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Anniversary of George Floyd’s killing: Changes were made, but short of ‘reckoning’ on racial justice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and the fervent protests that erupted around the world, looked to many observers like the catalyst needed for a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing.For more than nine minutes, a white officer pressed his knee to the neck of Floyd, a Black man, who gasped, “I can’t breathe,” echoing Eric Garner’s last words in 2014. Video footage of Floyd’s May 25, 2020, murder was so agonizing to watch that demands for change came from across the country.But in the midst of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, economic uncertainty and a divisive U.S. presidential election, 2020 ended without the kind of major police reforms that many hoped, and others feared, would come. Then, 2021 and 2022 also failed to yield much progress.Now, three years since Floyd’s murder, proponents of federal actions — such as banning chokeholds and changing the so-called qualified immunity protections for law enforcement — stil...

Police search for suspect in Lawrence Heights stabbing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

Police are searching for a suspect following a stabbing in Lawrence Heights.Police say they were called to the area of Lawrence Avenue West and Bolingbroke Road, just west of Allen Road at around 9:43 p.m. Thursday night for reports someone was being assaulted. When they arrived they located a person suffering from stab wounds. They were transported to the hospital in stable condition. Police have yet to release a suspect description.

REVIEW: The Little Mermaid sinks to the bottom of the ocean

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

Cinema is a unique art because it combines many other forms of art. The staging of theater, the sound of music, and the special effects that can only be dreamed up by the dreamer. These are all important parts of cinema but a film can live without one of them if need be. The most important aspect of cinema, the one that cannot be forgotten, the one that must be utilized well in order for a film to work is lighting. Cinema is a visual art, we need to see it. And an optic nerve, just like a camera, needs light to see.Halle Bailey and Jonah Hauer-King in the Little Mermaid, courtesy of Disney.The Little Mermaid is not a film that forgot about its lighting. It’s a film that is very specific with the limited lighting it uses. Part of the reason is that a good chunk of this film takes place underwater. Ariel (played by Halle Bailey from Grown-ish) is a mermaid who yearns to connect with humans. She wants to go where they are, where the lighting is. Where she lives under the sea, the...

Evergreen Park church cancels carnival set for June due to safety concerns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

EVERGREEN PARK, Ill. — An annual carnival in Evergreen Park has been canceled after concerns over a possible teen takeover.Leaders from Most Holy Redeemer Church were set to have the parish's 46th annual carnival in mid-June. Tinley Park police cancel carnival after flash mob involving 400 teens But after last weekend's teen takeover at a carnival in Tinley Park, the church is playing it safe instead of sorry. Year after year, the space at the corner of 95th Street and Lawndale Avenue is typically transformed into a carnival. Parish leadership decided to cancel the carnival after parishioners expressed safety concerns following last weekend when hundreds of teens created chaos at the Armed Forces Weekend Carnival in Tinley Park."It's really unfortunate that an event in Tinley Park is affecting us here in this neighborhood," resident Chris Bodenberg said. Tinley Park mayor vows stricter protocols after flash mob incident involving 400 teens The carnival this year was scheduled fo...

Big-hearted Chicago Special Education teacher focuses on students' values and needs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

CHICAGO — As the school year winds down, WGN’s May Teacher of the Month is a special education teacher on the Chicago’s North Side. Parents call Mr. Chad a blessing. They say he’s big-hearted, patient and focused on the diverse needs of his students. Mr. Chad Kirkpatrick teaches children with special needs at McPherson Elementary School in Ravenswood.He’s been at the school for more than 20 years. In his classroom, a dozen students work in small groups “They get all of their academic instruction in here. That’s reading and math, science and social studies,” he said. “But on top of that they also get independent functioning and social emotional work.”The days are very structured.“Each child has their own individual schedule that they follow,” he said. WGN-TV’s Teacher of the Month Award nomination application But he’ss always ready to quickly switch gears when needed “Life is full of unpredictability,” he said. “You notice the table is broken in my classroo...

Family of Louisiana Arby's manager found dead in freezer sues company

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) – The family of a woman who died in the New Iberia, Louisiana Arby's on May 11 is suing the fast-food company, the family's lawyer has confirmed. Nguyet Le, 63, of Houston, was working as the acting manager of the restaurant when she was found dead in a walk-in cooler, according to the New Iberia Police Department. Paul Skrabanek, the family's attorney based in Houston, said preliminary findings from the Iberia Parish Coroner's Office show that she died of hypothermia.  Body found at New Iberia Arby’s identified Skrabanek said the family is suing, in part, because no one from Arby's would respond to his inquiries. Nexstar reached out to Arby's Thursday but hadn't received a statement as of publishing time.He also gave new details into what happened the night of May 11."I think once you see the police report, you're going to see how horrific this was and how it was described to me," Skrabanek said. "Her getting caught into this freezer and trying to...

Notorious 'Phony Nun' house burns in Brooklyn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (PIX11) — Cheyama Legrand cried when she heard her childhood house at 222 Brooklyn Avenue was gutted by fire Wednesday morning. Even though it was a place where teens and women were beaten or murdered in the 1960s and 70s, it was still a place she called home."I was devastated when I got the call," Legrand told PIX11 News Thursday. "We all grew up in the big house. My brothers and sisters. Daddy loved all his children, no matter what people say about him." 4-month-old girl dies at Manhattan hotel: police Devernon Legrand, who called himself a bishop, went to prison in 1975 for stomping two teenage sisters to death and also for the murder of an ex-wife. But the mystery of what happened to about 20 other missing women was never solved.It's believed Legrand fathered between 50 and 70 children — with women that lived with him at 222 Brooklyn Avenue. Many were forced to dress in black habits to look like Catholic nuns and then beg at tourist spots or in the subw...

With his first veto ever, Walz nixes Uber/Lyft driver pay-raise bill, citing cost and service concerns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have mandated higher pay and job security for Lyft and Uber drivers in Minnesota, saying the legislation wasn’t ready to become law.“Rideshare drivers deserve fair wages and safe working conditions,” Walz said in a statement announcing his first veto ever in his five-plus years as governor. “I am committed to finding solutions that balance the interests of all parties, including drivers and riders. This is not the right bill to achieve these goals.”Uber threatened to offer only premium-priced service in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and cut off service altogether in the rest of Minnesota if Walz signed the legislation.“This bill could make Minnesota one of the most expensive states in the country for rideshare, potentially putting us on par with the cost of rides in New York City and Seattle — cities with dramatically higher costs of living than Minnesota,” the Democratic governor said in a letter to legislat...

Walz names new commissioner of Department of Employment and Economic Development

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

Matt Varilek, president of the Little Falls-based Initiative Foundation, will lead the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.Matt Varilek, president of the Little Falls-based Initiative Foundation, will lead the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Gov. Tim Walz announced Thursday, May 22, 2023. (Forum News Service)Gov. Tim Walz announced Varilek’s appointment Thursday.Varilek will succeed Steve Grove, who announced his departure in February when he was named publisher and CEO of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.The Department of Employment and Economic Development is the state’s principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade, and community development.The Initiative Foundation fosters economic development in a 14-county area of central Minnesota. It’s one of six such foundations started in the 1980s to serve greater Minnesota.“From streng...

Tulsa businessman the victim of a jewelry heist in downtown St. Louis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:37:40 GMT

ST. LOUIS – A Tulsa businessman tells FOX 2 that he’s the victim of a St. Louis high-dollar jewelry heist.Detectives with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department confirmed more than $400,000 worth of watches were stolen from the man’s hotel room at the Embassy Suites near America’s Center in downtown St. Louis.“I’m going to be honest with you. I believe this was planned,” Rion Woodiest said. “I really believe this was some kind of jewelry heist.”Woodiest grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, until his family relocated to Tulsa when he was in high school. After serving seven years in the Army, he went into business four years ago. St. Louis firefighter accused of stealing wallet from teen crash victim He sells high-end jewelry, including gold, platinum, and diamond watches.The five stolen watches were Cartier, Rolex, and Audemar Piquet models.The Embassy Suites hotel was like a second home, he said.Woodiest has stayed there more than 600 nights in recent years as he travels for...