Latest news with #AndrewBoutros
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘Project Safe Neighborhoods' expanding to downtown Chicago, transit for first time
A long-running federal anti-violence program will be expanding to downtown Chicago and mass transit for the first time this summer, enhancing the investigation and prosecution of gun crimes, drug trafficking, robberies and carjackings at a time when city violence typically spikes. The creation of a new downtown zone for the program, Project Safe Neighborhoods, is the first public initiative announced by U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, who took office two months ago and has said that curbing violence is at the top of his to-do list. Since its inception in the early 2000s, Project Safe Neighborhoods has been deployed in neighborhoods on the West and South sides of the city historically plagued by gangs, poverty and violence. Currently, there are seven 'zones' where PSN resources are used, each overseen by a coordinator in the U.S. attorney's office. 'The expansion announced today will implement the program in parts of three police districts in downtown financial zones that represent the economic engines of the city, as well as on the CTA trains that bring residents and visitors to those areas from every neighborhood of Chicago and from the city's two international airports,' the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. It marked the first time anywhere in the country that Project Safe Neighborhoods will be deployed on mass transit, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Originally launched in 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods is a federally funded, nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, and local law enforcement and other stakeholders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. Participating agencies include Chicago police, the FBI, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Cook County sheriff's office. The federal grants will be used to hire new law enforcement personnel, pay overtime to officers patrolling trains and downtown locations, obtain equipment and training and provide anti-violence messaging, the U.S. attorney's office said. 'For violent offenders arrested downtown or aboard CTA trains, criminal prosecutors will bring appropriate charges to achieve maximum deterrence and will seek pretrial detention and substantial prison sentences for defendants who pose a danger to the community,' the statement said. jmeisner@
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
‘Project Safe Neighborhoods' expanding to downtown Chicago, transit for first time
A long-running federal anti-violence program will be expanding to downtown Chicago and mass transit for the first time this summer, enhancing the investigation and prosecution of gun crimes, drug trafficking, robberies and carjackings at a time when city violence typically spikes. The creation of a new downtown zone for the program, Project Safe Neighborhoods, is the first public initiative announced by U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, who took office two months ago and has said that curbing violence is at the top of his to-do list. Since its inception in the early 2000s, Project Safe Neighborhoods has been deployed in neighborhoods on the West and South sides of the city historically plagued by gangs, poverty and violence. Currently, there are seven 'zones' where PSN resources are used, each overseen by a coordinator in the U.S. attorney's office. 'The expansion announced today will implement the program in parts of three police districts in downtown financial zones that represent the economic engines of the city, as well as on the CTA trains that bring residents and visitors to those areas from every neighborhood of Chicago and from the city's two international airports,' the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. It marked the first time anywhere in the country that Project Safe Neighborhoods will be deployed on mass transit, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Originally launched in 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods is a federally funded, nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, and local law enforcement and other stakeholders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. Participating agencies include Chicago police, the FBI, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Cook County sheriff's office. The federal grants will be used to hire new law enforcement personnel, pay overtime to officers patrolling trains and downtown locations, obtain equipment and training and provide anti-violence messaging, the U.S. attorney's office said. 'For violent offenders arrested downtown or aboard CTA trains, criminal prosecutors will bring appropriate charges to achieve maximum deterrence and will seek pretrial detention and substantial prison sentences for defendants who pose a danger to the community,' the statement said.
Toronto Star
27-05-2025
- Toronto Star
US prosecutors won't seek death penalty for son of Mexican drug cartel leader ‘El Chapo'
Federal prosecutors won't seek the death penalty for the son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin 'El Chapo' if he's convicted of multiple charges in Chicago. U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros filed a one-sentence notice Friday saying he would not seek the death penalty against Joaquin Guzman Lopez. The notice did not offer any explanation.
Chicago Tribune
08-04-2025
- Science
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: When did the Great Lakes basins form?
Good morning, Chicago. As an ice sheet thousands of feet thick began its final crawling retreat from North America to the Arctic toward the end of the last glacial period some 10,000 years ago, it left behind the planet's largest freshwater system. At least that's what scientists have long believed about the formation of the Great Lakes. But a recent study suggests that the timeline actually stretches further back — beyond the evolution of early humans and past the age of dinosaurs — to 200 to 300 million years ago when a hot spot, or plume of hot material, from underneath Earth's crust created a low point that the glaciers would finish carving out and filling with water much later. 'Most of upper North America was covered by glaciation. But why, in this particular area, (are there) these Great Lakes?' said Aibing Li, a seismologist at the University of Houston who co-authored the study, which was published in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters in December. 'We'll see this surface feature, and we usually just consider that's just some very shallow process. It could have, actually, some deeper source, a deeper origin. It's not just like, randomly, on the surface, you have something special. Anything that happened in that area must have some reason.' Read the full story from the Tribune's Adriana Pérez. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including the future of fluoride in drinking water, Wrigley Field's goose that flew the coop and a review of 'Boop! The Musical,' which opens on Broadway. RFK Jr. says he plans to tell CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can't order communities to stop fluoridation, but he can tell the CDC to stop recommending it and work with the EPA to change the allowed amount. Mayor Brandon Johnson still mired in firefighters contract standoff, despite dropping reorganization plan When rank-and-file firefighters joined them to demand a contract last month, the Chicago Teachers Union framed the team-up in powerful terms: 'Two unions. One fight.' Now, with a pending deal for teachers clinched last week, only one of them remains in the ring. Andrew Boutros sworn in as Chicago's U.S. attorney Veteran Chicago lawyer and former federal prosecutor Andrew Boutros was sworn in yesterday as the 42nd U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Lawsuit settled in March 2019 air crash that killed Matteson Army captain A settlement ends a lawsuit brought by the family of a U.S. Army captain from Matteson killed in a March 2019 commercial jet crash in Ethiopia. The settlement was reached Sunday night before a trial in the case of the death of Antoine Lewis was scheduled to begin yesterday in federal court in Chicago. Man with knife critically wounded in River North police shooting, authorities say Police shot and critically wounded a man wielding a knife after a chase in River North yesterday afternoon, according to authorities. Two officers were also taken to the hospital but were not injured, sources said. Column: After Wrigley Field's goose flew the coop, the search is on for a new Chicago Cubs rally animal It's not known what caused the goose to leave Wrigley. It might have been the bleacher paparazzi that insisted on taking photos, or the bullpen implosion and fielding mistakes that led to Sunday's loss against the San Diego Padres. The goose, who was nicknamed PGA — 'Pete Goose-Armstrong' — by one bleacherite, was unavailable for comment. And now, the search for a new rally animal to pick up the slack begins, writes Paul Sullivan. Hearing begins on $2.8 billion NCAA settlement, with no indication the plan won't go forward The landmark $2.8 billion settlement that will affect every corner of college athletics in the months ahead got its final hearing yesterday, including athletes who criticized the sprawling plan as confusing — and one that said it undervalued them — and attorneys who said they were concerned about the impacts on campuses across the country. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken gave no indication yesterday the complaints have changed her mind, setting the table for the plan to move forward. Hank Haney used to prepare Tiger Woods for the Masters. Now he's back home, teaching amateurs of all levels. In another part of his life, Hank Haney would have been at Augusta National this week. As Tiger Woods' swing coach from 2004-10, he would monitor every one of Woods' swings, looking for tweaks to perfect it while preparing one of the greatest players ever for another run at the Masters. This week, though, finds Haney, 69, far away from golf's most intense spotlight. He's teaching at the new Hank Haney Golf Studio in Deerfield, just a mile or so from his boyhood home. Instead of working with the best of the best, Haney now instructs amateur players of all ages and abilities, ranging from low handicappers to the dreamer who just wants to break 90. Auditorium's 2025-26 dance season includes Ensemble Español and Trinity Irish Dance The Auditorium Theatre, henceforth known simply as The Auditorium, has announced its calendar of dance performances for the 2025-26 season. The five performances, all by female-led dance companies, open in November with Chicago's own Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater and conclude next spring with the annual visit by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Column: As circuses change, the Chicago Circus & Performing Arts Festival shows that the magic remains How long has it been since you have been to a circus? Over the last decades, what we once knew has changed, writes Rick Kogan. Much of that has had to do with the shift away from animal acts due to animal rights activism and humane-treatment concerns. More change has come in response to the 'wonders' so easily found on the internet, making theatrical, story-driven performances preferable to one clown bashing another clown. Cirque du Soleil and a few other shows emerged as wildly popular theatrical versions of the circus, where highly skilled human performers reign, and among the liveliest examples of this circus reinvention is available at the Chicago Circus & Performing Arts Festival. What's not to love about Betty Boop, U.S.-based international ambassador? It's a rhetorical question, folks. She cannot be fired, writes Tribune theater critic Chris Jones. Vastly improved from its Chicago tryout — director Jerry Mitchell being a master of the dogged retrofit — 'Boop!' is now a stellar little showcase for its ascendant young star, Jasmine Amy Rogers, who does not let playing a literal cartoon character get in the way of a fully fleshed out performance, as sweet and vulnerable as it is determined and resolute.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Andrew Boutros sworn in as Chicago's US attorney
Veteran Chicago lawyer and former federal prosecutor Andrew Boutros was sworn in Monday as the 42nd U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall administered the oath of office for Boutros in a customary private ceremony a little over a week after Boutros' selection was announced. 'I am humbled and honored to lead the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago,' Boutros said in a statement Monday, also thanking President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, and others involved in his selection 'for their trust and confidence in me.' 'As U.S. attorney, I am committed to working alongside old and new colleagues to tackle the important problems that face our district,' Boutros said. Boutros named veteran prosecutor Morris Pasqual, who has served as acting U.S. attorney since John Lausch's departure in March 2023, to be his first assistant. Boutros, 47, is a first-generation American whose parents emigrated from Egypt. He attended Virginia Tech University and earned a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2001. Boutros spent eight years as a federal prosecutor under then-U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, bringing a number of high-profile and complex prosecutions involving everything from international trade to dark web narcotics conspiracy. He'd most recently served as co-chair of the government investigations and white-collar group at Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP in Chicago. Boutros was selected by the Trump administration after a search process run by Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, of Peoria. Boutros was appointed as an interim U.S. attorney, which means he was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate. His term runs for 120 days or until a permanent replacement is nominated and confirmed. jmeisner@
