After heated visit from anti-Muslim activist Jake Lang, Dearborn official says the city 'won yesterday'

DEARBORN, Mich. — A tension-filled visit by a prominent anti-Muslim activist to Dearborn on Tuesday evening resulted in 22 arrests, though local officials applauded residents for showing "restraint" and police for keeping the situation under control.

The protest by self-described anti-Islamic activist Jake Lang drew hundreds of people, many from other communities and even other states, to Dearborn's city offices on Michigan Avenue, many waving flags and chanting "USA!"

Some attendees got into shoving matches and exchanged words about religious differences, but there were no large-scale fights. Dozens of police officers from multiple agencies were in place during the protest, many with riot gear on. Those arrested face misdemeanors such as breaching the peace and disorderly conduct.

Dearborn City Council President Michael Sareini said Wednesday he's proud of Dearborn's residents for showing restraint Tuesday evening, and of the Police Department's response that kept the situation from being worse, while protecting members of the City Council. The protest was held before Tuesday's regular council meeting.

—The Detroit News

As Lake Mead shrinks, its body count rises

As the water level at Lake Mead plunges to a historic low, more human remains are emerging from the depths of the nation's largest reservoir. It is an eerie trend that began about five years ago, with some remains belonging to drowning victims and others likely murder victims.

The latest discovery came Sunday at Boulder Beach on the western part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada, according to a national park officials. "At this time, there is no indication of criminal activity," park officials wrote in an email response to The Times. "The investigation remains ongoing and no additional information is available."

According to KLAS-TV, a news station in Las Vegas, the human bones were found by a woman and her friend and his daughter on the shoreline of the beach. "My friend was playing with the rocks in the lake, and then he grabbed the jaw," Dianelis Molina Cruz told the station. "And when he looked, he saw the teeth and everything."

Cruz provided photos of the human remains to the station. One photo showed a human jawbone complete with teeth and dental fillings. They also took photos of rib bones that they had found as well. It is the latest set of human remains discovered at Lake Mead in recent years. The lake's water level has been decreasing since 2022. This month it plummeted to a historic new low since it was filled about 90 years ago.

—Los Angeles Times

Excessive odors and landfill fires are next round in Illinois’ battle against pollution

CHICAGO – Oscar Ortega likes to sit out on his porch in South Deering and watch cars go by. He did, at least, before the smell.

“When we moved here, my wife actually liked the scenery,” Ortega said. “It looks like a small-town scenery, you know, just a few houses, lots of trees. But then something just slapped us right in the face: the odor.”

His house is next to Pullman Innovations, a facility that creates ingredients used in animal feed. And since management changed a decade ago, Ortega, 59, said pungent smells on days the plant operates have prevented him from going outside or opening the windows.

On Aug. 5, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the city of Chicago sued A-F Acquisition LLC, which operates under the name Pullman Innovations. The lawsuit alleged that the company allowed excessive odors, caused illegal air pollution, constructed a boiler without a permit that could cause or contribute to air pollution, and violated certain conditions of the operating permit at its Chicago facility, according to a news release.

—Chicago Tribune

Cocaine crackdown opens a new era of jungle warfare in Colombia

In a clearing in the fiercely contested jungles of southern Colombia, former members of a feared militia are waiting to learn whether President Abelardo de la Espriella will let them build civilian lives, or force them back on the run.

The 86 men and 13 women are the only fighters to demobilize under the previous government’s four-year “Total Peace” initiative, an effort to persuade members of Colombia’s cocaine-funded armed groups — estimated to number about 29,000 — to lay down their weapons. They are still living in a cluster of low-slung buildings, where they were promised six months of job training, medical treatment and other support before going home to begin new lives.

De la Espriella and the Trump administration have dismissed the peace process as a sham, and the new president is now dismantling the approach of his leftist predecessor, Gustavo Petro, leaving the former militants in limbo. Since taking office Aug. 7, De la Espriella has begun what could become Colombia’s biggest offensive against illegal armed groups in more than a decade.

“We showed the state we were able to put down our weapons,” said Darwin Cuajiboy, 32, who has lived at the site a few miles north of the Ecuador border since June, alongside other former members of the Comandos de la Frontera militia. “We’re worried the government that’s taking power might say it’s all over.”

—Bloomberg News