Author: chicagoinquirer

by Rich Rovito MILWAUKEE  — DeMar DeRozan had 36 points and eight assists, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 118-113 on Wednesday night. Chicago began the week with a 6-10 record but has now beaten the NBA’s top two teams. The Bulls ended Boston’s nine-game winning streak on Monday. Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points apiece for Chicago, and Coby White finished with 14 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Bucks, who lost for just the second time in 11 home games this season. Brook Lopez scored 20 points…

by Paul Wiseman WASHINGTON  — Most Federal Reserve officials at their last meeting favored reducing the size of their interest rate hikes “soon’’— just before raising their benchmark rate by a substantial three-quarters of a point for a fourth straight time. The central bank’s policymakers saw “very few signs that inflation pressures were abating.” Still, a “substantial majority” of the officials felt that smaller rate hikes “would likely soon be appropriate,” according to the minutes of their Nov. 1-2 meetingreleased Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to raise its key short-term rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, by…

by Alex Brandon CHESAPEAKE, Va.  — A Walmart manager opened fire on fellow employees gathered in the break room of a Virginia store, a witness said Wednesday. Six people died in the country’s second high-profile mass shooting in a handful of days. The gunman, who apparently killed himself, was dead when police found him, said Chesapeake Police Chief Mark G. Solesky said. There was no clear motive for the shooting, which also left four people in the hospital. The store was busy just before the attack Tuesday night with people stocking up ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, a shopper told…

CHESAPEAKE, Va.  — A shooting at a Walmart in Virginia on Tuesday night left several people dead and wounded, though the exact numbers were not immediately known, police said. The shooter was among the dead, officials said. Officers responded to a report of a shooting at the Walmart on Sam’s Circle around 10:15 p.m. and as soon as they arrived they found evidence of a shooting, Chesapeake Officer Leo Kosinski said in a briefing. Over 35 to 40 minutes, officers found multiple dead people and injured people in the store and put rescue and tactical teams together to go inside…

by Mark Sherman WASHINGTON  — The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the imminent handover of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a congressional committee after a three-year legal fight. The court, with no noted dissents, rejected Trump’s plea for an order that would have prevented the Treasury Department from giving six years of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses to the Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee. Alone among recent presidents, Trump refused to release his tax returns either during his successful 2016 campaign or his four years in the White House, citing…

by Andrew Seligman CHICAGO  — Zach LaVine was back where he wanted to be, on the court and helping the Bulls get a win they sorely needed. Even better, it came against the team with the NBA’s best record. LaVine scored 22 points, DeMar DeRozan had 28 and Chicago stopped Boston’s nine-game win streak, beating the Celtics 121-107 on Monday night. Patrick Williams scored a season-high 17, and the Bulls made it look rather easy against a team that’s 13-4. They led by 13 at halftime, got it up to 21 in the third quarter and withstood a push to…

by StevePeoples WASHINGTON — There was no violence. Many candidates who denied the legitimacy of previous elections lost and quietly conceded. And few listened when former President Donald Trumptried to stoke baseless allegations of electoral fraud. For a moment, at least, there’s a sense of normalcy in the U.S. The extremism that has consumed political discourse for much of the last two years has been replaced by something resembling traditional democratic order. The post-election narrative was instead focused on each party’s electoral fate: Republicans were disappointed that sweeping victories didn’t materialize, while relieved Democrats braced for the possibility of a…

by Jesse Bedayn and Sam Metz COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When army veteran Rich Fierro realized a gunman was spraying bullets inside the club where he had gathered with friends and family, instincts from his military training immediately kicked in. First he ducked to avoid any potential incoming fire, then moved to try to disarm the shooter. “It’s the reflex. Go! Go to the fire. Stop the action. Stop the activity. Don’t let no one get hurt. I tried to bring everybody back,” he said Monday outside his home. Fierro is one of two people police are crediting with saving…

by Steve Douglas LUSAIL, Qatar — Saudi Arabia scored one of the biggest World Cup upsets ever by beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina 2-1 on Tuesday. Messi’s quest to win the one major title to elude him got off to a shocking start and brought back memories of Cameroon’s 1-0 win over an Argentina team led by Diego Maradona in the opening game of the 1990 World Cup. Goals by Saleh Alshehri and Salem Aldawsari in a five-minute span in the second half gave the Saudis the win. Argentina took an early lead with a 10th-minute penalty by Messi. The Argentina…

by Joseph Omoremi CHICAGO, IL –   A wire transfer of $80,000 to the First Heritage Bank account of Ashiwaju Bola A. Tinubu triggered the investigation of the former Lagos Governor and closure of nine bank accounts linked to him as well as the forfeiture of $460,000 to the U.S. government in October 1993. Tinubu had opened an individual money market account and a NOW account in Chicago in December 1989 according to U.S District Court documents obtained by The Chicago Inquirer. Mr. Adegboyega Mueez Akande who was under investigation by local police, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and FBI wired…