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No bull: Lake County cow sculpture's winning name revealed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

Wednesday was a beautiful day at the Lake County Farm Bureau and its newest and greatest attraction was naturally the center of attention.The 14-foot beauty of a bovine’s name was revealed.The bureau's executive director, Greg Koeppen, first announced the runner-up.“In third place, it was Milkshake, and in second place, it was Elsie,” he said.It was Koeppen who conceived of the idea of commissioning the public art in front of the bureau's headquarters in Grayslake after seeing a similar one in Wisconsin’s Door County some 20 years ago as a nod to German immigrants who brought the Holsteins over in the 1800s.Like many places, there aren't nearly as many dairy farms in Lake County these days.Koeppen and the bureau board agreed that a cow sculpture would be the perfect way to draw attention to the county’s history and teach kids about the cows and farmers of yesteryear.Several months later, the masterpiece of Americana was completed. It was 14 feet high and 23 feet long and weighed 1,0...

Leander Police provide more details in deadly crash involving retired APD officer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) -- The Leander Police Department provided more details involving a retired Austin Police officer who died in a crash in Leander over the weekend.At approximately 11:50 a.m., Nov. 12, officers responded to the 8600 block of Ranch-to-Market Road 2243 for a report of a rollover crash, according to a news release from LPD. APD confirms retired officer died in Leander crash According to police, a Ford Excursion driving westbound "had a mechanical/tire related issue and crossed the double yellow center lane divider," which struck a Chevrolet Silverado head-on. The Silverado then rolled off the roadwayThe retired officer was identified as Ray Shillito Jr., 51, of Austin, according to police.Shillito had recently retired from APD and was working with the City of Austin Development Services Department, according to LPD.The crash remained under investigation Wednesday, police said.

Investor Nate Paul pleads not guilty to federal wire fraud counts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Nate Paul, the Austin real estate investor tied to Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to four wire fraud charges filed this month.The four November counts were stacked on top of eight initial counts of making false statements to lending institutions, according to a superseding indictment. Nate Paul, Austin investor tied to AG Paxton, facing 4 additional federal charges Paul, 36, asked the court to waive his in-person arraignment scheduled for Thursday on the latest federal charges, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Lane accepted the request. Paul is the head of World Class Holdings -- a sprawling, multi-billion-dollar real estate company with high-value properties across Austin and beyond.  In the latest counts related to wire fraud, Paul is accused of sending false statements to partners involved in limited partnerships. Prosecutors allege Paul overstated partnership bank balances, understated how much the partnerships were owed a...

'A warrior's death': APD to release body cam video showing moments officer was killed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN)— The Austin Police Department says it'll be releasing body camera footage later this month, showing the moments one of their own was killed in a SWAT situation on Saturday morning.This is in line with its policy to release video within 10 business days of an officer-involved shooting. Officer Jorge "George" Pastore was shot and killed by Ahmed Mohamed Nassar, according to APD. Mother and son, Eyman El-Nemr Nassar and Riad Nassar were also killed, according to a search warrant affidavit. Another relative was stabbed, was able to escape and called 911, the affidavit said. Search warrant provides new details about suspect involved in APD officer’s death Days after the horrific tragedy, the area on Bernoulli Drive is still blocked off. On Wednesday, APD and the FBI were out on scene investigating, going in and out of that home where the killings happened. Deafening silence, sunflowers and a police flag rest outside the crime scene where Pastore was killed trying to save...

Lively revival of Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Company’ is sure to please Orpheum Theatre audiences

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

Musical theater master Stephen Sondheim surely went to his grave knowing that he was deeply appreciated. In March of 2020, the New York Times devoted a nine-page supplement to him on the eve of his 90th birthday, when a revival of his 1970 musical, “Company,” was set to open on Broadway. While COVID abruptly wiped live theater away, dozens of the biggest names in Broadway and Hollywood created an online-only tribute to him, featuring songs from a half-century of his musicals.That production of “Company” finally opened in November of 2021, and Sondheim attended a preview 11 days before his death. What he experienced was more than just a revival: It was a reimagining, transforming the central character from male to female, his romantic liaisons from female to male, and changing one of the five couples in their orbit to two gay men.Britney Coleman as Bobbie and the North American Tour of “Company.” (Matthew Murphy)It took home five Tonys last year, including “Best Revival o...

Give to the Max Day is Thursday. Here are 11 things to know on its 15th anniversary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

It was 2009: Many of us were still transitioning from flip phones to smartphones, from DVDs to streaming, from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.In that year of shifting habits, on the third Thursday in November, Minnesotans were asked to take part in an online giving campaign to help raise money for nonprofits.Give to the Max Day was supposed to be a one-time event, but it went over in such a big way — $14 million was raised that year — that it became an annual “giving holiday” that will mark its 15th anniversary on Thursday.But, in the face of tough economic conditions and a post-pandemic dip in charitable giving nationally, will Minnesotans be able or willing to give to the max in 2023?We’ll know by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday.Ahead of the 15th annual event, here are 11 things to know:1. It began with a question.“What if giving was easier and more fun?”That was the question that launched GiveMN in 2009, a collaborative venture led by Minnesota Comm...

Josh Dobbs left Kevin O’Connell speechless with his touchdown run. What does his speed do for the Vikings?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

The clip went viral on social media this week, with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell watching from the sideline, while quarterback Josh Dobbs executed the play call Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.As soon as he took his drop out of the shotgun, Dobbs stepped up into the pocket as he surveyed the field, then stopped on a dime with nowhere to go with the ball. Simultaneously, O’Connell watched everything unfold, a stoic look on his face as he realized the concept he dialed up was covered.The play call was wrong. But the 28-year-old journeyman quarterback made it right. In that moment, Dobbs reversed out of the pocket, beat a defender to the edge and scampered into the end zone for a touchdown to electrifying the home crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium.Meanwhile, on the Vikings sideline, O’Connell literally scratched his head with a look of bewilderment on his face. After shrugging his shoulders in exasperation, he talked into the headset, proclaiming, “I don...

Loons CEO Shari Ballard wants to allay concerns on timing of key sporting hires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

Minnesota United CEO Shari Ballard knows the clock is ticking toward the Loons’ 2024 season — and things need to get done.Last week, the Loons checked their biggest offseason box: hiring a new Chief Soccer Officer in Khaled El-Ahmad. But when the club’s new sporting leader will arrive in Minnesota from Barnsley remains an open question.MNUFC now needs to hire a new head coach — with eight current vacancies in MLS — and El-Ahmad’s involvement in that decision will be limited because he still works full-time for that English third-division club.“I’m impatient by nature, too, and if I were our fans, I’d be going crazy, probably, from an impatience perspective, and I get it because people care,” Ballard said during a video call Wednesday with reporters. “I don’t love (the timing), but am I losing sleep over it? Absolutely not.”Ballard said she was willing to make a short-term “tradeoff” when it came to the big picture of El-Ahmad’s hiring and the short-term issue with his un...

Jesse Wegman: We waited 200 years for this Supreme Court ethics code?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

On first impulse, I was tempted to say something nice about the Supreme Court’s first-ever ethics code, which the justices released on Monday after years of pleas from the American public and lawmakers of both parties. But the most striking thing about the code was its resentful tone: call it the condescension of the unelected.In responding to the widespread outrage that has followed detailed news reports of repeated and egregious ethical violations — most notably by two of its most senior justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — the court chose to gaslight the American people, upon whom it depends for its legitimacy.“The absence of a code,” the court wrote in a sniffy, one-paragraph opening statement, “has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the justices of this court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules.”As Alito might say, not true. The only misunderstanding here (a willful one, it seems) is on the part ...

Bencivenga, Fugh-Berman: Menopause is not a disability. Why are employers being asked to treat it like one?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:46:14 GMT

Menopause is not a disease and not a disability, but you wouldn’t know that from recent articles about how employers should offer menopause-specific benefits to employees. The end of childbearing potential may be celebrated or mourned, but cessation of the menstrual cycle is not a medically important event. Sure, some women have hot flashes (also called vasomotor symptoms), and for a minority of women those hot flashes are troublesome. But the idea that workplace modifications are needed for occasional sweating episodes is peculiar. The only other symptom definitively linked to menopause is vaginal dryness, for which it is difficult to imagine workplace relevance.Most menopausal women don’t experience bothersome symptoms. But if one attributes every aging-related or life-related symptom to menopause, the prevalence of bothersome symptoms rises rapidly. A report on menopause and the workplace from the National Menopause Foundation, in partnership with Bank of America, fou...