Florida taxpayers may lose $218M on empty ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ as judge orders shutdown

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for the $218 million cost of converting a training airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention center that may soon be empty of detainees. A federal judge has ordered operations to wind down indefinitely due to environmental concerns. The facility, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” has been emptying of detainees. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams Wednesday night denied requests to pause her order, despite claims it would disrupt immigration enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security says it’s complying and moving detainees elsewhere. Civil rights groups also have filed lawsuits over detainee treatment at the facility.

Gun used in Emmett Till’s lynching is displayed in a museum 70 years after his murder

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The gun used in the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till is now on display for the public to see, 70 years after the killing. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History unveiled the .45-caliber pistol and its holster during a news conference Thursday, which is the 70th anniversary of Till’s murder. The gun belonged to John William “J.W.” Milam who, alongside Roy Bryant, abducted Till from his great-uncle’s home on Aug. 28, 1955. The white men tortured and killed Till after the teenager was accused of whistling at a white woman in a rural Mississippi grocery store. Till’s body was later found in the Tallahatchie River. Bryant and Milam were charged with Till’s murder, but they were acquitted by an all-white-male jury.

CDC gets new acting director as leadership turmoil leaves agency reeling

NEW YORK (AP) — Jim O’Neill, a deputy to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will serve as acting director of the CDC. An administration official confirmed the move, requesting anonymity to discuss a personnel change that has not been formally announced. The administration wants O’Neill to replace Susan Monarez, who is fighting her removal just a month after starting the job. The situation has caused bipartisan concern as Kennedy pushes anti-vaccine policies. The turmoil comes before a key meeting of an advisory committee that Kennedy has reshaped with vaccine skeptics. Two Republican senators have called for oversight, and some Democrats want Kennedy fired. Monarez’s removal has left the CDC in chaos.

Trump administration asks military base near Chicago for support on immigration operations

CHICAGO (AP) — The Trump administration has asked a military base outside of Chicago for support on immigration operations. The move offers a clue of what its expanded law enforcement crackdown might look like in the nation’s third-largest city. A base spokesperson says the Department of Homeland Security asked Naval Station Great Lakes for “limited support in the form of facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs to support DHS operations.” The spokesperson says no decisions have been made on the request, and that the base hasn’t received an official request to support a National Guard deployment. Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have pushed back against a possible mobilization, saying crime has fallen in Chicago. They plan to sue.