Midwest
Senators go to Canada to meet PM Carney, smooth Trump tariff, 51st-state tensions
A bipartisan group of senators, led by North Dakota Republican Kevin Cramer and New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, recently traveled to Ottawa, Ontario, to help ease rising tensions between the U.S. and Canada.
The quintet, which also included Sens. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., was photographed glad-handing Prime Minister Mark Carney, a liberal who had been aided in his election over conservative favorite Pierre Poilievre in part due to American right-wing overtures.
As the lone Republican, Cramer was in the difficult spot of balancing representing the president’s party and engendering goodwill with Carney, whose government has been targeted by U.S. tariffs and pledges by President Donald Trump to be made the “51st state.”
He did not respond to a Fox News request for comment in that regard, but Kaine told Punchbowl News that Trump respects Cramer and his “insight and loyalty.”
CANADA’S PM CARNEY VOWS TO ‘FIGHT’ TRUMP’S TARIFFS; OTHER WORLD LEADERS WEIGH IMPACT
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, talks with U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Peter Welch and Kevin Cramer and U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra. (Office of the Prime Minister of Canada/Lars Hagberg)
“That means the president can probably hear some things from him that, if I said it, I wouldn’t get paid attention to,” Kaine said.
In a statement, Cramer said the two nations share “more than a border” and that working through challenges requires “frank dialogue.”
“I was encouraged by the meetings, and the Prime Minister’s transparent and thoughtful words were smart and instructive. I look forward to working with our friends, business partners, and neighbors in Canada to strengthen our relationship and address mutual issues facing our great countries,” he added.
The delegation, joined by Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, a former border-state congressman from Michigan, was geared toward joint defense and economic priorities, according to Cramer.
The White House directed Fox News Digital to the State Department when asked about its response to the diplomatic overture from Cramer and the four Democrats. But Foggy Bottom did not provide comment for the record.
But Cramer told Punchbowl he didn’t want to get in Trump’s way and that no trade deal could happen without the White House but that Canada needs to know they have a partner in the U.S.
“Hopefully I navigated it OK, but I’ll find out on Truth Social,” he said.
CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY SAYS ‘OLD RELATIONSHIP’ WITH US ‘IS OVER’ AMID TENSION OVER TRUMP TARIFFS
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images/File)
Kaine plans to force a Senate vote on a resolution to block Trump’s China tariffs if détente isn’t reached between Ottawa and Washington.
His office directed Fox News Digital to a Punchbowl story on the matter, where the Virginian was quoted saying that there will be negative effects on the U.S. economy if “this doesn’t get sorted out.”
“I hope I don’t need to,” Kaine said.
The U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian steel, automobiles and other goods not currently covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Canada retaliated by imposing $43 billion worth of its own tariffs against the U.S.
“We’ve got more that we need to do before we’re satisfied that we have a partnership that is in Canada’s interest. We’ve made a lot of progress,” Carney said Tuesday after the visit concluded.
Every congressional participant except Kaine hails from a state that borders Canada. One report said that annual Canadian visitation to Cramer’s North Dakota outnumbers its own population, while Welch has been vocal about Vermont’s symbiotic reliance on Canadian residents’ dollars, especially in its recreation sector.
“The U.S.-Canada relationship has made us all safer and more prosperous, protecting our continent from foreign threats and transforming North America into a hub of global trade, innovation and investment,” Welch said in a statement co-signed by the other lawmakers.
“The trip has reaffirmed our joint desire to move past current tensions in the bilateral relationship and lay the groundwork for a stronger partnership moving forward.”
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Illinois is receiving $148.8 million from Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family as part of a nationwide $7.4 billion settlement agreement that took effect Friday, marking the state’s latest payout from companies that systematically addicted generations of Americans to opioids.
The money will be doled out over the next 15 years, mostly in the next three, under the deal reached last spring by a coalition of state attorneys general including Illinois’ Kwame Raoul.
“No amount of money will ever put right the devastating effects of Purdue’s and the Sacklers’ prioritization of profits over people’s lives and the welfare of our communities,” Raoul said in a statement. “I will continue to ensure settlement funding is distributed equitably throughout the state to help support programs that are trying to mitigate the opioid addiction crisis.”
A nationwide investigation of Purdue Pharma was launched in 2016 over the company’s role in fueling the opioid epidemic through the over-prescription of painkillers like Oxycontin, and the downplaying of risk for addiction.
Illinois sued Purdue and its owners in the Sackler family in 2019, when Purdue filed for bankruptcy.
The overarching settlement agreement, which permanently bars the Sacklers from selling opioids in the U.S., calls for the family to pay $1.5 billion and Purdue to pay $900 million in the first payment. They’ll also pay $500 million in a year, the same amount in two years and $500 million in three years.
Opioid settlements with other companies linked to the nationwide crisis have totaled more than $58 billion, with Illinois so far earmarked for $1.6 billion.
More than $531 million of that has already been paid out to the state from various distributors and pharmaceutical companies.
About 725,000 people died of opioid overdoses across the country from 1999-2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Overdoses spiked in Cook County during the COVID-19 pandemic, to a staggering high of 2,001 deaths in 2022, with 91% of those cases tied to fentanyl. Fatal opioid overdoses have declined since then, with 1,822 deaths countywide in 2023, 1,169 in ‘24 and 687 last year, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Settlement funds are dedicated to addiction treatment, prevention and recovery programs. For more information on treatment for opioid addiction, visit helplineil.org or call 833-2FINDHELP.
INDIANAPOLIS — Police are investigating at two central Indiana schools on Friday after reported threats of violence.
Avon High School
According to an alert from Avon High School, the school was placed on a lockdown around 2:14 p.m.
Officials said the lockdown was lifted and the school campus is currently under a ‘secure the building’ status after an anonymous call.
Provided
The alert said the call referenced threats outside of the building, and the interior of the school was not threatened.
A sweep of both the interior and exterior of the school found no threats.
All students are safe, and they will remain in classrooms until early dismissal, officials said.
Traffic is currently being blocked from entering the campus until an investigation is completed.
The Avon School Police Department said the incident will now be investigated by Federal authorities.
Zionsville High School
There were also reports of a police presence at Zionsville High School on Friday.
According to Superintendent Dr. Rebecca Coffman, a call indicating a bomb threat was received around 2 p.m.
Law enforcement immediately responded to assess the threat and found it to be non-credible.
All students were reported to be safe. Students will be released following normal protocols this afternoon.
An investigation is ongoing, Zionsville PD told WRTV.
WRTV has a crew at both scenes.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – A house fire displaced one Iowa City resident Thursday afternoon.
The Iowa City Fire Department responded to the 1600 block of Crosby Lane at 4:06 p.m. after a caller reported flames and smoke coming from the front door of the house.
Upon arrival, crews found smoke coming from the roof and doors. Firefighters entered the home and extinguished a fire in the basement, containing it within 10 minutes of arrival.
One resident was displaced. No injuries were reported. Damage is estimated at $50,000.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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Illinois in line for $148.8M opioid settlement payout from Purdue Pharma