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Almost 1,000 migrating birds die after crashing into Chicago building, a 40-year record

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

Nara Schoenberg, Jake Sheridan | Chicago TribuneAt least 960 migrating birds, the highest number on record, died Thursday in “massive carnage” at McCormick Place Lakeside Center, according to David Willard, a retired bird division collections manager at the Field Museum.Birds were crashing into windows even as monitors collected the casualties, Willard said.“It was just discouraging as can be,” said Willard. “You’re looking at a rose-breasted grosbeak that, if it hadn’t hit a Chicago window, would have made it to the Andes of Peru.”Willard blamed the worst day in 40 years of monitoring on an array of factors, including weather patterns, badly timed rain and lit windows at Lakeside Center.First, there was a stretch of time with few winds out of the north, which left a lot of birds backed up and ready to migrate: “Sometimes, it’s like ‘now or never,’ and they go,” Willard said.Then, when the flight began, it was huge. One local birder who was out Thursday morning told Willard that he ...

It's the final day of a massive health care strike over pay and staff shortages. No deal is in sight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A massive health care strike over wages and staffing shortages entered its final day on Friday without a deal between industry giant Kaiser Permanente and the unions representing the 75,000 workers who picketed this week.The three-day strike carried out in multiple states is set to officially end Saturday at 6 a.m., and workers were expected to return to their jobs in Kaiser’s hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans.The most recent bargaining concluded midday Wednesday. Additional sessions were scheduled by the parties for Oct. 12 and 13, the unions announced Friday.The decision to walk off an important job was very difficult, said Josephine Rios, 55, a nurse attendant who takes in patients for surgery at a hospital in Irvine, California.“Unfortunately, it’s a financial burden for us that live paycheck to paycheck," she said. "We can’t afford to strike a long time, but it’s a double-edged sword. We can’t afford not to strike.”A fall heat wave ...

Hundreds of migrants crossing border daily, gathering in mountains east of San Diego

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

JACUMBA, Calif. (Border Report) -- Samuel Schultz has spent these last two weeks handing out peanut butter sandwiches and bottles of water to hundreds of migrants gathering at three spots near the high desert community of Jacumba, California, about 75 miles east of San Diego.Schultz is a volunteer with a group called Border Kindness.Schultz says he speaks with Border Patrol agents often who tell him they can't keep up with the large volume of migrants coming across."The agents are swamped and they are very straightforward about the fact that this is not their job, this is not what they are set up to do they were never set up to do something like this. They are slammed.”A U.S. Border Patrol agent speaks with a group of migrants at the border on Oct. 6, 2023, in Jacumba, Calif. (Salvador Rivera/Border ReportSchultz said it's easy to spot when smugglers are driving up to the border barrier to drop off migrants who then walk around an area where the border barrier ends."You can see the ...

City of San Diego one step closer to using smart streetlights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The City of San Diego is a step closer to using smart streetlights and automated license plate readers to help fight crime.Friday, the city council’s Public Safety Committee held a special meeting to hear and discuss the contract with Ubiquia, the Florida-based company that is providing the equipment and technology for the program, which would run for five years at a cost of $11.6 million.“The contract is completely transparent, it's on the city's website -- it's downloadable by anyone in the public," said Councilmember Marni Von Wilpert.Von Wilpert led the way as committee chair, deciding to finalize the next step in starting the program, by moving it forward to the full city council, but without recommendation for passage, to allow the city’s Privacy Advisory Board to go over the contract at a meeting later in the month and provide feedback.“We've had a lot of public outreach and public comment on this item. I didn't see the need for further delay. I did see the need...

Woman riding e-bike dead after being hit by pickup truck in Markham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

A woman is dead after being struck by a pickup truck while riding an e-bike in Markham.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said the collision happened on Highway 407 near McCowan Road at around 7 p.m. on Friday.A 42-year-old woman was riding an e-bike when she was struck by a pickup truck on the southbound McCowan Road ramp to the Highway 407 ramp. She was pronounced dead at the scene.Authorities did not immediately provide additional details.Fatal collision: #Hwy407/McCowan Rd. 42-year-old female rider of E-bike struck by a pickup truck on the SB McCowan Rd ramp to #Hwy407 WB. 7pm. Any witnesses call #Hwy407OPP at 905-858-8670 ^ks— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) October 7, 2023

Police did not give Black Alabama homeowner time to respond before killing him, attorney says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — An attorney representing the family of a Black man who was fatally shot at his home by police said Friday that officers did not give the man time to respond before they opened fire.Steve Perkins, 39, was killed by police Sept. 29 in Decatur in a confrontation that began with a tow truck driver trying to repossess Perkins’ truck. The driver reported that Perkins flashed a gun, so officers accompanied the driver when he went back to the home, police said. The Decatur Police Department said Perkins “turned the gun toward one of the officers,” and they shot him. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Perkins had a handgun with a light on it. Lee Merritt, an attorney representing the Perkins family, said video from neighbors’ home security systems indicates that officers accompanied the tow truck driver onto the property but did not announce themselves and opened fire within a second of telling Perkins to get on the ground. Perkins did not appear aware of thei...

Man found guilty of murder in deaths of 3 neighbors in Portland, Oregon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A jury on Friday convicted a Portland, Oregon, man of murder in the shooting deaths of three of his neighbors.Brett Pruett, 61, was found guilty of first-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, burglary and assault, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Police found three people dead at a residence in northeast Portland on July 17, 2020. Pruett killed Tashia Cobb and her fiance Elmer Hughes outside and then killed their friend Lawrence Murphy inside the residence, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Police arrested Pruett the following day. Pruett lived in a house next to the home where Cobb, Hughes and Murphy lived, Senior Deputy District Attorney Nathan Vasquez told the Multnomah County jury. He said Pruett had been taking care of Betty Boyles, who owned both of the houses.When Boyles died that April, Pruett tried to take ownership of her property and demanded rent from the three neighbors, the prosecutor said. Despite an evi...

See the progress of the Arlington Park demolition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — What was once a prominent horse racing track in the northwest suburbs is now almost completely unrecognizable.The majority of the grandstand that was once the prominent feature of Arlington Park has been torn down as the Bears continue to clear the land they purchased back in February. SkyCam 9 flew over the 326-acre property on Friday which revealed the significant progress of the demotion of the race course that began in June, when the NFL team got permits to tear down the exterior of the building.Demolition of the interior began in May with the completion of the exterior teardown initially expected to take until the end of the year, but it appears they may be ahead of schedule based on the video from SkyCam 9 on Friday.The office, paddock, and jockey building started to be demolished in the fall and are expected to be completed by the end of the year. While the Bears own the property, which they purchased for $197.2 million, they still have not fully com...

Conversion of West Side park into migrant shelter leaves youth football team in the dark

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

CHICAGO — The Windy City Dolphins Youth Football Team has been a part of the West Side community for three decades, but they are unsure of where their home will be once Amundsen Park is converted into a migrant shelter."This is all we have," said Darryl Adams, coach of the Windy City Dolphins. "I’m not sure if it’s going to displace our kids … lose kids to the streets."Residents in the Galewood neighborhood booed the idea at a meeting earlier this week, upset they weren't consulted on the plan to move 200 migrants into the fieldhouse for up to the next six months. City, state officials working with Homeland Security to manage Chicago migrant crisis Mayor Brandon Johnson addressed the pushback today from neighborhoods where migrant shelters are popping up."The weight and the burden of this sacrifice has been on Chicagoans," Johnson said. "And I'm hearing loud clear from our Black residents in particular, that they have high expectations — as they should."Johnson also said he has co...

Over 250 new Divvy stations coming to Chicago through 2025

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:42 GMT

CHICAGO — The ribbon was cut on a new Divvy Station in Belmont Cragin on Thursday, the first of nearly 250 stations that will be coming to the city through 2025, officials say.Officials from the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), Lyft, and 31st Ward Alderman Felix Cardona Jr. joined Belmont Cragin community leaders as they celebrated the unveiling of the new station. A Chicago Marathon runner honors mother, raises awareness for suicide prevention The new addition to the Divvy fleet comes as the bikeshare system works to expand access, particularly on the Northwest, Southwest and Far South sides of the city. Organizers said nearly 3,000 new classic bikes are being added to the fleet to ensure riders a balance of e-bikes and standard pedal bikes. “The addition of new stations and bikes will ensure that Divvy not only serves the entire city, but gives residents more equitable access to both classic bikes and e-bikes,” Acting CDOT Commissioner Tom Carney said in a release se...