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Chicagoland libraries targeted by bomb threats

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Police were called to several libraries in the Chicago area on Tuesday in regard to bomb threats. Police continue to investigate, but officers say none of the threats were substantiated.  Chicago fire truck crashes into home on South Side; 2 displaced Threats in AuroraPolice in Aurora say officers are investigating reports of bomb threats at three Aurora libraries on Tuesday afternoon. Aurora police first notified the public about the threats in a tweet shared around 3 p.m. In a follow-up post, officers asked the public to avoid areas near the Santori Public Library in the 100 block of South River Street, areas near the Eola branch library in the 500 block of South Eola Road, and areas near the West branch library in the 200 block of South Constitution Drive, while they evacuated and shut down roadways. Police say each location has since reopened to the public. Police say the evacuations were ordered at all of the impacted libraries as a precautionary measure, ...

'Pawn Stars' star arrested for alleged DUI in Las Vegas: police report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — One of the stars of the reality show "Pawn Stars" was arrested in Las Vegas last week on a charge of DUI, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department documents said.According to an arrest report obtained by Nexstar's KLAS, on Sept. 8 at around 2 a.m., an officer in the area of Main Street and Charleston Boulevard saw a white Ford pickup truck "veering" back and forth between the right lane and the bicycle lane. The officer began following the truck, activated their lights, and signaled for the driver to pull over. The driver of the pickup truck was "slow to stop" so the officer used a public address system to order the driver to stop, the report explained. Tennessee man pleads guilty to threatening Little Caesars worker with AK-47 Once the driver pulled over, the officer walked up to the pickup truck, where the driver already had his driver's license ready to hand over, police said. He was identified as Richard Corey Harrison, 40, who appears in the History Channel...

Who can get the new COVID vaccine?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Vaccine makers say their updated booster shots could be in pharmacies by the end of the week, and unlike early COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, this one is recommended for just about everyone right from the start. A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Tuesday to recommend the updated booster shots made by Pfizer and Moderna for everyone 6 months and older. One expert on the 14-member panel voted against the majority, saying the new shots should initially be kept only for older people and those at risk of severe illness. However, that person was overruled 13 to 1. The Food and Drug Administration also approved the updated shots for adults and children as young as age 6 months.  CDC panel recommends new COVID booster: When can you get it? Even if you've never had a single shot, this vaccine is recommended for most people starting at age 5, the FDA said. Younger children might need additional doses depending on their history of COVID-1...

Water customers in Travis County have questions after $500 fine, service shut off

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Some water customers in and around Steiner Ranch paid $500 fines to restore their water service. They said the utility was cut with little notice and for unknown reasons.KXAN received several ReportIt tips about these water shutoffs Monday. One tip said as many as 60 people were in line at Travis County Water and Control Improvement District 17 to speak with representatives about their water service. How many citations has Austin Water issued since Stage 2 restrictions began? Holley Kenney lives in Steiner Ranch and had her service cut Monday. She visited WCID17 to find out why, and said she was told she had violated water restrictions and needed to pay $550 in fines to restore utilities.Kenney said this news confused her. She said her family was out of the country this summer, the same time these water violations would have taken place."They said there must be something wrong with my system. They figured it was my irrigation, and I explained my irrig...

Austin City Council to vote on police data expansion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Some Austin City Council members want more robust and frequent data from the Austin Police Department. Council will vote on a resolution Thursday that would ask the police department to post monthly data on its portal including the following: Demand for police services, including call type, priority level, how fast a unit arrived and number of officers for every callMental health services, including a list of mental health calls resulting in serious bodily injury or deathSupply of police services, including number of personnel, overtime hours worked and number of retirements each monthIf approved, that data would be published on the city's existing Open Data Portal starting in March of 2024 and would include data for the previous 36 months. It would be updated monthly, if passed as written. According to the author of the resolution, Council Member Chito Vela, it could help guide policy decisions on things like staffing shortages, response times and mental health cal...

Texas law requires data breaches to be reported to the AG office. Here's how you can check

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new Texas law aims to increase transparency on how data breaches impact Texans. The law requires security system breaches to be reported to the Texas attorney general. Then, the AG's office must publicly post a list of the notifications received for up to one year. The law, authored by State Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, went into effect Sept. 1. RELATED: New Texas laws go into effect The data security breach reports website lists the individual or entity name, the type of information affected, the number of Texans affected, whether notification was provided to consumers and other breach information. The report includes over 560 security breaches as of Sept. 12. The AG's office said the law requires businesses and organizations with a data breach that affects 350 Texans or more to report the breach to the attorney general's office as soon as possible or no later than 30 days after the beach is discovered. Affected businesses and organizations must also notify...

McCallum High School upgrades safety on campus with new fencing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – There is a new fence surrounding one side of McCallum High School."Safety and security for our students is the top priority," said Michael Mann, executive director of construction management for Austin Independent School District. The new fencing just recently went up at McCallum, but the plans to add safety upgrades to campuses around Austin ISD were made possible back in November, when the 2022 Bond Package was passed by voters. "We are in the first wave of getting these fencing projects rolled out," Mann said. In August, students at McCallum were met outside the front of the school by demonstrators with anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion signs."That was an example of why we want to have a secure perimeter, but it wasn't what specifically spurred us, this was already in the plans," Mann said. Texas’ State of Education: ‘It’s not about us’ McCallum Principal Andy Baxa said there have been instances over the years that have raised concerns, but these new fences sho...

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates often speak out on hot topics. Only one faces impeachment threat.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who Republicans are threatening to impeach over comments she made on the campaign trail about abortion and redistricting isn’t the first member of the court to offer public opinions about major issues of the day.One conservative justice frequently spoke out in favor of gun rights during her campaign, even producing a political mailer showing her brandishing a shotgun and wearing a hat promoting the NRA. Another had previously called Planned Parenthood, a frequent litigant in abortion cases, a “wicked organization.”And a former conservative justice faced a barrage of criticism after a campaign filled with misleading information about crime that raised questions about whether he could be impartial in cases involving criminal defendants.An Associated Press review of previous campaigns and public statements by Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates reveals that both conservatives and liberals have weighed in on topics that could come befor...

Underdog Lynx enter WNBA playoffs ready to ‘go in there and knock some socks off’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

The Lynx did not finish the WNBA’s regular season the way they had hoped to, and coach Cheryl Reeve made that abundantly clear with her postgame comments after the team’s loss Sunday to Indiana that cemented Minnesota into the No. 6 seed in the playoffs.But the good news, Lynx forward Napheesa Collier told reporters Tuesday, is none of that matters now. Sure, the 0-2 finish to the regular season pits the Lynx against a championship-caliber team in Connecticut to start the postseason.And sure, Collier noted, there are lessons to be learned from the past two losses. Minnesota needs to defend with more vigor and a closer attachment to the game plan, while also closing with better offensive execution.But now that the Lynx are locked into this matchup, all that’s of consequence is what they do moving forward, starting with Game 1 on Wednesday in Connecticut.The Lynx held a team dinner Tuesday, a tradition of sorts whenever the squad makes the playoffs. It serves two purposes — to c...

St. Paul man convicted of fatally shooting woman at East Side home where his son was shot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

A jury has convicted a St. Paul man of fatally shooting a woman last year at her East Side home, where his son was injured by gunfire six days earlier.Jurors on Monday found Curtrez Darale Johnson, 41, guilty of second-degree intentional murder in the December killing of 40-year-old Lashonda Nix, who was shot in the head as she peeked through a curtain.Lashonda Nix (Courtesy of the family)Johnson, who denied being the shooter, was also convicted of possessing a firearm after conviction of a crime of violence. He will be sentenced Oct. 24.The case went to the jury Friday afternoon after five days of testimony, which included Nix’s younger sister, Sharonda Nix, as a “spark of life” witness. This type of testimony aims to humanize a victim for the jury.“To hear the verdict that he was guilty on both charges was a relief for my family, especially for her children and my mother, who also sat with me through most of the trial,” Sharonda Nix said Tuesday.Lashonda Nix was a “hardworking and...