By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal magistrate judge on Friday refused to order the pretrial release of a man charged with planting two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national parties on the eve of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

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U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ruled that Brian J. Cole Jr. must remain jailed before trial. The magistrate concluded there are no conditions of release that can reasonably protect the public from the danger that Cole allegedly poses.

Justice Department prosecutors say Cole confessed to placing pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters only hours before a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol. According to prosecutors, Cole said he hoped the explosives would detonate and “hoped there would be news about it.”

“Mercifully, that did not happen,” Sharbaugh wrote. “But if the plan had succeeded, the results,” he said, could have been devastating, “creating a greater sense of terror on the eve of a high-security Congressional proceeding, causing serious property damage in the heart of Washington, D.C., grievously injuring DNC or RNC staff and other innocent bystanders, or worse.”

After his arrest last month, Cole told investigators that he believed someone needed to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election, which Democrat Joe Biden won, was stolen and that he wanted to target the country’s political parties because they were “in charge,” according to prosecutors.

If convicted of both charges against him, Cole faces up to 10 years of imprisonment on one charge and up to 20 years of imprisonment on a second charge that also carries a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.

By DYLAN LOVAN

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge in Kentucky has dismissed Louisville’s proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over police reforms after the department withdrew its support of the plan earlier this year.

The Justice Department announced in May it was canceling proposed consent decrees with Louisville and Minneapolis that sought to curb police racial bias and abuses after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that spurred nationwide protests in the summer of 2020.

U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton wrote in a Dec. 31 ruling that “the responsibility to lead the Louisville Metro Police Department in compliance with federal law must remain with the city’s elected representatives and the people they serve.”

A judge in May dismissed Minneapolis’ proposed consent decree, which places a federal officer in charge of tracking the progress of reforms laid out in the agreement.

Justice Department officials under President Joe Biden’s administration conducted a multiyear investigation in Louisville prompted by the fatal shooting of Taylor and police responses to public protests in 2020. A draft of the investigation was released in early 2023, alleging the Louisville Police Department “discriminates against Black people in its enforcement activities,” uses excessive force and conducts searches based on invalid warrants.

New DOJ leadership accused the Biden Justice Department of using flawed legal theories to judge police departments and pursuing costly and burdensome consent decrees.

The consent decrees with Louisville and Minneapolis were approved by the Justice Department in the final weeks of the Biden administration, but the settlements had to be approved by a judge.

Beaton wrote that his ruling “doesn’t prevent the parties from undertaking the hard work of reform themselves.”

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The city has initiated some reforms since Taylor’s death in March 2020, including a city law banning the use of “no-knock” warrants. The warrants were typically used in surprise drug raids. The city also started a pilot program that sends behavioral health professionals to some 911 calls.

The city also paid a $12 million wrongful death settlement to Taylor’s family.

Earlier this year, former Louisville Police Detective Brett Hankison became the first officer involved in the Taylor raid to go to prison. A judge sentenced Hankison to nearly three years in prison on an excessive force conviction despite the Justice Department’s efforts to reduce his sentence to one day of time served.

Hankison shot 10 rounds after police were fired on by Taylor’s boyfriend from inside her apartment. Hankison shot blindly into Taylor’s windows but didn’t strike anyone inside or in a neighboring apartment.

WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) — A yellow Labrador out for a walk with his owner in Rhode Island had to be rescued by firefighters on New Year’s Day after he wandered onto a thin layer of ice covering a pond and fell through the center.

According to the Misquamicut Fire Department, volunteer firefighters and other emergency officials were dispatched early Thursday morning for a water rescue. Once on scene, firefighters saw a dog named Phoenix struggling and unable to move to shore in the slushy, icy water.

Members from both the Misquamicut and Watch Hill fire departments donned ice rescue suits, which help protect the body from frigid temperatures, to enter the pond and successfully rescue Phoenix. The National Weather Service reported it was 26 degrees Fahrenheit around 9 a.m. on Thursday, with the wind chill dropping the temperature to 14 degrees.

“It was the chillest dog I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Steve Howard, deputy chief of the Misquamicut Fire Department, in a phone interview on Friday. “The dog never made a sound. He was pretty chill.”

While the firefighters were evaluated for possible hypothermia, they did not require treatment. The fire departments described the incident as “a successful first call of 2026,” in a statement posted on Facebook.

Phoenix was also declared free of injuries, but Howard made sure to check in with his owner later Thursday.

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“He got a little bit of extra food last night,” Howard said. “And he took a little nap.”

The incident served as a reminder to treat all ice as potentially dangerous, particularly over bodies of water, the fire department warned.

“No ice is ever safe. Our firefighters train extensively for cold water and ice rescues, but these situations are extremely dangerous,” the fire department said.

Pioneer Press staffers who cover the Vikings take a stab at predicting the outcome of Sunday’s season finale against the Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Dane Mizutani

Vikings 27, Packers 6: This meaningless game features a team playing for pride and a team playing not to get hurt. That bodes well for the Vikings.

Jace Frederick

Vikings 20, Packers 7: Vibes are high, defense is rolling, Packers don’t have a reason to care. The oddest 9-8 season of all time.

John Shipley

Vikings 24, Packers 20: The Packers will play either the Bears or Eagles in the first round of the playoffs, whether they win or lose on Sunday. It’s why they’re not playing Jordan Love, and why they’re going to lose to a resurrected Vikings team.

Charley Walters

Vikings 21, Packers 20: Packers made the playoffs, the Vikings did not make the playoffs. Even though this has the tone of an exhibition game, there will be plenty of dark green and mustard-colored jerseys at US Bank Stadium.

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