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Biden orders 20-year ban on oil, gas drilling to protect tribal sites outside New Mexico’s Chaco

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Hundreds of square miles in New Mexico will be withdrawn from further oil and gas production for the next 20 years on the outskirts of Chaco Culture National Historical Park that tribal communities consider sacred, the Biden administration ordered Friday.The new order from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland applies to public lands and associated mineral rights within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius of the park. It does not apply to entities that are privately, state- or tribal-owned. Existing leases won’t be impacted either. A World Heritage site, Chaco Culture National Historical Park is thought to be the center of what was once a hub of Indigenous civilization, with many tribes from the Southwest tracing their roots to the high desert outpost.After extensive studies and consultations, the plan has pitted the Navajo Nation against other tribes in the region amid concerns about economic impacts and that individual Navajo allotment owners may be left landlock...

Military college’s chief of diversity quits amid debate over DEI

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

The chief diversity officer of the nation’s oldest state-supported military college, Virginia Military Institute, has turned in her resignation amid a debate among alumni over the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Jamica Love took on the new role in July 2021 — a month after a state-sanctioned report found VMI failed to address institutional racism and sexism and must be held accountable for making changes. Love’s resignation was announced Thursday by VMI’s first Black superintendent, retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, and was first reported by The Washington Post.Love, who is the only Black woman to report to VMI’s superintendent, declined to comment in an email to The Associated Press Friday. Shah Rahman, a 1997 VMI graduate, told the AP that Love was an asset to the school and that her leaving is “a terrible thing.”Love’s hiring has been part of recent diversity efforts at the school, which was founded in Lexington in 1839 and carries the pres...

Rights upheld, lawsuit revived against teacher accused of cutting Native American student’s hair

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An appeals court ruling has revived an anti-discrimination lawsuit accusing an Albuquerque teacher of cutting off one Native American girl’s hair and asking another if she was dressed as a “bloody Indian” during class on Halloween.Outrage over the girls’ treatment propelled legislation in New Mexico and beyond that prohibits discrimination based upon hairstyle and religious head garments.The American Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit accused Albuquerque Public Schools and a teacher of discrimination and fostering a hostile learning environment. ACLU of New Mexico Deputy Director Leon Howard said the ruling affirms that public schools are subject to antidiscrimination protections in the New Mexico Human Rights Act. The appellate ruling validates that all “students must feel safe at school and confident that their culture, history, and personal dignity are valued and respected by the public schools they attend,” Howard said in a statement.A lower ...

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

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

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

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

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

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

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

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

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

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

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

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

Chase online banking bug caused double transactions, fees

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

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

17-year-old injured in Bolingbrook shooting

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

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

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

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

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