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Big drop in temps on the way with eventful weather week for Thanksgiving

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

Another gorgeous day with temps which soared into the mid 60s across the area amid gusty SSW winds.It marked the 4th consecutive day Chicagoans enjoyed 100% of their possible sun.  A four day 100% sunny streak last occurred at this time of year 22 years ago in 2001.  To date for the opening 15 days of November 2023, the area has received an average of 71% of its possible sun----158% (i.e. more than one and a half times) the normal amount of sun for the period.ANOTHER WARM DAY is on the way Thursday—from all indications the WARMEST DAY of the current mild spell and quite possibly the  2nd warmest OR WARMEST day of November 2023 to date with a high reaching 68 amid powerful SSW winds ahead of an incoming cold front---winds which are to gust to 35 mph at times.Clouds will be increasing Thursday—but rains with the incoming front are to hold off until after dark.  Those showers may linger into early Friday—but gusty NW winds are to clear skies with high temp...

Eddie V's on Rush set to close early next year

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

CHICAGO — An upscale restaurant in downtown Chicago will close for good after the holidays. Eddie V's Prime Seafood on Rush Street informed its staff on Monday about the decision, saying that the reason behind the impending closure was based on "business conditions in the area, and is not a reflection of the hard work and contributions you made every day to provide an exceptional dining experience for our guests." Located at 521 N. Rush St, the restaurant opened in 2014 as part of a chain with locations in several states.  Metropolitan Brewing in Avondale closing in December Darden Restaurants owns the popular eatery, in addition to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Capital Grille and several casual chains, including Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. A spokesperson for Darden Restaurants told WGN News that Eddie V's employees will have the opportunity to join other restaurants within the company.Eddie V's last day of business will be January 14.

Gen Z losing more money to scams than other age groups, data shows

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Young adults are losing more money to scams than any other age group, according to new data from the Better Business Bureau.Years of data from the BBB and the Federal Trade Commission have shown older adults are prime targets for grifters and in a way, they still are. The latest BBB research shows that while seniors fall for scams more often, Gen Z victims are losing more money."It's somewhat surprising because we've all been, you know, accustomed to hearing that seniors are the biggest targets of scams," said Judy Dollison, the BBB president of central Ohio. "But if you think about it, there's so much happening online. And we're seeing the younger generation really becoming victims of online scams." Zelle banks are reimbursing victims of imposter scams According to the BBB's most recent Scam Tracker Risk Report, the median loss for scam victims aged 18-24 is $220. For victims 65 and older, the median loss is $199.The median loss for victims of all ages is ...

Parents sue after Volkswagen tracking firm refused to find stolen SUV with kidnapped boy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. (WGN) — The parents of a toddler who was kidnapped during a carjacking earlier this year are suing the automaker.The incident happened in Libertyville, Illinois, in February when Taylor Shepherd, who was pregnant at the time, was returning home.Shepherd explained to Nexstar's WGN that as she went to retrieve her 2-year-old son from the car, an assailant pulled up behind her 2021 Volkswagen Atlas, assaulted her, and knocked her to the ground. According to the lawsuit, the assailant then stole the Volkswagen Atlas, with the 2-year-old boy inside, and fled — running Shepherd over and causing serious injuries to her pelvis and extremities. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Men steal car from Libertyville driveway with 2-year-old boy inside, run over pregnant mother Shepherd was still able to call 911, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said earlier this year.Attorneys for the family claim Volkswagen refused to assist authorities in tracking the car until payment of t...

Senate to consider unusual funding package passed by House to avoid shutdown

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- The U.S. House passed a package to prevent a government shutdown. But it's unusual because it funds different agencies through different dates.The Senate will soon be taking up the unusual funding bill the House passed on Tuesday."This latest proposal is very much untested," commented White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says the two-step funding measure is far from perfect, but says he'll work on getting it passed anyway, because it leaves out what Democrats considered the worst provisions."It will avoid a government shutdown and it will do so without any of the cruel cuts or poison pills that the hard right push for," Sen. Schumer said.The White House expressed skepticism about funding some government agencies through January and others through February. Multiple funding deadlines mean there will be more instances where the government could have a partial shutdown. Still, all but two Democrats in the Hou...

Kaitlin Armstrong moves not to testify in her case

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - After eight days of calling witnesses, state prosecutors rested their case against murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong Wednesday morning.Police believe Armstrong shot and killed pro cyclist “Mo” Wilson on May 11, 2022 at an east Austin apartment. Wilson was in town for a nearby gravel race and staying with a friend.  PREVIOUS: Kaitlin Armstrong’s first interview with APD played during murder trial Once defense attorneys finished questioning their witnesses, the jury was excused - and Armstrong and her attorneys approached the judge. At that point, Judge Brenda Kennedy asked Armstrong if she wished to testify and she indicated she did not. State prosecutors called an additional witness after that - a DNA expert. The State’s final witness Tuesday was Pamela Mazak, an intelligence analyst with the Texas Attorney General’s Office. She showed the jury an interactive timeline of events of the day Wilson died by tracking location data on Wilson’s and Armstrong’s phones...

Minnesota adds 20 wild rice lakes and streams to impaired list

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

Minnesota regulators identified another 20 bodies of water used for wild rice production that exceeded the state’s wild rice sulfate water quality standard, placing the 13 lakes and seven streams on its biennial impaired-waters list.In doing so, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency opted to follow the federal Clean Water Act over a 2015 state law that sought to prevent the MPCA from adding impaired wild rice waters to the list and to prevent the agency from enforcing sulfate reduction if it cost the permit holder any money.Sulfates — discharged into water by industrial activities like mining, wastewater treatment and other industrial facilities — at high levels harm wild rice when the sulfate is converted to hydrogen sulfide in the sediment.Minnesota’s sulfate limit for wild rice waters is 10 milligrams per liter, which the mining industry had long argued was too stringent .The 2015 state law was designed to largely prevent the MPCA from enforcing the existing standard until it es...

MN revenue department to reissue 150,000 rebate checks

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

The Minnesota Department of Revenue is reissuing nearly 150,000 one-time tax rebate checks that went uncashed and expired.The department on Wednesday announced it is mailing a first round of unclaimed checks this week. A second batch will go out in the mail in early December.Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in May signed a $3 billion tax bill authorizing an estimated $1.1 billion in one-time tax rebates for more than two million Minnesotans. The final amount ended up being just less than $1 billion.Payments started reaching mailboxes and bank accounts in August and September. People who got checks had 60 days from the issue date to cash them in.Single filers earning up to $75,000 a year were eligible for $260 checks, joint filers earning up to $150,000 were eligible for $520 checks, and households got $260 for each dependent up to three. A married couple with three children could receive up to $1,300.The Revenue Department determined eligibility based on adjusted gross income in 2021.Reissue...

Letters: Is this parking lot another car accident waiting to happen?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

Need a better parking lot designStarbucks needs better parking lot designers. The drive-through on Marshall and Snelling was a foregone conclusion. Now, the Davern and West Seventh Starbucks is another car accident waiting to happen. It doesn’t matter which direction you are coming from, NE, SW, or N, there is only one way in and one way out. The same way out is the way in.On the way out, a driver cannot take a right at the stop sign into the Sibley Plaza parking lot to enter West Seventh, the light northeast of the intersection. The person panhandling on the boulevard obscures the oncoming traffic traveling north on Davern, making a left turn dangerous. How does Starbucks come up with these parking lot designs?Leah Shiely Swenson, Lilydale What’s down there? PeopleIn the Nov. 9 edition of the PiPress, Marilyn Bach raised a concern for the Summit Regional Trail that recently passed the Met Council with overwhelming support. Along with notable opponents Gary Todd, th...

North St. Paul gun heist that turned deadly: Shooter, 18, sentenced for murder

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:08:52 GMT

A teen was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday for fatally shooting a 24-year-old man during a gun heist in North St. Paul.Abo Eshun Essilfie, who turned 18 in September, pleaded guilty in adult court in August to aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder in the June killing of Anthony Robert Rojas, who was shot in the head at his apartment.Abo Eshun Essilfie.(Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)Essilfie, of St. Paul, faced between 23 and 32 years in prison based on state sentencing guidelines. The prosecution requested 27 years, while Essilfie’s attorney asked for a downward departure to 13¾ years. Judge JaPaul Harris granted a departure of 20 years.Most inmates in Minnesota serve two-thirds of their sentence in prison and the remainder on supervised release. Essilfie has credit for 146 days served since his arrest in the case.After the sentencing, one of Rojas’ family members said the sentence was not long enough.“He got off light,” said the family member, who di...