South Florida Local News

Today is Friday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2026. There are 328 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 6, 2013, toy maker Hasbro Inc. announced that Monopoly fans had voted online to add a cat token to the board game, replacing the iron.

Also on this date:

In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, the United States won official recognition and military support from France with the signing of the Treaty of Alliance in Paris.

Related Articles

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In 1862, during the Civil War, Fort Henry in Tennessee fell to Union forces.

In 1899, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain was ratified by the U.S. Senate; the treaty ended the Spanish-American War and ceded the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States.

In 1952, Britain’s King George VI, 56, died at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England; he was succeeded as monarch by his 25-year-old eldest daughter, who became Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1921, “The Kid,” Charlie Chaplin’s first feature-length film, was released across the United States.

In 1998, Washington National Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, honoring the former president on his 87th birthday.

In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the 70th anniversary of her ascendance to the British throne, an unprecedented reign that made her a symbol of stability in the United Kingdom.

In 2023, a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, toppling thousands of buildings and trapping residents under mounds of rubble; the death toll would eventually surpass 50,000.

Today’s birthdays:

• Actor Mike Farrell is 87.
• Former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw is 86.
• Singer Fabian is 83.
• Filmmaker Jim Sheridan is 77.
• Tennis Hall of Famer Manuel Orantes is 77.
• Actor Kathy Najimy is 69.
• Actor-director Robert Townsend is 69.
• Rock singer Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses) is 64.
• Singer Rick Astley is 60.
• Actor Charlie Heaton is 32.
• Actor Shelby Simmons is 24.

By ERIK ERLENDSSON

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots to improve to 16-0-1 in his past 17 games, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 6-1 on Thursday night in the final game for both teams before the Olympic break.

Brandon Hagel, Oliver Bjporkstrand, Jake Guentzel, Erik Cernak, Pontus Holmberg and Zemgus Girgensons — who will all participate in the Olympic Games — scored for Tampa Bay. The Lightning are 19-1-1 in their last 21 games.

Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov extended his scoring streak to 10 games, his 13th career scoring streak of at least 10 games — which is tied for fifth in NHL history.

Mackie Samoskevich scored for the Panthers. Danil Tarasov finished with 20 saves for Florida before leaving due to injury in the third period. Sergei Bobrovsky finished the game for the Panthers, who played without regulars Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, Evan Rodrigues. They all sat out after playing Wednesday against Boston.

After Tampa Bay went up 4-0, tempers flared between the two rivals, which started when Matthew Tkachuk hit Kucherov from behind well away from the puck during a delayed penalty. Tkachuk and Hagel, who fought off the opening faceoff between Canada and the U.S. at last year’s Four Nations Cup dropped the gloves during the dust up at 4:06 of the third period. All 11 skaters on the ice were given penalties while Florida coach Paul Maurice was ejected.

In the final preseason game between the teams in October, they combined for more than 300 minutes in penalties. They combined for 137 on Thursday.

Hagel opened the scoring 2:08 into the game, tipping a Victor Hedman shot. Girgensons made it 2-0 at 14:08, whacking a backhand past Tarasov during a scramble in front.

Tkachuk took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the end of the first period and Guentzel made the Panthers pay for it, getting a rebound off a Darren Raddysh shot at 1:14. Cernak scored his first of the season on a wraparound with 2:10 to go.

Holmberg scored for Tampa Bay at 6:09 of the third before Samoskevich scored a power-play goal at 9:50. Bjorkstrand capped the scoring with 4:19 remaining.

 

By JESSE BEDAYN

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Derrick Johnson buried his mother’s ashes beneath a golden dewdrop tree with purple blossoms at his home on Maui’s Haleakalā Volcano, fulfilling her wish of a final resting place looking over her grandchildren.

Then the FBI called.

It was Feb. 4, 2024, and Johnson was teaching an eighth-grade gym class.

“’Are you the son of Ellen Lopes?’” a woman asked, Johnson recalled in an interview with The Associated Press.

There had been an incident, and an FBI agent would fly out to explain, the caller said. Then she asked: “’Did you use Return to Nature for a funeral home?’”

“’You should probably google them,’” she added.

In the clatter of the weight room, Johnson typed “Return to Nature” into his cellphone. Dozens of news reports appeared, details popping out in a blur.

Hundreds of bodies stacked on top of each other. Inches of body decomposition fluid. Swarms of bugs. Investigators traumatized. Governor declares state of emergency.

Derrick Johnson, whose mother’s body was one of 189 left to decay in the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., poses for a portrait in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Johnson felt nauseated and his chest constricted, forcing the breath from his lungs. He pushed himself out of the building as another teacher heard his cries and came running.

Two FBI agents visited Johnson the following week, confirming his mother’s body was among 189 that Return to Nature’s owners, Jon and Carie Hallford, had stashed in a Colorado building between 2019 and Oct. 4, 2023, when the bodies were found.

It was one of the largest discoveries of decaying bodies at a funeral home in the U.S. Lawmakers overhauled the state’s lax funeral home regulations. And besides handing over fake ashes to grieving families, the Hallfords also admitted to defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid for small businesses.

Even as the Hallfords’ bills went unpaid, authorities said they spent lavishly on Tiffany jewelry, luxury cars and laser-body sculpting, pocketing about $130,000 clients paid for cremations.

They were arrested in Oklahoma in November 2023 and charged with abusing nearly 200 corpses.

Hundreds of families learned from officials that the ashes they ceremonially spread or kept close weren’t actually their loved ones’ remains. The bodies of their mothers, fathers, grandparents, children and babies had moldered in a room-temperature building in Colorado.

Jon Hallford will be sentenced Friday, facing between 30 to 50 years in prison, and Carie Hallford in April after a judge accepted their plea agreements in December. Attorneys for Jon and Carie Hallford did not respond to an AP request for comment.

Johnson, 45, who’s suffered panic attacks since the FBI called, promised himself that he would speak at Hallford’s sentencing and ask for the maximum penalty.

“When the judge passes out how long you’re going to jail, and you walk away in cuffs,” he said, “you’re gonna hear me.”

“She lied”

Jon and Carie Hallford were a husband-and-wife team who advertised “green burials” without embalming as well as cremation at their Return to Nature funeral home in Colorado Springs.

She would greet grieving families, guiding them through their loved ones’ final journey. He was less seen.

Johnson called the funeral home in early February 2023, the week his mother died. Carie Hallford assured him she would take good care of his mother, Johnson said.

Days later, she handed Johnson a blue box containing a zip-tied plastic bag with gray powder, saying those were his mother’s ashes.

“She lied to me over the phone. She lied to me through email. She lied to me in person,” Johnson told the AP.

The following day, the box lay surrounded by flowers and photos of Ellen Marie Shriver-Lopes at a memorial service at a Holiday Inn in Colorado Springs.

Photographs of Ellen Marie Shriver-Lopes, whose body was one of 189 left to decay in the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colo., are stacked in her sister’s home in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Johnson sprinkled rose petals over it as a preacher said: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

Caught on video

On Sept. 9, 2023, surveillance footage showed a man appearing to be Jon Hallford walk inside a building owned by Return to Nature in the town of Penrose, outside Colorado Springs, according to an arrest affidavit.

Camera footage inside showed a body laying on a gurney wearing a diaper and hospital socks. The man flipped it onto the floor.

Then he “appeared to wipe the remaining decomposition from the gurney onto other bodies in the room,” before wheeling what appeared to be two more bodies into the building, the affidavit said.

In a text to his wife, Hallford said, “while I was making the transfer, I got people juice on me,” according to court testimony.

The neighborhood mom

Johnson grew up with his mother in an affordable-housing complex in Colorado Springs, where she knew everyone.

Johnson’s father wasn’t around much; at 5 years old, Johnson remembers seeing him punch his mom, sending her careening into a table, then onto a guitar, breaking it.

It was Lopes who taught Johnson to shave and hollered from the bleachers at his football games.

Neighborhood kids called her “mom,” some sleeping on the couch when they needed a place to stay and a warm meal. She would chat with Jehovah’s Witnesses because she didn’t want to be rude. With a life spent in social work, Lopes would say: “If you have the ability and you have the voice to help: Help.”

Johnson spoke with his mother nearly everyday. After diabetes left her blind and bedridden at age 65, she’d ask Johnson to describe what her grandchildren looked like over the phone.

It was Super Bowl Sunday in 2023 when her heart stopped.

Johnson, who had flown in from Hawaii to be at her bedside, clutched her warm hand and held it until it was cold.

A gruesome discovery

Detective Sgt. Michael Jolliffe and Laura Allen, the county’s deputy coroner, stood outside the Penrose building on Oct. 3, 2023, according to the 50-page arrest affidavit.

A sign on the door read “Return to Nature Funeral Home” and listed a phone number. When Jolliffe called it, it was disconnected. Cracked concrete and yellow stalks of grass encircled the building. At back was a shabby hearse with expired registration. A window air-conditioner hummed.

FILE – A hearse and van sit outside the Return to Nature Funeral Home, in Penrose, Colo., Oct. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Someone had told Jolliffe of a rank smell coming from the building the day before, the affidavit said.

One neighbor told an AP reporter they thought it came from a septic tank; another said her daughter’s dog always headed to the building whenever it got off-leash.

It was reminiscent of rancid manure or rotting fish, and struck anyone downwind of the building.

Jolliffe and Allen spotted a dark stain under the door and on the building’s stucco exterior. They thought it looked like fluids they had seen during investigations with decaying bodies, the affidavit said.

But the building’s windows were covered and they couldn’t see inside.

Allen contacted the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agency, which oversees funeral homes, which got in touch with Jon Hallford. Hallford agreed to show an inspector inside the next afternoon.

Inspector Joseph Berry arrived, but Hallford didn’t show.

Berry found a small opening in one of the window coverings, the affidavit said. Peering through, he saw white plastic bags that looked like body bags on the floor.

A judge issued a search warrant that week.

FILE – This combination of booking photos provided by the Muskogee County, Okla., Sheriff’s Office shows Jon Hallford, left, and Carie Hallford, owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home. (Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File) Bodies stacked high

Donning protective suits, gloves, boots and respirators, investigators entered the 2,500-square-foot (232-square-meter) building on Oct. 5, 2023, according to the affidavit.

Inside, they found a large bone grinder and next to it a bag of Quikrete that investigators suspected was used to mimic ashes. Bodies were stacked in nearly a dozen rooms, including the bathroom, sometimes so high they blocked doorways, the affidavit said.

There were 189.

Some had decayed for years, others several months, according to the affidavit. Many were in body bags, some wrapped in sheets and duct tape. Others were half-exposed, on gurneys or in plastic totes, or lay with no covering, it said.

Investigators believed the Hallfords were experimenting with water cremation, which can dissolve a body in several hours, the document said. There were swarms of bugs and maggots.

Body bags were filled with fluid, according to the affidavit. Some had ripped. Five-gallon buckets had been placed to catch the leaks. Removal teams “trudged through layers of human decomposition on the floor,” it said.

Investigators identified bodies using fingerprints, hospital bracelets and medical implants, the affidavit said. It said one body was supposed to be buried in Pikes Peak National Cemetery.

Investigators exhumed the wooden casket at the burial site of the U.S. Army veteran, who served in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. Inside was a woman’s deteriorated body, wrapped in duct tape and plastic sheets.

The veteran’s body was discovered in the Penrose building, covered in maggots.

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“Ashes to ashes”

Following the call from the FBI, Johnson promised himself he would speak at the Hallfords’ sentencing. But he struggled to talk about what had happened even with close friends, let alone in front of a judge and the Hallfords.

For months, Johnson obsessed over the case, reading dozens of news reports, often glued to his phone until one of his children would interrupt him to play.

When he shut his eyes, he said he imagined trudging through the building with “maggots, flies, centipedes. There’s rats, they’re feasting.” He asked a preacher if his mother’s soul had been trapped there. She reassured him it hadn’t. When an episode of the zombie show “The Walking Dead” came on, he broke down.

Johnson started seeing a therapist and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He joined Zoom meetings with other victims’ relatives as the number grew from dozens to hundreds.

After Lopes’ body was identified, Johnson flew in March 2024 to Colorado, where his mother’s remains lay in a brown box in a crematorium.

“I don’t think you blame me, but I still want to tell you I’m sorry,” he recalled saying, placing his hand on the box.

Then Lopes’ body was loaded into the cremator and Johnson pushed the button.

Justice

Johnson has slowly improved with therapy, engaging more with his students and children. He practiced speaking at the Hallfords’ sentencings while in therapy. Closing his eyes, he envisioned standing in front of the judge — and the Hallfords.

“Justice is, it’s the part that is missing from this whole equation,” he said. “Maybe somehow this justice frees me.”

“And then there’s part of me that’s scared it won’t, because it probably won’t.”

General Daily Insight for February 06, 2026

Gentle words can still carry real weight. At midday, the Moon squares expansive Jupiter, stretching patience as feelings bump against limits in family matters or group efforts. By 5:48 pm EST, talkative Mercury steps into Pisces, which reminds us to encourage one another’s exploration of imagination. With Mercury leveling up our empathy, we can mend misunderstandings, revive stalled conversations, and let intuition guide timing. Progress sticks when compassion ensures that everyone gets heard. Choosing our words carefully is vital, for our listeners and ourselves.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

The universe currently rewards calm over chaos. Quiet reflection steadies your spark as cerebral Mercury enters your 12th House of Spirituality, inviting you to delve into your soul and see what you can fish up. If a friend pushes for an answer, you probably don’t owe them an answer. Even if you do, you’re allowed to ask for more time to consider your words. You function best when rested, so give your mind a chance to do so. Well-paced thoughts lead to well-timed action.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Small comforts help you focus on the essentials. Being hangry is a real threat to your social life today, as Mercury trots into your community sector. It’s hard to make plans with friends — whether you’re just chilling or collaborating on a bigger project — when you’re hungry, thirsty, or exhausted. Do your best to keep some snacks close at hand, because if you don’t need them, someone else will. Sharing supplies is a great way to strengthen your network.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Conversations could pique your curiosity at any moment. Mercury is striding into your public 10th house, boosting your visibility and encouraging you to offer updates that show your strengths without oversharing. An authority figure might be quite impressed by your speedy progress or intelligent questions. When you commit to something, make sure to write it down so you don’t get distracted by all your other options. It’s okay to have multiple irons in the fire, but sometimes you need to focus on one main flame.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

This moment is meant for questions! Big ones, small ones, and anything in between could be talked over while Mercury transits your 9th House of Learning. Go ahead and ask about anything confusing you, whether it’s an actionable issue regarding upcoming plans or a more philosophical quandary that can’t ever be fully answered. Travel, in particular, will benefit from open conversations about the facts of your schedule — and be sure to write down important information. If you don’t ask, no one can answer you.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

You shine brighter when your heart feels safe. Mercury is beginning its jaunt through your 8th House of Vulnerability, encouraging brave honesty about needs and trust while you keep warmth and pride intact. This is a good transit for setting up a living will or another serious financial document. That might be intimidating, but with the help of your loved ones (and maybe the promise of treating yourself to something fun afterwards), you can tackle it. Seeking clarity here protects everyone, including you.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Details speak louder when you truly listen. Your 7th House of Coordination welcomes brilliant Mercury, encouraging precise promises and thoughtful questions — all things that ensure healthy cooperation can take place. If plans keep slipping, write them down and reconfirm, because having the same words on both sides prevents avoidable stress later. Your helpful side shines when systems function properly, so give the relationship a clear container and let kindness fill the space between expectations. Double-check the details, then watch shared efforts run smoothly.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Being nice doesn’t mean letting others walk all over you — no matter how much you want that person to respect or appreciate you. Acerbic Mercury is jogging into your 6th House of Wellness, helping you streamline the days ahead. Watch out for interruptions (even from well-meaning peers). Speak up and request a moment to finish your thought, then return to their point with grace. To fuel your new confidence, don’t forget to take breaks when your body or mind asks for them.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

You don’t have to be serious, but you should stay honest. Play is more than allowed with Mercury’s entrance into your upbeat 5th house — it’s encouraged! Even so, be honest about what you want to get out of light-hearted experiences. Sincere praise? A chance to express yourself? A bonding moment? All these things are valid, but it’ll be much easier to get what you want once you name it. Name what inspires you and invite input from those you trust. Sincerity earns lasting interest.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

All memories deserve compassion today. Your 4th House of Domesticity is warmed by Mercury’s entry, as it encourages thoughtful conversations with family and forward-thinking plans that support a comfortable future without neglecting the past. If a parent or roommate brings up an old issue, thank them for caring, then suggest a small step that improves daily life. You deserve a safe, cozy home, so take today to set up routines that protect your abode. Build comfort first, and save adventures for tomorrow.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Morning chatter can reveal useful information. Thoughtful communication becomes your tool as intellectual Mercury enters your 3rd House of Writing. Whatever you’ve got to communicate, you can make yourself heard! If a neighbor or relative demands your presence, suggest a quick call and confirm responsibilities so everyone leaves with the same understanding. Your patient approach turns small messages into real progress, because a thoughtful subject line and a clear conclusion motivate the right actions. Write it down, so nothing slips through the cracks.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Practical choices strengthen your sense of worth. Your 2nd House of Talents receives Mercury’s wit today, potentially prompting you to take a second look at your spending. That new toy is tempting, but you’d probably be better off saving that cash for more meaningful purchases. Choose the option that supports your long-term freedom. You might benefit from a program that would track your finances — or even a simple spreadsheet with a monthly budget. Invest attention, because attention grows what you value.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Your voice carries farther than you think. Messenger Mercury enters your sign, turning up your voice and visibility while encouraging kinder self-talk that helps you introduce yourself and your ideas with confidence. When you share who you are, keep the language clear, and let compassion color your tone, others can meet you without guesswork. Your intuition thrives when you speak gently to yourself, so treat inner dialogue like a friend and watch courage grow in daily choices. Share your warmth with those who matter!

TALLAHASSEE – Lawyers for residents in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have filed a petition challenging Gov. Ron DeSantis’ call for a special session where lawmakers would redraw congressional boundaries mid-decade instead of every 10 years.

After months of trying to convince the Legislature to take up redistricting on its own, DeSantis on Jan. 7 called a special five-day session in April for the “purpose of considering legislation relating to the drawing of congressional districts for the State of Florida.”

The same day, Secretary of State Cord Byrd, a DeSantis appointee, sent a letter to all 67 county supervisors of elections instructing them to implement candidate qualifying rules that only apply in a year in which the Legislature redraws congressional districts.

Those actions are unconstitutional, and violate Florida’s “strict separation of powers doctrine,” according to the petition, filed Thursday in the Florida Supreme Court by the Elias Law Group, a national firm based in Washington, D.C. specializing in voting rights litigation and progressive causes.

The actions of DeSantis and Byrd “commandeer the Legislature’s authority to decide whether and when to re-draw Florida’s congressional boundaries,” the petition says. “Their actions have already disrupted Florida’s impending elections by casting significant uncertainty on the future of Florida’s congressional map and the relevant candidate filing deadlines.”

The Orlando law firm of King, Blackwell, Zehnder & Wermuth, which also specializes in voting rights cases, is also representing the two petitioners, who are “citizens, taxpayers, and members of the general public seeking enforcement of a public right,” the petition says.

“The decision over whether and when to reapportion Florida’s congressional districts belongs to the Legislature,” the petition says. DeSantis can request a special session, “but he has no power to bind the Legislature into carrying out his preferred policy objectives by undergoing a legally unnecessary reapportionment.”

Nor can his agenda serve as a basis for triggering certain Florida statutes that are only to be used in a “year in which the Legislature apportions the state,” the petition says. That determination also is reserved exclusively to the Legislature.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Normally, state political boundaries are redrawn every 10 years based on the latest U.S. Census, which is used to determine whether states gain or lose seats in Congress, a process called reapportionment. The states then must redraw the district boundaries to take the population changes and any new congressional seats into account.

But, last year President Donald Trump — facing potential Republican losses in Congress during the 2026 elections — urged Republican-controlled states to conduct a rare mid-decade redistricting to try to gain more Republican-leaning seats. DeSantis was one of several governors who answered the call, along with GOP leaders in Ohio, North Carolina and Texas.

DeSantis has not provided any draft maps for consideration nor has any redistricting legislation been filed in the Legislature, despite two hearings held by a special House committee appointed to discuss redistricting options.

By MIKE SCHNEIDER

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Census Bureau plans to use a survey form with a citizenship question as part of its practice test of the 2030 census, raising questions about whether the Trump administration might try to make a significant change to the once-a-decade headcount that failed during the president’s first term.

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The field test being conducted in Huntsville, Alabama, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, is using questions from the American Community Survey, the comprehensive survey of American life, rather than questions from recent census forms.

Among the questions on the ACS is one that asks, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” Questions for the census aren’t supposed to ask about citizenship, and they haven’t for 75 years.

Last August, Trump instructed the Commerce Department to have the Census Bureau start work on a new census that would exclude immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally from the head count.

The Constitution’s 14th Amendment says “the whole number of persons in each state” should be counted for the numbers used for apportionment, the process of divvying up congressional seats, and Electoral College votes among the states. The Census Bureau has interpreted that to mean anybody living in the U.S., regardless of legal status.

The bureau did not respond Thursday to inquiries seeking comment about why the ACS questions were being used for the 2026 test.

Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former congressional staffer who consults on census issues, said the ACS questions have never been used for a census field test before. She said the 2026 test — which was pared down from six locations to two — has become “a shell of what the Census Bureau proposed and should do to ensure an accurate 2030 Census.”

“This full pivot from a real field test is alarming and deserves immediate congressional attention, in my view,” Lowenthal said.

The field test gives the statistical agency the chance to learn how to better tally populations that were undercounted during the last census in 2020 and improve methods that will be used in 2030. Among the new methods being tested is the use of U.S. Postal Service workers to conduct tasks previously done by census workers.

The test originally was supposed to take place in six places, but the Trump administration earlier this week announced that it had eliminated four sites — Colorado Springs, Colorado, western North Carolina, western Texas and tribal lands in Arizona.

Mark Mather, an associate vice president at the Population Reference Bureau, a nonpartisan research group, said he couldn’t speculate on political motivations behind the decision to use the ACS questions, but said the more fundamental concern was methodological.

“The ACS form wouldn’t provide a valid test of 2030 census operations,” he said. “It’s a completely different animal.”

In his first term, President Donald Trump unsuccessfully tried to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census form. He also signed orders that would have excluded people who are in the U.S. illegally from the apportionment figures and mandated the collection of citizenship data.

The attempt to add the citizenship question was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court, and both orders were rescinded when Democratic President Joe Biden arrived at the White House in January 2021, before the 2020 census figures were released.

Republican lawmakers in Congress recently have introduced legislation that would exclude some non-citizens from the apportionment figures. Several GOP state attorneys also have filed federal lawsuits in Louisiana and Missouri seeking to add a citizenship question to the next census and exclude people in the U.S. illegally from the apportionment count.

Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Census Bureau at https://apnews.com/hub/us-census-bureau.

By DAVID KLEPPER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees have rejected a top-secret complaint from an anonymous government insider alleging that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard withheld classified information for political reasons.

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The responses this week from Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Rick Crawford mean the complaint is unlikely to proceed further, though Democratic lawmakers who also have seen the document said they continue to question why it took Gabbard’s office eight months to refer the complaint to Congress as required by law.

Gabbard’s office has rejected any allegations of wrongdoing as well as criticism of the timeframe for the referral, saying the complaint included so many classified details that it necessitated an extensive legal and security review. Select lawmakers were able to view the complaint this week.

Cotton wrote Thursday on X that he agreed with an earlier inspector general’s conclusion that the complaint did not appear to be credible. He said he believes the complaint was prompted by political opposition to Gabbard and the Trump administration.

“To be frank, it seems like just another effort by the president’s critics in and out of government to undermine policies that they don’t like,” wrote the Arkansas Republican, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee.

When asked about the complaint, Cotton’s office referred to his social media post.

Crawford, the House Intelligence Committee chairman also of Arkansas, said he believes the complaint was an attempt to smear Gabbard’s reputation.

Democrats are pushing for explanations about why it took Gabbard’s office months to refer the complaint to the required members of Congress. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the law requires such a report to be sent within 21 days.

“The law is clear,” Warner said Thursday at the Capitol. “I think it was an effort to try to bury this whistleblower complaint.”

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, speaks out against President Donald Trump’s investigation of the 2020 presidential election ballots in Georgia, and the involvement of Trump ally Tulsi Gabbard, director of National Intelligence, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Warner said he also still has questions about the details of the complaint, noting that it was heavily redacted.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said in a written statement that he will keep looking into the matter.

In a memo sent to lawmakers this week, the intelligence community’s inspector general said the complaint also accused Gabbard’s office of general counsel of failing to report a potential crime to the Department of Justice. The memo, which contains redactions, does not offer further details of either allegation.

Last June, then-inspector general Tamara Johnson found that the claim Gabbard distributed classified information along political lines did not appear to be credible, according to the current watchdog, Christopher Fox. Johnson was “unable to assess the apparent credibility” of the accusation about the general counsel’s office, Fox wrote in the memo.

Fox said he would have deemed the complaint non-urgent, unlike the previous inspector general, but respected the decision of his predecessor and therefore sent it to lawmakers.

Copies of the top-secret complaint were hand-delivered this week to the “Gang of Eight” — a group comprised of the House and Senate leaders from both parties as well as the four top lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees.

Andrew Bakaj, attorney for the person who made the complaint, has said that while he cannot discuss the details of the report or the identity of its author, there is no justification for keeping it from Congress since last spring. Bakaj is a former CIA officer and chief legal counsel at Whistleblower Aid.

Gabbard coordinates the work of the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies. She has recently drawn attention for another matter — appearing on site last week when the FBI served a search warrant on election offices in Georgia that are central to Trump’s disproven claims about fraud in the 2020 election.

Hurricanes running backs coach Matt Merritt is headed to the NFL, according to multiple reports.

Merritt is taking the same position with the Arizona Cardinals after two seasons coaching at Miami.

Merritt is the second UM assistant coach to leave the staff this offseason. Tight ends coach Cody Woodiel departed to take a position on Pete Golding’s staff at Ole Miss.

Under Merritt, the Hurricanes had a strong running game. In 2024, Miami was 31st in the nation with 188.92 rushing yards per game. Pro Football Focus gave UM the top rushing grade in the nation (97.2). This season, the Hurricanes were 71st nationally with 151.81 yards per game. PFF gave UM a 90.3 rushing grade, which was 21st.

With Merritt as the position coach, Miami recruited several high-level running backs. The Hurricanes signed four-star running back Girard Pringle Jr. in the 2025 class and four-star running back Javian Mallory in the 2026 class. UM also brought in 1,000-yard rusher Damien Martinez via the transfer portal before the 2024 season and productive runner Marty Brown before the 2025 season.

Merritt previously coached at USF and James Madison, among other stops in his coaching career.

By RIO YAMAT

Thirty-one families that lost relatives in two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners asked a federal appeals court on Thursday to revive a criminal case against the aircraft manufacturer.

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Paul Cassell, a lawyer for the families, urged a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court’s dismissal of a criminal conspiracy charge Boeing faced for allegedly misleading Federal Aviation Administration regulators about a flight-control system tied to the crashes, which killed 346 people.

The dismissal came at the request of the U.S. government after it reached a deal with Boeing that allowed the company to avoid prosecution in exchange for paying or investing an additional $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for victims’ families, and internal safety and quality measures.

Cassell said Thursday that federal prosecutors violated the families’ rights by failing to properly consult them before striking the deal and shutting them out of the process.

Federal prosecutors countered that, for years, the government, “has solicited and weighed the views of the crash victims’ families as it’s decided whether and how to prosecute the Boeing Company.”

More than a dozen family members attended Thursday’s hearing in New Orleans, and Cassell said many more “around the globe” listened to a livestream of the arguments.

“I feel that there wouldn’t be meaningful accountability without a trial,” Paul Njoroge said in a statement after the hearing. Njoroge, who lives in Canada, lost his entire family in the second of the two crashes — his wife, Carolyne, their children, ages 6, 4 and 9 months, and his mother-in-law.

All passengers and crew died when the 737 Max jets crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019 — a Lion Air flight that plunged into the sea off the coast of Indonesia and an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed into a field shortly after takeoff.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas, who oversaw the case for years, issued a written decision in November that described the families’ arguments as compelling. But O’Connor said federal judges couldn’t block a charge dismissal simply because they disagreed with the government’s view that a settlement deal served the public interest.

The judge also concluded that federal prosecutors hadn’t acted in bad faith, had explained their decision and had met their obligations under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

In the case of its deal with Boeing, the Justice Department had argued that given the possibility a jury might acquit the company, taking the case to trial carried a risk that Boeing would be spared any further punishment.

Boeing attorney Paul Clement said Thursday that more than 60 families of crash victims “affirmatively supported” the deal and dozens more did not oppose it.

“Boeing deeply regrets” the tragic crashes, Clement said, and “has taken extraordinary steps to improve its internal processes and has paid substantial compensation” to the victims’ families.

The appeals court panel that heard the arguments said it would issue a decision at a later date.

The criminal case took many twists and turns after the Justice Department first charged Boeing in 2021 with defrauding the government but agreed not to prosecute if the company paid a settlement and took steps to comply with anti-fraud laws.

However, federal prosecutors determined in 2024 that Boeing had violated the agreement, and the company agreed to plead guilty to the charge. O’Connor later rejected that plea deal, however, and directed the two sides to resume negotiations. The Justice Department returned last year with the new deal and its request to withdraw the criminal charge.

The case centered around a software system that Boeing developed for the 737 Max, which airlines began flying in 2017. The plane was Boeing’s answer to a new, more fuel-efficient model from European rival Airbus, and Boeing billed it as an updated 737 that wouldn’t require much additional pilot training.

But the Max did include significant changes, some of which Boeing downplayed — most notably, the addition of an automated flight-control system designed to help account for the plane’s larger engines. Boeing didn’t mention the system in airplane manuals, and most pilots didn’t know about it.

In both of the deadly crashes, that software pitched the nose of the plane down repeatedly based on faulty readings from a single sensor, and pilots flying for Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines were unable to regain control. After the Ethiopia crash, the planes were grounded worldwide for 20 months.

Investigators found that Boeing did not inform key Federal Aviation Administration personnel about changes it had made to the software before regulators set pilot training requirements for the Max and certified the airliner for flight.

Just two weeks ago, Fort Lauderdale was ready to scrap a long-term plan to spend $200 million building a new City Hall and purchase a less expensive office tower downtown instead.

That plan went up in smoke on Tuesday when Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman walked back comments she made two weeks ago saying she wanted to look into buying Tower 101 for $86 million.

Commissioner Ben Sorensen broached the topic of buying the office tower after midnight on Jan. 20, four days after the commission received an email from City Manager Rickelle Williams saying the building was for sale.

Vice Mayor John Herbst and Beasley-Pittman sided with Sorensen. Mayor Dean Trantalis and Commissioner Steve Glassman rejected the idea outright, noting the city was already in negotiations with a developer to build a new City Hall.

Fort Lauderdale lost its City Hall when a historic rainstorm flooded the basement in April 2023.

Damaged beyond repair, the building was permanently closed and later demolished.

In May 2025, the city received an unsolicited proposal from a developer for the design, build and maintenance of a new City Hall. Fort Lauderdale accepted competing proposals between June 6 and Aug. 5.

On July 11, the owner of Tower 101 sent an email to the city in July offering to sell his building to the city.

The mayor and commissioners didn’t find out about the offer until getting an email from the city manager on Jan. 16.

After the Tower 101 offer made headlines, the city got another offer on Monday from a bigger downtown office tower hoping the city will buy it instead. The owners of 1 East Broward want $122.5 million for the building.

“Honestly, where does this end?” Trantalis said during a City Hall meeting on Tuesday. “Every building on the block is going to come to us now and say, ‘Buy me, buy me.’ I thought we made a commitment. I thought we had a vision. I thought we were looking to the future. Has that changed?”

Rendering of a new City Hall proposed by the Fort Lauderdale commission’s top-ranked development team. (PALMA, courtesy)

Commissioners ranked the development teams on Dec. 2 and are expected to approve a deal with the top-ranked team after the city wraps up negotiations in the coming weeks.

A little history: Two weeks ago, when the conversation came up about purchasing Tower 101 to serve as the next City Hall, Pittman told the commission: “I think we should entertain the offer.”

On Tuesday, she said she meant she wanted to look at buying Tower 101 in addition to building a new City Hall.

“I was more interested in what else could be done with the building,” she said.

But after much discussion, Pittman said she was concerned about the cost involved in analyzing the purchase of an existing office tower and wanted to drop the whole idea.

Early in the meeting, Trantalis grilled Williams, the city manager, on why she did not let the commission know sooner about the Tower 101 offer.

“The commission had made a decision on the direction it was going,” he said. “And now I understand the people at 1 East Broward have submitted a request for us to review purchasing their building. So tell us where this is all going. What direction did you expect this commission to go considering decisions that have been made so far?”

Williams told the mayor that staff determined the offer was incomplete and not viable.

“So my question is why didn’t you bring it up at the goal-setting session (on Jan. 13) knowing that it was a key point in the discussions we were having at that time? I’m curious as to why you kept it a secret from us. Going forward, we need to know what you’re doing, especially if you’re doing it against or contrary to what the commission had agreed to.”

Williams defended herself and her staff.

“I want to make clear that there was no pursuit of the 101 proposal or offer,” she said.

Sorensen argued the city should move forward with analyzing the possibility of purchasing the 101 Tower.

The analysis, including two appraisals, a property survey and title search, would cost at least $120,000, Williams told the commission.

“That’s a lot of money to squander if we know we’re not going to go in that direction,” the mayor said.

Sorensen suggested doing a lower-cost analysis on both the 101 Tower and 1 East Broward.

Glassman disagreed.

“How many buildings are we going to accept these offers from?” he asked. “How far are we taking this? Are we saying to every building owner in the city, give us your tired, your poor, your old buildings yearning to be free? How far down that road are we going?”

Herbst argued the commission owes it to the taxpayers to look at the 1 East Broward tower, located on the northeast corner of Broward Boulevard and Andrews Avenue.

“Right now commercial office space is on sale,” he said. “This is a buying opportunity that is once in a lifetime. We will never get property this cheap ever again. It would be derelict for us not to consider this.”

Trantalis reminded him that a majority of the commission had already agreed to stick with the original plan for a new City Hall.

Herbst made another attempt to persuade the commission to look at buying an existing building.

“This is a huge financial decision that the city is going to be burdened with for the next 30 years,” he said.

Herbst warned the commission that the city might be dealing with a catastrophic financial loss if voters approve a plan in November to eliminate property taxes on homesteaded property.

“I have no doubt that this is going to pass,” Herbst said. “I’m voting for it. Our tax base is going to be declining. We need to be leaning into the fact that we’ve got to start scaling down operations. Winter is coming. Let’s just not put our heads in the sand.”

Glassman told the commission that buying an existing building might not save that much when you add in the cost of retrofitting the space.

“I’ve been speaking to a lot of folks in the construction field and the development field in the last few weeks since our last meeting,” he said. “You might get these buildings for a good cost but you’ll probably spend that exact amount in retrofitting. So at the end of the day the savings is not really that much. I just don’t see the sense in looking at these buildings at all.”

Trantalis posed a pointed question: “I would like to know what is the end game here? We spend tens of thousands of dollars for the analysis. What’s the end game? Are we going to want to buy one of these buildings or are we going to go with the original decision?”

Herbst argued that spending $250,000 to review two buildings and save $100 million is well worth the investment.

Glassman countered with this: “I just think this is a rabbit hole we’re going down right now. We made a commitment.”

Sorensen had one final comment: “I think we’re missing an opportunity just to analyze, but thank you.”

On Thursday, the owner of the Tower 101 told the Sun Sentinel he’s hoping the city will still consider buying the building.

“An administrative oversight should not penalize Fort Lauderdale residents from exploring an opportunity for massive savings,” Anthony DiTommaso Jr. said. “The city had the proposal from Tower 101 since July and did not advance it. Fiscal responsibility mandates a feasibility analysis for Tower 101 immediately to secure the best outcome for our community. Our ownership is ready to engage.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan