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Chicago Mayor-elect Johnson pledges ‘smart’ fight on crime

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Chicago’s mayor-elect on Wednesday attempted to dispel the often-contentious relationship between the nation’s third-largest city and the rest of the state, telling a joint session of the General Assembly, “There’s more than enough for everybody in the state of Illinois.”Brandon Johnson, whose victory in the mayor’s race this month provided a welcome boost for progressives, played to his fellow Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both the House and Senate. He extolled the “Blue Wall” they’ve built and pledged to “be a partner in this incredible, progressive body that has delivered for people across the state.”Pounded later by reporters’ questions about reducing crime in Chicago, he promised to be “smart” as well as “tough,” putting resources into youth employment and other preventive measures as well as enforcement. But his primary message was one of collaboration. “They told us that if something is good for Chicago, th...

Violins of Hope: How 2 violin makers keep history alive through restoring instruments

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

CHICAGO — For two decades, a father and son duo have quietly collected and repaired over 70 violins used by victims and survivors of the Holocaust."I opened the violin," Amnon Weinstein said, recalling one of the violins he has helped restore. "I remember black powder all on the inside from the crematorium and horrible places."Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein work on the violins in their workshops based in Tel Aviv and Istanbul, and this week, decades of painstaking work made its way to Chicago. Velvet-lined cases containing string instruments that once nestled under the chins of people who used them to help tell their own stories through music, arrived in unassuming cardboard boxes, ripe to be played and for those stories to be told once more."It was a teary moment," said Ilene Uhlmann, Director of Community Engagement at JCC Chicago. "Each one has an amazingly inspirational story, and they tell stories of hope, resilience and resistance." Mundelein PD and Working Bikes, bringing smi...

How soon will Netflix crack down on password sharing in the US?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - Netflix has been warning for months that it would begin cracking down on password sharing in the U.S. after rolling out changes in multiple countries, including Canada. Company executives gave yet another hint on how soon Netflix will tackle password sharing in the U.S., albeit later than anticipated. Netflix has been exploring ways to crack down on password sharing, including a log-in verification process in 2021, and the use of sub-accounts for people living outside the account owner’s home in 2022, which was tested in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru. In early February, Netflix expanded its paid account sharing into Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain.Some version of paid password sharing was expected to come to the U.S. by the end of quarter one – a date that has since passed. Netflix to bring down the curtain on its DVD-by-mail service During a first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Netflix co-CEO and director Gregory Peters said that rec...

Illinois high school wrestler sucker-punched by opponent after loss in viral video

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

SANDWICH, Ill. — An Illinois high school wrestler is speaking out after a widely-shared video shows him getting punched by his opponent after a match.Jillian Hill’s 14-year-old son Cooper is a two-time state wrestling champion, competing in the 125-128-pound division. On April 8, Cooper competed in the Beat the Streets tournament at Oak Park High School with his team out of Spar Academy in Aurora. "He had won the match by tech-fall and when they came to the circle, Cooper extended his hand to shake his hand," Hill told WGN News. "That’s when the assault happened." Downtown beating witness: ‘They were going to kill that young man’ The video shows Cooper, in an orange singlet, shaking his competitor's hand just seconds before the Maine West High School student punches him in the face. Cooper immediately fell to the ground."I remember there was this stinging in my face. I balled up and I checked for blood. I looked up to see my stepdad and mom checking me," Cooper told WGN ...

Early start to downtown violence worries Chicagoans, as summer looms

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago residents worried about the downtown violence over the weekend expressed their concerns to police on Wednesday.Members of the 18th Police District met with community members to help build relationships among the people they serve. The meeting was inr response to Saturday, when a large crowd of young people swarmed the streets in the Loop, attacking visitors, committing robberies and causing overall chaos. Downtown beating witness: ‘They were going to kill that young man’ The unruly group gathered near the intersection of East Washington Street and Michigan Avenue. In addition to damaged vehicles, traffic and CTA were also disrupted in the area. In all, 15 people, including nine adults and six juveniles, were arrested following the incident and two teens were shot. The 18th District is just a block away from where the incidents occurred and residents who live in the area spoke to police about what is being done to keep them safe. "I'm here because I...

Mother of death row inmate Ivan Cantu seeks new trial after key witness recants testimony

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The mother of Texas death row inmate Ivan Abner Cantu went to the Texas Capitol on Wednesday, along with a private investigator and a volunteer legal team, to advocate for a stay of execution and a review of new evidence in the case.Ivan, 49, was convicted by a Collin County jury in 2001 for the murders of James Mosqueda (Ivan's cousin) and Amy Kitchen (Mosqueda's fiancé) in November 2000. He is scheduled for execution on April 26.However, in a petition to Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Ivan's legal team claims that they have found evidence that could exonerate Ivan. How does the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles decide who gets pardoned? The new evidence includes the discovery of jewelry missing from the victims, telephone records and forensic pathology. The petition also states that one of the witnesses, Jeff Boettcher, has since disavowed his testimony, stating that "he was not a credible witness due to his history of drug abuse."M...

AFD, ATCEMS break ground on joint station in southeast Austin

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The City of Austin, the Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County EMS broke ground Wednesday for the reconstruction of the joint Fire/EMS station in southeast Austin, according to a city news release.The station, located at 5309 E. Riverside Drive, is slated for completion in early 2024, according to the city.In 2018, Austin City Council set the goal for Austin Fire emergency response times at eight minutes of call receipt, 90% of the time, the release said. This is a goal consistent with national standards set by the Commission of Fire Protection Accreditation International, as well as the National Fire Protection Association.The Fire #22/EMS #12 station is one of several priority stations slated for renovation/reconstruction, the release said.“It's no secret that Austin is expanding in every direction, whether it's in our district or any other area of the city. Given the continued expansion, I will continue working with my council colleagues to make public s...

Other voices: A terrible Texas bill curbs college faculty from teaching about real ideas

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

So-called conservatives believe deeply in protecting the right of everyone on college campuses to express their opinions, including opinions others might find offensive — except when they don’t.They hate the idea of carving up colleges and universities into “safe spaces” — except when they are intent on sending liberal professors packing.The hypocrisy is so thick, you can only cut it with a power saw.The latest case in point is a bill just approved by the Texas state Senate proclaiming that “A faculty member of an institution of higher education may not compel or attempt to compel a student enrolled at the institution to adopt a belief that any race, sex, or ethnicity or social, political, or religious belief is inherently superior to any other race, sex, ethnicity, or belief.” Comically, it purports to do this in the name of intellectual diversity.Imagine an economics professor who, in the tradition of Milton Friedman, wishes to explain to ...

David Schultz: Competing for businesses? A lot matters more than local tax-break bait

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

For the last 25 or so years the City of Saint Paul has used a variety of tax incentives to encourage business location decisions and encourage economic development. Are they necessary? The simple answer is no, and there are far more effective tools than tax breaks to to encourage business development.Perhaps at the top of any list of political myths is the idea that taxes, including their incidences and incentives, are serious factors affecting business relocation decisions. At the core of this belief is the idea that businesses make decisions about where to locate a facility based primarily, or perhaps even exclusively, upon taxes. As a result of this belief, state and local governments have engaged in dramatic tax wars against one another to lure businesses to their community.What do we really know about the impact of taxes upon business relocation decisions?The literature is clear — tax breaks to encourage economic relocation are economically inefficient and wasteful.Social entre...

Rain could alter flood forecast, but Minnesota officials confident state will escape serious damage

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:18:40 GMT

Most of Minnesota should escape serious flooding over the next couple weeks, emergency managers said Wednesday, but cautioned that higher-than-expected rains in the coming days or rapid snowmelt in the Red River Valley could raise the threat.“Right now we are entering what we hope to be the peak of this event, which should be occurring over the next week to 10 days,” said Dan Hawblitzel, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. “That is assuming — and that is an assumption — that we don’t have any more significant sources of precipitation. And unfortunately we can’t guarantee that.”But he and other officials said at a briefing for reporters on Minnesota’s flood preparations that they and communities along the state’s major rivers have been preparing for weeks. They’ve been stockpiling sandbags, building dikes, closing low-lying roads and parks, and implementing action plans developed during past floods. And they...