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‘Corruption toll’: Federal jury convicts 4 at bribery trial

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal jurors on Tuesday convicted all four defendants of bribery conspiracy at their trial in Chicago that provided an inside look at pay-to-play politics in Illinois that prosecutors said involved the state’s largest electric utility and, at the time, one of its most powerful politicians.It’s a resounding win for U.S. prosecutors in one of the biggest corruption trials in Illinois since former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 in the same federal courthouse, including on charges he sought to sell President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat. During a month and a half of testimony, prosecutors sought to prove two former ComEd executives, a former utility consultant and a longtime government insider arranged contracts, jobs and money for associates of then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan — once one of the nation’s most powerful legislators — to ensure proposed bills boosting ComEd profits became law.Madigan, 81, has been indicted in t...

BNSF tracks back in service after Wisconsin dedrailment

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — Railroad tracks damaged after a BNSF Railway freight train derailed in southwestern Wisconsin have been repaired and returned to service, rail and government officials say.BNSF contractors made repairs and reopened the line Saturday, BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent said.“They’ve got that all repaired and they’re at full speed already, running rail overnight,” Craig Thompson, secretary of Wisconsin Department of Transportation, told the La Crosse Tribune.Thursday’s derailment in Crawford County involved two of the train’s three locomotives and 10 cars carrying a variety of freight, including paint and lithium-ion batteries, Kent said. Four railway employees received minor injuries. The Federal Rail Administration is investigating the derailment.Crawford County Emergency Management Specialist Marc Myhre said about 20 BNSF Railway cars were involved.Two cars went into the Mississippi River, but neither contained hazardous materials, Kent said. Some of the containers t...

Money Mexican migrants sent home rose by 11.4% in Q1

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexicans living abroad sent home a total of almost $14 billion in the first three months of 2023, an 11.4% increase over the same period of 2022, the country’s central bank said Tuesday. While still considerable, the rate of growth in remittances appears to be slowing, after large pandemic-era increases in 2022 and 2021. In March, remittances for the month were actually down 1.2% compared to the same month last year. That may be related to the Feb. 28 decision by the government to stop accepting remittances through the government-owned Bienestar bank. The government said the decision was made to avoid duplicating the functions of another government transfer office. But some experts said it was a reaction to signs that drug cartels may have been using remittances through the Bienestar bank to launder money. The Bienestar bank has not yet responded to questions about reports that there had been a surge in remittances sent through the bank to the cartel-dominat...

Vancouver city council plans pilot project to test car-free Gastown for pedestrians

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Vancouver is planning to eliminate weekend car traffic from the main thoroughfare of its historic Gastown neighbourhood as early as this summer, a city councillor announced Tuesday.Sarah Kirby-Yung said she will introduce a motion on May 9 for a “people-focused Gastown,” which will include plans for a pilot project to shut down Water Street to car traffic on weekends starting as early as summer 2023. The results will inform the city’s plans for Gastown, which may involve removing car traffic from the neighbourhood permanently in the future, Kirby-Yung said. “The centrepiece of the vision includes pedestrianizing Water Street, looking at the options to make it either car-free or car-light on a seasonal or on a year-round basis,” she said during a news conference in Gastown, surrounded by Mayor Ken Sim and other ABC council members.“As (we’ve) seen with so many cities around the world, we have the potential to make Gastown truly a destination ...

7 dead, more than 30 hospitalized in I-55 crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

DIVERNON, Ill. (AP/WGN) — Both lanes of I-55 reopened Tuesday morning hours after a windstorm in central Illinois causing numerous crashes that killed at least seven people Monday, police said.Seven people were killed in a 72-car pileup late Monday morning near mile marker 76, between Diveron and Farmersville, about 20 miles south of Springfield. Multiple tractor-trailers were among the vehicles involved, two of which caught fire, Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said.I-55 was shut down in both directions in Montgomery County, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of St. Louis.More than 30 people on both sides of I-55 were transported to hospitals with injuries.Those hurt in the crash range in age from 2 to 80 and have injuries from minor to life-threatening, police said. One of the seven people killed was Shirley Harper, 88, of Franklin, Wisconsin, police said.Authorities held a news conference Tuesday morning and said they are seeking the public's help to identify two of the vic...

Non-profit offering temporary housing for migrants stuck in limbo after CPD orders

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — In a city feeling the weight of an influx of migrants coming into the United States, a Chicago non-profit was ready to step in and help.Until — in their words — they couldn't.United Legion One Nation (ULON), came to the Chicago Police Department's 3rd District Tuesday to offer their resource center as temporary housing for migrants, who are currently camping out in the breezeway entrance to the police station."It looks like a third-world country," said Pete Keller, founder of ULON. ‘We simply have no more shelters:’ Lightfoot implores Abbott to stop sending migrants Keller told WGN, at ULON's resource center just two blocks from CPD's 3rd District police station, "they have heat. They have two TVs. They have a spacious area, a jumpy house for kids. Coloring books, everything you would need to keep and sustain a family."And as Keller and other volunteers prepared to help move migrants from the police station, they were stopped."From what we were told, the higher-ups tol...

Police, IDPH respond to 'severe staffing concern' at nursing home in northern suburbs

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. — Three people are in the hospital after police in the northern suburbs and the Illinois Department of Public Health received reports of what police called "a severe staffing concern" at a nursing home Monday.The Lincolnshire Police Department said they received the report shortly after 9 a.m., with the Wealshire LLC rehabilitation facility found at 150 Jamestown Lane being cited as the nursing home having a severe staffing concern.After arriving at the nursing home, police found the establishment is typically staffed with over 60 employees, but only one-third of staff members were present at the time for work.According to IDPH, when their staff arrived, the facility medical director told them no nursing or other clinical staff were on duty at the facility.Lincolnshire PD worked in conjunction with Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Fire Protection District (LRFPD) to address the situation, and LRFPD took three individuals to Advocate Condell Medical Center for medical treat...

St. Andrew teacher wins prestigious Golden Apple Award

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — From the outside, it seemed like a typical Tuesday at St. Andrew School in Lakeview. But inside, students and staff came together with eager anticipation to let 6th grade teacher Rachel Werderits in on a big secret.She’s the recipient of the prestigious Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching."Students talked about her riding her bike and running by their houses and writing notes to each of her students in chalk and also problems on the sidewalk," said Alan Mather, President of the Golden Apple Foundation. "And so, when they’d get on Zoom, it was like 'whose house did she visit today?'"Werderits has taught at St. Andrew for 14 years, and she’s known since the fifth grade that this was her calling."I started taking chalk from school and using the back of my bedroom door as a chalkboard and I taught imaginary lessons in my bedroom," Werderits said.And on Tuesday, all her hard work paid off."I am very humbled and honored to be recognized," Werderits said. "The challenge...

Underwater 19th-century hospital, graveyard uncovered in Florida Keys

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

KEY WEST, Fla. (WFLA) — Archaeologists have found the remains of a 19th-century quarantine hospital on what was once an above-sea island in the Florida Keys, according to the National Park Service.Monday, Dry Tortugas National Park announced the discovery of the archaeological site near Garden Key. It was found as part of a survey first conducted in August 2022 by cultural resources staff, the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center, the Southeast Archeological Center, and a University of Miami graduate student. Federal judge rules Pennsylvania school district must allow After School Satan Club Park officials said the hospital was used to treat yellow fever patients from Fort Jefferson between 1890 and 1900.So far, only one grave has been identified. Officials said it belonged to laborer John Greer, who died on Nov. 5, 1861, of unknown causes while working at Fort Jefferson. According to the National Park Service, Greer's grave was a headstone-shaped slab of greywacke, ...

How the Clean Air Force of Central Texas started

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Clean Air Force of Central Texas got its start in 1994 when Clean Air Metro Austin became the Austin AIR Force. The organization was renamed to its present moniker early in 1996.This group has one goal in mind and that is clean air for all in Central Texas.They partner with 38 organizations from various walks of life. Some of their partners are educational institutions, including the Austin Independent School District, Austin Community College and the University of Texas at Austin. They also partner with governmental agencies and environmental groups.KXAN's Rich Segal spoke with Clean Air Force of Central Texas Executive Director Bill Gibbs. One of the things they discussed was to define what particulate matter is. It is, at times, a part of the KXAN Air Quality Forecast.One source of pride for the organization is that Austin is always in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards.