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Joe Battenfeld’s political columns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

Click here for all of Joe Battenfeld’s political columns — there’s no one better.

UN chief warns that rise in global distrust and improvements in nukes are `recipe for annihilation’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — An alarming rise in global distrust and division coupled with efforts by countries to improve the accuracy and destructive power of nuclear weapons is “a recipe for annihilation,” the United Nations chief warned Tuesday.In a statement marking the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that with nearly 13,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled around the world, “a legally binding prohibition on nuclear tests is a fundamental step in our quest for a world free of nuclear weapons.”The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has 196 member states — 186 have signed it and 178 have ratified it, including eight in the last 18 months. But the pact has not taken effect because it needs ratification by the eight nations that had nuclear power reactors or research reactors when the U.N. General Assembly adopted the treaty in 1996.At a high-level meeting of the 193-member assembly to observe the day there was no indication that those eight c...

Woman seriously injured in midtown stabbing, man in custody

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

A man is in custody following a stabbing in midtown Toronto. Police were called to an apartment building in the area of Bathurst Street and St. Clair Avenue around 9:30 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived they found a woman suffering from a single stab wound. She was transported to a trauma centre with serious but non-life threatening injuries.Police say a man was arrested at the scene. There was no indication of the relationship, if any, between the man and the woman.

Trump-era rule change allowing the logging of old-growth forests violates laws, judge says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has found that a Trump-era rule change that allowed for the logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest violates several laws. U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Hallman on Thursday found that the U.S. Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Forest Management Act and the Endangered Species Act when it amended a protection that had been in place since 1994. The findings came in response to a lawsuit filed by multiple environmental groups over the change.Hallman recommended that the Forest Service’s environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact should be vacated and that the agency should be required to prepare a full environmental impact statement related to the change.“The highly uncertain effects of this project, when considered in light of its massive scope and setting, raise substantial questions about whether this project will have a significant effect on the environment,” Hallm...

2nd man charged in July shooting at massive Indiana block party that killed 1, injured 17

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — A prosecutor Thursday charged the second man arrested in a July shooting at a massive block party in central Indiana that left one person dead and 17 others wounded.Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman announced he charged Justin E. Bonner, 29, of Muncie with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.Bonner was arrested by Muncie police on Monday. Online court records did not list an attorney for Bonner who might comment on the allegations against him.His arrest was the second in the July 30 shooting, which occurred as hundreds of people were attending the block party in Muncie, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis. Joseph E. Bonner III, 30, was killed and 18 others were injured, including a woman who was run over by a car while running from the scene.The Bonners are brothers.An affidavit states Justin Bonner told police he fired a handgun at the other man charged in the case, John L. Vance Jr., 36, after seeing Vance sho...

WGN Exclusive: Ousted Urban Prep founder fights back

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

CHICAGO — For over a decade, Chicago mayors made it a point to attend college signing and graduation ceremonies for students of Urban Prep Academies.The charter school network boasts that 100% of its graduating seniors have been accepted to four-year colleges and universities for the past 14 years. It’s what made the school founder’s departure last year so surprising.“I birthed Urban Prep,” Tim King tells WGN Investigates. “Urban Prep is in my heart. Urban Prep is in my blood. Urban Prep is in my soul. I will never ever abandon it.”King is breaking his silence because he said he fears for the future of the schools he founded in 2002. “What’s concerning is less about my leaving Urban Prep but why [Chicago Public Schools] continue their assault on Urban Prep?” he said. Chicago’s ‘rat’ rage grows King’s leadership unraveled last year when he said he reported to the district social media comments made by a former student that claimed King made sexual advances...

Woman in critical condition after Harwood Heights carjacking, suspect in custody

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

HARWOOD HEIGHTS, Ill. -- A 61-year-old woman remains in critical condition after being severely beaten and left lying in the middle of a Harwood Heights street Wednesday morning.According to the Harwood Heights Police Department, officers responded to a residential area across Wilbur Wright College on the 4400 block of North Natchez Avenue just after 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday on reports of a woman lying in the street.Upon arrival, officers discovered a 61-year-old woman severely beaten lying in the middle of Natchez Avenue who later was learned to be a victim of a car jacking. She was rushed to the hospital with life threatening injuries, where she remains in critical condition.The suspect reportedly stole the 61-year-old woman's blue Scion.Neighbors tell WGN it’s normally very quiet in this area, and are horrified to hear about what happened to their neighbor.After the attack, Harwood Heights police put out an alert with the vehicle description to law enforcement across Illinois and s...

Loyola celebrates Sister Jean's 104th birthday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

CHICAGO — A back-to-school block party on Thursday at Loyola University was a chance for the campus community to celebrate Sister Jean's 104th birthday.She celebrated her birthday last week but was the guest of honor during Thursday's event. Cubs give Sister Jean a 104th birthday gift, continuing a recent tradition She gave a piece of advice to returning students and said she is sure this will be a better year for Loyola's basketball team after a not-so-great season last year.You can see more from the party in the player above.

Emerging technique offers less invasive, gentler treatment for prostate cancer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

An emerging treatment for prostate cancer is offering a gentler way for patients. It’s about reducing, even eliminating, what can be significant symptoms for men who have their prostate removed or radiated. Local doctors have spent a decade honing a less-invasive technique and it is welcome news for men who may avoid treatment due to potentially debilitating side effects.Tony Romano says he’s living one of the best chapters of his life.“I have three grandsons so spend a lot of time with them,” he said.Time with family is even more precious after the retired English teacher’s 2021 prostate cancer diagnosis. “The PSA numbers kept going higher so when they got to about nine, I opted to have my prostate removed entirely,” he said. “But there were some complications so in the middle of the surgery they had to stop.”The plot twist meant prolonged problems.“I was having some problems, voiding which is a polite way of saying peeing,” he said.But ultimately led him down a different trea...

'Total miracle': Dog home safe after Ohio storm, saved from river

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:50:59 GMT

ELYRIA, Ohio (WJW) — An Ohio woman says she was devastated when her dog disappeared during severe storms in the area last week. She said she needed a miracle to bring her beloved pet back home.The miracle began to unfold as Elyria resident Jim Warren was on his back patio watching the rain-swollen Black River rising on the ravine below. That is when he noticed something moving in the mud near the edge of the rapids. $20M stolen ancient Roman statue seized from Cleveland Museum of Art Warren told Fox 8, "The more I looked, I saw it was a dog that was trapped in between the raging river and a fallen tree down there, and I thought, 'Oh man, that dog is in trouble.'"The dog that Warren spotted was a 14-year-old boxer-pit bull mix named Sienna, who had gotten out of her owner's backyard during a break in the severe storms two days earlier, leaving 60-year-old Renee Morton, of Elyria, heartbroken."I recently lost my husband to ALS in April, and to lose her too would have been so hard," ...