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DT Justin Jones named Bears' Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

CHICAGO — The Bears on Tuesday announced that defensive tackle Justin Jones will be the team's 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.An award that honors players for their efforts on and off the field, Jones' work around the Chicagoland community includes Youth Guidance's "Becoming A Man" program, helping a deaf single mother of three kids in southwest suburban Cook County and contribution to the Bears Care Gala.MORE CHICAGO SPORTS NEWS: NASCAR 2024 Chicago Street Race tickets go on sale Wednesday"I've always been the helper," Jones told ChicagoBears.com. "I've always felt really good about just making people feel good, making people happy, seeing smiles. Stuff like that makes me happy." The winner is announced during the annual NFL Honors ceremony in February.Jones joined the Bears in March 2022. For more information on the nominees and the award, click here.

Report: Chicago White Sox sign pitcher, 2023 KBO MVP

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox have signed a right-handed pitcher who won the Most Valuable Player award in the Korean Baseball Organization this year, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.Passan posted on X that the White Sox signed Erick Fedde to a two-year, $15 million contract. The 30-year-old pitcher went 20-6 with a 2.00 ERA with the KBO's NC Dinos, which earned him league MVP honors.Before playing in the KBO last season, Fedde pitched parts of six seasons for the Washington Nationals, where he made 88 starts and put up a career record of 21-33 with a 5.41 ERA. Report: Dylan Cease trade talks intensifying, deal could come before MLB winter meetings Fedde joins shortstop Paul DeJong in the South Siders' 2023-24 free agent class.Major League Baseball's winter meetings are going on in Nashville, Tennessee until Wednesday, Dec.6.Pitchers and catchers are expected to report to Spring Training sometime from Feb. 13-15, 2024.

Authorities identify man killed in Fox Lake crash

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

FOX LAKE, Ill. — Authorities have identified a man killed after he was hit by a truck in Fox Lake on Sunday morning.According to the Lake County Coroner’s Office 28-year-old Troy Dowsett, from Portsmouth, Virginia, died in the early morning hours after he was hit near Route 59 and Grand Avenue.The coroner’s office said Fox Lake Police and fire officials were called to the scene just before 2 a.m. after reports of a crash involving a pedestrian. Chase ends in rollover crash in St. Charles After arriving on the scene, emergency crews located Dowsett and transported him to the hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.Authoriteis have not identified anyone else invovled or provided details on what led to the crash.An investigation by Fox Lake Police and the Lake County Crash Assistance Team is underway.

Vinyl record shops report surge in burglaries, shoplifting

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

CHICAGO — Thieves are finding a new retail target across Chicago. Vinyl record shops are reporting a surge in burglaries and shoplifting.As Chicago police search for the culprits, record store owners have begun sharing information on the growing market of stolen vinyl records in an effort to deal with the wave of theft."There are four other niche record stores within a couple of miles of here, you know, and they are doing the same thing I'm doing," Meteor Gem owner Mikhail Fedyukov said. CTA, Google Public Sector to launch new chatbot to answer CTA rider’s questions Fedyukov said he is devastated by last week's break-in and is hoping that the local shops can work together to spot the stolen records."There's a store that actually had an attempted resale already, just two days later. They turned it down and got in touch right away," Fedyukov said.Fedyukov told WGN News that he believed the thieves knew exactly what they were looking for."I’m sure the shop got cased, first. Because t...

Senator: Washington selects 4 Amtrak routes for expansion priorities

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Federal Railroad Administration has selected four routes serving Ohio and other states as priorities for Amtrak expansion, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio said Tuesday.The routes are Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati, Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit, Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus-Pittsburgh and the Cardinal Service serving New York City, Washington and Chicago, which would go daily from its current thrice-weekly schedule, Brown said in a news release. Biden administration announces $1.4 billion to improve rail safety and boost capacity in 35 states Ohio, Amtrak and metropolitan planning organizations will now begin corridor development efforts including the preparation of service development plans, Brown said.The railroad administration will provide $500,000 to each corridor for planning, he said.“Good Amtrak service shouldn’t be a privilege only for people on the coasts. These new routes would expand opportunity, help grow businesses and create jobs, and...

DA Garza 'stands by' dropping police indictments, asking for federal review of APD policy

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- District Attorney Jose Garza told KXAN in a sit-down interview Tuesday that he believes the best way to get justice for protestors injured on May 31, 2020 is to prompt "systemic change" within the Austin Police Department. On Monday, his office announced the dismissal of 17 police officer indictments stemming from those protests. The DA's Office will still prosecute four officers related to the protests. In exchange, the City of Austin and DA's Office sent a request to the Department of Justice asking for a review of APD's actions during those protests. The DOJ has not yet said whether it will move forward with conducting that review."Four cases against four officers, those cases had aggravating factors from our perspective," Garza said. "The other set of cases, the 17 cases, it became clear to us that the conduct there was a byproduct of the systemic change that's really necessary."Several participants were injured by less-lethal shotguns, often referred to as "bea...

Texas Legislature finishes fourth special session without school vouchers, public education funds and more

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — With the final gavel of the year in the Capitol chambers, special session four came to close Tuesday without passing Gov. Greg Abbott's priorities regarding school safety, teacher pay, education savings accounts, and an election bill.This stagnation was mostly attributable to the proposal to subsidize private schools through education savings accounts, a battle that stretched from the beginning of the regular special session into the third and fourth special sessions. After the House adjourned sine die without taking action on two Senate bills Tuesday, senators were left with no choice but to do the same a day before the 30-day special session officially expired. Once again, lawmakers were unable to reach a deal on so-called school choice after the proposal failed in the House. A coalition of 21 House Republicans banded together with Democrats to defeat the measure, which effectively killed a larger education package-- which included $800 million for school safety...

Former head of St. Louis Airport buried at Jefferson Barracks

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – The man who served as the head of St. Louis Lambert International Airport for more than two decades was laid to rest on Tuesday.A procession of family and friends followed the late Colonel Leonard Griggs as he passed the airport on the way to his final resting place at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.“He loved the City of St. Louis,” daughter Julia Griggs said. “He loved the people and he loved the vision of the future.”Griggs graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and spent 23 years in the Air Force. A decorated combat pilot in Vietnam, he received two Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, 22 air medals, and the Vietnamese Medal of Honor for his service. Man makes dash for it as city tries towing car with expired tags In the 1970s, he moved from the Military Airlift Command at Scott Air Force Base to St. Louis Lambert International Airport. He served from 1977 to 1987 and again from 1993 until his retirem...

CHSAA’s first state football championship at Canvas Stadium exceeds average attendance for games at Broncos’ stadium, event sponsor says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

With the first high school football state titles at Canvas Stadium in the books, fans showed they are willing to head north for championship football.The Class 5A and 4A title games pitting Columbine vs. Cherry Creek and Erie vs. Palmer Ridge drew a combined attendance of approximately 12,500 to Fort Collins last Saturday, according to a spokesperson for event sponsor Canvas Credit Union.That estimate exceeds six of the final seven “Championship Saturdays” held at Empower Field, where the games were played from 2005-22, minus the 2020 COVID year.“I was a little hesitant about what to think as far as sending two metro schools up to Fort Collins for the game,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry admitted, “but I thought our crowd was really good and the stadium was beautiful. I don’t think it impacted our fans traveling.”The 12,500 figure represents 1,500 more than last year’s crowd in Denver. Over the 17 years the games were played in the Bronco...

Letters: Historic buildings | Retire Harris | Voting rule | Israeli violence

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:42:12 GMT

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Razing historic buildingswon’t help housing crisisRe: “Are NIMBYs weaponizing historic preservation?” (Page A1, Dec. 3).Destroying historic buildings won’t solve the housing shortage.Oakland’s General Plan designates historic Areas of Primary and Secondary Importance. Structures citywide are rated “A” to “D” by the Cultural Heritage Survey.Yet both the state-mandated Housing Element and the proposed Downtown Oakland Specific Plan zoning rules allow “infill” construction that sometimes looms over significant older buildings.“C” or “D” rated structures are disposed of through owner neglect. Even higher-rated buildings, like the Fruitvale Hotel, are allowed to deteriorate, then be demolished.Many communities, including ours, have surpassed state targets for new housing in all but the “affordable” category. Yet builders argue that only with luxury apartment towers will their projects pencil out.T...