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Pistons match historic winning streak, defeat Pacers

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 24 points and 11 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons won their 13th straight game to tie the franchise record, holding off the Indiana Pacers 122-117 on Monday night.

The Pistons matched winning streaks by their 1989-90 and 2003-04 championship teams, two seasons after losing 28 in a row to break the NBA season record and tie the overall mark. Eastern Conference-leading Detroit is 15-2.

Down 18 early in the fourth quarter, the Pacers pulled as close as two points. Bennedict Mathurin missed a 3-pointer with a chance to tie it with 11 seconds left.

Caris LeVert added 19 points for Detroit, and Jalen Duren had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Jaden Ivey scored 12 points in his second game back after breaking his left fibula in January.

Pascal Siakam had 24 points for injury-ravaged Indiana. Jarace Walker added 21. The Pacers have lost 10 of 11 to fall to 2-15.

Indiana has been lost without Tyrese Haliburton, the star guard who tore his right Achilles in the Pacers’ Game 7 loss to Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals.

Detroit outscored Indiana 36-23 in the second quarter for a 71-55 lead, The Pistons shot 58.5% from the field in the half, hitting seven of 14 3-pointers.

The Pistons led 101-88 after three quarters.

Up next

Pistons: At Boston on Wednesday night in an NBA Cup game.

Pacers: At Toronto on Wednesday night in an NBA Cup game.

This story was updated to correct an error from The Associated Press.

Jesse Jackson out of hospital after 12-day stay for neurological disorder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson was released on Monday from a Chicago hospital where he had been receiving medical care for at least 12 days, according to his family.

The 84-year-old Baptist minister, social activist, and former U.S. presidential candidate “remains in stable condition” following his discharge from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, his son and family spokesperson, Yusef Jackson, said in a statement issued through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a Chicago-based political action organization the elder Jackson founded.

Jackson’s hospital admission was announced by Rainbow PUSH on Nov. 12, when he was described as being “under observation” for a degenerative neurological disorder called progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP. Jackson was diagnosed in 2013 with Parkinson’s disease, but his diagnosis was changed in April of this year to PSP, according to Monday’s statement.

No further details about Jackson’s condition or medical treatment were disclosed. But the family expressed thanks to friends and supporters for their prayers and visits.

“We bear witness to the fact that prayer works and would also like to thank the professional, caring and amazing medical and security staff at Northwestern Hospital,” Jackson’s son said. “We humbly ask for your continued prayers through this precious time.”

Jackson has been at the forefront of the U.S. civil rights movement since the 1960s, joining the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as a young protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and was present when King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

Some two decades later, as an outspoken critic of the Republican President Ronald Reagan, Jackson mounted a Democratic primary bid for the White House in 1984 but finished in third place. He ran for president once more in 1988 but failed again to clinch the party’s nomination, placing second.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry)

Indianapolis lab to pay $9.6 million in Medicare fraud settlement

INDIANAPOLIS (WIBC) — An Indianapolis company, Patients Choice Laboratories (PCL), announced Monday it will pay more than $9.6 million to the state of Indiana to settle a case involving false billing to Medicare for COVID-19 and other infectious disease tests. The laboratory denies any wrongdoing in the case.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed that from December 2020 to May 2022, PCL knowingly submitted claims to Medicare for respiratory pathogen panels, or RPPs, that were either medically unnecessary or obtained through illegal kickbacks.

The government says PCL was hired by the government to perform infectious disease testing, like COVID-19 swabbing, in long-term care facilities. Even though PCL was paid for this service, the company is accused of using the same specimens to bill Medicare for the “medically unnecessary RPPs.” In a few instances, the DOJ says PCL billed Medicare for RPPs without even performing any COVID-19 testing.

The laboratory also violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying commissions and other fees in exchange for test referrals that were then billed to Medicare. This included an agreement where PCL paid an infection prevention company $5,000 for “marketing and management services” in long-term care facilities, which the government says was a cover for paying for test referrals. Between December 2020 and May 2022, PCL paid this company $1.86 million for the RPPs, which were then billed to Medicare, resulting in over $6 million in reimbursements to PCL.

Additionally, the DOJ claims that PCL contracted with independent representatives to promote its tests to healthcare providers and paid them a percentage of the revenue generated from the testing they helped facilitate. The total commission payments to these representatives were at least $372,000.

“Kickback arrangements that drive unnecessary testing waste taxpayer dollars and undermine the integrity of our healthcare system,” Tom Wheeler, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said. “This settlement reflects our commitment to holding accountable those who seek to profit at the expense of federal healthcare programs and the patients they serve.”

Police chase turns to rescue when driver jumps into South Bend river

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WISH) — A suspect was arrested after a vehicle pursuit in South Bend ended with a dramatic water rescue in the St. Joseph River on Monday afternoon.

A South Bend Police Department officer around 1:30 p.m. Monday tried to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation near U.S. 20/Lincoln Way West and Wilber Street, which is southwest of the downtown area.

Deron Phillips, 56, failed to stop, leading to a pursuit that concluded at downtown’s Colfax Avenue Bridge over the St. Joseph River.

After stopping the vehicle, Phillips exited and jumped over the guardrail into the river. Police and fire crews collaborated to rescue Phillips from the water.

Phillips was taken into custody and to a hospital for evaluation. On Monday night, he was being held in the St. Joseph County jail, awaiting a formal charging decision from the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office.

Mozel Sanders Foundation gears up to serve thousands on Thanksgiving

11-24-25- MOZEL SANDERS

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Mozel Sanders Thanksgiving Day Dinner, an Indianapolis tradition since 1971, will serve over 40,000 meals across 52 locations this Thanksgiving.

Originally started by Rev. Mozel Sanders and his wife with just 20 meals, the event has grown into a massive community effort involving over 1,300 volunteers and multiple satellite locations.

“This will allow us to address the most pressing needs for our community,” said Stephanie Sanders, leader of the Mozel Sanders Foundation.

The dinner, now led by Stephanie Sanders through the Mozel Sanders Foundation, continues to be a cornerstone of community building and support.

Ivy Tech serves as a central hub for meal preparation, where thousands of pounds of food are cooked and distributed to various sites.

Volunteers are crucial to the operation, with shifts starting as early as 7 AM on Thanksgiving Day.

The event is about more than just providing meals; it aims to offer companionship and a sense of community to those in need.

Stephanie Sanders and Chef Ricky Hatfield are among those leading the final preparations, ensuring everything is ready for the big day.

The event also receives support from various organizations, including Harlan Bakery and Friendship Church, which help store and distribute food and supplies.

Special edition t-shirts and other merchandise are available to support the cause, with proceeds helping to feed families.

The Mozel Sanders Thanksgiving Day Dinner exemplifies the spirit of giving and community, continuing to impact thousands of lives each year in Indianapolis.

WISH-TV is proud to partner with the Mozel Sanders Foundation for the fifth year to help those in need on Thanksgiving. 

How You Can Help

  • Donate:
    • Text “MOZEL” to 53-555
    • Mail – 709 N Belmont Ave,, Indianapolis IN 46222
    • PayPal –You can donate securely using PayPal or use your credit/debit card
    • CashApp – $MozelSanders (make sure it has the Mozel Sanders Logo)
  • Spread the word and download the Mozel Sanders Tool Kit
  • To Volunteer: click HERE to sign up for any of the locations listed
  • To secure a meal: call 317-636-7985 from 9a-9p by November 25th

Boilermakers remain on top, Arizona rises to No. 2 in AP rankings

(AP) — Purdue remained at No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while Arizona jumped to No. 2 to continue its opening-month rise after another impressive win against a ranked opponent.

The Boilermakers (6-0) earned 46 of 61 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to remain at the top after beating then-No. 15 Texas Tech by 30 to win the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas.

The Wildcats (5-0) earned 11 first-place votes to jump two spots. That came after last week’s win at then-No. 3 UConn, part of run that began with a victory over reigning NCAA champion Florida in Las Vegas and a win against a ranked UCLA team in Los Angeles.

Arizona was ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP Top 25, but jumped to No. 5 after the Florida win before inching up to No. 4 last week.

The top tier

Houston, which spent a week at No. 1 earlier this month, slid a spot to No. 3 to make room for the Wildcats, while Duke and UConn rounded out the top five.

Louisville, Michigan, Alabama, BYU and Florida rounded out the top 10, with the Crimson Tide rising from No. 11 after its win against then-No. 8 Illinois in Chicago.

Rising

No. 11 Michigan State had the week’s biggest jump, climbing six spots after beating Kentucky in the Champions Classic.

No. 17 Tennessee climbed three spots, while No. 16 North Carolina and No. 23 N.C. State each rose two spots.

In all, 11 teams moved up from last week’s poll.

Sliding

Kentucky’s 17-point loss to the Spartans triggered the week’s biggest fall of seven spots to No. 19, while the 13th-ranked Illini and 20th-ranked Red Raiders each tumbled five spots.

In all, six teams fell from last week’s poll.

Status quo

Six teams stayed locked in last week’s position, including five of the top 10 teams and No. 14 St. John’s.

Comings and goings

No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Indiana were the new additions to the poll, replacing Wisconsin (No. 23 last week) and Kansas (24th).

The Commodores spent one week at No. 24 last season, which before Monday stood as the only AP Top 25 ranking for the program since December 2015.

It is the second straight year the Jayhawks, who lost to Duke in the Champions Classic last week, have fallen out of the poll at least once. Before last season, Kansas had been ranked in every poll but one — missing one week during the 2020-21 season played amid the COVID-19 pandemic — dating to the 2009-10 season.

Conference watch

The Southeastern Conference didn’t have a team ranked higher than eighth, yet posted the biggest overall haul of any conference with seven ranked teams, including No. 21 Auburn and No. 22 Arkansas.

The Big Ten was next with six AP Top 25 teams, followed by the Big 12 with five, the Atlantic Coast Conference with four, the Big East with two and the West Coast Conference with one.

Middle schoolers design, construct doghouses in architecture course

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Seventh graders at William Penn Middle School in the Indianapolis Public Schools district have traded textbooks for tools in their green architecture course aiming to teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills.

They’re designing and building doghouses for canines in need, and the students are doing it from scratch. Students learn measuring, reading blueprints and working safely with tools, among other tasks.

Once finished, the handmade creations will be donated to Friends of Indianapolis Dogs Outside, an organization that helps dogs across central Indiana.

Seventh grader Skye Duncan said Monday, “Building this doghouse is really exciting to do with your friends and stuff as a group. It is a lot of work, because it is hard for me to measure a little bit, but at the same time, I know it’s going to be good.”

Seventh grader Ezra-Nehemiah Ducker said a lot went into learning how to build something from the ground up, but that he loved doing it. “You need to learn how to use a saw, get the perfect measurements using different tools, drilling, hammering, there’s a lot of stuff you need to learn.”

Ducker says he’s excited to start building more at home and proud to have skills where he can contribute his community. “That I can help people by my creations. Also, if I can build stuff, I don’t really have to buy stuff. Say I see a $50 table. I can just buy supplies and that’ll come to $30 so that’ll just save money.”

The students are building five doghouses, and over 65 students have contributed to the project in some form. STEM teacher Luc Sproles said the work helps students see the power of giving back through science and design. “We’ve done a lot of demonstration and then hands-on practice in the classroom so that I know that when we get to here, I don’t have to hold their hand every step of the way. They really do have the skills and the abilities to run this entire project by themselves.”

Some students also brought in old T-shirts to make dog toys.

The teacher said, “Just seeing them work together with each other has been really awesome. For them to be able to put what they’re learning into action and help their community is really what William Penn, a STEM school, is all about.”

Sproles said he’s happy that the skills they learn with this project is something they can carry into their everyday lives in the future.

Charges against Comey and James dismissed due to prosecutor’s illegal appointment

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at President Donald Trump’s urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

The rulings from U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie halt at least for now a pair of prosecutions that had targeted two of the president’s most high-profile political opponents and amount to a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration’s legal maneuvering to install an inexperienced and loyalist prosecutor willing to file the cases.

The orders do not concern the substance of the allegations against Comey or James but instead deal with the unconventional manner in which the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was named to her position as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Defense lawyers said the Trump administration had no legal authority to make the appointment. In a pair of similar rulings, Currie agreed and said the invalid appointment required the dismissal of the cases.

“All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment,” including securing and signing the indictments, “were unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside,” she wrote.

A White House spokeswoman said the rulings will “not be the final word on the matter” and Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed at an unrelated news conference that the Justice Department would pursue an “immediate appeal.” The department may also look to bring the cases again.

Indictments had been subject to multiple challenges

The challenges to Halligan’s appointment are just one facet of a multiprong assault on the indictments by Comey and James, whose multiple other efforts to dismiss the cases were still pending at the time of Monday’s rulings. Both have separately asserted that the prosecutions were vindictive and emblematic of a weaponized Justice Department. Comey’s lawyers last week, in moving to get his case tossed out, seized on a judge’s findings of a constellation of grand jury irregularities and missteps by Halligan. James likewise has cited “outrageous government conduct” preceding her indictment.

“I am grateful that the court ended the case against me, which was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence and a reflection of what the Justice Department has become under Donald Trump, which is heartbreaking,” Comey, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of making a false statement and obstructing Congress, said in a video statement.

In a separate statement, James, a Democrat who has pleaded not guilty to mortgage fraud allegations, said, “I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country.” She said she remained “fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”

Halligan’s appointment

At issue in Currie’s rulings is the mechanism the Trump administration employed to appoint Halligan, a former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience, to lead one of the Justice Department’s most elite and important offices.

Halligan was named as a replacement for Erik Siebert, a veteran prosecutor in the office and interim U.S. attorney who resigned in September amid Trump administration pressure to file charges against both Comey and James. He stepped aside after Trump told reporters he wanted Siebert “out.”

The following night, Trump said he would be nominating Halligan to the role of interim U.S. attorney and publicly implored Bondi to take action against his political opponents, saying in a Truth Social post that, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility” and “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

Comey was indicted three days after Halligan was sworn in by Bondi, and James was charged two weeks after that.

Though attorneys general do have the authority to name an interim U.S. attorney who can serve for 120 days, lawyers for Comey and James argued that once that period expires, the law gives federal judges in the district the exclusive say of who gets to fill the vacancy. By making a successive interim U.S. appointment and bypassing the role of courts, defense lawyers said, the Justice Department did an end-run around well-established law.

Currie says Halligan ‘unlawfully’ serving in her role

“The 120-day clock began running with Mr. Siebert’s appointment on January 21, 2025. When that clock expired on May 21, 2025, so too did the Attorney General’s appointment authority,” Currie wrote. “Consequently, I conclude that the Attorney General’s attempt to install Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid and that Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025.”

The Justice Department had defended Halligan’s appointment but revealed last month that it also given Halligan a separate position of “Special Attorney,” presumably as a way to protect the indictment from collapse. But Currie said such a retroactive appointment could not save the cases.

“The implications of a contrary conclusion are extraordinary,” the judge wrote. “It would mean the Government could send any private citizen off the street — attorney or not — into the grand jury room to secure an indictment so long as the Attorney General gives her approval after the fact. That cannot be the law.”

Though the defendants had asked for the cases to be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the Justice Department would be barred from bringing them again, Currie instead dismissed them without prejudice.

Comey was indicted just days before the statute of limitations in his case expired, which could complicate any effort to refile the case. One of his lawyers, Patrick Fitzgerald, said in a statement that Currie’s decision “further indicates that because the indictment is void, the statute of limitations has run and there can be no further indictment.”

Judges have separately held that several other interim U.S. attorneys — in New Jersey, Los Angeles and Nevada — have served in their positions unlawfully but have permitted cases brought by their offices to proceed. But lawyers for Comey and James had argued that Currie’s ruling needed to go even further because Halligan was apparently the only prosecutor who presented evidence to the grand juries.

Comey has for years been one of Trump’s chief antagonists. Appointed FBI director in 2013 by President Barack Obama, Comey at the time of Trump’s 2016 election was overseeing an investigation into whether the Republican’s presidential campaign had conspired with Russia to sway the outcome of the race. Furious over that investigation, Trump fired Comey in May 2017.

James has also been a frequent target of Trump’s ire, especially since winning a staggering judgment against him and the Trump Organization in a lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements. An appeals court overturned the fine, which had ballooned to more than $500 million with interest, but upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump had committed fraud.

Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Lindsay Whitehurst and Alanna Durkin Richer in Memphis, Tennessee contributed to this report.

Rain into Tuesday, colder and windy leading toward Thanksgiving | Nov. 24, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — We’re tracking widespread rain into Tuesday with much colder and windy conditions leading into Thanksgiving.

Monday night: Showers return into tonight with coverage turning widespread after midnight. Lows in the upper 40s.

Tuesday: Rainy into daybreak Tuesday, then rain turns spotty into Tuesday afternoon-night. A strong cold front will sweep through Tuesday night and set the stage for much colder air into midweek.

Highs in the upper 50s.

Wednesday: Temperatures will drop into the upper 30s-low 40s through the daytime hours Wednesday with wind gusts of 30-40 MPH. Can’t rule out a few flurries as well.

7-Day Forecast: Thanksgiving Day is shaping up to be a cold and breezy one with highs only in the mid to upper 30s. Cold air hangs around into the final weekend of November. Then, we’ll track another system into the weekend as well with potential for a mix of some snow and rain. High uncertainty regarding system track and intensity is in place, but this system may cause some impact to post-holiday travel.

4 arrested in Indiana, accused in ATM theft ring across Illinois, Michigan

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has arrested four men after multiple ATM thefts across Illinois and Michigan.

The department says the men used a master key that allows them to bypass the machines’ alarms and electronic devices.

They say the Pontiac, Illinois, Police Department had alerted deputies to two suspicious vehicles linked to the thefts.

The sheriff’s office says deputies arrested two men near State Road 45 and Leonard Springs Road.

An Indiana State Police trooper stopped the second vehicle in Morgan County and arrested two more suspects, the sheriff’s office said.

Authorities on Monday said it remained how the men obtained the master ATM key.

This story was created from a script aired on WISH-TV.

(Provided Photos/Monroe County, Indiana, Sheriff’s Office)