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‘Positive attitude and a smile’ again put to test for Heat’s Oladipo on eve of surgery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

As Victor Oladipo moves toward surgery later this week for the torn patellar tendon in his left knee sustained in Saturday’s playoff victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra offered a window into the previous relentless approach by the guard from such procedures.“I think all these times behind the scenes, when no one is watching, I feel like I’ve had a front-row seat at that on all these off days the last three years, on weekends, when no one is here, but he’s on the training table and then working his way to the weight room,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat hosting the Bucks on Monday night at Kaseya Center in Game 4 of their best-of-seven opening-round series. “And it’s usually like a four- or five-hour process, and then finishing up with all the post-rehab work after working out.”This will be the third major procedure Oladipo will attempt to return from during his Heat tenure, since being acquired in March 202...

'Uncontainable excitement': 18-year-old captures northern lights over Illinois

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

APPLE RIVER, Ill. — An 18-year-old storm chaser from the suburbs didn't have to go to far to find majestic beauty in the sky Sunday night.When Landon Moeller, of Schaumburg, heard he'd have the chance to see the northern lights in the area and not the Arctic Circle, he'd got in his car and headed west for about an hour and 45 minutes to Apple River, Illinois."I got to just outside Apple River at 9:30 p.m. I specifically chose this spot because I was actively trying to avoid extensive cloud cover and light pollution to the east towards Chicago and it paid off," Moeller told WGN News.The northern lights were viewable in Illinois due to a coronal mass ejection and a minor solar flare happened Friday night, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.Within about ten minutes, this sight greeted Moeller, who used a Nikon Z6 II to capture the images.The sky at around 9:40 p.m., courtesy Landon MoellerFrom there, the lights got more intense before a "substorm expansion" from around...

Singer R. Kelly moved to North Carolina prison from Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

BUTNER, N.C. (AP) — Singer R. Kelly was moved from a Chicago correctional center to a medium-security prison in North Carolina last week, according to federal officials. Robert Sylvester Kelly was transferred from the Metropolitan Correctional Center Chicago to the federal correctional institution in Butner, North Carolina, on April 19, Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Benjamin O’Cone said Monday via email. R. Kelly sentenced to additional year on top of previous conviction, 19 concurrent years in child porn, sex crime case   The bureau doesn’t disclose the reasons for inmate transfers due to privacy, safety and security reasons, he wrote. In February, a federal judge in Chicago sentenced the 56-year-old Grammy Award-winning R&B singer to 20 years in prison for child pornography and enticement of minors for sex. He will serve all but one of those simultaneously with a separate 30-year sentence on racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York. Read more: Lates...

Five $1 million lottery wins in Illinois remain unclaimed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

ILLINOIS — The clock is ticking for five lottery-made millionaires to claim their prizes in Illinois.Two Mega Millions tickets, two Lucky Day Lotto tickets, and one Lotto ticket, all worth at least $1 million dollars, still have not been claimed, according to the Illinois Lottery's website. Winners have one year from the date of the drawing before they lose their winnings. Activists call to a raise minimum wage for tipped workers in Chicago All five tickets are from 2023 and were sold on the following dates in the listed locations:January 14 Mega Millions - 7-Eleven, 847 N. Dodge Ave. Evanston, IL 60202March 16 Lucky Day Lotto - Walmart, 1100 S. Randall Rd. Elgin, IL 60123April 8 Lucky Day Lotto - Family Pantry, 9259 Waukegan Rd. Morton Grove, IL 60053April 14 Lotto - BP Amoco, 5548 W. 159th St. Oak Forest, IL 60452April 15 Mega Millions - Circle K, 460 S. Mclean Blvd. Elgin, IL 60123Additionally, five prizes from the Jackpot and Daily Game list worth at least $100,000 are also li...

Activists call to raise minimum wage for tipped workers in Chicago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

CHICAGO — Restaurant workers and union activists are advocating for a raise in minimum wage for tipped workers in Chicago and across the country. One Fair Wage is calling to raise the minimum wage to $15 for tipped employees. While the city of Chicago states it has a minimum wage of $15, it does not apply to tipped workers.In Illinois, tipped workers have a minimum wage of $7.80 an hour, and nationally, a wage of $2.13 an hour, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy, all stores set to close "That has been a big problem for a population that is overwhelming women, disproportionately women of color and we have the highest rate of single moms of any occupation in the United States, in Illinois and in Chicago," Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage said. Restaurant employees are required to pay for a mandatory food safety certification program every few years, activists said.

Famous Twitter users disavow Musk over verification return

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Celebrities, professional athletes and other high-profile Twitter users are once again being verified by the social media platform and they don't know why their blue check marks reappeared — nor do they seem too happy about it.Twitter removed the blue marks last week from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee. But the check marks mysteriously returned for many highly followed accounts over the weekend, leading some prominent users to disavow what's become a divisive symbol of Twitter owner Elon Musk's erratic changes to the platform.The account belonging to the Auschwitz Memorial, which has 1.5 million followers and regularly tweets out photos and names of Holocaust victims, tweeted on Sunday that after two days of no checkmark “our account got the blue tick back,” but said it was “obliged to clarify that the Memorial never subscribed and paid for the Twitter Blue as it might be implied.”Other high-profile accounts with more than 1 million followers also took to...

Could Barton Springs Pool add more 2-wheel parking?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin's Parks and Recreation Department is gathering community feedback on possible motorcycle parking additions at Barton Springs Pool after some residents expressed concerns over limited spaces.Currently, motorcycle and scooter parking is available near the main entrance to Barton Springs Pool, with parking curbs surrounding the spaces to prevent cars from parking there. However, PARD officials told KXAN there aren't currently any marked spaces for two-wheel vehicles on the south side.Scooter and motorcycle parking (circled in red) available at the main entrance of Barton Springs Pool (Courtesy: Austin Parks and Recreation Department)It comes as some residents emailed into KXAN about motorcycles and scooters being ticketed for illegal parking in the southside lot. A representative for the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department told KXAN motorcyclists and scooters should park in regular spots offered, in the event of no designated two-wheel s...

Anthony Edwards continues to be the guy Timberwolves fans can believe in

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

Anthony Edwards stared into the shallow depths of his locker for five minutes straight without saying a word or moving a muscle after the Timberwolves dropped Game 3 to Denver on Friday.The guard then stood up and exited the locker room without saying a word to anyone, including the media. But there was a message repeatedly running through Edwards’ mind: “I can’t get swept.”“I didn’t want to say I got swept,” the 21-year-old guard said. “I don’t ever want to say I got swept in my career.”So he took Sunday’s Game 4 at Target Center as a personal mission. He would not lose that game. Determining as much by yourself is a tall task, particularly when the opponent is far superior to Edwards’ team. Denver looks primed for a deep postseason run. Throughout much of this first-round playoff series — and, frankly, large chunks of the regular season — Minnesota has appeared primed for an early offseason.It’s difficult to defer t...

Loons still have ‘bad blood’ from ghastly Open Cup upset loss to Omaha last May

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

Minnesota United’s worst MLS-era loss happened 11 months ago, but like most bad times, traumatic memories of it can be easily triggered and come flooding back.The Loons’ third-round U.S. Open Cup game at second-tier Detroit City on Tuesday night conjures up MNUFC’s 2-1 home defeat to third-tier Union Omaha in the 2022 national tournament’s round of 16 last May.“It definitely stuck with us a lot,” Loons fullback D.J. Taylor said Saturday. “I was on the field, so that was a really tough one for me. For the guys, and the club in general, it was really tough on us. We definitely expected to win that game, and we just made a couple of mistakes that led to goals, lousy goals.”Detroit City, of the USL Championship, pulled off their own Open Cup upset a year ago, topping the Columbus Crew 2-1 in the third round. Also last year, Omaha beat Chicago Fire in penalty kicks before knocking off Minnesota.The Loons didn’t play four of their best players against Omaha last year but still took ...

River Falls: Police investigating death of woman from gunshot wound

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:53 GMT

A 47-year-old woman was found dead in River Falls, Wis., just after midnight on Monday, according to the River Falls Police Department.Police say they responded to reports of an unconscious person in the 500 block of Bandle Street in River Falls. When officers arrived, they found the body with an apparent gunshot wound, according to a press release from the River Falls Police Department.There is no current threat to the community, police said. It was not clear whether anyone had been arrested as of Monday afternoon in connection with the woman’s death.“This is an active investigation into the cause of death, and limited information is available to be released at this time,” police said. Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | Medical examiner: Hai Nguyen death ruled a suicide Crime & Public Safety | ‘Pristine’ Menominee forest at risk for lack of workers Crime & Public Safety | New Richmond mourns l...