CHICAGO (AP) — A judge in Illinois dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit Friday that sought to disrupt limits Chicago imposes on cooperation between federal immigration agents and local police.

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The lawsuit, filed in February, alleged that so-called sanctuary laws in the nation’s third-largest city “thwart” federal efforts to enforce immigration laws.

It argued that local laws run counter to federal laws by restricting “local governments from sharing immigration information with federal law enforcement officials” and preventing immigration agents from identifying “individuals who may be subject to removal.”

Judge Lindsay Jenkins of the Northern District of Illinois granted the defendants’ motion for dismissal.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he was pleased with the decision and the city is safer when police focus on the needs of Chicagoans.

“This ruling affirms what we have long known: that Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance is lawful and supports public safety. The City cannot be compelled to cooperate with the Trump Administration’s reckless and inhumane immigration agenda,” he said in a statement.

Gov. JB Pritzker welcomed the ruling, saying in a social media post, “Illinois just beat the Trump Administration in federal court.”

The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security and did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The administration has filed a series of lawsuits targeting state or city policies seen as interfering with immigration enforcement, including those in Los Angeles, New York City, Denver and Rochester, New York. It sued four New Jersey cities in May.

Heavily Democratic Chicago has been a sanctuary city for decades and has beefed up its laws several times, including during Trump’s first term in 2017.

That same year, then-Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, signed more statewide sanctuary protections into law, putting him at odds with his party.

There is no official definition for sanctuary policies or sanctuary cities. The terms generally describe limits on local cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE enforces U.S. immigration laws nationwide but sometimes seeks state and local help.

By DAVID BAUDER

With this week’s FCC approval, the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media is expected to be completed in the coming weeks at a value of $8 billion. The question for the new company is whether the psychic cost is much higher.

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It has been a particularly rough few months at Paramount-owned CBS, where the settlement of a lawsuit regarding “60 Minutes” and announced end of Stephen Colbert’s late-night show has led critics to suggest corporate leaders were bowing to President Donald Trump.

Following the Federal Communications Commission approval Thursday, one of the triumvirate of current Paramount leaders, Chris McCarthy, said that he would be leaving the company. McCarthy has been in charge of fading cable properties like MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, expected to bear the brunt of an estimated $2 billion in cost cuts identified by Skydance leaders.

Skydance head David Ellison is expected to head the new company, and he has identified former NBC Universal executive Jeff Shell as the incoming president.

CBS News’ trajectory will be scrutinized

After the merger’s Aug. 7 closing date, the new leaders will be watched most closely for how they deal with CBS News, particularly given the $16 million paid in a settlement of Trump’s complaint that last fall’s “60 Minutes” interview was edited to make opponent Kamala Harris look good. Two news executives — News CEO Wendy McMahon and “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens — resigned due to their opposition to the deal.

The appointment of respected insider Tanya Simon to replace Owens this week was seen as a positive sign by people at “60 Minutes.”

Days before the FCC’s vote, Paramount agreed to hire an ombudsman at CBS News with the mission of investigating complaints of political bias. “In all respects, Skydance will ensure that CBS’s reporting is fair, unbiased, and fact-based,” Skydance said in a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

The role of an ombudsman, or public editor, who examines a news outlet’s work is often positive — if they are given independence, said Kelly McBride, an ethics expert who has had that role at NPR for five years. “You really want the person to have loyalty only to their own judgment and the journalistic mission of the organization,” she said.

Having the sole mission of examining bias could be problematic, however. To be fair, a journalist’s work should be closely studied before making that determination, not judged on the basis of one report or passage, she said.

Carr, in an interview with CNBC on Friday, said the role “should go a long way toward restoring America’s trust in media.” Anna Gomez, an FCC commissioner who voted to reject the deal on Thursday, interpreted the arrangement as a way for the government to control journalists.

“They want the news media to report on them in a positive light or in the light that they want,” Gomez told MSNBC. “So they don’t want the media to do their job, which is to hold government to account without fear or favor.”

How the merger could ripple out across Paramount properties

According to published reports, Ellison has explored purchasing The Free Press, a flourishing news site founded by Bari Weiss perhaps best known for a former NPR editor’s study of liberal bias in public broadcasting. An Ellison spokeswoman did not return a message seeking comment on Friday.

Colbert’s slow-motion firing — he’ll work until the end of his contract next May — was described by CBS as a financial decision given late-night television’s collapsing economics. Colbert’s relentless lampooning of Trump, and his criticism of the “60 Minutes” settlement, led to suspicion of those motives.

“Was this really financial?” comic Jon Stewart wondered. “Or maybe the path of least resistance for your $8 billion merger was killing a show that you know rankled a fragile and vengeful president?”

Stewart’s profane criticism on his own Paramount-owned show may provide its own test for Skydance. “The Daily Show” is one of the few original programs left on Comedy Central, and his contract ends later this year.

In an odd way, Comedy Central’s “South Park” buttresses CBS’ claim that the Colbert decision was financial, not political. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone delivered an episode this week that depicted a naked Trump in bed with the devil. Paramount just signed Parker and Stone to a new $1.5 billion deal that Skydance executives surely cleared; it makes the entire “South Park” library available for streaming on Paramount+. a platform where Colbert’s show doesn’t do nearly as well.

Figuring out what to do with others at Paramount’s cable networks, or even the networks as a whole, will be an early decision for Ellison, son of multibillionaire and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

“There is a clear opportunity to improve Paramount’s growth profile by letting those assets go,” analyst Doug Creutz of TD Securities told investors Friday. “On the other hand, we suspect the Ellisons did not purchase Paramount in order to break it up for parts.”

The merger also brings together the Paramount movie studio with one of its most regular partners. David Ellison has been one of the industry’s top investors and producers since founding Skydance in 2006.

Ellison has a challenge here, too: Years of uncertainty over its future and modest investment in its movie pipeline has shrunk Paramount’s market share to last among the major studios. The Paramount+ streaming service has been a money-loser.

To revive Paramount, Ellison will look to revamp its streaming operations, leverage its franchises and try to bolster family content.

AP Film Writer Jake Coyle contributed to this report.

David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two Southwest Airlines flight attendants are being treated for injuries after a passenger jet heading to Las Vegas from Southern California took a dramatic plunge shortly after takeoff Friday, the airline and passengers said.

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The crew of Southwest flight 1496 responded to two air alerts that required the pilot to climb then descend, the airline said in a statement. The flight departed from Hollywood Burbank Airport just before noon.

Passengers posted on social media that the plane took a dramatic drop soon after takeoff.

“Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us,” comedian Jimmy Dore posted on X.

The plane was not in the immediate vicinity of the Hollywood Burbank Airport, north of Los Angeles, at the time, said Mike Christensen, an airport spokesman. Christensen said that neither the control tower or the operations department, which tracks planes departing and arriving, have any record of the Southwest flight plunging in their airspace.

Southwest said the flight continued to Las Vegas, “where it landed uneventfully.” The airline said that it is working with the Federal Aviation Administration “to further understand the circumstances” of the event.

“We are aware of an incident involving Southwest Airlines Flight 1496. The FAA is in contact with Southwest Airlines and we are investigating. Ensuring the safety of everyone in the national airspace system remains our top priority,” the FAA said in a statement.

By SAFIYAH RIDDLE

One of Kazeem Famuyide’s earliest memories is sitting on his father’s lap watching Hulk Hogan wrestle in the 1988 Survivor Series.

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His love of Hogan in the ring became inextricable from what would become a lifelong obsession with the sport — including a yearlong role touring the country and writing scripts for WWE’s top talent.

“He was a superhero to a lot of people, including myself,” said Famuyide, who is Black and now co-hosts the WWE-themed podcast “The Ringer Wrestling Show.” He remembers Hogan telling audiences to “train, say your prayers and eat your vitamins,” often in front of giant American flags.

But for the 38-year-old Famuyide and other Black wrestling fans and sports commentators, Hogan’s death this week at 71 has resurfaced an irreconcilable contradiction in the iconic wrestler’s legacy: Hogan’s undeniable role in broadening wrestling’s appeal to fans of all backgrounds versus his well-documented racism.

This unndated photo shows Kazeem Famuyide, cohost of the podcast “7 p.m. in Brooklyn” and “The Wringer Wrestling Show.” (Jazmyn Le/Kazeem Famuyide via The AP)

“You never really got the feeling that Hulk Hogan truly felt remorse,” Famuyide said.

Reactions to Hogan’s death reflect American divide on race

“The Right Time” podcast host Bomani Jones noted there were two sharply different reactions to Hogan’s death. Remembrances have split between those who see no need to harp on past controversies and those who struggle with his behavior that once got him banned from the WWE.

“This was never going to be one where people were going to mourn quietly,” Jones said.

Hogan’s death drew remembrances from politicians, celebrities and fans alike, celebrating his accolades. Many applauded how he was able to parlay his wrestling persona into movie appearances, brand deals, a reality television show and notable political influence.

On Friday, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose fame arguably rivals Hogan’s acclaim, paid tribute. Johnson, the son of pioneering wrestler Rocky Johnson, one of the WWE’s first Black champions, said Hogan was a hero “to millions of little kids.”

“You may have ‘passed the torch’ to me,” Johnson wrote under a 2002 video showing him and Hogan facing off at Wrestlemania.

“But you, my friend…you ‘drew the house’ meaning you sold out every arena and stadium across the country in your prime as Hulk Hogan, on your way of becoming the greatest of all time.”

Other notable Black professional wrestlers, from Booker T and Mark Henry, to Jacqueline Moore and Carlene “Jazz” Moore-Begnaud, have found success and fame in the WWE.

But just as many people took Hogan’s death as an opportunity to recount Hogan’s more controversial behavior.

In 2016, a Florida jury awarded Hogan over $115 million against Gawker Media, after Hogan sued them for posting a video of him having sex with his former best friend’s wife. The litigation led to the discovery that Hogan had used racial slurs in 2007 to describe his daughter’s Black ex-boyfriend.

“I am a racist, to a point,” Hogan said, before adding the slur against Black people, according to a transcript.

Hogan apologized at the time and called the language “unacceptable.”

Around the same time, some outlets reported that Hogan used the same slur on a recorded phone call with his son.

Hogan’s enthusiastic endorsement of conservative political figures like longtime friend President Donald Trump made many people doubt the sincerity of that apology, Jones said.

“It’s one thing to get caught on tape saying these things in private. It’s another thing for you to decide publicly to align yourself with a cause that many Black people find antagonistic toward us,” Jones said.

Professional wrestling has a history of reckoning on racist tropes

For many Black wrestling enthusiasts, Hogan’s death brings up familiar contradictions in how the sport deals with race.

Lyric Swinton, 27, a freelance wrestling writer, first fell in love with the sport when she was 8. She describes wrestling as “the most nuanced and colorful” form of storytelling.

Freelance wrestling writer Lyric Swinton is photographed at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Jan. 2, 2024. (Lyric Swinton via the AP)

Although she feels representation has improved, Swinton remembers WWE use racist tropes in Black wrestlers’ plot lines. Swinton recalls Shelton Benjamin having a “mammy,” played by Thea Vidale, invoking a racist caricature.

Swinton considers Benjamin one of the most talented wrestlers at the time, but feels he never got the recognition that his contemporaries did, in part because he was scripted to those roles.

“I kind of felt like I had to check my Blackness at the door,” she said.

Hogan hasn’t tarnished sport for all Black fans

For WWE enthusiast and sports journalist Master Tesfatsion, the mixed reactions to Hogan’s death mirror fault lines that exist throughout the country, and highlight how central wrestling has become in pop culture.

Growing up, Tesfatsion, who is Black, remembers watching Vince McMahon, the company’s co-founder and former chairman, use a racial slur in a match with John Cena in 2005; or the storyline in 2004 when wrestler John Layfield chased Mexicans across the border.

Master Tesfatsion attends the premiere of Monday Night Raw on Netflix at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, on 6, 2025. (Master Tesfatsion via The AP)

“In some strange way, the WWE always had a pulse on where America stood,” Tesfatsion said. “You cannot tell the history of America without all these issues, just like you cannot tell the history of the WWE without these issues.”

Tesfatsion was in the audience at Hogan’s last appearance at a professional match in January. He was one of the many who booed Hogan. After decades of fandom, it was his first time seeing Hogan live.

“I never thought that I would see ‘The Hulk’ in person, and that I would resort to bullying him. But that’s what his actions made me do.”

Still, Tesfatsion said he will never stop being a super fan.

“I still love America, I still love the WWE. It’s an emotional contradiction that I choose to deal with because I still find value in it,” he said.