ALPHA MAG

Noem Minnesota

Many of Hernandez's customers have continued to stay home or drastically reduce their spending, and 10 of the 12 Latino small businesses that rent space from him remain shuttered, he said in an interview Friday. Even though President Donald Trump's administration scaled back the crackdown earlier, and the presidentfired Kristi Noemas homeland security secretary on Thursday, many are still feeling the ripple effects.

Hernandez, an immigrant from Mexico, said only one business, an Ecuadorian ice cream shop, has been able to reopen since December,when the immigration crackdown began.

"I don't know if my business will survive, being honest," Hernandez said. "The amount of damage is so big that I am afraid."

The fall of Noem

Noem was pushed out amid mounting criticism over her leadership, including her handling of the crackdown and the aftermath of the shooting deaths of two Minneapolis residents by federal officers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

It's not clear how many Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal officers are left in Minnesotaafter peaking around 3,000at the height of the surge. Noem put the number at 650 in her congressional testimony this week.

But U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar told Minnesota Public Radio that White House border czar Tom Homan called her to say that total was incorrect, and they've cut backto their original numberof a little over 100 ICE officers, plus some additional agents working on fraud investigations.

ICE and Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to emails seeking details Friday.

Many businesses are still struggling

Like Hernandez's Colonial Market, many businesses owned by immigrants or that cater to them are still struggling from sharp drops in sales.

"Instead of spending $150, now they spend $30, $40," Hernandez said.

Other customers stopped coming in altogether — either because they were afraid of being detained, regardless of their legal status, or because money is tight from being unable to work.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said last month that small businesses have collectively lost tens of millions of dollars in revenue. He estimated the federal immigration operation cost thecity's economy $203 millionin January alone and led 76,000 people to experience food insecurity.

Activists credit community organizing

"We warn our community that the fight is not over," said Jaylani Hussein, a Somali American who is executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, at a news conference Friday. "It is a good day to say good riddance to Kristi Noem. But it's not a good day to walk away from the fight."

The sense among many activists is that the intense community organizing against the surge played a decisive role in the administration backing down. And they say it sparked the formation of strong neighborhood networks that will live on and continue to push for social justice.

Minneapolis resident Patty O'Keefe, who wasdetainedin January for following a federal officer's vehicle, said she's happy to see Noem go but it will take more to bring about real change.

"It's a sign that we're winning, that the Trump administration feels like they have to make a change to save face because they're losing public support and losing the narrative," she said. "And I think it's a testament to the hard work of Minnesotans who fought back against this war of political retribution and xenophobia that has been and continues to be waged against us."

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Brandon Sigüenza, who was detained with O'Keefe, said the mood isn't celebratory because the crackdown is ongoing.

"I don't think Minneapolitans are necessarily dancing in the streets. Because there's still no justice for Renee Good, there's still no justice for Alex Pretti," Sigüenza said.

Minneapolis psychologist Lucy Olson helped organize a covert grassroots network that swelled to 2,000 volunteers assisting around 500 immigrant families with legal matters, shelter, food and rent assistance. She said that after the crackdown, the mutual aid systems that formed will continue to respond to community needs.

"For those of us who had the honor of participating as volunteers, I think we will never be the same," Olson said. "I think there's been cross-cultural friendships, the opportunity to build out neighborhood networks that have changed the face of our city."

Charges still against 39 indicted in church protest

Nekima Levy Armstrong,a local civil rights activist and lawyer, said at the news conference with Hussein that Noem should have been fired after the deaths of Good and Pretti.

Levy Armstrong, an ordained nondenominational Christian reverend, is also one of39 people indictedfor their alleged roles in aprotest in Januaryat a St. Paul church where a pastor, David Easterwood, is a top local ICE official. She said that she'd been praying for a day like Thursday when Noem was fired.

"So while we celebrate the fact that this woman has been removed from her high perch — where she thought she was untouchable, she thought she could literally allow these agents to get away with murder — we recognize that this system is very broken," Levy Armstrong said.

Safety for school children

Brenda Lewis, superintendent of Fridley Public Schools in suburban Minneapolis, said Noem's firing "doesn't really matter" because the safety of children in her school district is still impacted.

Fridley, which has students from many Somali and Ecuadorian families, has been the site of heightened ICE activity over the past two months. Federal vehicles were found in neighborhoods near the schools and at the homes of school board members.

Of the around 2,700 students in the district, more than 112 have unenrolled, Lewis said. Another 400 are in virtual learning. The district has also lost $130,000 in revenue because of lower participation in meal programs.

"It's not a Democrat or a Republican issue," Lewis said. "It's about children's safety, and we need to really come together and ensure that this absolute removal of safety for school children by a federal agency can never ever happen again in the state or the country."

GOP lawmakers in Minnesota have muted reaction

While the state's top Republican leaders had generally supported Noem's leadership of the surge, they've been mostly silent on her downfall. A message seeking comment from U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer — the state's most powerful Republican — was not immediately returned Friday.

But GOP state Sen. Jim Abeler, a moderate from suburban Anoka, noted that he wrote Noem in January expressing "grave concerns" about actions by some of her officers in Minnesota.

"With her departure, I hope that what happened in Minnesota won't happen anywhere else," Abeler said in a statement.

Brook reported from New Orleans, while Raza reported from Sioux Falls, S.D.

WASHINGTON/QUITO, March 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Ecuador carried out a joint operation targeting drug trafficking ‌operations in the South American country, authorities in both countries ‌said on Friday, with the U.S. calling the move "lethal kinetic operations."

Neither the U.S. Southern Command, ​a branch of its military that oversees forces in Latin America, nor Ecuador's defense ministry, said if anyone was killed or captured in the strike, which Ecuador dubbed operation "Total Extermination."

The operations used helicopters, aircraft, river boats and drones ‌to locate and bomb ⁠a drug traffickers' training camp in north-east Ecuador near the Colombian border, Ecuador's defense ministry said in a statement.

The ⁠camp belonged to the Comandos de la Frontera (CDF), a Colombian crime group made up of FARC dissidents, and had a capacity for 50 people, it ​added.

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Ecuadorean President ​Daniel Noboa has made a military ​crackdown on organised crime a ‌cornerstone of his administration, and his government imposed tariffs on its larger neighbor Colombia, accusing it of not doing enough to fight drug trafficking.

He is set to travel to Miami this weekend to take part in the Trump administration's "Shield of the Americas" summit, which brings together many right-wing ‌leaders across the region with a focus ​on regional security and organized crime.

"The United ​States is a key ally ​in this fight," the defense ministry said.

"At the request ‌of Ecuador, the Department of War ​executed targeted action to ​advance our shared objective of dismantling narco-terrorist networks," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote on X.

The operation followed a similar U.S-Ecuadorean operation ​announced by the U.S. ‌Southern Command earlier this week.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington, Alexandra ​Valencia in Quito and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing ​by Christian Martinez and Diane Craft)

On the same day theBearstransferred center Drew Dalman to thereserve/retired list, they agreed to terms with theNew England Patriotson a trade to acquire centerGarrett Bradbury. In return, thePatriotswill receive a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.

The trade cannot be officially processed until the new league year begins on March 11.

NFL Media'sIan Rapoportwas the first to report news of the trade. ESPN'sAdam Schefterwas first with the report of compensation.

Bradbury will reunite with North Carolina State teammate Joe Thuney on the Bears' offensive line.

NFL NEWS, TAKES, FANTASY ADVICE:USA TODAY Sports has you covered with our NFL vodcast

2. New York Jets – OLB/DE David Bailey, Texas Tech

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 3. Arizona Cardinals – OLB/DE Arvell Reese, Ohio State

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 4. Tennessee Titans – RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 5. New York Giants – LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 6. Cleveland Browns – OL Francis Mauigoa, Miami (Fla.)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 7. Washington Commanders – S Caleb Downs, Ohio State

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 8. New Orleans Saints – WR Carnell Tate, Ohio State

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 9. Kansas City Chiefs – CB Mansoor Delane, LSU

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 10. Cincinnati Bengals – DE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami (Fla.)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 11. Miami Dolphins – OT Spencer Fano, Utah

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 12. Dallas Cowboys – CB Jermod McCoy, Tennessee

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 13. Los Angeles Rams (from Atlanta Falcons) – WR Denzel Boston, Washington

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 14. Baltimore Ravens – DL Caleb Banks, Florida

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – TE Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 16. New York Jets (from Indianapolis Colts) – WR Makai Lemon, USC

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 17. Detroit Lions – OT Monroe Freeling, Georgia

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 18. Minnesota Vikings – S Dillon Thieneman, Oregon

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 19. Carolina Panthers – DT Peter Woods, Clemson

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 20. Dallas Cowboys (from Green Bay Packers) – OLB/DE T.J. Parker, Clemson

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 21. Pittsburgh Steelers – WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 22. Los Angeles Chargers – G Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 23. Philadelphia Eagles – DE/OLB Akheem Mesidor, Miami (Fla.)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 24. Cleveland Browns (from Jacksonville Jaguars) – WR Omar Cooper Jr., Indiana

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 25. Chicago Bears – S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 30. Denver Broncos – WR KC Concepcion, Texas A&M

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 31. New England Patriots – DE Keldric Faulk, Auburn

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

NFL mock draft: First-round projection after Trent McDuffie trade

Dalman informed the Bears on March 3 that he intended to retire at 27 years old. In his one year with Chicago, Dalman started all 17 games and earned his first career Pro Bowl nod.

Bradbury, 30, lands with his third team in three years – as well as the third of his career. The former first-round pick with theMinnesota Vikingsin the 2019 NFL Draft signed a two-year deal with the Patriots last year in free agency, following a six-year stint in Minnesota. After starting all 17 games for New England in 2025 – plus all four postseason games, including Super Bowl 60 – Bradbury will play out the second and final year of his deal in the Windy City.

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New England will head into free agency next week with second-year offensive lineman Jared Wilson as its presumptive starter at center. Wilson exclusively played left guard in all 13 starts he made as a rookie in 2025, but he was the starting center at Georgia in 2024.

Garrett Bradbury trade details

Full trade compensation has been determined, according to ESPN. Here's what each team receives in the trade:

Bears receive:

• C Garrett Bradbury

Patriots receive:

• 2027 fifth-round pick

BEARS NEWS:Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman retiring at age 27, per reports

Garrett Bradbury contract

• Length: Two years

• Value: $9.5 million

• AAV: $4.75 million

According to Spotrac, Bradbury's two-year deal, which he signed with the Patriots last offseason, is worth $9.5 million total. Of that money, $3.8 million was guaranteed in the form of a signing bonus and Bradbury's 2025 salary.

New England will save $5.7 million against the cap by trading Bradbury while eating $1.2 million in dead cap, according to OverTheCap. Chicago will take on the $5.7 million cap hit from Bradbury's contract in 2026.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Garrett Bradbury trade lands Bears new center, Patriots get draft pick

The alleged pimp, Kevin Mays, was an assistant men's basketball coach and former player at Cal State Bakersfield.

Mays faces 11 charges, including pimping, possession of automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines, and possession of methamphetamine and marijuana with intent to sell. An investigation by the Bakersfield Police Department also led to separate charges citing Mays for possession of more than 600 images of youth or child pornography and distribution of obscene matter involving someone younger than 18.

Mays, who was arrested in September 2025, is being held without bail. He has pleaded not guilty, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 13 .

The case,first reportedby Shwetha Surendran of ESPN, has upended the athletic department at CSU Bakersfield. Longtime basketball coach Rod Barnes and athletic director Kyle Condor have left their jobs, and Condor filed a lawsuit against the school alleging wrongful termination, according to court documents obtained by The Times.

Read more:Former USC basketball player Destiny Littleton sends dispatches from where she's stuck in Israel

CSU Bakersfield officials said the allegations against Mays did not involve a student. Nevertheless, the school formed a commission to examine the athletic program and recommend changes.

"When CSU Bakersfield received an anonymous report in August of 2025 that a member of our coaching staff was engaged in human trafficking, we took immediate action in notifying university police and the Bakersfield Police Department," the school wrote in a statement. "Both agencies launched investigations that resulted in an arrest within days. Shortly after, the university terminated the coach.

"But the nature of the allegations devastated our campus community. We seized the opportunity to strengthen education and prevention efforts around human trafficking. To that end, we consulted with a local human trafficking expert and offered training and education focused on awareness and prevention for our campus community."

Police said the alleged victim is 23. In the advertisement she posted last summer, she stated that she charged $300 for a half hour and $500 for 60 minutes. Authorities conducted a sting operation in September, arranging to meet her in a hotel room that Mays rented.

In an interview with police after the operation, she referred to Mays as her boyfriend and said he paid for her travel accommodations in Oregon, Washington and Nevada in addition to California.

Read more:Chad Baker-Mazara's dismissal from USC stemmed from more than one incident

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Those locations were listed in an anonymous email to Barnes last fall titled "IMPORTANT MESSAGE 911 911."

"HE IS TRAFFICKING A GIRL BY THE NAME OF [redacted]," the email read, according to police records. "HE HAS BEEN TRAFFICKING THIS GIRL SINCE MAY."

Barnes turned over the email to university police, who attempted to contact the sender and received a subsequent email, according to ESPN. The tipster claimed to have known the alleged victim and Mays through previous travel for sex work. The person said Mays presented himself as a professional gambler and allegedly threatened to take away the tipster's child if the person exposed his activities.

Mays, who was born in Queens, N.Y., attended high school at St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wis., and played at Odessa Community College in Odessa, Texas, before transferring to CSU Bakersfield ahead of the 2014-2015 season.

"We are excited about signing Kevin as he fits our culture,"Barnes said of Maysat the time.

A year later, as a senior forward, Mays helped CSU Bakersfield to a 24-10 record and scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds inthe Roadrunners' first-round NCAA tournament lossto Oklahoma. He later returned to the school as a player-development coordinator.

In his application for the player-development position in 2019, Mays wrote that he was motivated by helping players improve on and off the court, according to school records obtained by ESPN.

"I gained lots of experience dealing with learning to lead young men and help them navigate the Division I experience in a successful manner," Mays wrote. "CSUB helped me tremendously, and I look forward to giving back."

Barnes was Mays' coach, and he hired his former player last fall, paying him $3,000 a month. Now, Mays is in jail awaiting trial and Barnes is unemployed.

"The safety and well-being of our students and all CSU Bakersfield community members remain our highest priority," the school said in its statement. "This work is sustained every day by the dedication of our faculty, staff and students. Their commitment to one another and to our shared values strengthens the culture of care and accountability we strive to build at CSUB."

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared inLos Angeles Times.

WBC United States Brazil Baseball

On Friday night at Daikin Park, the 12-time All-Star relished watching someone else go yard when his son Lucas Ramirez hit a leadoff homer for Brazil against the United States in theWorld Baseball Classic.

Like father, like son.

The 20-year-old sent Logan Webb's second pitch into the seats in right field to cut the Americans' lead to 2-1 after Aaron Judge hit a two-run shot in the top of the inning.

"I was looking forward for him to do something special," Manny Ramirez told The Associated Press. "So, he's been working so hard all year round and I'm proud of him."

Lucas Ramirez is playing for Brazil because his mother, Juliana Ramirez, was born and raised in Sao Paulo. She was at the ballpark Friday night and beamed after her son's big hit.

The younger Ramirez was a 17th-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels in the 2024 draft and he spent last season playing in class A, batting .266 with three homers, 30 RBIs and six stolen bases.

He also played for Brazil in the 2026 WBC qualifiers and went 5 for 13.

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Manny Ramirez, a two-time World Series champion and the 2004 World Series MVP, would have been thrilled to see his son homer against any team, but it made it more special for him to do it against one of the top teams in the tournament.

"Oh yeah, they're No. 1," he said.

And he thinks the big hit will give his son a boost for the upcoming season.

"It's going to be more special for him because that's going to give him — he's going to be ready for the season," Ramirez said. "I hope he's going to do good."

Lucas Ramirez is wearing the No. 24 his father donned for most of his career in the WBC. And Manny Ramirez is thrilled to see his son succeed.

"I'm proud of him," he said. "Thank God for this opportunity that he has."

AP MLB:https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FDA commissioner Dr. Marty Makary posted about the departure on social media platform X, saying Prasad would return to the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, where he is a professor, and that he had accomplished much during his one-year sabbatical.

The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Makary said a successor will be named before Prasad's departure.

Prasad, an oncologist, was an outspoken critic of U.S. drug and vaccine policies, particularly around COVID-19 mandates, before joining the agency. His tenure included a series of high‑profile disputes overproduct reviews for vaccines, including Moderna's MRNA.O COVID shot, gene therapies and other rare disease drugs.

He was appointed as the director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research in May last year. Shortly after, he stepped down over questions of his handling of a muscular dystrophy treatment before returning to the role just weeks later.

Most recently, Prasad's division at the FDA engaged in aback-and-forth tusslewith Dutch drugmaker UniQure over disagreements about the path forward for the company's gene therapy for Huntington's disease.

The U.S. drug regulator called for a new study to support the approval of the company's gene therapy for the rare brain disorder, but the company and patient advocates argued that what the FDA was asking for was too lengthy and onerous on patients.

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Drugmaker's shares rise

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, has accused the company of misleading the public about what regulators were asking for.

U.S.-listed shares of UniQure jumped 57% in extended trading, following the news of Prasad's departure.

An opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on February 24 said the FDA had torpedoed several rare disease drugs under Prasad, contradicting Makary's stated goal of flexible reviews for such treatments and raising questions about the management of the health regulator.

The piece cited the latest rejection of Disc Medicine's IRON.O treatment, which had received the Commissioner's National Priority Voucher, a program launched by Makary to help fast-track breakthrough treatments.

Disc had said that the agencyconcludedthat the trials did not show a clear link between biological improvement and clinical benefit.

Shares of Disc rose about 10% in after-market trading.

Prasad's departure is the latest reshuffle at the health department, which recently put National Institutes of Health headJay Bhattacharyain charge of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention following the departure of Jim O'Neill.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Shinjini Ganguli, and Caroline Humer)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:FDA vaccines chief Dr. Vinay Prasad to leave regulator in April