By TODD RICHMOND

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, allowing the case against her to continue.

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The arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan escalated a clash between President Donald Trump’s administration and local authorities over the Republican’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats have accused the Trump administration of trying to make a national example of Dugan to chill judicial opposition to the crackdown.

Prosecutors charged Dugan in April via complaint with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. In the federal criminal justice system, prosecutors can initiate charges against a defendant directly by filing a complaint or present evidence to a grand jury and let that body decide whether to issue charges.

A grand jury still reviews charges brought by complaint to determine whether enough probable cause exists to continue the case as a check on prosecutors’ power. If the grand jury determines there’s probable cause, it issues a written statement of the charges known as an indictment. That’s what happened in Dugan’s case.

Her case is similar to one brought during the first Trump administration against a Massachusetts judge, who was accused of helping a man sneak out a courthouse back door to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent. That case was eventually dismissed.

Prosecutors say Dugan escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back jury door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking his arrest.

FILE – A sign is posted outside of county Judge Hannah Dugan’s courtroom at the Milwaukee County courthouse, April 25, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, File)

According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. Online state court records show he was charged with three counts of misdemeanor domestic abuse in Milwaukee County in March. He was in Dugan’s courtroom that morning of April 18 for a hearing.

Court documents suggest Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that the agents appeared to be in the hallway. An affidavit says Dugan was visibly angry over the agents’ arrival and called the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. She and another judge later approached members of the arrest team in the courthouse with what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”

After a back-and-forth with the agents over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom, according to the affidavit.

She then returned to the courtroom and was heard saying words to the effect of “wait, come with me” and ushered Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out through a back jury door typically used only by deputies, jurors, court staff and in-custody defendants, according to the affidavit. Flores-Ruiz was free on a signature bond in the abuse case at the time, according to online state court records.

Federal agents ultimately captured him outside the courthouse after a foot chase.

The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan from the bench in late April, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. A reserve judge is filling in for her.

Voters in the Mahtomedi School District will be asked this fall to approve a $28 million referendum to fund improvements that district officials say will benefit safety and security, academics, performing arts and athletics.

Among the proposed improvements are a new front entrance at Mahtomedi Middle School and other safety and security improvements.

Mahtomedi High School would get a “hallway circulation” remodel, choir and band classroom improvements, new mechanicals, a weight room addition and safety and security Improvements. Athletic Field 1 would get new turf and lights.

The referendum also would also pay for safety and security improvements to Wildwood and O.H. Anderson elementary schools and disability access and seating improvements at the Chautauqua Fine Arts Center, among other projects.

The school board voted unanimously last month to go out for the bond referendum. It is expected to be the first part of a multi-phase bond referendum process.

“It’s not easy because we have so many needs,” School Board Member Kelly Reagan said at the April 28 meeting. “Getting started somewhere is important. I have been from day one somebody who has felt like this should be something that impacts a lot of students and a lot of people in our community.”

The Mahtomedi Public School District serves approximately 3,176 students across its six schools.

School board member Ryan Domin said at the meeting the Mahtomedi community has been clear about what they would like to see done with facilities in the district.

“I’m supportive of this because this is part of a bigger vision,” Domin said. “If this was all we were focused on doing, I probably wouldn’t feel the same way, but we’ve really taken that community feedback, and I can see how we can align that back to our strategic plan.”

Addressing safety and security is key, he said, but so is addressing other “aging mechanical systems that, if we don’t address them now, could ultimately be far more costly down the line.”

Domin encouraged residents to contact school district officials with ideas to work on private partnerships.

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Superintendent Barb Duffrin said school district officials have been working since 2021 conducting research, meeting with stakeholders and reviewing options for the facilities improvement bond.

“The list of items that we’re going to, hopefully, address has been distilled from a very long list of needs,” said school board member Paul Donna. “Of course, we can’t do it all, but I think we’ve done a really good job of distilling down to what’s really needed today versus what we can look at and maybe wait for a couple of years and build partnerships and tackle those down the road.”

District officials will submit the proposal to the Minnesota Department of Education for review and prepare for a special election in November.

Minnesota United at Houston Dynamo

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Shell Oil Stadium, Houston
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Radio: KSTP-AM 1500
Weather: 87 degrees, sunny, 16 mph north wind
Betting line: MNUFC plus-175; draw plus-230; Houston plus-150

Form: Minnesota (6-4-2, 22 points) has won two straight by a combined score of 7-1, including a 4-1 blowout of Inter Miami on Saturday. Houston (2-4-6, 10 points) has lost two of three, including a 3-1 home loss to Seattle last weekend.

Quote: “What top teams do is they put (the Miami win) aside and say we haven’t won more than three games in a row this year,” Wil Trapp said Tuesday. “This is our opportunity to do that against a team that is desperate to win.”

Recent matchups: Loons tied Dynamo 1-1 in Texas last July, giving up an 82-minute equalizer to Sebastian Ferreira. Houston won 2-1 on a game-winner from Sebastian Kowalczyk in the 72nd minute in April in St. Paul.

Absences: Anthony Markanich (ankle), Owen Gene (ankle) and Kipp Keller (hamstring) are out.

Context: Amid a stretch of nine games in 30 days, head coach Eric Ramsay is expected to rotate or change his starting XI this week. “Across the sort of 20, 21 players that we’ve got fighting for starting positions, we can be really competitive,” Ramsay said. “Having made my decision, I’m very happy with what we are going to go with.”

Check-in: Houston misses center back Micael, who was sold to Brazilian club Palmeiras reportedly for a club-record fee of $6 million in February. MLS denied Houston’s request to have Femi Awodesu’s red card appeal, and he will be suspended for Wednesday. Awodesu has played 1,027 minutes.

Prediction: Minnesota has scored at least three goals in its past two MLS matches, and Houston is 22nd in the league with 1.6 goals conceded per match. These trends continue. Loons win 2-0.

By DIDI TANG

WASHINGTON (AP) — Online shoppers in the U.S. will see a price break on their purchases valued at less than $800 and shipped from China after the Trump administration reached a truce with Beijing over sky-high tariffs.

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An executive order Monday from President Donald Trump said the tariffs on low-value parcels originating from China and coming through the U.S. Postal Service will be lowered to 54%, down from 120%.

It also says a per-package flat rate — as an alternative to the value-based tariff — will be kept at $100, rather than being raised to $200 on June 1 as previously decreed. Packages shipped by commercial carriers are subject to the general tariff, which also has been cut.

The new rules go into effect Wednesday.

They are part of a broader agreement by the Trump administration to drastically lower import taxes on all Chinese goods from 145% to 30% following weekend talks in Switzerland with Chinese officials. China issued a public notice on Tuesday lowering its own tariffs on U.S. goods to 10%, down from 125%.

However, the reductions are temporary, allowing the two sides to negotiate a longer-term deal in the next 90 days.

Izzy Rosenzweig, founder and CEO of the logistic company Portless, said U.S. brands are “very excited” about the broader tariff cut. The import tax is still high, but not as prohibitive as when it was 145%, which amounted to a trade embargo.

On the low-value shipments, online purchases had been coming into the U.S. duty-free for several years under the de minimis rule, which exempted them from the import tax.

Popular shopping sites such as Shein and Temu that offer ultra-low prices took advantage of the duty-free rule by shipping directly from China to U.S. buyers, bypassing more cumbersome customs paperwork.

President Donald Trump terminated the exemption on such parcels originating from China and Hong Kong on May 2, following criticism that it not only resulted in lost tariff revenue but also allowed illicit drugs and unsafe products to flow into the U.S. without adequate scrutiny.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said as many as 4 million low-value parcels were coming into the U.S. every day — many of which originated from China.

Shortly before the exemption ended on May 2, prices on many items sold by Shein rose. Temu apparently halted shipments from China and tapped its existing inventory in the U.S.

John Lash, group vice president of product strategy at the supply chain platform e2open, said he expected the volume of low-value packages would now rise but not back to previous levels. The $100 flat rate, he said, means that higher-value packages could get less of a hit, because the effective duty rate could be as low as 13%.

Neither Shein nor Temu immediately responded to requests for comment Tuesday about the lower tariffs.