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Jewish group appeals after losing Chabad House lawsuit

BALTIMORE (AP) — A Jewish organization is filing an appeal after a federal judge in Baltimore dismissed the group’s religious-discrimination lawsuit over an expansion of its property in Towson.

A group called Friends of Lubavitch filed the discrimination lawsuit in 2018 after a local judge ordered the group to tear down a major addition on its Chabad House.

The house is used for outreach to students at nearby Towson University and Goucher College. Neighbors say the expansion violates local zoning laws.

The lawsuit claims that demolishing the addition would deprive Jewish students of their rights.

On Thursday the group’s lawyers gave notice they are appealing the case to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.

Fentanyl seizures plummet as Trump administration shifts focus to immigration

WASHINGTON — Fentanyl seizures decreased by 39% during the first year of the second Trump administration after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shifted the Department of Homeland Security’s criminal investigations arm to conducting immigration enforcement, according to a report government investigators published Friday.  Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subagency of DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reported an “all hands-on deck” environment toward immigration enforcement began in January 2025, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General report. “With ICE dedicating more staff hours to immigration investigations, staffing hours for fentanyl investigations declined,” the report said. The report found that the hours dedicated to fentanyl investigations for fiscal 2025 declined by more than 250,000 hours, or 31%, compared to fiscal 2024.
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