suspend Refugee Admissions
Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,
President Donald Trump has legal authority to indefinitely suspend the admission of foreign nationals who are trying to enter the United States through its refugee resettlement program, a federal appeals court ruled on March 5.
Trump froze refugee resettlement programs as he took office in January 2025.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued the new opinion in the case known as Pacito v. Trump.
The panel overturned most of the injunctions that Seattle-based U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead issued in February 2025. The judge had blocked Trump’s move to suspend the refugee resettlement program indefinitely, finding the president had gone beyond his legal authority by pausing the program.
In March 2025, the Ninth Circuit paused most of Whitehead’s rulings in favor of the plaintiffs and allowed Trump’s policy to be enforced while the litigation played out.
Trump signed Executive Order 14163 on Jan. 20, 2025. It said that the entry of refugees into the United States under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) would be detrimental to the country and that the entry of refugees under the program should be suspended.
In Executive Order 14169, signed the same day, Trump directed that funding be suspended for the processing of applications from individuals outside the United States seeking refugee status. He also cut off funding for domestic settlement services for refugees who have been admitted to the United States.
In the new ruling, Circuit Judge Jay Bybee noted that the plaintiffs consisted of refugees recently admitted to the United States and refugees approved for U.S. resettlement but who are outside the country. Also among the plaintiffs were U.S.-based individuals seeking admission for family members or sponsees, and three organizations that had agreements with the U.S. Department of State to provide overseas processing and domestic resettlement services, he said.
The plaintiffs argued that Trump’s suspension of the refugee program violated the Immigration and Nationality Act and that defunding the program violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Administrative Procedure Act is a federal statute enacted in 1946 that governs administrative law procedures for federal executive departments and independent agencies. The late U.S. Sen. Pat McCarran (D-Nev.) said at the time the law was “a bill of rights for the hundreds of thousands of Americans whose affairs are controlled or regulated in one way or another by agencies of the federal government.”
Bybee said the court recognizes the “enormous practical implications of this decision,” which largely overrules Whitehead’s orders.
“There are over one hundred thousand vetted and conditionally approved refugees, many of whom may have spent years completing the USRAP process in a third country only to be turned away on the tarmac,” he said.
In the Immigration and Nationality Act, Congress gave the president the power to “suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens,” and it is not for the court to decide if this is a “prudent policy,” Bybee said.
The panel voted 2–1 to uphold Whitehead’s orders preventing the federal government from ending services to already-admitted refugees and the termination of agreements with resettlement support centers.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lee dissented in that vote, saying he would have completely reversed Whitehead’s orders.
“District courts cannot stand athwart, yelling ‘stop’ just because they genuinely believe they are the last refuge against policies that they deem to be deeply unwise,” Lee said.
A Department of Justice spokesman said the panel’s ruling “reaffirms that activist district court judges cannot usurp the power of the president to protect the American people and set refugee policy for the United States.”
Mevlude Akay Apl, an attorney for the plaintiffs with the International Refugee Assistance Project, said the panel’s ruling “removes the ability for refugees stranded by the refugee ban to be safely resettled, or even have their cases processed, while President Trump’s cruel ban continues.”
Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/06/2026 – 11:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/appeals-court-rules-trump-can-suspend-refugee-admissions
Man United subirá precios y reubicará a aficionados para más asientos VIP en Old Trafford
MANCHESTER, Inglaterra (AP) — El Manchester United aumentará los precios de los abonos de temporada en un 5% en Old Trafford para la campaña 2026-27 y reubicará a varios cientos de aficionados para crear más asientos de hospitalidad en el estadio.
Los 20 veces campeones de Inglaterra, que no logran ganar el título de la Liga Premier desde 2013, declaró el viernes que el objetivo es volver a “la cima del fútbol nacional y europeo”.
“Queremos seguir invirtiendo en la plantilla y mejorando nuestras instalaciones para que los aficionados tengan la mejor experiencia posible. También necesitamos asegurarnos de que el club siga siendo financieramente sostenible, teniendo en cuenta la inflación y el aumento de los costos”, añadió el equipo en su anuncio.
El club explicó que el alza de precios de “alrededor del 5% en todas las zonas de Old Trafford” equivale, en promedio, a poco más de 2 libras (2,70 dólares) por partido para los titulares adultos de abonos de temporada.
El Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) calificó los cambios de “decepcionantes”. Destacó la campaña en toda la liga de la Football Supporters’ Association para congelar el precio de las entradas.
“Los aficionados están pagando cada vez más para ver a su equipo y, como dijo la campaña de la FSA: ya basta”, dijo MUST en un comunicado
También se refirió a los planes para la tribuna Sir Bobby Charlton: “Nos hemos enterado de que otros 600 aficionados leales están siendo reubicados para dar paso a más (espacio de) hospitalidad. Esas personas estarán, comprensiblemente, furiosas, y el club necesita tratarlas mejor que a quienes pasaron por lo mismo el año pasado”.
Las zonas de hospitalidad son oportunidades lucrativas para los clubes, y a menudo atraen a turistas dispuestos a pagar precios elevados.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
