WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 45-year-old man has pleaded guilty in the theft of a bronze Jackie Robinson statue that was cut off at the ankles and found days later smoldering in a trash can in a city park in Kansas.

Ricky Alderete entered the plea during his arraignment Thursday. A judge signed off on it Friday.

Authorities arrested him in February, with court records alleging he entered a Wichita home with the intent to kidnap someone as part of an effort to interfere with law enforcement.

He then was charged later that month with felony theft and aggravated criminal damage to property in the statue theft, along with two other counts. Police said there was no evidence it was a hate-motivated crime. Rather, the intent was to sell the metal for scrap, police said.

The bronze statue was cut from its base in January at a park in Wichita, Kansas. Only the statue’s feet were left at McAdams Park, where about 600 children play in a youth baseball league called League 42. It is named after Robinson’ s uniform number with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he broke the major leagues’ color barrier in 1947.

Fire crews found burned remnants of the statue five days later while responding to a trash can fire at another park about 7 miles (11.27 kilometers) away.

Alderete had a criminal record that includes burglary and theft, state correction department records show. His sentencing in the latest case is set for July 1.

Donations poured in after the theft, approaching $300,000, and work is underway to replace it.

Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for generations of Black American ballplayers. He is considered not only a sports legend but also a civil rights icon. Robinson died in 1972.

By MOLLY QUELL (Associated Press)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — South Africa urged the United Nations’ top court Friday to issue more emergency measures to restrain Israel, saying its military incursion in Rafah threatens the “very survival of Palestinians in Gaza.”

The request marks the fourth for additional measures by South Africa, which filed a genocide case against Israel late last year at the International Court of Justice. According to the latest request, the previous preliminary orders by The Hague-based court were not sufficient to address “a brutal military attack on the sole remaining refuge for the people of Gaza.”

At hearings in January, lawyers for Israel argued that its war in Gaza was a legitimate defense of its people and that it was Hamas terrorists who were guilty of genocide. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, and EU.

South Africa has asked the court to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah; to take measures to ensure unimpeded access to U.N. officials, humanitarian organizations and journalists to the Gaza Strip; and to report back within one week as to how it is meeting these demands.

Earlier this week, Israel issued a warning to evacuate an area of eastern Rafah where approximately 100,000 Palestinians have been sheltering. Israeli military forces have now seized the nearby border crossing with Egypt, leaving all entries and exits from the beleaguered enclave under Israeli control.

South Africa also accused Israel of violating the previous provisional measures imposed by the court. In January, judges ordered Israel to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza. Two months later, the court issued a second set of measures, telling Israel to improve the humanitarian situation, including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies.

The court also announced on Friday that Libya had asked to join the case and intervene in support of South Africa. The North African country joins Nicaragua and Colombia, which have filed their own requests to take part in the proceedings.

Separately, Nicaragua brought a complaint against Germany, arguing the European country is enabling genocide by sending arms and other support to Israel. Earlier this month, the court rejected a request for emergency measures against Berlin, but the case will continue on merits.

The war began with an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which Hamas fighters killed around 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. The attack sparked an Israeli invasion the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people.

Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures. Much of Gaza has been destroyed and some 80% of Gaza’s population has been driven from their homes.

The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of “full-blown famine.”

Minnesotans may breathe easier, knowing that this summer’s air quality will likely be better than it was in 2023, at least if things go as planned, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Agency representatives, along with Gov. Tim Walz, gave a rosier forecast for air quality this summer but warned that the state will see more air quality alerts than in a typical recent year.

“If you have kids with asthma or you yourself have it, you know that last summer was brutal,” Walz said during a Thursday news conference at the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Center in St. Paul.

Minnesota saw 52 air quality alert days, 16 due to wildfire smoke. Nine reached the highest air quality index alert, meaning the air is hazardous for everyone. The agency expects more than seven alerts this summer, according to MPCA meteorologist Matt Taraldsen. The yearly average is five to seven alerts per year.

Air quality index, or AQI, is a color-coded guide that ranges from green (good) to maroon (hazardous). Air quality is determined by hourly measurements of fine particles, ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide.

Part of the agency’s reasoning for the better forecast, Taraldsen said, was that Canadian wildfires had already started by this time last year and the impacts from El Nino, a climate pattern that has global impacts on weather, will not play a factor this year as the phenomenon wanes. Western Canada remains in severe drought, but Minnesota has seen plentiful rainfall across much of the state following a virtually snowless winter. Only 11% of the state is currently experiencing drought conditions.

The higher the AQI rises, the more people can be harmed, particularly those with health issues, the elderly, children and people exerting themselves in prolonged activities.

“Unfortunately, it became part of many Minnesotans’ daily ritual where they got up and they checked the air quality index to see, could their kids play outside, would it be safe for a run,” Taraldsen said.

While fine particles from wildfires will not play as big of a factor this summer, Taraldsen said surface ozone levels will likely increase due to slightly above-normal temperatures that will create an atmosphere to more easily trap gases, like those from vehicles, closer to the ground.

The Twin Cities and Rochester metro areas will be impacted the most by elevated surface ozone.

A change in how AQI is determined will also show more moderate and very unhealthy alerts but total air quality alerts are not expected to change.

The agency also retooled its AQI website, which will show live updates, three-day forecasts and a graphical state map, as opposed to the one separated by counties that was used in previous years.

Walz said the state recently invested $6 million in aviation infrastructure to combat state wildfires and that the state will continue to monitor issues surrounding climate change.

In 2015, air pollution played a role in 10% of all deaths in the Twin Cities metro area, 8% of all deaths in Duluth and 10% of all deaths in Rochester, according to MCPA.

Related Articles

Residents begin going through the rubble after tornadoes hammer parts of Nebraska and Iowa

St. Paul’s two extreme winters prompt new look at snow emergencies

North Shore streams, and their steelhead trout, are running

Can’t get enough of the total solar eclipse or got clouded out? Here are the next ones to watch for

Watch: 2024 total solar eclipse