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Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day: Chicago communities differ on holiday change

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

CHICAGO — Monday marked a holiday that means different things to different people — Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day — depending on who you ask. Many still celebrate Christopher Columbus, while others remember lives forever changed by colonialism. Across Chicago, the Columbus Day Parade marched on, even as many have moved on from celebrating the explorer. The city, county and state all observe Columbus Day even as communities shift towards Indigenous Peoples Day. Italian-American groups marked the day with statues of Columbus in storage."We all stand here together in unity so that we can be proud and share our pride," said Ron Onesti with the Joint Civic Community of Italian-Americans. Italian Americans in Little Village's Arrigo Park called on city leaders Monday to reinstall the Columbus statues."Monuments and statues are important," Onesti said. "Merely concrete and bronze. It’s the feelings. It’s the passion. It’s what we stand for. It’s what they stand for." In 2020, the...

Plans for migrant shelter at Amundsen Park  put on hold, mayor says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

CHICAGO — The Amundsen Park advisory council and neighbors rallied Monday to protest plans to use the park's fieldhouse as a migrant shelter.The city had planned to house 200 people at the park district facility near Austin and Narragansett in the Galewood neighborhood for at least six months. It would have become the seventh Chicago Park District facility to be turned into a migrant shelter.Many called on Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to develop a better plan. Early Monday evening, just days away from the possibility of hundreds of migrants calling Amundsen Park their temporary home, the city has opted to change course. "The move to Amundsen Park is currently on hold," the mayor's office told WGN News.Since last year, more than 18,000 migrants from Texas have been bused into the city. As of October, more than 10,000 migrants live in shelters, with about 3,500 awaiting placement.At various CPD districts, nearly 2,800 migrants remain — more than 700...

3 teens charged in connection with string of robberies on North, Northwest sides

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

CHICAGO — Charges have been filed against three teen boys accused in a string of robberies on the city's North and Northwest sides, police said.Police say the boys are accused of stealing property from three businesses in Albany Park, Lake View and North Center on Sunday afternoon.According to Chicago police, the three 15-year-old boys were arrested only two hours after the alleged robberies took place. Emergency crews respond after home explodes in Woodstock Police say the boys were arrested in the 3400 block of North Lincoln Avenue just after 5 p.m.Officers say the alleged robberies happened in the 4700 block of North Kedzie Avenue in Albany Park, the 1800 block of West Irving Park Road in North Center, and the 3300 block of North Lincoln Avenue in Lake View. Police did not provide details on what was stolen from the businesses or at the specific times the robberies occurred.All three teens were charged with three felony counts of robbery.Police have not identified anyone charge...

US employees spend $51 daily when they work full-time in office, study says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

(KTLA) -- Employees in the U.S. who have returned to the office full-time are paying a lot to get there, a new study says.The annual “State of Work” report, conducted by videoconferencing company Owl Labs, found that about 66% of employees nationwide have returned to the office five days a week, or full-time, but spend $51 per day when they work in person.Researchers found that, on average, people spend:$16 on lunch$14 on commuting$13 on breakfast and coffee$8 on parkingOn average, workers with pets spend $20 more monthly than their counterparts, bringing their daily total to $71. Chicago is 4th most livable city in US Employees who report to the office five days a week spend about $1,020 every month on average. In comparison, workers who have a hybrid schedule spend $408 a month on office attendance costs, the study found.“There’s no question” working from the office is "wildly more expensive” today than it was pre-pandemic, Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, told CNBC.To combat t...

GOP goes 'behind closed doors' to choose next Speaker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- A new Speaker of the House of Representatives could be selected within the next few days -- but only if Republicans can put aside their differences and unite behind a candidate.And now, for the first time since he was ousted as Speaker, Kevin McCarthy is not ruling out returning to the role.However, House Republicans say this Speaker election will be different than the one in January when it took 15 rounds to elect McCarthy. Colorado Republican Ken Buck doesn't want a repeat."It's better to play out in private where the cameras aren't on and we don't have people trying to get attention," Buck said. "For those folks who think we're projecting a chaotic image, it makes a lot more sense to do this behind closed doors."After the war broke out between Israel and Hamas, McCarthy said the House needs a Speaker as soon as possible. He left the door open to returning to the role."Whether I'm Speaker or not I'm a member of this body. I know what history it's had. And I...

Two in hospital after downtown Austin shooting early Monday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police said two people were in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries after a shooting early Monday morning in downtown Austin. Police said a Department of Public Safety trooper witnessed the shooting. According to APD, the DPS trooper saw the shooting around 1:30 a.m. near the intersection at East Seventh Street and the Interstate 35 service road. The drivers left the scene, APD said, and one of them was stopped in the 2200 block of Interstate 35. Later, APD said it received a report that two people were at the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Further investigation showed they were connected with the shooting.Austin Police did not give any other information about the people involved other than that officers were investigating. Police closed East Seventh Street at Red River Street for the investigation until 4:30 a.m. Monday.

'Execution style, they were defenseless:' Austin family's relative killed in Israel attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN)—Moshe S. has been in his living room, eyes glued to Israeli news coverage since the weekend. By him on the couch, are posters of his cousin's fiancé, Imbar Tzur and cousin Hillel Zalmnovich. "He [Imbar Tzur] was missing for like 24 hours until they found his body and two other friends next to a car," Sananes said. According to Moshe, Tszur was killed my Hamas Palestinian militants. Moshe said Tszur was 26-years-old and was attending a music festival in Israel when the first attack over the weekend happened. 'Pure evil'"They were hiding behind the car and the terrorists came and just shot them, execution style," Moshe said. "They were defenseless." Austin rabbi reacts to outbreak of Israel-Hamas war Moshe and his wife are still waiting to see where their cousin Zalmnovich is. They said he is still missing. "This is evil, pure evil," Moshe said. "That's the only word I can say. "We are not talking here about freedom fighters...civilians are being slaughtered and butche...

Watch out! ATCEMS talks scooter accidents ahead of second week of ACL

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Scooters are a popular way for many people to get around Austin, especially during big weekends like Austin City Limits."Scooters have been the way to go," said Jackie Amato, who is in town for ACL.Amato said hopping on a scooter is much faster than waiting for an UBER, and she said it's much cheaper."Uber is very expensive so the scooters have been coming in and really helping us get around a lot quicker," Amato said.Joe Hernandez has used scooters as well, but he has mixed feelings."They are convenient when you are using them and when you are using them safely, but they can also be dangerous."In October 2022, Austin-Travis County EMS responded to 23 scooter-related incidents involving injuries. So far this October, they have responded to six scooter related injuries.Medics tells KXAN injuries from these accidents vary from things like minor cuts and bruises to more serious injuries. Austin trauma surgeon says 95% of traumatic scooter injuries involve alcohol "The...

Prominent Twin Cities attorney charged with hitting construction worker on I-35 in Pine County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

PINE CITY, Minn. — The head of a prominent Twin Cities personal injury law firm was intoxicated and acknowledged taking sleeping pills before injuring a construction worker in a hit-and-run crash Friday, authorities said.James Patrick Carey, 64, of Edina, was arraigned Monday morning on four charges in the Interstate 35 collision near Hinckley. The president and managing partner of SiebenCarey was expected to be released from custody a short time later, having spent the weekend in the Pine County Jail.Carey, according to a criminal complaint, claimed he was not aware he hit the worker, though he acknowledged leaving the scene, and authorities said he showed signs of impairment.James Patrick CareyThe complaint says the worker, Joseph Gregory Flanagan, 27, of Duluth, was wearing a high-visibility vest and had just finished removing cones from one of the northbound lanes. He was walking on a dirt shoulder toward his truck when he was clipped by the passing vehicle around 11:40 a.m.A tr...

Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood to lead affordable homebuilding at The Heights in St. Paul

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:54 GMT

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, husband-and-wife grandmasters of country music, are coming to St. Paul to build affordable housing.Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit homebuilder and home lender based in St. Paul, will host the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project in the fall of 2024 with a construction project at The Heights, the new development taking shape in the former Hillcrest Golf Course on the city’s East Side.The annual Carter Work Project event has landed in different cities annually for the past 40 years, celebrating the charitable homebuilding works of President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. As the Carters have retired from public life, Brooks and Yearwood have agreed to continue the Carters’ legacy as event hosts.The celebration, which brings together thousands of volunteers, celebrities and elected officials, has traveled to 14 countries. It last came to the Twin Cities in 2010.Twin Cities Habitat plans to build up to 150 homes ...