SAN DIEGO
Feds to award border deals
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Friday that it plans to start awarding contracts by mid-April for a proposed border wall with Mexico, signaling that they are aggressively pursuing plans to erect “a great wall” along the 2,000-mile border.
The agency said it will request bids around March 6 and that companies would have to submit “concept papers” for prototypes by March 10, according to FedBizOpps.gov, a website for federal contractors.
EL PASO, Texas
Release sought for immigrant
The arrest by federal authorities of a transgender woman who was seeking protection from an abusive boyfriend has led to questions about what lengths authorities will go to apprehend people under newly stepped-up immigration policies.
Advocates say Irvin Gonzalez’s alleged abuser tipped off authorities about her court hearing, resulting in her Feb. 9 arrest by Border Patrol agents who surrounded the exits of the courthouse.
Gonzalez, 33, is transgender and began transitioning two years ago, her attorney said. Gonzalez faces a federal charge of illegal re-entry into the U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Bergdahl case to proceed
President Donald Trump’s campaign-trail criticism of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, while “problematic,” hasn’t prevented the soldier from getting a fair trial on charges that he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009, a military judge ruled Friday. Bergdahl is scheduled for trial in April.
DIETRICH, Idaho
Probation in player’s assault
A judge sentenced a high school football player to three years of probation and 300 hours of community service after prosecutors said he took part in a locker room sexual assault on a black player.
John R.K. Howard was originally charged with assaulting his classmate with a coat hanger in October 2015. But he pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child as part of a plea in which he acknowledged he’d be found guilty in a trial but maintained his innocence.
Compiled from wire reports.