Category: News
Ilia Malinin leads in Olympic men’s figure skating after a near-perfect short program
MILAN — Ilia Malinin playfully threw a couple of jabs at a TV camera while skating off the ice Tuesday night, the pressure of his first Olympics having seemingly vanished after a team gold medal and a near-perfect short program to begin the men’s competition.
The American wunderkind didn’t exactly deliver a knockout blow to the rest of the field.
He came close, though.
The self-styled “Quad God” landed a pair of quadruple jumps, another jaw-dropping backflip and his signature “raspberry twist,” piling up 108.16 points and taking a five-point lead over Yuma Kagiyama of Japan into the decisive free skate Friday night.
2026 Winter Olympics: Meet the medalists from the United States
“In the team event, I think I had too much, I’ll call it, ‘Olympic excitement.’ It really just felt like there was so much pressure,” Malinin said. “I was so hyped up, so excited to skate out there, and it really came back and beat me.”
In fact, Kagiyama beat Malinin in the short program during the team competition last weekend, leaving many to wonder whether the overwhelming favorite for Olympic gold was letting the pressure get to him. But he bounced back in the free skate to beat Japan’s Shun Sato in a head-to-head battle, clinching a second straight gold for the U.S. and giving him a boost of momentum.
“So coming to this short program,” Malinin said, “in an individual event, I wanted to take things a little more slowly, a little more calm, and honestly just push the autopilot button and see what happens.”
Kagiyama scored 103.07 points, while Adam Siao Him Fa of France, the last skater to beat Malinin more than two years ago, was third with 102.55. But both face a herculean task in catching him, given Malinin’s huge technical advantage over a longer program.
“This is sports,” Kagiyama said through an interpreter. “You never know what is going to happen.”
Except that Malinin is the surest thing in figure skating.
The two-time reigning world champion opened with a big quad flip, landed a perfect triple axel — perhaps saving the quad axel only he has ever landed for the free skate — and a quad lutz-triple toe loop that scored more than 22 points by itself.
By the time he landed the backflip and the raspberry twist, the crowd at the Milano Ice Skating Arena was ready to roar.
“I was definitely pleased that I was able to stay a little more on my feet this time,” Malinin said with a smile. “Usually I feel like I’m just there to do stuff, but this time I felt like I can really enjoy the program and the story behind it.”
Kagiyama was the only skater after Malinin, and he nearly matched him with his own splendid program. But on his final jump, a triple axel, the reigning Olympic silver medalist had to step out, and that cost him some valuable points in the grade of execution.
Now, both Malinin and Kagiyama have two days to think about their free skates.
Asked how he’ll pass the time, Malinin replied: “Give myself a mental reset and see how the approach for the free program will be.”
Ilia Malinin of the United States competes during the men’s figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Milan. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The opening night of men’s figure skating packed a little bit of everything.
There was the cheeky fun of a “Minions” program by Spanish skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate, who was worried last week that he wouldn’t get to perform it because of a copyright issue. There was the artistry of the Japanese skaters, the high-flying aerial acrobatics of the American contingent and one of the most emotional moments of the entire Winter Games.
U.S. skater Maxim Naumov, whose parents, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were killed in a plane crash just over a year ago, fulfilled a dream they had shared by performing on Olympic ice. When his program drew to an end, Naumov stayed on his knees at the middle of the rink, looking up to the heavens and telling them, “Look at what we’ve done.”
“Whatever life throws at you, if you can be resilient and push a little bit more than you think, you can do so much more,” said Naumov, who carried a picture of his parents to the kiss-and-cry and whose score of 85.65 easily got him through to the free skate.
“You have to have that willpower and do things you love, and that’s exactly what I am going to do.”
The podium fight among the real contenders began with Kao Miura, the former world junior champion. But the Four Continents winner just last month popped his opening quad salchow, fell on a later jump and never really recovered.
Sato, the second of Japan’s powerhouse trio, made a mistake of his own when he spun out of the second half of a quad toe-triple toe combo. He got through the rest of the program but scored just 88.70 points, leaving him well out of contention.
It took Kagiyama, their countryman, to finally deliver a memorable performance for Japan in the short program.
Only problem: It still left him trailing the best figure skater of his generation.
“I’m coming in as the favorite, but being the favorite is one thing; actually earning it under pressure is another,” Malinin said. “I don’t take it for granted that I’m getting the gold, of course. I still have to put in the work for the long program.”
AP’s Howard Fendrich contributed.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/olympics-ilia-malinin-short-program/
Activistas buscan desestimar una demanda que pretende excluir a no ciudadanos del censo de EEUU
Por MIKE SCHNEIDER
Grupos defensores de los derechos de los inmigrantes presentaron una moción para desestimar una demanda interpuesta por republicanos, la cual prohibiría que la Oficina del Censo de Estados Unidos incluya a personas que están en Estados Unidos sin autorización legal durante el conteo de población de 2030.
Los grupos activistas aseguran que la demanda, que fue presentada el mes pasado por la fiscal general de Missouri Catherine Hanaway, violaría la ley y requeriría un recuento de la población de Estados Unidos de 2020, lo que costaría miles de millones de dólares.
“La solicitud ilegal distorsionaría la representación de millones de estadounidenses y sacudiría los cimientos de nuestra democracia representativa”, afirmó la moción presentada por los grupos defensores de los derechos de los inmigrantes, los cuales cuentan con la asesoría legal de varias ramas de la Fundación ACLU.
La demanda es el más reciente esfuerzo de los republicanos por excluir a las personas que están sin autorización legal en Estados Unidos y a otros extranjeros de los resultados del censo. Estas cifras son la base para la asignación de fondos federales y determinan el número de escaños en el Congreso y los votos del Colegio Electoral que recibe cada estado, un proceso conocido como distribución.
La demanda de Missouri solicita que se realice nuevamente el proceso de distribución con las cifras del censo de 2020, pero ahora sin incluir a las personas que se encuentran sin permiso legal en el país. También pide que el proceso posterior al censo de 2030 se lleve a cabo de la misma manera.
Otros cuatro fiscales generales estatales del Partido Republicano presentaron una demanda similar que está pendiente en un tribunal federal de Luisiana. Además, legisladores republicanos en el Congreso han presentado una propuesta que lograría el mismo objetivo.
Un experto en redistribución de distritos del Partido Republicano había escrito que utilizar únicamente a la población en edad de votar, en lugar de la población total, para el propósito de rediseñar los distritos congresionales y legislativos estatales podría beneficiar a los republicanos y blancos no hispanos.
La 14ª Enmienda de la Constitución dice que se debe contar al “número total de personas que haya en cada estado” para fines de distribución. La Oficina del Censo ha interpretado esa frase como cualquier persona que viva en Estados Unidos, independientemente de su estatus legal.
La demanda de Missouri se produce en momentos en que el presidente Donald Trump ha estado presionando a los estados con gobiernos republicanos a rediseñar sus distritos legislativos para beneficiar al Partido Republicano antes de las elecciones de mitad de período de este año. Trump instruyó en agosto al Departamento de Comercio para que la Oficina del Censo comenzara a trabajar en un nuevo censo que excluya del conteo a los inmigrantes que vivan sin autorización legal en el país.
Los interventores lograron recientemente que se desestimara otra demanda contra la Oficina del Censo. Un panel de tres jueces en Tampa desestimó la semana pasada una impugnación presentada por grupos republicanos a los métodos estadísticos que empleó la agencia durante el censo de 2020.
Durante una audiencia del Comisión de Asignaciones del Senado, el secretario de Comercio, Howard Lutnick, reconoció el martes que la ciudadanía no era un factor en el proceso de distribución según la Constitución. Cuando se le preguntó si se incluiría una pregunta sobre la ciudadanía, dijo que la agencia aún no ha determinado las preguntas que aparecerán en el formulario del censo de 2030. El Departamento de Comercio supervisa la Oficina del Censo.
“Cuál es el cuestionario, no lo sé, y no hemos decidido”, dijo Lutnick.
___
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Evergreen Park’s Abbey Murphy has 3 assists as US hockey team dominates in a 5-0 win over Canada
MILAN — Hannah Bilka scored twice, and the United States’ youth and speed overwhelmed a Canadian women’s hockey team missing its captain in a 5-0 win at the Milan Cortina Games on Tuesday.
The lopsided victory clinched first place for the U.S. in Group A entering the quarterfinals and continued confirming why the Americans entered the tournament as favorites. Team USA swept all four preliminary-round games by a combined score of 20-1, and brought back memories of how a Canadian team in its prime rolled to winning gold at the 2022 Beijing Games.
The tables have since turned, and it was evident on the scoresheet from a roster that features seven players still in college.
The University of Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey had a goal and two assists, with Badger teammates Laila Edwards and Kristen Simms also scoring. The goal was Edwards’ first in her Olympic debut, being the first Black woman to represent the U.S.
University of Minnesota captain Abbey Murphy, an Evergreen Park native, set up three goals.
Aerin Frankel stopped 20 shots for her third win and second shutout in her first Olympic tournament. And even 36-year-old captain Hilary Knight added an assist — the 32nd Olympic point of her career to tie Jenny Potter for most by a U.S. women’s hockey player.
Canada, meanwhile, opened tentatively and then ran into penalty problems minus its longtime leader, Marie-Philip Poulin.
Poulin was ruled out about five hours before puck drop, and a day after she limped off with an apparent lower-body injury in the first period of a 5-1 win over Czechia. The 34-year-old Poulin is considered day to day, though it’s unclear when the player nicknamed “Captain Clutch” will be available for Canada’s closing game of the preliminary round against Finland on Thursday.
And Poulin’s availability is uncertain for Saturday, when Canada is scheduled to play its quarterfinal game.
The U.S. will open the quarterfinals against host nation Italy, which went 2-2 in clinching the third and final Group B playoff spot. The Americans are two-time Olympic gold medalists.
Whatever “O, Canada” buzz there was amid a large Maple Leaf flag-waving capacity crowd quickly dampened on a drizzly day outside the 11,600-seat Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. And the soundtrack instead became the sound of the U.S. goal song, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird.”
Harvey opened the scoring 3:45 in by driving in from the left point and snapping a shot, beating Ann-Renee Desbiens.
The Americans’ speed and quick-strike ability was evident on their next goal when Murphy chased down Harvey’s pass in the right corner. Murphy immediately spun and sent a no-look pass Bilka converted by driving to the net.
Simms made it 3-0 by jamming the puck over the line 72 seconds into the second period and Murphy set up Bilka for another one-timer some six minutes later.
Desbiens allowed five goals on 27 shots and was pulled after Edwards scored with 8:07 left. She was replaced by Emerance Maschmeyer, who finished with five saves.
Canada’s worst fears were realized in opening the game minus Poulin, after concerns were already raised after the U.S. dominated in sweeping a four-game exhibition pre-Olympic Rivalry Series. The Americans outscored Canada by a combined margin of 24-7.
The U.S. has now defeated Canada in seven straight meetings, dating to the preliminary round and gold-medal game of the world championships in April.
Though the Canadians kept the U.S. mostly to the perimeter, they were unable to generate any hint of a sustained offense. Canada was outshot 11-4 through the first period — and one shot credited to Canada included a dribbler on net from the neutral zone.
Rounding out the day is Finland playing Switzerland in a Group A outing.
Sweden sweeps
Ebba Svensson Traff stopped 20 shots to post her first Olympic shutout and Group B champion Sweden completed its four-game preliminary round sweep with a 4-0 win over Japan.
Josefin Bouveng had a goal and assist, and Hanna Thuvik, Mira Hallin and Hanna Olsson also scored. Sweden outscored its opponents by a combined 18-2, and will play Group A’s third seed in the quarterfinals, which will be played on Friday and Saturday.
Sweden forward Hilda Svensson did not return after falling awkwardly into the boards five minutes into the game. The severity of her injury was not immediately known.
Japan finished 1-3, with its only victory coming against France, which finished the tournament 0-3-1. The ninth-place finish is the lowest for Japan in its five Olympic appearances, and after the nation finished sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games.
Germany beats Italy 2-1
Laura Kluge’s breakaway goal with 1:29 left in regulation secured Germany’s 2-1 win over Italy and second place in the Group B standings. Emily Nix also scored for Germany.
Justine Reyes scored for Italy, which advanced for the first time in two Olympic appearances — both as the host team.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/usa-canada-womens-hockey-olympics/
La Grange Village Board unanimously approves welcoming ordinance
The La Grange Village Board unanimously adopted a Welcoming Community ordinance that prohibits federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement from using village property in conducting civil immigration enforcement actions.
“Our specific ordinance was drafted with the assistance of the village manager, the village attorney, and the police chief,” village President Mark Kuchler said before the Feb. 9 vote, noting similar ordinances have been adopted by other municipalities throughout the region.
Trustee Lou Gale said his support for the ordinance reflected the will of La Grange residents.
“It seems there’s overwhelming community support for this ordinance, so I’m supportive of it.”
The vote came after La Grange residents came to the Village Board proposing the Welcoming Community ordinance at its previous meeting.
Mike Waters, a 40-year resident of La Grange and member of progressive advocacy group Indivisible, urged the Village Board to take action to protect immigrants.
“We watched in dismay as federal immigration agents terrorized Chicago and its suburbs in Operation Midway Blitz this past fall,” he told the Board at its Jan. 26 meeting. “And we’re watching in horror now as the Department of Homeland Security wages war on the Twin Cities. Protestors are being executed while exercising their constitutional right to record the violence brought by ICE agents. Children are being snatched and used as pawns, families are being torn apart, U.S. citizens are being dragged from their homes and detained. You see this and think this is something that can’t be happening in America, but it is.”
Waters said that with speculation that ICE operations would resume in Chicago this spring, it was time for La Grange to take action.
“So in response to this reality, we are asking the Village Board to adopt an ordinance declaring La Grange to be a welcoming community,” he said.
Waters said that the ordinance would “prohibit the use of municipal property and resources for immigration enforcement activities, including staging and operations.”
Resident Jim Longino, who has lived in La Grange for 30 years, echoed Waters’ sentiments.
“I’m here to request support for creating a welcoming, ICE-free zone in La Grange,” he said. “This request is to protect all individuals while here in La Grange from the witnessed, excessive violations of brutality the federal government — ICE civil enforcement actions.”
Another resident, Jonathon Robinson, also urged the board to put an actual ordinance on a welcoming community ordinance on its agenda to be voted on.
Kuchler addressed the issue during his president’s report.
“I try very hard to avoid national incidents, or to get involved in commenting on national politics and even state politics, even county politics, trying to keep the focus on La Grange as best as possible,” Kuchler said. “I’m personally very shook by two murders happening in Minneapolis and having a real difficult time remaining quiet. When that is occurring without any reflection that it’s going to stop, there’s going to be any change. It doesn’t seem that that’s the way it’s moving.”
Kuchler also expressed concern about what he said were reports of the constitutionally questionable practice of entering residences without a warrant, saying “that strikes me as completely wrong.”
“We as a Board need to come together where we’re comfortable, with the understanding that we have a very limited role in this regard,” he said.
Gale drew applause from the audience at the meeting, saying the issue “has landed on our doorstep and therefore we can’t ignore it. I would like to direct staff to draft up a version of a welcoming ordinance that we could consider.”
Board member Beth Augustine referred to the shootings in Minnesota, and said since then, “it has gotten so much more worse. It is certainly hard to sleep at night. It seems very reasonable to put an ordinance like this in place.”
Contacted later, Waters said Indivisible West Suburban Chicago is a volunteer group of 2,500 which operates primarily in La Grange, La Grange Park, Western Springs, and Brookfield.
“Much of our focus is resisting the Trump administration’s agenda,” he said. “We do that in a number of ways.”
Among them was an “impromptu vigil and silent march in honor of Renee Good,” after she was shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota.
“We had 850 people who gathered in downtown La Grange on less than 48 hours notice,” Waters said.
Waters said the group was urging people to call Illinois Senators to urge them to vote against any appropriations bill for DHS that does not include significant restraints on ICE activities.
He said the welcoming ordinance Indivisible was supporting would be symbolic but also help the community protect people.
“That would prohibit them, for example, staging on Village property,” Waters said. “There are a number of suburbs that have adopted that kind of anti-ICE ordinance. We’re also asking the Village to build in some protections for immigrants who live or work in La Grange. … We would direct Village staff to not request or disclose information about residents’ immigration status, or citizenship status.”
Waters listed Villa Park, Batavia, Berwyn, Carpentersville, Evanston, and Skokie as municipalities who’ve enacted some type of welcoming community ordinance.
“La Grange is not blazing any new trail here,” he said. “We’re asking them to do what a number of suburbs have done, and what more and more are doing.”
Waters said that Indivisible’s goal was to get protections for undocumented residents as well as those here legally.
“We believe the village has the right to adopt these measures,” he said. “A number of suburbs already have done this. I’m not aware of any legal challenges to any of those.”
Waters said that he had no trouble deporting undocumented people who committed crimes.
“I don’t know anyone who opposes the notion of deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes,” he said. “But that’s not what’s happening here, that’s not what’s happening in America.”
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/lagrange-adopts-welcoming-ordinance/
The College Calculation Has Flipped
The College Calculation Has Flipped
Authored by Jeffrey A. Tucker via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Buried in new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a bearish sign for a college education, the first time we’ve seen this in 50 years. Trade workers without a college education are gaining new advantages in employment stability and even in earnings. On paper, a college degree still earns more but that edge is slipping too.
The Cleveland Fed explains: “For decades, college graduates have typically faced lower unemployment rates, found jobs faster, and experienced more stable employment than high school graduates without college experience. Combined with higher expected wages, these advantages reinforced higher education as a pathway to economic security. However, some of the long-standing job market advantages offered by having a college degree may be eroding.”
The BLS data is extremely revealing. The unemployment rate for people with no college education has dropped dramatically to 4.0 percent, while those with some college rose just as dramatically to 3.8 percent.
The trend line here is what is instructive. The obvious edge from holding a college degree seems to be slipping while those without such a degree are gaining steam. This is the first time we’ve seen this trend in half a century.
The income advantages are still there for a college education but even here, we are seeing a generational shift. The pace at which income is rising for those who choose trades has more upward energy than those without. The gap is there but narrowing.
The Washington Post explains: “The unemployment gap between workers with bachelor’s degrees and those with occupational associate’s degrees—such as plumbers, electricians and pipe fitters—flipped in 2025, leaving trade workers with a slight edge for six months out of the past year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s the first time trade workers have had a leg up since the BLS started tracking this data in the 1990s.”
It’s a bit ironic that this story was posted just days before the Post itself laid off fully one-third of its workers, a gutting of the staff of a major paper that we’ve never seen before. No question that Artificial Intelligence has something to do with it, but, then again, AI is a convenient excuse for what these institutions knew they had to do to regain something approaching profitability.
There are two additional factors at play here.
First, everyone employed in a high-end professional setting knows with absolute certainty that all major corporations are wildly overstaffed and have been for many years, even decades dating back to the advent of artificially cheap credit in 2000. After that point, the banking system subsidized leverage over real capital and earnings. The consequence was a professional hiring boom like we’ve never seen.
Over several days, I spoke to many friends who are employed in these large institutions and asked for their estimates of how much in the way of overstaffing they face. I got estimates that range from 50 to 90 percent. In other words, in their own experience, at least half the workers in large institutions do not actually add value, if they do anything at all.
This is a remarkable testimony. Recall that the “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams recently died. The main import of his column was all about satirizing the sheer waste in corporate America. The amount of bureaucracy is appalling as are the endless demands for meetings, committees, compliance teams, training, and absolute make-work programs that do nothing for the consumer or the profitability of the company.
We’ve seen what has happened to high-end management over the last three years. Most corporations are laying off workers—not those who face the customer but the managerial layers. The lockdown pandemic period essentially proved that these companies might actually perform better if this layer of worker stays home and goofs off. That period essentially convinced owners (stockholders) that vast numbers of people needed to be permanently terminated.
Recall that when Elon Musk took over Twitter, his first actions concerned personnel. He ended up firing an astonishing four-fifths of the legacy employees. He just did not see the need for them. Almost immediately, the platform became better. It is a private company so we don’t have a fix on profitability metrics today but it is easily the number one news app for the world today.
That example sent a signal to the whole of the corporate world. Layoffs were just a matter of time.
The second factor concerns earnings potential of college vs. no college. There has always been a basic fallacy at work in interpreting the data. The fallacy is called Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc, Latin for: after this therefore because of this.
To be sure, a college degree is associated with higher earnings, but is that because of the degree or because of the kind of person who hangs around long enough to earn a degree, can afford a degree, or is in a profession that requires a degree? Once you correct for all these confounding issues, it is not at all clear that the data are telling the truth. Certainly it is far from the case that a degree causes one to make a high income.
Consider the costs of college beyond the outrageous financial expense. We are taking people who are at the height of their learning potential, the very time of life when becoming an adult and a great worker is at a premium, and sticking them in childish environments. College encourages terrible lifestyle choices, finding shortcuts, drugs, drinking too much, and otherwise experimenting with dangerous choices.
And the student does this for fully four years, during the most impressionable early years of adulthood, leaving graduates with no work ethic and a wildly distorted view of what life is all about. It seems nearly unfair to throw such people into professional life. They are ill-equipped.
Compare this reality with someone who leaves high school to learn a trade, whether that is welding, construction, or coding. After four years, such people already have a gigantic advantage over their peers in college. They know what it is to get to work on time, do what the boss says, achieve things, manage money, and so on, essentially skills that kids matriculating in college do not have.
Hence the real cost of college is not even the out-of-pocket expense or the debt. The actual cost is four years lost during the most important years of one’s life. And as for the actual education one receives, times have dramatically changed. You have free access to all the professors and teaching you want. With some discipline, a person with a job can obtain a PhD-level education in any field on nights and weekends with zero financial expenditure.
Looked at this way, it was only a matter of time before the advantages of declining college would become obvious. Believe me, parents are paying close attention. The main reason they spend a quarter of a million to send kids to college is to guarantee a better income in the future.
When that promise is revealed to be a false one, everything changes. Then we are only left with the social and marital advantages of college—which might be enough to keep them open for another 10 years or longer. But the shine is fading fast and the edge is getting ever more dull. The trendline in the data these days is favoring the trades over the dorm room.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 02/10/2026 – 17:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/college-calculation-has-flipped
Judge delays sentencing for driver in Gary pawn shop owner’s death
A Lake County judge delayed the sentencing Tuesday for a man who admitted he was the getaway driver in a November 2024 Gary pawn shop owner’s slaying.
Charles Garcia-Berrios, 33, admitted in November in Lake Superior Court to assisting a criminal, and cocaine possession in a separate case.
Gary Police responded at 11:30 a.m., Nov. 17, 2024, to We Buy Gold, 3720 Broadway Ave. The victim, Brandon Cruz, 50, of Lake Station, was found shot in the back of the head just inside the store.
The shooter, Derek Sanders, now 25, was sentenced to 45 years in June after pleading guilty to murder.
The issue for Judge Natalie Bokota Tuesday was what the assisting a criminal charge meant for Garcia-Berrios. Defense lawyer Kerry Connor said that her client was only pleading guilty to driving Sanders home, not having any other knowledge of the crime.
Bokota questioned whether that fit the language in the plea deal, whether the plea implied he knew Cruz was already shot. She ordered both lawyers to file legal memos to lay out their case, or they could redo that part of the plea’s language.
The sentencing hearing was reset for Feb. 24.
During the hearing, lawyers said Garcia-Berrios, a former gang member, was pulled into East Chicago gang life early.
His stepfather, Julio Cartagena, 26, was a high-ranking Two Six gang member later killed in May 2003 during a botched kidnapping after allegedly stealing a large amount of cocaine.
Garcia-Berrios knew Brandon Cruz when he was younger, Deputy Prosecutor Veronica Gonzalez said in court Tuesday. Cruz provided financial support from time-to-time. She asked for a 12-year prison sentence.
What led to Cruz’s slaying years later is not immediately clear.
Connor asked for a split seven-year term – four years in prison and three on probation. She noted Garcia-Berrios was on federal supervised release (probation) when Cruz died and incorporated the likely prison time he faced for violating his release.
She told the court that Garcia-Berrios’ upbringing was “quite tragic.”
Two Six gang leader Jesus “Chu Chu” Fuentes ordered other gang members to kidnap Cartagena’s children and their mother by gunpoint in November 2002 – including Garcia-Berrios days before his tenth birthday – to either get the cocaine, or the proceeds money back.
The ordeal lasted for days, Connor said in court Tuesday.
When it was unsuccessful, Fuentes ordered Cartagena’s kidnapping in May 2003. He was shot and killed in front of an apartment, Post-Tribune archives show.
Connor also represented Fuentes, who was sentenced to 22 years in June 2021.
Garcia-Berrios was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in 2018 after admitting he and his stepbrother, also named Julio Cartagena, were in a gang-linked shootout in August 2013 on Orchard Drive in Hammond, according to court filings.
mcolias@post-trib.com
Padre del asesinado político colombiano Miguel Uribe relanza su aspiración presidencial
Associated Press
BOGOTÁ (AP) — El padre del asesinado precandidato colombiano Miguel Uribe Turbay anunció el martes que retomará su aspiración presidencial en busca de continuar con el legado político de su hijo, luego de que fuera excluido el año pasado del proceso por el partido Centro Democrático.
“Hoy le digo al mundo que quien debería estar aquí es mi hijo Miguel Uribe Turbay. Lo mataron para que no siguiera incomodando a los malos, como él los llamaba, para silenciarlo, pero Miguel vive”, aseguró su padre Miguel Uribe Londoño en el relanzamiento de su campaña en el norte de Bogotá.
Uribe Turbay, precandidato presidencial opositor al gobierno de Gustavo Petro, fue baleado en junio del año pasado cuando ofrecía un discurso de campaña en un parque al occidente de Bogotá. Falleció en agosto, tras permanecer en una clínica bajo pronóstico neurológico reservado y ser sometido a varias cirugías.
Su padre, de 73 años, fue escogido por su familia para entrar en la contienda electoral y continuar el legado político. Primero intentó ser precandidato del partido Centro Democrático —al que pertenecía Uribe Turbay—, pero en diciembre el partido lo apartó de su lista de aspirantes.
El Centro Democrático aseguró en su momento que Uribe Londoño tenía intenciones de sumarse a la campaña del abogado Abelardo de La Espriella, un derechista que no pertenece al partido.
En medio de la polémica, Uribe Londoño renunció al Centro Democrático y alegó que su exclusión de la lista de precandidatos era injusta.
“Las propuestas de Miguel han sido silenciadas dos veces: la primera con su asesinato brutal; la segunda, cuando el jefe del partido Centro Democrático dio la orden de que me sacaran de la precandidatura sin haber renunciado al proceso. Fue una injusticia más”, aseguró Uribe Londoño en el relanzamiento de su candidatura.
El político aseguró que inscribirá su candidatura para las elecciones presidenciales que se celebrarán en mayo con el aval del Demócrata Colombiano, un partido de raíces afrodescendientes.
Uribe Londoño vuelve a la carrera electoral cuando aún se están decantando las candidaturas de otras corrientes políticas que buscan suceder en el poder a Petro, primer izquierdista en gobernar Colombia.
En marzo, cuando los ciudadanos elejan al nuevo Congreso, podrán también votar por uno de los 16 candidatos presidenciales que buscan representar a tres sectores políticos: el centro, la derecha y una parte de la izquierda. Se espera que así se decante aún más la lista de aspirantes que llegarán a la primera vuelta.
Uribe Londoño estuvo acompañado de parte de su familia, incluyendo de la esposa de su hijo, María Claudia Tarazona, y su nieto Alejandro.
“Vamos a superar el extremismo, la violencia y la intolerancia”, prometió Uribe Londoño en una tarima que tenía de fondo una pantalla con la bandera de Colombia.
Por el asesinato de Uribe Turbay han sido capturadas nueve personas, incluido el tirador que aceptó los delitos y, que por ser menor de edad, recibió una sanción en un centro especial; además de presuntos cómplices que ayudaron en la logística y la planeación.
Las autoridades aún investigan el móvil del ataque, pero tienen como una de las principales hipótesis la presunta responsabilidad de la Segunda Marquetalia, una disidencia de la extinta guerrilla Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).
Indiana trooper seriously injured after hit by Lake County officer
An Indiana State Police trooper was seriously injured Monday after being hit by another police car following a police chase of a vehicle that ended in Highland.
Indiana State Police Trooper Jace Haddon responded to assist the Lake County Sheriff’s Department on an active vehicle pursuit on Interstate 80/94 near Kennedy Avenue at 3:30 a.m. Monday, according to a press release from Indiana State Police.
Lake County Sheriff’s officers were following the vehicle as it swerved between lanes “at times traveling at speeds over 130 miles per hour,” said Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez in a statement.
The vehicle exited I-80 at Cline Avenue, where Haddon joined the pursuit near Cline Avenue and Ridge Road. Haddon performed a precision immobilization technique, which led the vehicle to stop, according to the Indiana State Police press release.
Haddon got out of his vehicle and was walking toward the vehicle when he was hit by another police vehicle, according to state police. Martinez stated that a sheriff’s officer arrived on scene as the trooper was chasing after the driver of the vehicle.
“While attempting to stop, the Lake County police officer’s vehicle slid; Unfortunately striking the state trooper,” Martinez said.
Haddon was taken to a local hospital and received treatment for “serious injuries.” Haddon has been released from the hospital and “is expected to face a lengthy recovery,” according to Indiana State Police.
“We are thankful that Trooper Haddon is expected to make a full recovery,” said Indiana State Police Lieutenant Terrance Weems, the commander of the Lowell Post.
“I am extremely grateful the trooper will recover. We wish him a complete and speedy recovery,” Martinez said.
Anthony Coffey, 24, of Monee, Ill., was taken into custody, Martinez said.
The incident remains under investigation, officials said.
Students in Aurora stage walkout on Monday, three charged, Aurora police say
Around 1,500 students from area schools walked out of school toward downtown Aurora on Monday, according to the Aurora Police Department, joining a string of recent student protest actions in the Chicago area.
Three students were charged following the walkouts in Aurora, and the interactions between the police department and the students involved have since drawn some criticism on social media and from local officials.
A number of student walkouts staged in protest of the Trump administration’s continued mass deportation campaign have occurred in recent days — from Chicago to Naperville to Waukegan, according to reports. In the Aurora area, a number of high school students from East Aurora School District 131 held a walkout of their own in protest of ICE last week too.
According to the Aurora Police Department, officers were deployed throughout the city at around 11:50 a.m. on Monday in response to the walkouts occurring at several local schools. Aurora police officials said officers worked with school administrators to encourage students to remain in class or return to campus, and, as students traveled together, provided verbal direction meant to keep the walkout participants out of traffic and reduce the possibility of conflicts or unsafe conditions.
Around 1,500 students ultimately walked toward the downtown area and City Hall, a Facebook post from the police department said. According to the police department, portions of the crowd “began disregarding officers’ directions by entering traffic lanes, blocking vehicles and walking into oncoming traffic along Lake Street and surrounding corridors.” The police department also claims fights broke out, water bottles were thrown at police vehicles and reckless driving occurred near areas where students had gathered.
Amid the police response, the department said that it made contact with two individuals whose “actions were contributing to the unsafe conditions,” and both were taken into custody after police said they resisted officers’ attempts to detain and identify them. According to the police, a third student “intervened and punched an officer in the head, causing a laceration.”
The injured officer was taken to a local hospital, and three male juveniles from East Aurora High School were charged with improper walking in the roadway, obstructing and resisting a peace officer, the Facebook post from the police department said. One of the individuals was also charged with aggravated battery to a police officer.
In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesman from the police department confirmed that the three arrested were all from East Aurora High School, but noted that the department cannot release further information on their identities.
Students from West Aurora High School and Jefferson Middle School, both part of West Aurora School District 129, were also involved in the walkouts, the police spokesperson confirmed. Students from Waubonsie Valley High School and Fischer Middle School, both part of Indian Prairie School District 204, also staged an action on Monday, but the police spokesperson said those students “did not require any intervention.”
The remaining students ultimately dispersed, and normal traffic conditions were restored, the police department said.
East Aurora School District 131 said in a statement on Facebook that it had been made aware that some students at the high school planned to walk out on Monday, reiterating that the district does not condone walkouts during the school day. The district said it is providing a location inside the school building for students “to engage in civil discourse with staff and peers” in a “safe, supervised environment.”
The district noted that students who leave campus are marked with an unexcused absence and may face disciplinary action.
West Aurora School District 129, in a message posted on Facebook, also confirmed that students from Jefferson Middle School and West Aurora High School were part of Monday’s walkouts. The district emphasized that walkouts during the school day are not condoned, and said the district was working closely with the Aurora Police Department to monitor the situation.
West Aurora’s spokesperson declined to comment further, and said the district did not have an accurate count of how many students participated.
District 204’s spokesperson said that the district had been made aware that students at Waubonsie Valley High School were organizing a walkout, but that they did not have a count on how many students participated, and said that the district “enforced all standard attendance policies” during the action.
East Aurora did not immediately return a request for further comment on the walkouts.
State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, said on Facebook that the incident “escalated beyond what anyone hoped for,” and said she will be reaching out to the police department and is working with the schools to “understand what occurred and to help ensure this does not happen again.”
State Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, in a news release, was critical of the police response to the walkouts, calling videos circulating of “minors being restrained and handled like criminals in front of their peers … deeply disturbing and unacceptable.”
Villa said she stands “in solidarity with the students, their families and the community as they demand accountability and advocate for the charges against the students harmed in the altercation to be dropped,” calling for “a thorough and transparent investigation on the actions taken by the Aurora Police Department.”
“Our children are our future,” Villa said in the news release. “Their voices should be protected and uplifted – not silenced through intimidation or force.”
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/three-charged-student-walkout-aurora/
“Largest Act Of Deregulation In US History”: Trump Admin To Repeal Obama-Era Greenhouse Gas Finding
“Largest Act Of Deregulation In US History”: Trump Admin To Repeal Obama-Era Greenhouse Gas Finding
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is about to pull the rug from underneath climate regulation…
The EPA, under Lee Zeldin, plans to revoke the 2009 “endangerment finding”, an Obama-era determination that six greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations” and that has anchored federal climate regulation under the Clean Air Act, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.
Bloomberg reported that the repeal could be announced as soon as Wednesday, citing an unnamed source.
Repealing the Obama-era climate finding would strip away the legal foundation for federal greenhouse gas regulation, which has been nothing more than toxic and degrowth for the economy, while China and India expanded coal-fired generation to power manufacturing hubs.
“This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States,” EPA head Zeldin said in an interview.
Officials say it does not directly apply to emissions rules for oil-and-gas power plants and other stationary sources, but repealing the finding could make it easier to challenge or roll back those regulations at a later date.
The rollback would be a major win for the economy, which has been burdened by years of Democrats’ “climate crisis” policies, which have epically backfired as electricity rates have soared amid terrible bets on unreliable solar and wind generation and the retirement of fossil-fuel plants.
This has all collided with grid strain in the data center era, triggering a power bill crisis across Maryland and other Mid-Atlantic states.
Also, this brutally cold winter has only underscored one very important point for ‘team fossil fuels’: coal and natural gas have helped keep the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast power grids from collapsing in recent weeks.
Related:
Since taking office, President Trump has pursued deregulation and pushed for reliable fossil fuels, telling supporters during the campaign trail, “drill, baby, drill.” The goal, the president has stated over and over, is to reverse the worst inflation storm in a generation, which he blames on Democrats and their nation-killing green agenda.
On President Trump’s first day of office last year, he signed an executive order directing the EPA to submit an assessment on the endangerment finding. Then by July, he received the proposal to rescind the finding.
Now, the rollback that would equal upwards of $1 trillion in cuts is set to be announced this week, along with several other energy- and climate-related announcements that will help drive down the cost of living.
“More energy drives human flourishing,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in an interview. “Energy abundance is the thing that we have to focus on, not regulating certain forms of energy out.”
The U.S. economy has spent two decades under “climate crisis” regulations, and it has backfired spectacularly. Time to get back to basics.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 02/10/2026 – 17:20
