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Tributes flowing for former Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert  

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

BELLEVILLE, Ill. - Former Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert lost a seven-month battle with cancer this week. He was 67.Family and friends said the former mayor will be known for how much he cared about the Belleville community and for helping the city reach its potential.“He saw potential, and he saw characteristics in people they didn’t even see in themselves,” said Sarah Biermann, current Belleville treasurer.She credits Eckert for inspiring her to run for office.“He lived, ate, breathed the city of Belleville,” Biermann said.Black bunting was draped over the front of Eckert Florist on Thursday. The former mayor was one of the owners of the flower shop. He leaves behind a wife, four children, and four grandchildren. A Missouri doctor’s death is steeped in mystery and speculation. Authorities aren’t talking Friends said as mayor, Eckert would routinely drive the streets before dawn to see if any issues needed to be addressed.“He went on a spell where he walked every ward,” said Deacon...

Fowler, Schauffele break US Open record with 62s at Los Angeles Country Club

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rickie Fowler can always say he was the first to shoot 62 in the U.S. Open.But only by about 15 minutes.Xander Schauffele soon matched him on the North course at Los Angeles Country Club with an 8-under 62 of his own, making Thursday a most extraordinary day for scoring in the major known as the toughest test in golf.Tough meant keeping track of all the birdies in the lowest opening round of scoring in U.S. Open history.“It’s not really what you expect playing a U.S. Open,” Schauffele said. “But monkey see, monkey do. Was just chasing Rickie up the leaderboard. Glad he was just in front me.”Those who came behind them in the afternoon were on the cusp of joining them. Dustin Johnson hit all 13 fairways — a scary thought for the rest of the field — and had a chance at 62 until his 5-iron on the par-3 ninth went into a bunker next to the 18th green. That led to his only bogey and a somew...

Denver school board reverses 2020 ban on police in schools, paving way for long-term return of SROs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

A divided Denver school board on Thursday reversed its 2020 policy prohibiting armed police on campuses, paving the way for officers’ long-term return in a move that capped months of debate over how to respond to the shooting inside East High School. The seven-member board was split in its decision, voting 4-3 to reinstate school resource officers, or SROs, at Denver Public Schools following the temporary suspension of its ban earlier this spring.In doing so, Colorado’s largest school district has joined a handful of others across the United States in rolling back policies enacted amid the national racial reckoning that occurred three years ago after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis.The policy adopted on Thursday supersedes the board’s 2020 resolution and directs Superintendent Alex Marrero to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Denver Police Department regarding the presence of officers on both district-run and ch...

Keeler: How Nuggets’ run to NBA title inspired Denver man to find his feet again: “Those guys have no idea how much this means to me.”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

Greg Hatter turned up Thursday to say thanks. Not because the Nuggets gave him a reason to party. Because they gave him a reason to live.“It’s funny. They look at me like, ‘You had a stroke?’” Hatter chuckled Thursday after watching Denver’s first-ever NBA championship victory celebration at Civic Center Park. “I say back, ‘Hey, I may look like a Lamborghini, but inside, at times, I look like a Yugo.”That engine’s purring again, thanks to a lot of love. A lot of hands. A lot of prayers. And this basketball team of tough, smart, misfit toys, led by a Serbian bear who passes like a point guard.“Watching the Nuggets and what they’ve been doing, this has been an inspiration for me,” Hatter said proudly. “As the they got going, I was growing stronger, too.”He felt strong enough Thursday morning to slap fives with Christian Braun and Jack White as they passed. He looked up at Jamal Murray, puffing away at another victory cigar, and saw a little of himself.“I didn’t know if I would make it...

Kyle Freeland roughed up, Braves beat Rockies 8-3 in series opener in Atlanta

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

Kyle Freeland’s stone-faced look as he walked off the mound said it all.The Rockies southpaw, who earlier in the season was the lone dependable pillar in the club’s battered rotation, got roughed up Thursday in the series opener against the Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta.Freeland was tagged for seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, and the offense was unable to string together quality at-bats as the Braves beat the Rockies 8-3. Freeland’s given up at least five earned runs in three of his last six starts.“I wasn’t getting ahead in the count.. and I didn’t do a good job getting in the bottom of the zone,” Freeland told reporters. “When you elevate the ball, they can hit it hard, and that’s what they did. With a lineup like that, they’re extremely capable of exposing bad pitches and missed locations, and that’s what they did.”After both teams went one-two-three in the opening inning, the offenses woke up in the second. ...

$50,000 reward offered in fatal hit-and-run that killed 68-year-old man in South L.A.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department are asking for the public for information related to a fatal hit-and-run crash in Historic South-Central Los Angeles that killed a 68-year-old bicyclist.  The deadly collision occurred on April 13 at around 3:35 a.m. as a dark colored 2007-2010 Chevrolet Tahoe was traveling eastbound on Adams Boulevard from Trinity Street and rear-ended the victim, identified by police as Salvador Gonzalez Arechiga, as he was riding his bicycle.  The driver of the SUV continued eastbound on Adams Boulevard at a high rate of speed, failing to stop, identify himself or attempt to render aid to the 68-year-old, who was thrown from his bike, causing severe life-threatening injuries.  Personnel with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene and transported Arechiga to the hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.  Arechiga’s family described the 68-year-old, nicknamed Chava, as a beloved husband, father of two and...

Las Vegas police set up cameras at house where family called 911 to report aliens

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

Las Vegas Metro police set up cameras in the yard of the family who called 911 to report an alien sighting, the department confirmed to the 8 News Now Investigators.On April 30 around 11:50 p.m., a Las Vegas Metro police officer’s body camera video recorded as something streaked low across the sky. Several people across eastern California, Nevada and Utah reported seeing the flash, according to the American Meteor Society.About 40 minutes later, a young man called 911, saying he and his family saw something fall from the sky and that there were two moving things in his northwest valley backyard.“There’s like an 8-foot person beside it and another one is inside us and it has big eyes and it’s looking at us — and it’s still there,” the caller told a dispatcher around 12:30 a.m. on May 1. “They’re like 8 foot, 9 feet, 10 foot. They look like aliens to us. Big eyes. They have big eyes. Like, I can’t explain it, and big mouth. They’re shiny eyes and they’re human. They’re 100% not human....

Burglars target bitcoin ATMs in Pleasant Hill twice in 2 weeks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

PLEASANT HILL, Calif. (KRON) -- Twice in two weeks, thieves targeted bitcoin ATMs in Pleasant Hill. Watch the video player above to see an image of the vehicle police are looking for in the latest burglary.Early last Thursday morning, a dark-colored pick-up truck in Pleasant Hill backed up to the front of a liquor store on Contra Costa Boulevard, and it appears two suspects hopped out. The business owner says the burglars cut through a lock and side panel to get inside."They stole cartons of cigarettes and liquor that were in the store's part of its normal business," said Brian Leonard of the Pleasant Hill Police Department (PHPD). Manfred comments on A’s reverse boycott, move to Vegas; Oakland mayor responds The suspects ransacked the place -- causing costly damage to the store which was still recovering from a previous burglary. The thieves also spent time trying to steal the bitcoin ATM inside -- giving up because the ATM was too difficult to move and got spooked when the secu...

Tigers beat Twins 8-4 for second victory in 13 games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Javier Báez and Spencer Torkelson each had two hits and drove in two runs to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 8-4 on Thursday night for just their second victory in 13 games.Matt Vierling was 3 for 3 with a run and an RBI for the Tigers. They have scored at least five runs in a season-high five straight games.“I think all in all, falling behind and still maintaining our discipline, drawing a couple of walks, trying to work the ball to the middle, we drove the ball to the opposite field … a lot of guys did some good things,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.Matthew Boyd (4-5) survived a four-run second inning for the victory. He walked one and struck out eight over six innings.“More than anything, I knew I had good stuff today,” Boyd said, “so we were just going to stay the course, keep attacking the way we can. Just because they hit a few mistakes and it worked out, I’m not going to change what the gameplan is.”Donovan Solano homered for the Tw...

Live updates | Dustin Johnson’s errant shot on final hole leaves him 2 shots off US Open lead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:53 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Follow along for live updates on the opening round of the 123rd U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.___DJ & RoryFormer U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson was making a run at record-setters and co-leaders Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele when an errant tee shot on his final hole led to his only bogey of the opening round, leaving him two shots off the lead.Johnson, who won the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, started on No. 10 at the Los Angeles Country Club and moved to 7 under — one shot behind Fowler and Schauffele — with a birdie on his 17th hole, the par-5 8th. But his tee shot on the par-3 9th went into a bunker on the adjacent 18th and he closed with a bogey for a 64, tying him with Wyndham Clark.Rory McIlroy, who won the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, got to 6 under with a birdie on the par-3 15th but closed with consecutive pars and then his only bogey. He ended up in thick rough near the 18th hole and failed to advance the ball on his first attempt. H...