Detroit Judge Charged In Plot To Embezzle Money From Over 1,000 ‘Incapacitated Individuals’

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/02/2026 – 15:45

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/detroit-judge-arrested-over-alleged-scheme-embezzle-money-over-1000-incapacitated 

Conventional wisdom has it that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” has been a bankable opera house favorite for more than 200 years due to the whimsical cleverness of romantic plot and score alike, delighting audiences with its charming, if lengthy, perfidy among six principal characters as it makes lite-FM hay with the typically serious matter of infidelity.

Peter Shaffer’s play “Amadeus,” a recent hit for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, expounded on that theory. Not only did its protagonist, Antonio Salieri, himself try and fail to set to music Lorenzo Da Ponte’s silly libretto about two young couples who fall for a loyalty test engineered by their elders, but his rival’s fast-paced ability to compose light but sublime music was enough in the play to drive Salieri to manslaughter most foul.

If whimsy is your bag, the very lively staging at Lyric, originally directed by Michael Cavanagh for the San Fransisco Opera in 2021, has it aplenty, notwithstanding the lack of color in Erhard Rom’s greige setting, a riff on architectural drawings. Cavanagh, whose staging is re-created here by Roy Rallo, sets the events in a swell, 1930s country club in the horsy environs of the nation’s capital (telephone number: Amadeus1790).

After mine host Don Alfonso (the robust Rod Gilfry) sets the indoor-outdoor caper among his members in motion with the aid of his sneaky staffer Despina (Ana María Martínez), we watch the sisters Fiordiligi (Jacquelyn Stucker) and Doraballa (Cecilia Molinari) joust with their ever-morphing macho beaus Ferrando (Anthony León) and Guglielmo (Ian Rucker) as they swim in the pool, work out on amusingly archaic treadmills, play badminton (badly), shoot pool and complete their calisthenics along with an ensemble alternately exercising and munching petit fours, a temptation with which I sympathize. Stucker and Molinari are costumed and bewigged by Constance Hoffman and John Metzner so as to truly appear sisterly, and they come replete with a whole gamut of facial expressions and little pointy hats that reminded me of pieces on the Parcheesi board. As befits the milieu.

But here’s the thing. Every so often, there is a moment of silence, a silent click into another world, a nod from conductor Enrique Mazzola and then Stucker’s Fiordiligi, or León’s Ferrando, launch into these beautiful expressions — “Come scoglio,” “Un’aura amorosa” — of the travails of love and its twin-sister, power, as if Mozart had just decided to temporarily abandon all of the implications and trivial comic assumptions of a caper opera and summoned beauty and vulnerability all at once. In some great rush of inspired feeling that, well, stands outside the walls of the country club games or whatever may have interested Emperor Joseph II, you might say.

One raises one’s head to the performers in those moments, or should, and the payoff is a renewed sense of what it’s really like to put yourself out there, be it in 1790, 1930 or 2026, without knowing not only whether that love will be returned in the moment but also being utterly unaware of how it will fare over time. In that regard, “Così fan tutte” is an otherwordly experience and that’s really why it has stayed an opera house favorite — even if audience think they are just having fun and opera houses are happy to be selling that perception.

With all due respect to Martínez, whose vocal performance is filled with amusing outre contrasts, entertaining all, this staging is dominated by Stucker and the authentic and unpretentious Molinari. Stucker’s singing is transporting throughout (Fiordiligi succumbs to the temptations of the flesh far more reluctantly than Dorabella, so Stucker has the best part) and the deft American soprano’s ability to switch style and find that which works upon the heart, not just the funny bone, is quite something. She offers here the most invigorating of performances, technically adroit but also informed by equal measures of artistry and youth, and there’s a humility to her singing, along with a sense of her character’s smallness in the face of life’s travails and machinations, few of which Fiordiligi has lived long enough to comprehend.

Rucker and León certainly fill out their roles vocally and comedically, but the women have all the power here, which is the only way really to do “Così fan tutte” these days. The audience has fun, of course, but one cannot say that of the four lovers in the thick of the fray, the pain forgotten by those who have grown older and remember it only as sport.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Review: “Così fan tutte” (3.5 stars)

When: Through Feb. 15

Where: Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive

Running time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Tickets: $47-$379 at 312-827-5600 and lyricopera.org

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/02/review-cosi-fan-tutte-lyric-opera/ 

MILAN — Former world pairs champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada have withdrawn from the figure skating team event at the Milan Cortina Olympics after Stellato-Dudek sustained an injury in training before leaving Quebec.

Skate Canada announced the injury to Stellato-Dudek on Monday, just days before the pairs short program Friday helps to open the three-day team competition. Canada finished fourth at the 2022 Beijing Games and is a podium contender in Milan.

Skate Canada did not disclose the nature or severity of Stellato-Dudek’s injury, saying only that her “condition and readiness for the individual pairs event is being assessed on a day-by-day basis.” The individual pairs competition begins Feb. 15.

Trennt Michaud and Lia Pereira are the other Canadian pairs duo. They will have to handle both pairs programs in the team event.

The 42-year-old Stellato-Dudek, who was born in Park Ridge and grew up in Glenview, has represented Canada since teaming up with Deschamps before the 2019 season. The three-time Canadian champions won the world title in 2024 and were fifth last year in Boston.

The Americans are the reigning gold medalists in the team event and are heavily favored to defend their title. The rhythm dance and women’s short program also are Friday at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, while the men’s short program and free dance are Saturday. The event concludes Sunday with the pairs, women’s and men’s free skates.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/02/milan-olympics-deanna-stellato-dudek-withdraws/ 

Associated Press

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia inauguró el lunes el año escolar con la prohibición del uso de celulares en clases por parte de estudiantes y maestros dispuesta por el gobierno del presidente Rodrigo Paz, que al mismo tiempo promueve el uso de internet con fines de investigación científica.

El centroderechista Paz, quien asumió el poder el 8 de noviembre, inauguró el periodo escolar en la localidad de Copacabana, en las orillas del lago Titicaca, donde el mandatario les recordó a los estudiantes la norma emitida por el Ministerio de Educación sobre la prohibición del uso del dispositivo móvil en las aulas.

El gobernante aclaró que eso no quiere decir que los alejará de la tecnología, sino que promoverá que sea utilizada con fines científicos, al tiempo en que reiteró su promesa de llevar internet a comunidades rurales lejanas.

“Ahora no te voy a dar WiFi para que veas películas, no. Te voy a dar una conexión para que los alumnos puedan bajar conocimiento”, destacó Paz.

Reiteró que mediante “antenitas” su gobierno les dará internet a pueblos apartados. El año pasado la nueva administración, que puso fin a casi dos décadas de gobiernos de izquierda en el país andino, abrió la puerta al servicio de internet satelital de Starlink de SpaceX dirigida por Elon Musk y otras empresas. Además de promover becas para estudios en inteligencia artificial y otras ramas.

Las autoridades esperan que la nueva norma impulse a los educadores bolivianos a evaluar las formas de interactuar con los estudiantes durante las clases.

El objetivo es promover que los estudiantes investiguen, lean y no solo copien de trabajos hechos en el internet e incluso de la inteligencia artificial, señaló a la televisora Red Uno Fidel Maidana, director del colegio Antonio Díaz Villamil, en el centro de La Paz. “Vamos a volver a los trabajos manuscritos dejando de lado la impresión”, mencionó.

Paz también ha instado a los maestros a trabajar y avanzar en un acuerdo para cambiar la forma de educar a los estudiantes, en momentos en que el país andino avanza en un modelo político y económico diferente a las dos anteriores administraciones de izquierda.

No es el único país de la región que implementa la prohibición del uso de celulares dentro de las aulas. La Cámara de Diputados de Chile aprobó en diciembre un proyecto de ley que regula y prohíbe el uso de dispositivos móviles electrónicos de comunicación personal, como celulares, en todas las escuelas a partir de 2026.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/02/bolivia-inicia-ao-escolar-con-la-prohibicin-del-uso-de-celulares-en-el-aula/ 

The Hebron schools had grief counselors on hand Monday as the small district grappled with the death of Oliver Ball-Reed, 13, of Hebron, who died Saturday night from injuries suffered at Steel Wheels BMX in Hobart.

Oliver was involved in basketball, eSports and student council at Hebron Middle School.

“The Hebron Schools community is heartbroken by the loss of Oliver Ball-Reed,” MSD Boone Township Superintendent Jeff Brooks said. “In a small town like Hebron, a loss like this is devastating for family, friends, staff and students alike.”

Oliver was taken to the St. Mary Medical Center emergency room in Hobart, where a doctor pronounced him dead at 9:59 p.m., according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office. Oliver suffered multiple blunt force injuries and his death was ruled an accident, officials said.

An autopsy was planned for Monday.

On its Facebook page, Steel Wheels BMX offered thoughts and prayers to Oliver’s parents and his younger brother, with whom Oliver raced for the past eight years.

“We are all gutted by this horrible tragedy and will be doing everything we can to support Oliver’s family as they navigate this sudden and shocking loss,” the post said.

A Hebron boy, 13, died after he suffered injuries Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, at Steel Wheels BMX track in Hobart, officials said. (Carole Carlson/for Post-Tribune)

“As we all process this unspeakable news, we are grateful for the love and support of our BMX community that has folded Oliver’s family – as well as our track family – into their arms during this difficult time,” the Facebook post said.

Oliver was an active student at Hebron Middle School, the superintendent said.

“Oliver was a vibrant, active and well-respected 13-year-old who gave so much to our school. He was involved in basketball, eSports and was a member of our Student Council at Hebron Middle School. We will miss him deeply, and our thoughts are with his family and everyone who loved him,” Brooks said.

“Today has been an incredibly heavy day at Hebron Middle School and across the school district. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the counselors and support teams from Porter-Starke, First Church and Heartland Church. These specialists have been on-site alongside our own guidance counselors, offering a steady hand to our students and staff during one of our most difficult times.”

The Steel Wheels BMX website had Oliver in 23rd place on its leaderboard, listing his skill level as cruiser.

The group describes itself as a volunteer, nonprofit organization that began in 2000. It has USABMX-sanctioned tracks in Hobart and at Imagination Glen East park in Portage. The Portage track is outdoors; the Hobart track is indoors.

The Hobart Police Department and Hobart and Portage Fire departments responded to the accident.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/02/hebron-middle-school-student-13-dies-from-bmx-injuries/ 

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — In a church crowded to overcapacity, two-dozen faith leaders and their audience of hundreds sang and prayed together in unity Monday as a sign of support for Haitian migrants, some of whom fear their protected status in the United States may be ended this week.

Religious leaders representing congregations from across the United States attended the event at Springfield’s St. John Missionary Baptist Church, demanding an extension of the Temporary Protection Status that has allowed thousands of Haitian migrants to legally arrive in Springfield in recent years fleeing unrest and gang violence in their homeland. The TPS designation for Haiti is set to expire Tuesday, and those gathered were hoping that a federal judge might intervene and issue a pause.

“We believe in the legal system of this country of ours, we still believe. We believe that through the legal ways, the judge hopefully will rule in favor of current TPS holders today that will allow them to stay while we continue to fight,” Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, told the packed church.

“We have been called for such a time as this to protect those who have nowhere else to go. They cannot go back to Haiti,” she said.

So many people turned up for the church event that a fire marshal had to ask 150 to leave because the building had exceeded its 700-person capacity.

Hundreds joined a choir clapping and singing: “You got to put one foot in front of the other and lead with love.”

They also observed a moment of silence for people who have died in federal immigration detention and for Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis. Some of the speakers evoked biblical passages while appealing for empathic treatment of migrants.

Federal immigration crackdown and TPS

The Department of Homeland Security announced last June that it would terminate TPS for about 500,000 Haitians who were already in the U.S., including some who had lived in the country for more than a decade. DHS said conditions in the island nation had improved enough to allow their safe return.

“It was never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades. The Trump administration is restoring integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, noting there were no new enforcement operations to announce.

A federal judge in Washington is expected to rule any day on a request to pause the TPS termination for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging it proceeds.

TPS allows people already in the U.S. to stay and work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe. Immigrants from 17 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan and Lebanon, had the protective status before President Donald Trump’s second term started.

The uncertainty over TPS has deepened worries for an already embattled Haitian community in Springfield.

Trump denigrated the community while campaigning in 2024 for a second term, falsely accusing its members of eating their neighbor’s cats and dogs as he  pitched voters  on his plans for an immigration crackdown. The false claims exacerbated fears about division and anti-immigrant sentiment in the mostly white, working class city of about 59,000 people.

In the weeks after his comments, schools, government buildings and the homes of elected officials received  bomb threats.

Since then, the Springfield’s Haitians have lived in constant fear that has only been exacerbated by the federal immigration crackdowns happening in Minneapolis and other cities, said Viles Dorsainvil, leader of Springfield’s Haitian Community Help and Support Center.

“As we are getting close to the end of the TPS, it has intensified the fear, the anxiety, the panic,” Dorsainvil said.

Sunday church service

Some of Springfield’s estimated 15,000 Haitians also sought comfort and divine intervention in their churches on Sunday.

At the First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield, its pastor estimated that half of the congregants who regularly attend Sunday service stayed home.

“They don’t know the future; they are very scared,” said the Rev. Reginald Silencieux.

Flanked by the flags of Haiti and the United States, he advised his congregation to stay home as much as possible in case of immigration raids. He also offered a prayer for Trump and the Haitian community and reminded congregants to keep their faith in God.

“The president is our president. He can take decisions. But he is limited,” he said. “God is unlimited.”

After the service, Jerome Bazard, a member of the church, said ending TPS for Haitians would wreak havoc on his community.

“They can’t go to Haiti because it’s not safe. Without the TPS, they can’t work. And if they can’t work, they can eat, they can’t pay bills. You’re killing the people,” he said.

Many of the children in the Springfield Haitian community are U.S. citizens who have parents in the country illegally. If they are detained, Dorsainvil said some parents have signed caregiver affidavits that designate a legal guardian in hopes of keeping their kids out of foster care.

“They’re not sending their kids to school,” he said.

Volunteers from nearby towns and from out of state have been calling the Haitian community center offering to deliver food for those afraid to leave home, Dorsainvil said. Others have been stockpiling groceries in case immigration officers do flood the community.

Some, he said, have been receiving desperate calls from family members abroad asking them to leave. “They keep telling them that Springfield is not a safe place now for them to stay.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/02/ohio-church-hatians-us/ 

‘Rock Now Beats Paper’: Making Sense Of “Silver Friday’s” Utterly Rigged Nonsense

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/02/2026 – 15:05

https://www.zerohedge.com/precious-metals/rock-now-beats-paper-making-sense-silver-fridays-utterly-rigged-nonsense 

The Chicago Archdiocese announced Monday that Evergreen Park’s Queen of Martyrs Catholic School appointed an interim principal, less than a week after a substitute teacher was fired and charged over child molestation allegations.

While the archdiocese did not confirm why former Principal Stephen Davidson no longer works at the school, Beth Guerrero’s appointment “comes as Queen of Martyrs moves forward after the termination of a second-grade teacher,” it said in a news release.

Brett Smith, a 43-year-old Tinley Park resident, was charged last week in Orland Park with felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse to a minor and in Evergreen Park with misdemeanor battery for physical contact with a minor.

“Our community has shown tremendous strength and resolve over the past week,” said the Rev. Ritchie Ortiz, priest and administrator of St. Gianna Molla Parish in Evergreen Park. “Beth’s leadership reflects the values that define Queen of Martyrs — faith, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to doing what is right.”

Guerrero has worked at Queen of Martyrs for four years, most recently as a kindergarten teacher. The archdiocese said she has more than 20 years of experience in education, and has a master’s degree in early childhood education and teaching from Saint Xavier University.

The archdiocese fired Smith after it said a Queen of Martyrs parent reached out with concerns about past allegations of child molestation in Illinois and Indiana.

Smith has gone by several names while seeking employment at schools and offering tutoring services to families. He was hired by the archdiocese in 2024, having passed background and fingerprint checks, the archdiocese said.

Orland Park police said they began investigating Smith after parents of a child he was tutoring under the alias BJ S. McAuliffe became concerned when the name for a requested bank payment appeared as Brett Smith. The felony charge followed allegations that Smith made sexual contact with a 9-year-old boy while he was working as his tutor.

The misdemeanor charge followed allegations that Smith made unwanted physical contact with a juvenile while working at Queen of Martyrs, placing his hand on the student’s hand and pressing his upper back onto the student’s back while conducting a school-related activity.

Smith, the archdiocese, Ortiz and Davidson were also sued by the mother of a Queen of Martyrs student, who alleges that Smith began grooming and inappropriately touching her son “immediately upon being hired” at the Catholic school last month.

Smith worked at at least four schools on the South Side of Chicago and in the south suburbs over the past 16 months, the archdiocese said.

The lawsuit alleges the grooming included Smith “bestowing disingenuous and inordinate adulation” onto the student while forcing bodily contact with the student while the student was confined to his desk.

A spokesperson for the archdiocese said it does not comment on lawsuits. Regarding the archdiocese’s hiring of Guerrero, Ortiz said she “is a trusted educator whose heart for children is evident in everything she does.”

“She is well known to and respected by our families and faculty and brings a deep sense of vocation to her work, pairing academic excellence with compassionate leadership,” Ortiz said. “She is the right person to guide our school during this time.”

ostevens@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/02/interim-principal-hired-queen-of-martyrs/ 

Good afternoon, Chicago.

Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Saturday directing Chicago police to collect evidence, investigate and potentially refer for felony prosecution criminal charges against federal immigration agents accused of misconduct.

Johnson’s decree — dubbed the “ICE on Notice” order — also states that any Chicago Police Department recommendations for felony charges against agents will be made through his office.

Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.

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Police officers wear T-shirts with a picture of Officer Krystal Rivera during a prayer vigil in her memory at the 6th District station on June 11, 2025, in Chicago. Rivera was fatally shot June 5 by her partner, Officer Carlos Baker,.as they responded to a call. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois appeals court to review order sealing video in Krystal Rivera shooting

An Illinois appeals court may soon decide whether to undo a controversial order by a Cook County judge that kept video footage and other records sealed related to the slaying of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera, after media outlets and the state’s attorneys office asked for the ruling to be vacated. Read more here.

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The home, left, and studio of renowned architect R. Harold Zook on Jan. 28, 2026, at 5901 S. County Line Road in Hinsdale. Zook’s home and studio were located at 327 S. Oak St. from 1924 until 2005, when both buildings were moved to Katherine Legge Memorial Park. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)

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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/02/afternoon-briefing-decision-looms-on-release-of-video-in-officer-krystal-rivera-case/