CLEVELAND, OHIO (BNO NEWS) – A WEWS-TV weekend sport anchor was indicted on Wednesday in a nine-count indictment of serious charges of rape, attempted rape and kidnapping by prosecutors of the Cuyahoga County, WEWS NewsChannel5 reported.

Terry Brooks, 32, of South Euclid, Illinois, was indicted on one count of kidnapping, four counts of rape, and four counts of attempted rape. He will be arraigned on August 18. He allegedly raped a 21-year-old woman between September 1 and September 14, 2009, after going to Jack’s Sports Bar in South Euclid.

“Instead of taking her home, Terry Brooks took her to his residence in South Euclid. He raped her and dropped her back off at Jack’s Sports Bar to get her car,” Prosecutor Bill Mason said.

In January, the alleged felony offense was reported. The victim said that she knew Brooks for some time but she did not give consent for having sexual intercourse with him. The South Euclid police opened an investigation immediately.

Brooks claimed his innocence relating to the charges filed against him. Regardless, WEWS placed Brooks on a leave of absence from the network until the end of the investigation.

WEWS General Manager Sam Rosenwasser released a statement regarding his employee’s situation. “Any hint of improper conduct by our employees is taken very seriously by the station and its management team. We will cooperate fully and completely with all investigating authorities in the interest of a resolution that is fair and just for all parties involved.”

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (BNO NEWS) – A Chicago, Illinois man was arrested on Tuesday night hours before boarding a plane to Somalia, where he planned to engage in jihadist fighting with the al Shabaab terrorist organization, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Chicago announced on Wednesday.

Shaker Masri, 26, lived in the Streeterville area of Chicago. He was arrested and charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization and one count of attempting to provide material support through the use of a weapon of mass destruction.

The Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) conducted an 18-month investigation that targeted Masri. In early 2009, Masri began expressing his increasingly violent views to an individual he met in that time.

In the following months, Masri openly expressed his desire to participate in a jihad in order to fight against infidels. Last month, Masri, allegedly began to plan a trip to Somalia where he expected to join the terrorist group al Shabaab. He wanted to commit a suicide attack targeting infidels.

The Chicago FBI’s JTTF arrested Masri on Tuesday night in Countryside, Illinois. The law enforcement agents put Masri into custody without any incident just hours before he boarded a plane towards Somalia.

Masri appeared on Wednesday morning before a Magistrate Judge in Chicago, who ordered him to be held without bond until his next court appearance, scheduled for August 9.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

MACKINAC COUNTY, MICHIGAN (BNO NEWS) — Four people were killed on Tuesday afternoon when the small plane they were on crashed near a local airport in northern Michigan, officials said. A teenage boy survived the crash.

The Beechcraft 58 aircraft went down shortly after 5 p.m. local time when it was attempting to take off from Mackinac County Airport in St. Ignace, a city in Mackinac County.

The Mackinac County Sheriff’s Office said the aircraft encountered ‘some form of difficulty’ after becoming airborne, crossed over northbound Interstate 75, and struck the median barrier, flipping over and coming to rest on the shoulder of southbound Interstate 75. No vehicles were involved.

Five people were on board the aircraft, including the pilot. All of those on board, except a 13-year-old boy who was ejected from the aircraft, were pronounced dead on the scene. The boy was taken by Allied EMS to Mackinac Straits Hospital and later airlifted by Northflight EMS to a downstate hospital.

All those on board the plane were related, officials said, who withheld their names pending notification of family.

Paul Fullerton, the airport manager of Mackinac County Airport, called Tuesday’s crash a “tragic” incident. He identified the aircraft as a 1987-build plane that was registered to Tri United Management, Inc. based in Skokie, Illinois.

Calls to Tri United, Inc. were not immediately returned. A company profile online said Tri United Management, Inc. is a private company categorized under Real Estate Developers. It was established in 1967.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the cause of the crash.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

CHICAGO (BNO NEWS) – A former Chicago Police Department (CPD) Commander was convicted on perjury and obstruction charges related to his participation in the torture of suspects in police custody decades ago, prosecutors announced on Monday.

Jon Burge, 60, of Apollo Beach, Florida, declared under oath that he did not participate in the torture of suspects and that he was unaware of other officials having done so. However, the jury found out that he lied and impeded court proceedings which resulted in his conviction.

Burge and other officials, who worked together in area two of the CPD, were identified by several victims during trial. The witnesses said that the officers administered electric shocks to their genitals, suffocated them with typewriter covers, threatened them with loaded guns and burned them on radiators.

“At long last, a measure of justice was delivered today,” said a prosecutor “It’s disgraceful that torture happened and sad that it took so long to bring Burge to justice, and the only thing that would have been worse is if this measure of justice never happened.”

Burge faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of obstruction of justice and five years of imprisonment for perjury.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — In a ruling that may have a far-reaching impact for states and local governments, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said the Constitution’s ‘right to keep and bear arms’ applies nationwide.

The Court’s 5-4 decision on McDonald v. Chicago puts doubt on a strict Chicago-area handgun ban. And although the Court did not strike down the law directly, it appears likely that a lower court will now put an end to the ban.

The ruling comes two years after a similar landmark case, known as District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm for private use in federal enclaves. But the ruling did not specify if the Second Amendment extends beyond federal enclaves to the states.

“In Heller, we held that the Second Amendment protects the right to possess a handgun in the home for the purpose of self-defense,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the ruling. “Unless considerations of stare decisis counsel otherwise, a provision of the Bill of Rights that protects a right that is fundamental from an American perspective applies equally to the Federal Government and the States.”

McDonald v. Chicago challenged the City of Chicago’s gun control law, a law that is widely regarded as among the strictest in the nation.

The matter will now be passed on to a lower court for further review, where it is likely that – under Monday’s decision – the ban will be struck down. But Monday’s ruling did signal that less severe restrictions could survive legal challenges.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

CHICAGO (BNO NEWS) — Nineteen people were injured after a fire broke out in the Chicago subway near Chicago Station on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Emergency services responded at 4.58 p.m. local time to a report of smoke in the subway. When firefighters arrived at the scene they encountered heavy smoke coming from railroad ties which caught fire.

A 2-11 alarm and a second-level emergency medical plan was eventually called, sending more than 100 firefighters and 10 ambulances to the scene.

It took the firefighters one hour before the blaze was extinguished, according to Richard Rosado, a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department. He said nineteen people sustained non-life threatening injuries, mostly from smoke inhalation, and were transported to area hospitals. Five people, however, were in a serious-to-critical condition.

CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski said power was cut off to the Red Line at 5.10 p.m., and said trains are being re-routed to the elevated tracks between Fullerton and Cermak-Chinatown.

“The Chicago Fire Department is on scene and is inspecting the tracks,” Hosinski said.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

CHICAGO (BNO NEWS) – A flight attendant on American Airlines flight 1612 en-route to Chicago from San Francisco helped land a Boeing 767 airliner after the flight’s first officer fell ill, the Chicago tribune reported on Wednesday.

Patti DeLuna, 61, had not piloted an airplane in twenty years, yet she was the most qualified individual aboard the airliner after the first officer fell ill to take over the flight controls. “I was the best available [back-up pilot] they had on the plane,” DeLuna said. “I spent a lot of time in the cockpit looking at the flight deck panel and asking questions. My first question to the captain was, ‘Where are the brakes?’”

Two hours into the flight, the first officer on board the flight began vomiting incessantly, the captain then moved him to a spare seat in the rear of the cockpit.

At first, the veteran captain of the flight first checked to see if there were any off-duty pilots to assist him in landing the jetliner, but there were no takers. DeLuna had a mere 300 flight hours inside a commercial airliner that she earned in 1970, and were no longer valid toward a license. Regardless, she was selected by the captain.

“That doesn’t mean I’m a hot shot pilot, it only means I was the best they had– I was the best candidate for the job at the time,” DeLuna said.

The captain assigned her to change the altimeter settings a few times as the controls for that were on the right side of the airplane, where she sat. The captain also had her watch for traffic and listen to the flight radio for the aircraft’s call number to receive course headings from air-traffic control.

American Airlines officials said that the crew did an excellent job handling the minor situation.

While one pilot is fully capable of flying a 767, in fact, the plane could land on its own using an array of sophisticated computers, there is plenty of work for two pilots to do, especially during the descent to a crowded airport.

The first officer was treated by paramedics and taken to a local hospital, where he was soon released. He is reportedly recuperating at home, officials said.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

(Eds: Updated title)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday announced that a total of $1.8 million in funding will be granted to six organizations as part of the Women in Apprenticeship and Non-traditional Occupations Grants program.

The awards will support partnerships between the grantees, which are located in California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and currently existing Registered Apprenticeship programs to ensure that women have training opportunities and career support to succeed in non-traditional occupations in growing sectors of the economy.  

Women will be trained for careers in several non-traditional fields such as construction and manufacturing. Educational opportunities will support preparation for numerous occupations including: carpenter, cement-mason, construction laborer, electrician, machinist and mechanic, operating engineer, painter/plasterer, plumber, and welder.

Women will even have the chance, in certain cases, to receive U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certifications, while other circumstances will allow women to attend mentoring and networking programs and receive job placement advice.

“Women always have been critical members of our nation’s workforce system, and today’s grants are recognition of the need for more talented women to enter into occupations in non-traditional and lucrative industries,” said Sara Manzano-Diaz, director of the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau.

“These funds will provide women with valuable training opportunities by connecting them with established Registered Apprenticeship programs that are focused on preparing female workers for successful long-term careers.”

The grants, which are jointly administered by the Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau and its Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Apprenticeship, are awarded to community-based organizations that form a consortium and partner with at least one Registered Apprenticeship program sponsor.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – President Barack Obama on Monday visited the Hines Fisher House for veterans and relatives after his Memorial Day remarks were canceled due to bad weather.

Obama visited the gravestones at the Lincoln Cemetery in Illinois, where the U.S. President laid a wreath and bowed his head in silence in honor to the fallen soldiers. He stepped to the podium to deliver his speech but torrential rains and lightning caused that the event had to be called off.

Following the cancellation, Obama traveled to the recently inaugurated Fisher House in Hines. There, he met with veterans and service members receiving medical care at the Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital.

On May 28, the Hines Fisher House was officially dedicated as the first Fisher veteran’s home in Illinois. It was donated by the Fisher House Foundation as a home away for families of veterans and military members.

In March of this year, Obama donated $250,000 of his Nobel Peace Prize award to the Fisher House Foundation, which is a unique private-public partnership that supports men and women and their families in need and that ensures that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

CHICAGO (BNO NEWS) — Two fighter jets and a helicopter responded to a small plane which violated a temporary flight restricted area near Chicago on Sunday, authorities said. The aircraft safely landed and was met by authorities.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said two F-15 fighter jets and a Dolphine helicopter were sent to intercept a Cessna 152 aircraft near Chicago at 7.55 p.m. MDT. The agency said the aircraft had violated a temporary flight restricted area.

“The aircraft landed at Lewis University Airfield where it was met by local authorities,” the agency said in a statement.

President Barack Obama is currently staying in Chicago for the Memorial Day weekend, but it was not immediately clear if the temporary flight restrictions were in place because of Obama’s visit.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)