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Drive-thru holiday lights experience coming to Six Flags Great America

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

GURNEE, Ill. — Whimsical lights and winter characters await Six Flags Great America amusement park-goers in celebration of the most wonderful time of the year. World of Illumination's Arctic Adventure, a drive-through lights experience inside the Gurnee area park, opens on select nights from Nov. 17 through Dec. 31. Cedar Fair and Six Flags will merge to create a playtime powerhouse in North America With valid admission to Arctic Adventures, families can enter the Carousel Lights & Market for holiday treats, photo ops, and décor in Carousel Plaza and Orleans Place. Six Flags Season Passes and Legacy Memberships will not be accepted as forms of admission, however. Tickets start at $39.99. Guests interested in going can save 20% on tickets through Nov. 10 using the discount SFGA.The light display will operate rain or shine. Six Flags Great America closing two attractions, preparing for ‘future expansion’ Click here for more information.

Riverdale mayor indicted on perjury, obstruction charges in federal court

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

RIVERDALE, Ill. — A federal indictment has been filed against Village of Riverdale Mayor Lawrence Jackson.He was charged with one count of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. Riverdale mayor accused of ‘stacking the deck’ in yearslong garbage dispute Jackson has been in the spotlight for years in connection to a legal fight over garbage pickup in the south suburb. For years, Jackson has been under tight surveillance. In May 2022, the FBI raided the Jackson's house. A day before the raid, federal prosecutors sent a subpoena to the Village of Riverdale for business records related to tri-state disposal, a waste management company located at 138th and Ashland.At one time, the company was contracted by the village for garbage pick-up.Now, suspicions about the village and Jackson's alleged illegal business practices are exposed in a federal indictment filed on Nov. 1. As WGN Investigates reported last year, Tri-State Disposal filed a 2018 civil lawsuit against Jackson and...

Florida man charged after threatening World Jewish Congress, DOJ says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

(The Hill) – The Department of Justice (DOJ) says a Florida man has been arrested and charged with calling the World Jewish Congress and threatening to kill Jewish people, part of a recent spike in antisemitic incidents.In a news release on Thursday, federal authorities said Deep Alpesh Kumar Patel, of Sarasota, was charged with transmitting an interstate threat to injure. According to the criminal compliant, Patel allegedly called the World Jewish Congress headquarters in New York City on October 21 and left a threatening voicemail message.  “If I had a chance, I would kill every single one of you Israelis,” he allegedly said, also identifying himself by name. “Every single one of you! Cause mass genocide of every single Israeli.”When authorities arrived at his residence, Patel confirmed that he called the organization but denied making any threats towards them. “When the officers asked Patel to describe the content of the telephone calls, he explained that he had ca...

White House announces plans for anti-Islamophobia strategy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — As the White House announced plans to develop a national strategy to combat Islamophobia, leaders in the Muslim community say they need more action following an surge in domestic threats."Islamophobia will continue to grow unless the violence overseas, which is fueling bigotry and unrest, stops," Council on American-Islamic Relations civil rights attorney Edward Ahmed Mitchell saidFederal law enforcement reported a surge in threats to both Muslim and Jewish communities since the war between Hamas and Israel erupted. "We've received 774 complaints in the two weeks after Oct. 7 — that's a 245% increase," Mitchell said.He said reckless rhetoric from Washington has made Muslims a target."A few weeks ago, the administrations language was not even recognizing the humanity of Palestinians or the suffering that Muslims in America were experiencing," Mitchell said.The White House this week announced that the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice are working with...

White Sox hire former big league infielder Paul Janish as director of player development

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Former major league infielder Paul Janish is the Chicago White Sox' new director of player development.The team announced the hire Thursday. Janish, 41, takes over for Chris Getz, who became the team's senior vice president/general manager this past summer. On White Sox World Series title anniversary, Bobby Jenks gets a new baseball job in Chicagoland Janish has been on staff for Rice's baseball team since August 2017 and served as associate head coach for the Owls — where he was a member of the program's 2003 College World Series title — the past two seasons.Janish played in 473 big league games in nine seasons. He was with Cincinnati from 2008-11, Atlanta from 2012-13 and Baltimore from 2015-17."Paul brings a wealth of experience to our organization," Getz said. “He has lived every step of the development ladder.”

At 15, she needs special education and homebound services to learn. For weeks, she got neither

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Madalyn Betts has spent most of her life in special education classrooms, working through the challenges of having dyslexia, a speech impairment, and being on the autism spectrum. At 12, her aunt passed from a medical condition, and her grandmother died from coronavirus during the pandemic. Their deaths had a huge impact on Maddie. Her psychologist diagnosed her with social phobia and depression. She stopped going to Covington Middle School. Instead, she learned from her house as part of the Austin Independent School District homebound program. “Her anxiety popped up, and she was almost agoraphobic about going out,” Maddie’s mom Donna Betts said.  ‘She was struggling’: Austin ISD still working to finish delayed special education evaluations From home, the school’s special education services were inconsistent. State investigators with the Texas Education Agency found when Maddie was in seventh grade, the district violated special education requiremen...

Man sentenced after fatal Austin apartment complex shooting

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Wednesday, a man was convicted and sentenced in connection with a 2021 fatal shooting at a southeast Austin apartment.According to Travis County court documents, a judge sentenced 20-year-old Jeremiah Crayton to serve 18 years in state prison for murder. RELATED: 18-year-old arrested in connection with murder at southeast Austin apartment The murder charge was in connection with the death of 19-year-old Eshmell Mendez, which occurred in the 2000 block of East Slaughter Lane on April 29, 2021.Mendez’s murder was Austin’s 28th homicide of 2021, according to past coverage.As of Thursday, Crayton remained in the Travis County jail.

Harris County warns border bill could raise local taxes, overcrowd jails

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- As the state's largest county deals with already-overcrowded jails, some county leaders are concerned the legislature's latest proposal to prosecute illegal immigration could incarcerate even more nonviolent residents and increase the cost of housing inmates.House Bill 4 would create a new state crime for illegally entering Texas from a foreign nation, punishable by a Class B misdemeanor or state jail felony for repeat offenders. In a county of immigrants like Harris County, Commissioner Adrian Garcia worries the bill could target nonviolent immigrants and further burden local jails."It is going to make things worse, and we at the local level will ultimately end up footing the bill for it," Commissioner Garcia told Nexstar on Thursday. "This will just shut down jail operations and create a greater public safety concern versus focusing on violent and dangerous criminals."Garcia, who served as Harris County Sheriff from 2009 to 2015, said the Sheriff's Office is al...

Kaitlin Armstrong Day 2: State plays doorbell video where gunshots are heard

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Prosecutors will call more witnesses Thursday in the murder trial for Kaitlin Armstrong, who's accused of shooting and killing pro cyclist Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson in May 2022.Both sides delivered opening statements Wednesday morning. The state outlined a timeline of evidence gathered from phone and GPS records of Armstrong and Wilson's actions leading up to the shooting. Prosecutors also discussed the relationship between Armstrong, Wilson and Armstrong's then-boyfriend Colin Strickland. Day one of the Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial wraps up The defense's primary argument appears to be the notion that even though there is surveillance of gunshots and her Jeep, there is no camera footage of Armstrong actually shooting Wilson."I want to talk to you about what you didn’t hear about," defense attorney Geoffrey Puryear said. "Not one witness saw Kaitlin Armstrong allegedly commit this murder because there isn’t one."Wilson's brother Matt was the first to testify. The s...

What's going on with Texas' AI council?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:55 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The surge in artificial intelligence (AI) in the past year influenced the Texas Legislature to establish the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council in the 88th regular session.Set into motion through House Bill 2060, the council is tasked with studying and overseeing the use of AI by Texas state agencies. Its role includes suggesting administrative actions that can be implemented without additional legislative approval and providing recommendations for the 89th Texas Legislature in 2025. READ MORE: UT professors embracing, preparing for AI use in classrooms Members of the council were supposed to be appointed by Oct. 1. However, these appointments have been delayed due to the third special session of the year according to State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, who authored HB 2060."I expect soon after this session is completed that we will have not only this council up and running, but we are continuing to do the work right now," Capriglione said.I...