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Chicago man sentenced to over 4 years for bribing city officials

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

CHICAGO -- A Chicago man who bribed two city officials was sentence to more than four years in federal prison on Friday.Roberto Caldero, 70, plead guilty to one count of wire fraud after he admitted to bribing a City of Chicago alderman and a Chicago Public Schools employee for actions to benefits his clients.Caldero's clients were reportedly seeking a custodial services contract at Chicago Public Schools, an honorary street designation, and the renaming of a Chicago Park District park. Video shows Cook County correctional officer beating inmate ‘more than 30 times’ According to the United States Attorney's Office, Caldero offered the CPS employee the prospect of future employment, champagne, discounted event space for a family event, and admission to an annual benefit for a museum.He reportedly tried to arrange for campaign contributions to be made to political organizations affiliated to the Chicago alderman and his ward, but the alderman was cooperating with the FBI.Caldero was...

10-year-old dies after trampoline center fight in California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

MERCED, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - A 10-year-old boy died after a fight Thursday at a trampoline center in California's Central Valley. When reports first came out about the incident, officials said a boy, later identified as Anthony Duran, passed out while he was at the Rockin' Jump trampoline center in Merced. First responders performed CPR and Duran was transported to a regional trauma center. Duran was listed in critical condition. The Merced Police Department then announced on Monday that he had died.An investigation has since revealed there was an altercation leading up to the boy passing out.According to the police department, Duran was playing basketball inside the trampoline center when he and another child got into a fight. Police said Duran collapsed and the other kid ran away. Investigators said the incident was captured on the business's security video and statements were received from 35 people, including staff, parents, and children who were at the scene. They have als...

Submarine found in Long Island Sound nearly 80 years after it sank

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. (WTNH) — A maritime mystery dating back almost 80 years has been solved. Divers in Connecticut say they have finally found the wreck of The Defender, an experimental submarine that sank in Long Island Sound in 1946. The 92-foot-long (28-meter-long) boat was found Sunday by a team led by Richard Simon, a commercial diver from Coventry, Connecticut.Under the surface of Long Island Sound, there are mysteries, and divers like Simon, with Shoreline Diving, love finding them. "As a kid, I grew up diving in Long Island Sound," Simon said. "As a diver, it was one of those myths, 'Hey, there's a submarine lost in Long Island Sound.'"Simon (center) surrounded by members of the team on April 16, 2023(Left to right: Steve Abbate, Austin Leese, Kevin Ridarelli, Rick Simon, Eric Simon, Jennifer Sellitti, Joe Mazraani | Photo courtesy Jennifer SellittiGeneral Dynamics Electric Boat is a well-known shipbuilder, but more than 100 years ago, there was another submarine maker. A mi...

UT Austin launches pilot housing scholarship program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The University of Texas at Austin launched a pilot housing scholarship program to offset student housing costs up to $1,800 per academic year, with a priority on first-year students. Eligible students are those qualified for free or reduced tuition through Texas Advance Commitment (TAC) and elect to live in the university residence halls.“We have already made progress in reducing and, in some cases, eliminating the cost of tuition for our students who can least afford it, through programs such as the Texas Advance Commitment,” said UT Austin President Jay Hartzell. “Now we are actively working to identify new and more expansive solutions to mitigate the rising cost of Austin’s housing market, which has become a more acute financial barrier. This pilot program is the next step in our strategic effort to support our students in new ways.” The scholarship is available to offset housing costs for an estimated 3,500 eligible students. Scholarships will be awarded in order...

Beginning April 25, southbound U.S. Highway 61 converts to single lane in Cottage Grove

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced that at 6 a.m., Tuesday, U.S. Highway 61 going southbound between 70th Street and U.S. Highway 10 near the Cottage Grove area will be reduced to a single lane, in an effort to repair concrete damages.The lane is expected to reopen as a two-way lane at 11 p.m. on May 8.After southbound U.S. 61 is repaired, the northbound roadway will be reduced to single-lane at 9 a.m.,on  May 8 and reopen May 22 in order to complete the concrete repair project.Further road updates and information can be found at 511mn.org.Related ArticlesNews | White Bear Lake ice-out contest winners announced News | MDH: Test water from private wells for contamination if flooded News | Washington County takes steps to complete highway connection by taking over road in Oak Park Heights News | Woodbury works to clean up ‘forever chemicals,’ as federal, state agencies eye new standards News ...

AmeriCorps launches summer program to support youth, homeless and environment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

AmeriCorps, a federal agency that hires service members and volunteers to complete community projects, is launching a seasonal program dedicated to providing Minnesotans the opportunity to provide support to youth, people experiencing homelessness and the environment.More than 400 positions are available in 48 communities statewide within the Summer Impact Corps for 12 weeks this summer. More than half of all placements will be in the Twin Cities metro, according to an email statement from AmeriCorps. Potential positions include tutoring students, supporting nonprofit and state agencies in mitigating climate change and connecting people experiencing homelessness to housing services.Corps members must be at least 17-years-old, with some positions requiring members to be at least 18, and have graduated from high school. The corps requires no specific experience, and members will be trained, the statement said.Members will earn a stipend of $6,600 along with $1,374 for those who need a...

Jets' Barron receives 75-plus stitches after skate to face

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Winnipeg Jets forward Morgan Barron took a skate to his face Tuesday night, requiring more than 75 stitches, but he returned to the ice less than a period later. Barron was injured in the first period during a big scramble in front of the Vegas Golden Knights' net in Game 1 of the teams' Western Conference first-round series, which Winnipeg won 5-1. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! As players collapsed around the front of the net in pursuit of a loose puck, Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit's skate cut Barron. “I was trying to figure out if the puck went in because it was pretty close,” Barron said. “I saw the skate coming. It was an unlucky play. The first thought was that I could see out of the (right) eye was the main thing."Barron immediately went to the Jets' locker room but returned in the second period wearing a full cage on his head. “Looks like he got attacked by a shark," center Adam Lowry said. “It's ...

$1M bond remains for man accused of killing St. Charles woman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - The man accused of killing a St. Charles woman appeared in St. Louis County Circuit Court on Wednesday for a pre-trial hearing. A judge ruled Joseph Dejoie will remain jailed on a $1 million cash-only bond, per the recommendation of county prosecutors.Dejoie, 49, is charged with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution, and abandonment of a corpse. Police and prosecutors claim Dejoie murdered Jacquelyn “Jacque” Elizabeth Mitchell in his Maryland Heights apartment in the 2200 block of Palestra Drive, sometime between March 15 and March 20.Mitchell was last seen on March 14. Her family said she went to Maggie O’Brien’s in Sunset Hills around 7 p.m. to grab a bite to eat after work. She was reported missing to St. Charles police on Thursday, March 16. Top story: Trial date set in case to remove Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner Police from Maryland Heights and St. Charles launched a cooperative investigation, which led to the d...

Police: Maine man killed parents before firing on motorists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

By PATRICK WHITTLE and DAVID SHARP (Associated Press)BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — A man confessed to killing four people, including his parents, and then firing on motorists on a busy interstate highway, just days after being released from prison, police said Wednesday. Law enforcement officials released more information including identities of the victims of the shootings Tuesday at a home in Bowdoin and 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the south on the highway in Yarmouth, Maine. Joseph Eaton, 34, had been released Friday from the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, where he was picked up by his mother after completing a sentence for aggravated assault, police said. That crime was serious enough to prevent him from possessing a gun in Maine.The shootings in Maine began in the small town of Bowdoin, where four people were killed Tuesday, with three bodies discovered in a home and one in a barn, police said. Then a chaotic scene developed in which shots were fired at vehicles on Interst...

Four proposals to reduce Colorado’s ozone pollution and improve air quality, explained

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:32 GMT

If there’s one thing that can be agreed upon when it comes to protecting Colorado’s environment, it’s that the state must act to clean its air. But there are widespread ideas on how to do that.This spring, multiple plans from politicians, environmental activists and state agencies have been announced — all with the goal to bring Colorado into compliance with the federal Clean Air Act by reducing ground-level ozone pollution.Colorado needs improvement after the Environmental Protection Agency last year declared Denver and the northern Front Range were in “severe non-attainment” of federal ozone standards, leading to higher gas prices and more regulations on industry.Already, the Front Range has recorded its first high ozone day of 2023.On April 11, an air monitoring station in Evergreen recorded ozone concentrations at 71 parts per billion, narrowly exceeding the federal daily standard of 70 parts per billion, said Jeremy Nichols, climate director ...