NEWS OF THE DAY
_1 Border wall suit: The Center for Biological Diversity, a nationally known environmental group, on Wednesday filed a legal challenge against the Trump administration over its proposed U.S.Mexico border wall that would start in San Diego County. This is the first lawsuit concerning the president’s border wall plan. Joining the center in the litigation is Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., who serves as ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources. The small but influential wildlife conservation group argues that construction of a barrier from San Diego to Texas would have “disastrous” impacts on jaguars, wolves and more than 100 other species in the border region.
_2 Arrest in slaying: Chicago police said Wednesday that they have made an arrest in the killing of a Cook County judge there earlier this week. Cook County Associate Judge Raymond Myles, 66, was fatally shot early Monday morning outside his house on the city’s South Side. A 52year-old woman was wounded in the shooting. Police had said they considered Myles’ killing “a direct attack on the criminal justice system.” Joshua Smith, 37, was charged with murder, according to Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman. The killing was a robbery, and “not a random robbery,” Guglielmi said. The Chicago Tribune reported that Smith was suspected to be the getaway driver in the killing.
_3 Officer charged: Officials say a Florida police officer who shot an autistic man’s caretaker is facing criminal charges. A news release from the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office says North Miami Police Officer Jonathan Aledda was charged Wednesday with attempted manslaughter and misdemeanor culpable negligence. Authorities say Aledda shot Charles Kinsey in the leg July 18 as he lay in the street next to his adult client. Arnaldo Rios had walked away from the group home where he lives. Kinsey was trying to coax him back.
_4 O’Reilly takes break: Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly said in New York that he’s off “The O’Reilly Factor” until April 24. Cable television’s most popular host has seen an advertiser exodus following reports of settlements reached with five women to keep quiet about harassment accusations.
_5 Human trafficking: A man pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping smuggle dozens of people from Pakistan and Afghanistan into the United States by way of dangerous treks through Brazil and Latin America. Sharafat Ali Khan, 32, described by prosecutors as a Pakistani national and former resident of Brazil, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants into the United States for profit. Prosecutors in Washington, D.C., say he schemed with others to bring people from Pakistan and elsewhere through Brazil and Central America into the United States by planes, buses and on foot. At least 81 people identified Khan as the person who helped facilitate their travel from Brazil to the United States between May 2014 and June 2016, according to court records.