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Looking to avoid the Kennedy Expressway construction? Here's what you should know

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

CHICAGO — A major years-long construction project on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago is expected to cause extensive delays.Starting on Monday night, the Illinois Department of Transportation will close the two left-hand inbound lanes of the Kennedy Expressway from the Edens Expressway to Ohio Street. FULL DETAILS: Kennedy Expressway construction project to last 3 years, cost $150M and begins in March It will take about a week for the full configuration to get into place.The express lanes will stay open to inbound traffic until this year’s repairs are done.If you're looking to avoid some frustration and getting stuck in the delays, there are some things you can do to try to avoid the delays. Kennedy Expressway construction project to begin Monday The Illinois Department of Transportation said drivers should consider traveling at off-peak times and avoid rush hour.IDOT also said motorists should consider taking public transportation.Some options include the Metra Union Pacific N...

Vernon Hills mother attempted to save neighbor before apartment fire death, family says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

VERNON HILLS, Ill. -- An apartment fire in Vernon Hills Sunday claimed the lives of two, including a woman who has left a mother and son behind.Family members have identified 33-year-old Camille Lonzano as one of the victims who died at a Vernon Hills apartment building early Sunday morning."She was very strong, very smart and very loving. A very loving daughter and a very loving mother," Lonzano's mother Theresa Lujan said.Lozano's mother explains that Camille died as she lived, always putting others before her. Lujan said in her final moments, her daughter alerted neighbors of the fire."Instead of going downstairs which would've saved her," Lujan said. "She continued upstairs to help the neighbor that lived upstairs and that was another person that passed away."According to the Lake Count Coroner's Office, Lozano and 39-year-old Polly Jenson, of Vernon Hills, both died due to thermal and inhalational injuries. Looking to avoid the Kennedy Expressway construction? Here’s what you...

MedWatch Daily Digest: An increased cancer threat for military pilots and ground crews

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

For Monday, March 20, WGN’s Dina Bair has the latest on new medical information, including: More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch A study of nearly 900,000 airmen and women who flew or worked on military planes between 1992 and 2017 had an 87% higher rate of melanoma than the general populationA new warning about fake pharmaceuticals in MexicoHow potentially toxic chemicals in everyday products are altering hormonal and metabolic pathways that impact human growth and development

Man attacked by mountain lion while sitting in hot tub: Colorado officials

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. (KXRM) — A mountain lion attacked a Colorado man as he relaxed in a hot tub over the weekend, according to wildlife officials. The man said he was sitting with his wife in the in-ground hot tub at a rental property in Nathrop, roughly 100 miles west of Colorado Springs, Saturday night when the mountain lion attacked. While speaking with the Colorado Parks and Wildlife's (CPW) Southeast Region, the man explained he and his wife were sitting in the hot tub "when he felt something grab his head." The couple screamed and splashed water at the animal, which they were able to identify as a mountain lion when the victim's wife shined a flashlight on it. Two student-athletes charged after video shows woman’s wheelchair pushed down stairs The mountain lion backed up about 20 feet from the couple, and as they continued to scream at the animal, it moved up to the top of a hill where it crouched down and watched them.When the couple got inside the rental home, they clean...

Good deeds, grades turns into currency at Chicago high school student store

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

CHICAGO -- A west side high school is taking the old "student store" to a whole new level.Michele Clark Magnet High School students pack in a former storage closet to check out the goods now available in their new student store.But, what you won't find is a cash register. To get your hands on these items you need good grades or good deeds."We try to take a concept we've had around forever in education and think what can we do to make it tantalizing?" Charles Williams, Assistant Principal, Michele Clark Magnet High School, said. "This, if I were a student I'd want to figure out how to get some of these? So it's working."The store, which opened last week, runs on a point system. Where grades, attendance, and behavior translate into fresh market currency."If they want some new style shoes, they're gonna work hard in school, get all their grades in, and get up in here," Jacori Johnson, a student at Michele Clark Magnet High School, said.Principal Charles Anderson believe it's all part o...

Two student-athletes charged after video shows woman's wheelchair pushed down stairs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

ERIE, Pa. (WJET) - Two student-athletes from Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, are now facing criminal charges after surveillance video from a bar appeared to show them pushing a disabled woman's wheelchair down a staircase while she was in the bathroom earlier this month.Erie Police say misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief and criminal conspiracy to commit criminal mischief have been filed against lacrosse player Patrick Carrozzi and hockey player Carson Briere - the son of Daniel Briere, a former NHL player and interim general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers - for the incident. Briere and Carrozzi are also facing summary charges of disorderly conduct. They're being charged by mail. Mercyhurst student-athlete goes viral after pushing wheelchair down a flight of stairs In the surveillance video, below, Briere and Carrozzi are seen surrounding the empty wheelchair, which was said to be left at the top of a staircase at Sullivan’s Irish Pub after its owner, Sydney B...

Poilievre’s Call For A Blue Seal Standardized Medical Testing, Is Long Overdue

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

'Y'all means all!' Advocates, celebrities rally for LGBTQ rights at Texas Capitol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Chants of "y'all means all" came from the hundreds of people who gathered Monday afternoon outside the Texas Capitol for a rally to show support for the state's LGBTQ community and decry the dozens of proposed restrictions now under consideration. The event, held on the south steps of the statehouse, served as the kickoff for the "All in for Equality Advocacy Day." Organizers included Equality Texas, the Transgender Education Network of Texas, the Texas Freedom Network, the ACLU of Texas, Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign. LGBTQ+ advocates rally against Texas bills affecting trans people "LGBTQ people have been cyclically, intentionally and cowardly used as political pawns throughout history over and over and over — no more," Ricardo Martinez, the CEO of Equality Texas, told the crowd Monday. "That stops in Texas."The rally kicked off Monday with a lip-synced performance from Cynthia Lee Fontaine, an Austin-based drag entertainer who competed on "RuPaul's...

Austin records coldest spring equinox in 40 years on Monday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The chilly air that settled into Central Texas to wrap up spring break stayed with us for the first day of spring.Looking back at data for Austin's Camp Mabry — a dataset that stretches back to 1898 — this was the fifth-coldest spring equinox ever.The spring equinox doesn't always fall on the same day each year. While most of the time it's on March 20, it can also fall on March 19 or March 21.To figure out the coldest spring equinoxes ever, we had to look at the high temperature data for March 19-21 and cross check those days with the dates of the spring equinox.The coldest first day of spring had a high of 48º back in 1965 and 1970. Those were the only times spring has been in the 40s in Austin.Camp Mabry recorded a high of 57º this year, which ranked as the fifth-coldest equinox in recorded history. This also made Monday the coldest spring equinox since 1983 when we had a high of 54º.Recent spring equinoxesIn the five spring equinoxes prior to Monday, we've experi...

Texas Senate passes measure to deny bail for violent or sexual offenses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:40 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas Senate passed a constitutional amendment 30-1 Monday that would deny bail for those facing violent or sexual charges, as part of Republicans' larger push around bail reform after campaigning on promises of "tough-on-crime' policies.If eventually approved by voters, SJR 44 would authorize judges to deny bail "under some circumstances" to a person accused of a "violent or sexual offense or of continuous trafficking of persons." The resolution's author, Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, said during a March 7 committee hearing on her legislation that it would give local officials needed tools for making bail determinations."Texas lacks viable options for detaining our most habitual, violent felony offenders without bond," she said. "This bill has been delayed now for a couple of years. And I think it has cost lives to be honest."Currently, the Texas Constitution has little exceptions for cases in which judges can deny bail outright.The legislation has garnered b...