Author: chicagoinquirer

LAKE FOREST, Ill.  — The Chicago Bears signed four of their 10 draft picks to four-year contracts Thursday. The Bears agreed to deals with Minnesota cornerback Terell Smith, Oregon linebacker Noah Sewell, Kennesaw State defensive tackle Travis Bell and Stanford safety Kendall Williamson. Smith and Sewell — the brother of Detroit Lions tackle Penei Sewell — were selected in the fifth round. Bell and Williamson were seventh-rounders. The Bears also agreed to deals with 14 undrafted free agents, including record-setting Division II Shepherd University quarterback Tyson Bagent. He set the NCAA’s all-division record with 159 career touchdown passes while finishing…

by Jill Lawless LONDON  — On his way to be crowned this week, King Charles III will travel by gilded coach through streets swathed in red, white and blue Union flags — and past a warning from history. At Trafalgar Square stands a large bronze statue of King Charles I, the 17th-century monarch deposed by Parliament and executed in 1649. On Saturday, more than 1,500 protesters, dressed in yellow for maximum visibility, plan to gather beside it to chant “Not my king” as the royal procession goes by. “We’ll try and keep the atmosphere light, but our aim is to…

by Anthony Izaguirre TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  — Former Florida Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum, who came within a whisker of defeating Republican Ron DeSantis in 2018, was acquitted Thursday of lying to the FBI in a corruption case that also involved illegal use of campaign contributions. But the federal jury hung on charges that Gillum funneled tens of thousands of dollars in campaign money to personal accounts. Prosecutors said they will retry him on those counts. They had claimed Gillum was struggling financially after quitting his $120,000-a-year job with the People for the American Way group to run for governor. Gillum was acquitted of…

by Kevin Freking WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats pressured Republicans on the increasingly menacing debt ceiling impasse Thursday, focusing on what they say will be painful reductions in government services if a bill the GOP recently pushed through the House becomes law. Republicans responded that they know the legal limit on government borrowing must be raised to avert a possible default. But they’re insisting it be coupled with cuts in what they consider bloated federal spending. No one expects that the House bill, which would importantly increase the nation’s borrowing authority as well as cut spending, will reach President Joe Biden’s…

by Agency reports WASHINGTON  — A Republican megadonor paid two years of private school tuition for a child raised by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who did not disclose the payments, a lawyer who has represented Thomas and his wife acknowledged Thursday. The revelation of tuition payments made by Dallas billionaire Harlan Crow is the latest example of Crow’s generosity to Thomas and his family that has raised questions about Thomas’ ethics and disclosure requirements more generally. The payments, along with the earlier examples of Crow’s financial ties to Thomas, were first reported by the nonprofit investigative journalism site ProPublica. ProPublica reported Thursday that Crow paid tuition for Thomas’…

by David Koenig DALLAS  — Airlines expecting a hectic summer travel season are planning to hire thousands of new workers this year, lifting a job market that has been hit by layoffs in technology and turmoil in the banking industry. United Airlines said Wednesday that it hired 7,000 new workers in the first four months of this year and plans to hit 15,000 new hires by year-end, matching the number it hired last year. By 2026, United projects adding 50,000 workers to a workforce that was about 93,000 at the start of this year. “We are in hiring mode here…

by Cora Lewis and Adriana Morga NEW YORK  — The Federal Reserve has raised its key interest rate yet again in its drive to cool inflation, a move that will directly affect most Americans. On Wednesday, the central bank boosted its benchmark rate by a quarter-point to 5.1%. Rates on credit cards, mortgages and auto loans, which have been surging since the Fed began raising rates last year, all stand to rise even more. The result will be more burdensome loan costs for both consumers and businesses. On the other hand, many banks are now offering higher rates on savings…

by Christopher Rugaber WASHINGTON  — The Federal Reserve reinforced its fight against high inflation Wednesday by raising its key interest rate by a quarter-point to the highest level in 16 years. But the Fed also signaled that it may now pause its streak of 10 rate hikes, which have made borrowing for consumers and businesses steadily more expensive. In a statement after its latest policy meeting, the Fed removed a sentence from its previous statement that had said “some additional” rate hikes might be needed. It replaced it with language that said it will now weigh a range of factors…

by Juan A. Lozano and Nomaan Merchant CLEVELAND, Texas  — A four-day manhunt in Texas for a gunman accused of killing five neighbors ended Tuesday not far from the site of the shooting when authorities, acting on a tip, said they found the suspect hiding underneath a pile of laundry in the closet of a house. Francisco Oropeza, 38, was captured without incident near Houston and about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from his home in the rural town of Cleveland, where authorities say he went next door and shot his neighbors with an AR-style rifle shortly before midnight Friday after…

by Dan Gelston Joel Embiid began the long process toward NBA MVP as a towering soccer prospect in Africa who never picked up a basketball until he was a teenager. Once he changed sports for good, Embiid became a generational — albeit often-injured — talent. And, the affable center quickly became the face of the Philadelphia 76ers’ rebuilding effort more commonly known as The Process. He embraced the nickname and is introduced before every home game as Joel “The Process” Embiid. Embiid can now add MVP. The All-Star center and two-time league scoring champion, Embiid, who had long lobbied for…