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Tom Skilling's explainer

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

Steady warming over recent days and in the days ahead is to deliver Chicago its warmest weather to date in 2023. April 2023’s opening 10 days are running an impressive 7-degrees warmer than the same period a year ago.Chicago high temperatures have gone from 49 Friday to 62 Saturday, 68 Easter Sunday and may reach 71 today in the remaining hours of the afternoon. That’s a 22-degree increase in just 3 days.The week as a whole is likely to come in 14-degrees warmer than last week and an eye-catching 18-degrees above normal.Significantly, a tightening pressure gradient will lead to a well developed “SW” flow which will overcome lake cooling. "SW" winds will pick up each late morning and afternoon gusting at times as high as 31 mph Tuesday, 36 mph Wednesday and 25 mph Thursday according to current modeling.The sun will filter through some mixed clouds Tuesday. But, cloud coverage is to decrease Wednesday and Thursday, allowing the full intensity of the April sun to go to work on the air ...

Highest-rated Chinese restaurants in Chicago, according to Tripadvisor

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

Chinese food consistently ranks at the top of favorite cuisines in the U.S. year after year (often neck and neck with Mexican food as the #1 favorite). In fact, there are more than 40,000 across all 50 states.However, most Chinese food you find in the U.S. is really American-Chinese food, and many of the most popular Chinese dishes were created in the U.S., including General Tso's chicken and chop suey.Stacker compiled a list of the highest-rated Chinese restaurants in Chicago on Tripadvisor. Tripadvisor rankings factor in the average rating and number of reviews. Read on to see the most popular Chinese restaurants in your area.#29. Chengdu Impression- Rating: 4.5 / 5 (22 reviews)- Detailed ratings: Food (4.5/5), Service (4.0/5), Value (4.5/5)- Price: $$ - $$$- Address: 2545 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614-2307- Read more on Tripadvisor#28. Potsticker House- Rating: 4.5 / 5 (35 reviews)- Detailed ratings: Food (4.5/5), Service (4.0/5), Value (4.0/5), Atmosphere (4.0/5...

Camp One Step: A place where kids battling cancer, can just be kids

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

CHICAGO — We all could use a break from routine at times, but for kids battling cancer, that need is even more critical.WGN's Erin Ivory had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with these campers and get a glimpse into what makes Camp One Step so special.Some travelled for days to come to the camp; a place where you don't have to explain to be understood."Cancer makes you feel different and that difference can really start defining you," said Jeff Infusino, the president of Camp One Step. "Camp gives you the opportunity to not feel different anymore."Robert Quintana remembers that feeling vividly when he was a camper fifteen years ago."I was just six years old when I was diagnosed with Leukemia," Quintana recalled. "Being here was one of the only things that made me feel normal." Chicago girls boxing program looks to change perceptions Of the 400-plus volunteers, one in four is a former camper and cancer survivor, like Quintana, here because they remember what camp meant for the...

How the Texas abortion pill ruling could affect FDA's authority

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

AMARILLO, Texas (Nexstar) — Nationwide usage of a pill commonly used for abortions is up in the air after a Texas federal judge ruled last Friday that the Food and Drug Administration improperly authorized the usage of mifepristone more than 20 years ago. If U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's decision is upheld, it would restrict access to the abortion medication as soon as this Friday. The Department of Justice appealed the Amarillo judge's order on Monday, calling the decision “extraordinary and unprecedented.”“If allowed to take effect, the court’s order would thwart FDA’s scientific judgment and severely harm women, particularly those for whom mifepristone is a medical or practical necessity,” the Justice Department wrote. MORE: DOJ asks appeals court to pause ‘extraordinary’ Texas abortion pill ruling Denise Harle, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom — the conservative legal firm that brought the lawsuit — said the FDA did not follow its own protocol when ap...

Twins’ depth gets tested right away

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

The Twins spent the offseason in part building out their depth, and that depth is being tested immediately.Max Kepler has landed on the injured list with patellar tendinitis, Joey Gallo is out of the lineup with an intercostal issue, Carlos Correa is now dealing with back spasms and Byron Buxton is limited for now to a designated hitter role.And that’s not even to mention Jorge Polanco and Alex Kirilloff, who remain in Fort Myers, Fla., as they continue to rehab from long-term injuries.“You always anticipate,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You have to anticipate it. If we didn’t anticipate it, we wouldn’t have all these good players to be able to fill in and play in these spots for the guys that are out. We wanted to be prepared. You’re never going to be able to prepare for everything, but I think we’re about as prepared as you can be.”Correa said his back first started bothering him in the second inning of Saturday’s game, when he slowed down and swerved to avoid a collision at the...

As gunshot injuries rise, BJC expands gun lock program

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

ST. LOUIS – Another week and more mass gun violence; this time in Louisville, Kentucky, bank on Monday morning.As gunshot injuries rise, here in St. Louis, BJC Healthcare is expanding its existing gun lock program to more than 20 locations."There's even [an] increase in anxiety and depression in children who may not have seen a firearm injury or have been shot themselves, but kids who hear them, around them in their neighborhood, at school," said Dr. Lindsay Clukies, a Washington University emergency physician at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Male bald eagle goes from babysitting rock to an eaglet at World Bird Sanctuary St. Louis Children's Hospital is a Level 1 pediatric trauma center. It broke a record in 2022 by treating 163 firearm injuries.Clukies said these are injuries that can be prevented through safe storage of firearms."We actually, in 2022, saw more children shot by a firearm here at our hospital that year than even before. So our numbers are double what they were, s...

Denver police arrest man in connection with fatal Christmas Day shooting

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

Denver police on Saturday arrested a 26-year-old man in connection with a homicide in December.Dydrick Martin is being held on investigation of first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Torrese Gill, 25, on Christmas Day in Denver’s Montbello neighborhood, police said in a news release Monday.The shooting occurred around 5:50 p.m Christmas Day in the 4800 block of North Crowne Boulevard. When police arrived, they found Gill suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to the hospital, where he later died.Formal charges will come from the Denver District Attorney’s Office.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Denver police shoot suspect at Clement Park near Littleton Crime and Public Safety | 900 kids between age 10 and 12 are arrested in Colorado every year. Is that too young to be criminally prosecuted? Crime and Public Safety | East High shooting spotlights tenuous balance between school safety, “moral obligation” t...

11-Year-Old Girl Killed in Train Crash on Alabama Street [Redlands, CA]

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

Train Crash on Alabama Street near Redlands Boulevard Left 1 Dead, 2 HospitalizedREDLANDS, CA (April 10, 2023) – Tuesday night, a train crash on Alabama Street claimed the life of an 11-year-old girl.The collision happened around 8:30 p.m. just north of Redlands Boulevard.According to reports, a woman was driving on Alabama street with her 11-year-old daughter when her silver sedan stopped on train tracks for unknown reasons. There, a Metrolink train was traveling at 50 mph toward the vehicle. The train engineer tried to stop the train, but the two vehicles collided.The impact of the collision caused the child to be ejected from the car.Emergency crews arrived to the site of the crash shortly afterward. There, they pronounced the 11-year-old girl dead at the scene. Meanwhile, medics transported the driver of the sedan and one passenger from the train to a local hospital for treatment.At this time, the conditions of the hospitalized victims is unknown.Following the collision, t...

Gunman livestreamed mass shooting at Louisville bank that left 4 dead and 9 injured, police say

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

A 23-year-old bank employee opened fire at his workplace in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday morning and livestreamed the attack that left four dead and nine others injured, authorities said.The gunman was identified as Connor Sturgeon, an employee at Old National Bank, according to interim Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel. He was killed by police after a shootout with authorities.The four victims, all between the ages of 40 and 64, were identified as Joshua Barrick, Juliana Farmer, Tommy Elliott and James Tutt, the chief said. Gov. Andy Beshear said Elliott, a senior vice president at the bank, was one of his closest friends.Follow live updatesOf the nine people injured, three are hospitalized in critical condition, including a 26-year-old police officer who graduated from the police academy just 10 days ago and was shot in the head. Three of the injured are in non-critical condition and three have been released, the chief said. Five of the nine peopl...

Al Jaffee dies at 102; was cartoonist for Mad magazine for more than 50 years

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:12:59 GMT

By Hillel Italie | Associated PressNEW YORK — Al Jaffee, Mad magazine’s award-winning cartoonist and ageless wise guy who delighted millions of kids with the sneaky fun of the Fold-In and the snark of “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions,” has died. He was 102.Jaffee died Monday in Manhattan from multiple organ failure, according to his granddaughter, Fani Thomson. He had retired at the age of 99.Mad magazine, with its wry, sometimes pointed send-ups of politics and culture, was essential reading for teens and preteens during the baby-boom era and inspiration for countless future comedians. Few of the magazine’s self-billed “Usual Gang of Idiots” contributed as much — and as dependably — as the impish, bearded cartoonist. For decades, virtually every issue featured new material by Jaffee. His collected “Fold-Ins,” taking on everyone in his unmistakably broad visual style from the Beatles to TMZ, was enough for a four-volume box set publ...