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North Dakota lawmaker pleads guilty to DUI charge, sentenced to unsupervised probation

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North Dakota lawmaker pleads guilty to DUI charge, sentenced to unsupervised probation
  • North Dakota lawmaker Republican state Rep. Nico Rios has been sentenced to nearly a year of unsupervised probation for drunken driving.
  • Rios pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 and received a 10-day suspended jail sentence, mandatory evaluation and a victim impact panel.
  • He faced growing calls from his party to resign, including from the House majority leader and state and local Republican Party officials.

A North Dakota lawmaker who insulted police with vulgar, homophobic and anti-migrant comments during an arrest last month for drunken driving was sentenced to serve nearly a year of unsupervised probation and to pay $1,000.

Republican state Rep. Nico Rios, of Williston, received the sentence on Jan. 8, when he pleaded guilty to drunken driving, court records show. His sentence includes a 10-day suspended jail sentence, a mandatory evaluation and a victim impact panel. A misdemeanor charge of refusing a chemical test was dismissed. He must also pay $50 for an open container violation.

Text and email messages were sent to Rios seeking comment Thursday. A phone message was also left with his attorney.

NORTH DAKOTA REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER UNDER SCRUTINY AFTER SLURS TO POLICE AT DUI STOP

Rios’ sentence is consistent with others for similar offenses, said criminal defense attorney Mark Friese, a long-time practitioner in DUI cases. He noted that Rios’ driving privileges will be suspended automatically for 91 days.

Body camera video captured North Dakota Republican lawmaker Nico Rios using profanity and homophobic slurs toward Williston police officers and threatening to call the state’s attorney general during a DUI stop on Dec. 5, 2023, in Williston, N.D. Rios said he was leaving a Christmas party before the traffic stop. (Williston Police Dept. via AP)

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“It does not appear that he was treated more harshly than other people in similar situations,” Friese said. “My guess is that the judge recognizes … there are multiple entities here that are going to hold Mr. Rios to account.”

Police body-camera footage from the Dec. 15 traffic stop, requested by and provided to the AP, shows Rios cursing an officer, repeatedly questioning his English accent, and using homophobic slurs and anti-migrant language. He also said he would call the North Dakota attorney general about the situation. He told the officers they would “regret picking on me because you don’t know who … I am.”

NORTH DAKOTA LAWMAKER HIT WITH MISDEMEANOR CHARGE IN SPECULATION CASE

He has faced growing calls from his party to resign, including the House majority leader and state and local Republican Party officials.

Last week, Republican House Majority Leader Mike Lefor removed him from the Legislature’s interim Judiciary Committee, saying it wouldn’t be fair for law enforcement officers to testify in front of a committee of which Rios is a member. The House-Senate panel meets between legislative sessions for studies of topics related to law enforcement and the legal system for future or potential legislation.

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Rios has said he is “seriously mulling all aspects” of his future, and plans to seek help for alcoholism, but he has made no plans to resign. He also previously said he takes responsibility for his “disgusting actions,” and apologized “to those I have hurt and disappointed,” including law enforcement officers.

Rios has said he was leaving a Christmas party before police pulled him over.

Rios, who works in an oil field position involved in the hydraulic fracturing of wells, was elected unopposed in 2022 to a four-year term in the state House of Representatives. Republicans control the House, 82-12.

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Indianapolis, IN

Storm chance today, then turning hot and humid through midweek

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Storm chance today, then turning hot and humid through midweek


TODAY

Mostly cloudy and muggy with scattered showers around at times, and thunderstorms becoming more likely this afternoon. Highs reach the low 80s, with a light east wind. Much of the morning still looks manageable, but by later today a few storms could become stronger, especially across the southwest half of central Indiana, with locally heavy rain and gusty winds the main concerns.

TONIGHT

A few showers and thunderstorms may linger through the evening before coverage gradually fades later tonight. Lows settle in the upper 60s, with a light northeast breeze. It will not rain all night everywhere, but the evening still carries enough of a storm threat to keep a weather eye nearby.

TOMORROW

Partly sunny, warmer, and much less active. Highs climb into the mid 80s, with a light south wind around 5 mph. After the unsettled Saturday, this looks like a far more usable day for outdoor plans, and most of central Indiana should stay dry from start to finish.

TOMORROW NIGHT

Partly cloudy and warm, with lows in the low 70s and a light south southeast breeze around 5 mph. Humidity stays elevated overnight, so it will feel a bit more summerlike than recent nights. Quiet weather continues.

MONDAY

Sunny and hot with highs pushing into the low 90s. A south southwest breeze around 5 to 10 mph keeps the air moving, but the bigger story is the heat and humidity building in. This looks like the hottest day so far this season, and heat index values over 100 are possible during the afternoon, so outdoor plans will need extra water and more breaks.

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MONDAY NIGHT

Mostly clear and warm, with lows around the mid 70s. A light south southwest breeze continues overnight, and there will be very little cooling after sunset. It stays dry, but the muggy feel hangs on.

TUESDAY

Sunny and even hotter, with highs in the low to mid 90s and a light southwest breeze around 5 mph. This is another day where the heat becomes the main impact, and it will not take long to feel it during the afternoon. Outdoor work and summer activities will need to be paced carefully.

TUESDAY NIGHT

Clear and warm again, with lows in the mid 70s and a light southwest wind. The air remains sticky overnight, and there is still no meaningful rain signal for Indianapolis.

7 DAY FORECAST

After today’s storm chances taper away, the pattern flips quickly toward heat and humidity. Sunday looks quieter and warmer, then Monday through Thursday all trend hot with highs in the 90s and heat index values over 100 possible at times. Rain chances stay very low through midweek, with the next better chance for storms not returning until Friday. Overall, the bigger concern after Saturday becomes summer heat rather than repeated storm chances.



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Cleveland, OH

Cleveland boy, 13, dead following ATV crash in Erie County

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Cleveland boy, 13, dead following ATV crash in Erie County


ERIE COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) – Ohio troopers said a 13-year-old boy died Thursday from injuries stemming from an ATV crash on Sunday afternoon.

The highway patrol has identified the victim as Lamonie Campbell from Cleveland.

The crash, which also hurt a 10-year-old boy, took place around 1:45 p.m. in the eastbound lane of State Route 113 in Milan Township.

The 10-year-old was operating an ATV, with Campbell as the passenger, when the crash happened.

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A Toyota, operated by a Berlin Heights man, struck the ATV as it entered State Route 113 from a private drive, troopers said.

According to the highway patrol, the ATV caught fire as a result of the crash, which also sent the Toyota off the roadway before it rolled and struck a pole.

First responders first took the boys to Fisher-Titus Medical Center for treatment.

Troopers said the 13-year-old was later flown by medical helicopter to a Cleveland hospital.

There’s no update at this time on the 10-year-old’s condition.

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State Route 113 was closed for approximately one hour and 50 minutes.

The highway patrol will continue to investigate the crash.

Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.



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Illinois

Illinois in the trenches again to protect fair housing

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Illinois in the trenches again to protect fair housing


Is housing discrimination illegal even if the action wasn’t intended?

According to the Fair Housing Act, yes.

Should the federal government go after errant housing providers in those scenarios? Well, that depends on the president.

In 2013, Barack Obama codified what’s known as the “disparate impact” rule, in other words, recognizing discriminatory practices not motivated by discriminatory intent. The Biden administration reinstated the rule. Now President Donald Trump seeks to roll it back by preventing agencies from investigating housing discrimination complaints.

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Still, the disparate impact remains legal — federally and locally. And Illinois ensured extra protections by codifying disparate impact into state law. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has reduced the workforce in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is antagonistic toward fair housing.

Let’s go back to the legal origins. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. spent time in the city for the Chicago Freedom Movement, which protested housing segregation and slums. Part of that campaign sent Black people to real estate offices, and agents told them they had no listings. Soon after, the campaign sent white people to the same offices, and agents gave them listings. After King’s assassination in 1968, Congress quickly passed the Fair Housing Act. The civil rights law prohibited discrimination against people trying to rent or buy a home. Race, sex and national origin are among the protected classes.

Today that King campaign is called “testing,” and fair housing organizations continue the practice. They send two people — one pair Black and one pair white — with otherwise similar profiles to visit the same housing provider. The volunteers are trained to see how they are treated and report back if discrimination occurs. State and local fair housing centers do a variety of education and fight discrimination — to the chagrin of the Trump administration, which has also sought to gut their funding. To advance fair housing, HUD is a primary source of financing. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, along with other states, filed a lawsuit to challenge the attacks. Some contracts have been reinstated, but not every center received back money.

“A lot of our worst fears have kind of already happened. We know that it’s going to take at least a decade to rebuild the federal infrastructure to what it was before with the number of federal workers,” said Emily Coffey of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. “What we had a couple of years ago was never enough. We are still one of the most segregated cities in the country. What worries me the most is that we won’t be able to sustain what we have, and rebuilding that is so much more challenging than just weathering a storm.”

To counter the political climate, fair housing groups have formed the Illinois Housing Equity Collective, which seeks $5 million from the state for fair housing enforcement. So far philanthropy has contributed to the collective.

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Michael Chavarria leads HOPE Fair Housing Center, which serves DuPage and Kane counties and parts of Northern Illinois. The mixed messaging from the federal government has prevented growth and also caused rearranging their budget while waiting on reimbursements. He doesn’t want to tap into reserves to cover a bill when the federal government promised that money.

“Just last year we held over 40 events that were targeted at training individuals, be it housing seekers, housing providers, local government. We reached about 3,500 people through our online educational campaigns. We reached almost 750,000 people across Illinois. So we really aim to prevent discrimination by making sure everyone knows their rights and responsibilities. We do not want to have to sue people,” Chavarria said.

Illinois finds itself once again on the front lines of protecting residents — see reproductive, immigration or First Amendment rights. And now must add fair housing, which Trump pushed against just last week by refusing to sign a bipartisan housing affordability bill.

The reason? He first wants Congress to approve the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act — legislation designed to create more inequity and burn democracy to the ground.

Natalie Y. Moore is a senior lecturer at Northwestern University.

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