Afternoon Briefing: A Yoko Ono exhibition is coming the MCA
Good afternoon, Chicago.
Lawyers for convicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan are arguing for a new trial in his corruption case, saying prosecutors failed to prove the then-powerful Democrat knew about a scheme by ComEd to pay off his associates and alleging a series of mistakes by the trial judge.
The 73-page motion filed Friday alleged those errors tainted the jury with highly prejudicial evidence, and asked U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey to reverse the jury's verdict on certain guilty counts and grant a new trial on others.
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Elon Musk and his political operatives have tried to shape the closely watched Wisconsin Supreme Court race in ways that are not immediately obvious but could be critical to tomorrow's outcome. Read more here.
More top news stories:
Chicago weather: Severe threat expected Wednesday — but timing is still up in the air
Joliet man accused of sex trafficking after undercover operation, Cook County sheriff says
What is sharpness really? What constitutes a cutting knife's edge? Is there such a thing as the 'best knife?'
Questions of metallurgical metaphysics come up easily in conversation with the knife lovers at Northside Cutlery, a kitchen supply and sharpening shop in the North Center neighborhood founded by former chef Kevin Silverman. Read more here.
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Clarendon Hills plans village's first ever Restaurant Week
Trump's promised 'Liberation Day' of tariffs is coming. Here's what it could mean for you
Here's a look at the best player on each team, along with another who might make an impact in San Antonio once the games start Saturday. Read more here.
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Paige Bueckers and UConn hope to take next step toward title in Elite Eight rematch with USC
Tush push is the hottest topic at the NFL league meetings — and a vote is expected tomorrow
A new solo exhibition dedicated to Yoko Ono is coming to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
'Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind' will open in October, with the MCA as the show's only U.S. venue. It comes to Chicago from the Tate Modern in London, where it reportedly set attendance records. Read more here.
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Today in History: Selena killed by president of singer's fan club
Biblioracle: Ron Currie Jr.'s latest novel is the dark but inviting 'Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne'
Russia views efforts to end its three-year war with Ukraine as 'a drawn-out process,' a Kremlin spokesman said today, after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with the two countries' leaders as he tries to bring about a truce. Read more here.
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Suspected US airstrikes hit Yemen
Earthquake compounds humanitarian crisis in Myanmar
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2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Trump administration is offering 3 different scenarios for how 'Liberation Day 2.0' may play out
A key deadline in President Trump's trade war is getting closer, with a 90-day pause on his "Liberation Day" tariffs set to expire on July 9. But what will actually happen when the clock strikes midnight on what some are calling "Liberation Day 2.0" is anyone's guess. A series of comments from Trump and his officials this week — even within a 12-hour span on Wednesday — were notable for the variety of scenarios they have on the table. It could be a nonevent with additional deadline extensions in the offing. It might be a day of celebration of long-promised trade deals that have yet to materialize. And it could also be a day when the hammer comes down and tariffs are simply dictated. Trump himself has indicated he is open to all three, telling reporters Wednesday evening that he will be sending letters to tell nations, "This is the deal, you can take it or leave it," but also acknowledging that some deadlines could be extended, and on other fronts, "We're rocking in terms of deals." The scenarios laid out this week by the president, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, but which countries get which outcome will be closely watched by investors, as some outcomes are decidedly more market-friendly than others. As for what will actually happen, Henrietta Treyz of Veda Partners offered a prediction in a Thursday morning note to Yahoo Finance suggesting a combination of all three. "I think this is going to be like a potluck: There's going to be a little bit of everything," she said. On the menu for about 130 nations will be letters, she suggested, "and I'm optimistic their rate will be in the 10-25% range." Other nations may be able to secure limited deals — such as a recent pact with the UK — but with plenty of tariffs staying on or being added. Others may get an extension for now. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet The uncertainty facing markets revolves around which scenario takes center stage in the coming weeks. The divergences were in stark relief Wednesday as the day unfolded. In the morning, during a CNBC appearance, Lutnick suggested the centerpiece would be a flood of new deals. He said that with China tensions on the back burner for the moment, negotiators will able to find areas of agreement on other fronts. "You're going to see deal after deal," he said. "This is going to start coming next week and the week after and the week after." But observers have grown increasingly unmoved by these promises after the administration has been suggesting imminent deals for months now, with only a limited pact with the UK materializing so far. By midday, Bessent was testifying before Congress and offered a somewhat different portrait of the weeks ahead. He indirectly acknowledged the slower pace of deals and said Trump is "highly likely" to push back his deadline for at least some top trading partners. He said the administration is prepared to "roll the date forward" for the 18 major partners that are negotiating in what the administration views as good faith. "If someone is not negotiating, then we will not," Bessent added. During his testimony, the Treasury secretary also floated the notion of regional trade deals, where a group of countries may get similar terms. By the evening, Trump offered a third focus, announcing that he is going to send letters to trading partners in the next one to two weeks to simply set new unilateral tariff rates. The letters are "telling them what the deal is," Trump told reporters Wednesday during a stop at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. But the president's comments also offered a mix of his aides' other messages from the day. The president said he would be willing to extend the deadline for certain nations, "but I don't think we're going to have that necessity." He also suggested that deals could be imminent on at least a few fronts, noting that "we're dealing with Japan, we're dealing with South Korea. We're dealing with a lot of them." Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices Sign in to access your portfolio
3 hours ago
North Carolina redistricting trial begins over racial gerrymandering claims
RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina congressional and legislative districts drawn by Republicans that helped them retain majorities in Raleigh and Washington are in court, as federal lawsuits accuse mapmakers of illegally eroding Black voting power in the process. A trial scheduled by a three-judge panel will start Monday in Winston-Salem over allegations that GOP legislative leaders violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution when they enacted new electoral maps in the ninth-largest state in October 2023. Republican leaders counter that lawfully partisan — and not racial — considerations helped inform their decision-making. The lines were used in the 2024 elections, after which Republicans kept General Assembly majorities and flipped three U.S. House seats held by Democratic incumbents who didn't seek reelection because they decided the recast district made winning impossible. Those seat flips, which turned a 7-7 delegation into one with a 10-4 Republican advantage, helped the GOP keep narrow control of the House, which has helped advance President Donald Trump's agenda. Favorable rulings for the plaintiffs could force Republicans to redraw maps for the 2026 elections, making it harder to retain their partisan advantage. Otherwise, the districts could be used through the 2030 elections. The trial involves two lawsuits filed in late 2023. In one lawsuit, the North Carolina NAACP, Common Cause and several Black residents originally sued over redrawn state House and Senate maps and U.S. House districts. The other lawsuit filed by nearly 20 Black and Latino voters focused on the new congressional districts, four of which they argue are illegal racial gerrymanders. Pretrial rulings this spring and amended litigation dismissed challenges to the state House map and narrowed state Senate arguments to a handful of districts. Still, both lawsuits claim that lines are so skewed for GOP candidates that many Black voters cannot elect their preferred candidates, violating the Voting Rights Act. They allege the mapmakers submerged or spread out Black voting blocs, which historically have favored Democrats, into surrounding districts with white majorities — benefiting Republicans. They point to a region where the cities of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem are located. They said Republicans split the region's concentrated Black voting population within multiple U.S. House districts. Then-Rep. Kathy Manning, a Greensboro Democrat, decided not to run again because her district shifted to the right. The plaintiffs also allege Republican mapmakers intentionally discriminated against Black and Latino voters. In a pretrial brief, lawyers for Republican leaders say the lawmakers used mapmaking rules that prohibited using data identifying the race of voters, in keeping with rulings on previous North Carolina redistricting maps in which judges chided them for emphasizing race. Instead, Republicans were able to lawfully use partisan data — like statewide election results — in drawing the new maps, the lawyers said. They cite a 2019 U.S. Supreme Court decision and an April 2023 state Supreme Court decision that neutered legal claims of illegal partisan gerrymandering. The plaintiffs counter that the 'racial sorting' within the challenged districts can't be explained by politics alone. The three judges were all nominated to the bench by Republican presidents: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Allison Rushing (Donald Trump) and District Judges Thomas Schroeder (George W. Bush) and Richard Myers (Trump). The panel has set aside several days for a trial that won't end until July 9. Likely witnesses include individual plaintiffs, state legislators, redistricting experts and historians. No immediate decision is expected — the legal sides have until early August to file additional briefs. The court's ruling can be appealed. With candidate filing for the 2026 election starting Dec. 1, any required remapping would have to be completed by late fall to avoid election disruptions. North Carolina has a long history of redistricting litigation in federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in landmark cases in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s involving racial bias and the extent to which racial considerations could be used in forming districts that favored the election of Black candidates. The court's 2019 decision on partisan gerrymandering stemmed from a North Carolina case. The current maps were drawn after the state Supreme Court, with a Republican seat majority, essentially struck down rulings the court made in 2022 when it had a Democratic majority. Two other lawsuits challenging the 2023 district boundaries are pending. Statewide races in North Carolina are close, and Democrats have held the governor's mansion for most of the past 30 years. But Republicans have controlled the General Assembly — and thus redistricting — since 2011. Redistricting maps can't be blocked by a governor's veto.
3 hours ago
Friends say Minnesota shooting suspect was deeply religious and conservative
NEW YORK -- The man accused of assassinating the top Democrat in the Minnesota House held deeply religious and politically conservative views, telling a congregation in Africa two years ago that the U.S. was in a 'bad place' where most churches didn't oppose abortion. Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was captured late Sunday following a two-day manhunt authorities described as the largest in the state's history. Boelter is accused of impersonating a police officer and gunning down former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home outside Minneapolis. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz described the shooting as 'a politically motivated assassination.' Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were shot earlier by the same gunman at their home nearby but survived. Friends and former colleagues interviewed by AP described Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for President Donald Trump. Records show Boelter registered to vote as a Republican while living in Oklahoma in 2004 before moving to Minnesota where voters don't list party affiliation. Near the scene at Hortman's home, authorities say they found an SUV made to look like those used by law enforcement. Inside they found fliers for a local anti-Trump 'No Kings' rally scheduled for Saturday and a notebook with names of other lawmakers. The list also included the names of abortion rights advocates and health care officials, according to two law enforcement officials who could not discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said at a briefing on Sunday that Boelter is not believed to have made any public threats before the attacks. Evans asked the public not to speculate on a motivation for the attacks. 'We often want easy answers for complex problems,' he told reporters. 'Those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation.' Friends told the AP that they knew Boelter was religious and conservative, but that he didn't talk about politics often and didn't seem extreme. "He was right-leaning politically but never fanatical, from what I saw, just strong beliefs,' said Paul Schroeder, who has known Boelter for years. Boelter, who worked as a security contractor, gave a glimpse of his beliefs on abortion during a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023. While there, Boelter served as an evangelical pastor, telling people he had first found Jesus as a teenager. 'The churches are so messed up, they don't know abortion is wrong in many churches,' he said, according to an online recording of one sermon from February 2023. Still, in three lengthy sermons reviewed by the AP, he only mentioned abortion once, focusing more on his love of God and what he saw as the moral decay in his native country. He appears to have hidden his more strident beliefs from his friends back home. 'He never talked to me about abortion,' Schroeder said. 'It seemed to be just that he was a conservative Republican who naturally followed Trump.' A married father with five children, Boelter and his wife own a sprawling 3,800-square-foot house on a large rural lot about an hour from downtown Minneapolis that the couple bought in 2023 for more than a half-million dollars. He worked for decades in managerial roles for food and beverage manufacturers before seeking to reinvent himself in middle age, according to resumes and a video he posted online. After getting an undergraduate degree in international relations in his 20s, Boelter went back to school and earned a master's degree and then a doctorate in leadership studies in 2016 from Cardinal Stritch University, a private Catholic college in Wisconsin that has since shut down. While living in Wisconsin, records show Boelter and his wife Jenny founded a nonprofit corporation called Revoformation Ministries, listing themselves as the president and secretary. After moving to Minnesota about a decade ago, Boelter volunteered for a position on a state workforce development board, first appointed by then-Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, in 2016, and later by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. He served through 2023. In that position, he may have crossed paths with one of his alleged victims. Hoffman served on the same board, though authorities said it was not immediately clear how much the two men may have interacted. Records show Boelter and his wife started a security firm in 2018. A website for Praetorian Guard Security Services lists Boelter's wife as the president and CEO while he is listed as the director of security patrols. The company's homepage says it provides armed security for property and events and features a photo of an SUV painted in a two-tone black and silver pattern similar to a police vehicle, with a light bar across the roof and 'Praetorian' painted across the doors. Another photo shows a man in black tactical gear with a military-style helmet and a ballistic vest with the company's name across the front. In an online resume, Boelter also billed himself as a security contractor who worked oversees in the Middle East and Africa. On his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, he told Chris Fuller, a friend, that he had founded several companies focused on farming and fishing on the Congo River, as well as in transportation and tractor sales. 'It has been a very fun and rewarding experience and I only wished I had done something like this 10 years ago,' he wrote in a message shared with the AP. But once he returned home in 2023, there were signs that Boelter was struggling financially. That August, he began working for a transport service for a funeral home, mostly picking up bodies of those who had died in assisted living facilities — a job he described as he needed to do to pay bills. Tim Koch, the owner of Metro First Call, said Boelter 'voluntarily left' that position about four months ago. 'This is devastating news for all involved,' Koch said, declining to elaborate on the reasons for Boelter's departure, citing the ongoing law enforcement investigation. Boelter had also started spending some nights away from his family, renting a room in a modest house in northern Minneapolis shared by friends. Heavily armed police executed a search warrant on the home Saturday. In the hours before Saturday's shootings, Boelter texted two roommates to tell them he loved them and that 'I'm going to be gone for a while,' according to Schroeder, who was forwarded the text and read it to the AP. 'May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn't gone this way,' Boelter wrote. 'I don't want to say anything more and implicate you in any way because you guys don't know anything about this. But I love you guys and I'm sorry for the trouble this has caused.'
