Federal immigration raid at Omaha food production plant sparks protests

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Immigration authorities have raided at least one Omaha food production plant. Details about how many workers were affected weren’t immediately clear. Omaha police and the Douglas County sheriff said immigration officials warned them about Tuesday’s plans. Their departments helped block off traffic around the neighborhood where many food plants are located while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers worked. Gary Rohwer, CEO and owner of Glenn Valley Foods, said ICE officers showed up at his plant with a list of 97 workers they wanted to check. Omaha City Councilman Ron Hug said the raids are “unjust and disruptive” and undermine economic stability and growth in the area.

Gabbard says AI is speeding up intel work, including the release of JFK assassination files

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of national intelligence says artificial intelligence is speeding up the work of America’s spy services. Speaking at a tech summit Tuesday in Washington, Tulsi Gabbard said her office has used AI to hasten the release of tens of thousands of pages of declassified material relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother, New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Gabbard said that once a human would have had to read every page, but now AI can quickly scan the documents for any information that should remain classified. She says AI programs, when used responsibly, can save money and free up intelligence officers to focus on gathering and analyzing information.

Whistleblower’s death casts pall on Southern Baptist meeting

DALLAS (AP) — More than 10,000 church representatives are gathered in Dallas for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. Casting a pall over the gathering is the recent death of one of the most high-profile whistleblowers in the Southern Baptists’ scandal of sexual abuse. Jennifer Lyell, a onetime denominational publishing executive who went public in 2019 with allegations that she had been sexually abused by a seminary professor while a student, died Saturday at 47. Friends reported that the backlash Lyell received after going public took a devastating toll on her. Several abuse survivors and advocates for reform are skipping this year’s gathering, citing lack of progress.

Former Arizona lawmaker is indicted on charges that he forged nominating petitions

PHOENIX (AP) — A former Republican lawmaker in Arizona has been indicted on charges he forged signatures on his nominating petitions during his 2024 reelection campaign. Austin Smith represented an Arizona House district in the suburbs northwest of Phoenix for one term before dropping his reelection plans when questions arose about signatures on his nominating petitions. He also resigned as a leader of the conservative group Turning Point Action. In campaign literature, Smith voiced support for a Republican-backed review of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County that ultimately ended without producing proof to support President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen 2020 election.