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Multiple in custody after fatal shooting of CPD officer: Sources

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Sources tell WGN that several people have been taken into custody in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Chicago police officer Areanah Preston, who was shot and killed outside her home in Avalon Park Saturday.A day after the shooting incident, police reported a SWAT incident in the 7600 block of South Bishop Avenue around 8:25 p.m. Sunday night. Police cleared the scene early Monday morning.Police have not identified why the SWAT situation took place. Meanwhile, multiple individuals were taken into custody near the corner of 77th Street and Bishop Avenue early Monday morning, a source told WGN. Areanah Preston, 24. (Credit: CPD News Affairs)Preston had just completed a tour of duty when she was found with a gunshot wound outside her Avalon Park home in the 8100 block of South Blackstone Avenue, around 1:42 a.m. Saturday.Originally reported as being off-duty at the time of the shooting, Chicago police later ruled that Preston was on-duty at the time of the incident. CPD in...

Iconic 'Superdawg' celebrates 75 years of serving Chicago's favorite foods

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Superdawg, a fixture in Chicago’s food scene, is turning 75-years-old on Tuesday May 9. There will be a city ceremony that will dedicate an honorary street named for the founders of the beloved fast food joint.  Since it opened at 6363 N. Milwaukee Ave. in 1948, it’s been one of the city’s favorite hot dog stands. It is still a functioning 1950s-era a throwback drive-in restaurant, complete with service from “car hops.”  The iconic building is decorated with the 12-foot-tall papier mâché  “Superdawg statues” known as Maurie and Flaurie, named for the restaurant’s founders, Maurie and Flaurie Berman.“So Maurie and Flaurie became the Superdawg characters on the roof, papier mâché bending as hot dogs do toward each other,” said Scott Berman, the oldest son of Maurie and Falurie, and a co-owner of Superdawg. “He is standing in a strongman pose and she is standing in a demure pose, looking lovingly at him.”The Bermans met at Von Steuben High School and opened Superdawg as a way...

Skilling: Cloudy week, but sunshine right around corner

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

Temps down more than 30 degrees from Sunday's levels Monday, largely the product of a winds off the 48 degree lake waters. Warming returns over coming week with temps surging from 69 Tuesday to 77 Wednesday, 81 Thursday and 79 Friday, but expect easterly lake breezes to cool immediate lakeshore areas each day this week. Weather dries and mixed sun appears Tuesday with lots of sun Wednesday, but we weather returns with Gulf moisture late week and this weekend.What a difference a day makes! Chicagoans experienced a jarring 24 hour temp pullback of more the 30 degrees Wednesday afternoon--and this after the warmest weekend of 2023, including Sunday's recording a record-tying 87 degree high.The southbound pnuemonia front which induced Sunday afternoon and evening's sharp pullback ignited explosive t-storm development mainly south of Chicago late Sunday into Sunday night. These storm's lightning displays and hail production impressive there with some stunning rainfalls--like the 3.66" wh...

CPSA joins FOP, calls out City for sending migrants to police stations for days on end

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Another police union is calling out the City of Chicago for sending newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers to police stations for extended periods of time.James Calvino, president of the Chicago Police Sergeants' Association, penned an open letter to the City where he claims, "families are remaining in stations for days and, sometimes weeks at a time."The full letter can be read at the bottom of this article.WGN previously reported on migrants having to camp out in the entrance of the Chicago Police Department's 14th District police station, where Chicago Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara voiced his displeasure over how the migrant situation at police stations is being handled. Paul Lisnek discusses latest on migrants, ComEd four verdict and more "Apparently the police department is now a homeless shelter and taxi service,” said Catanzara at the time. “We’ve been receiving calls for the better part of a week plus now about this issue, that’s only gett...

Wisconsin boy missing for 2 days is found safe in remote Michigan park

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

SILVER CITY, Mich. (AP) — An 8-year-old Wisconsin boy missing for two days in a remote, rugged northern Michigan park was discovered near a log Monday and appeared to be in good shape, authorities said.The park posted a photo of one of the searchers carrying Nante Niemi on his back. Another photo on Facebook shows the boy wearing a dirty sweatshirt and munching on a Clif bar. Missing 9-year-old Chicago boy located Nante had been gathering wood while camping with his family when he was last seen Saturday afternoon in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in the western Upper Peninsula. He was found around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, approximately two miles from the campsite.Overnight temperatures had been in the 40s.“He had braved the elements by taking shelter under a log where he was ultimately found. He is in good health and reunited with his family,” state police said in a statement.More than 150 people from various law enforcement groups joined the search on foot, in th...

Biden unveils new airline passenger protections for flight delays, cancellations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – President Joe Biden said new rules will be formally introduced later in 2023 to require airlines to compensate passengers for more than just ticket prices if cancelations and significant delays are the airline's fault.The Biden administration wants to implement new rules for airlines which the president said “will make it mandatory -- not voluntary, mandatory -- for all U.S. airlines to compensate you with meals hotels, taxis, ride shares.”The rules will also reimburse consumers for rebooking fees and ticket costs if the airline is at fault for flight cancelations or significant flight delays, not including flight changes due to weather.President Biden says those are compensations that airline passengers in Europe and Canada are already guaranteed.“And guess what? It works. One study found that the European Union required airlines to compensate passengers for flight delays -- the number of flight delays went down,” Biden said.President Biden also announced the...

When will Project Connect announce light rail design selection?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for May 8, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Project Connect leaders gear up for the unveiling of the program's initial light rail investment, staff are previewing estimated ridership at each station under the five design proposals. Officials are expected to present a final proposal at Austin Transit Partnership's May 24 board meeting, with an official decision made between ATP, the City of Austin and CapMetro on June 6.Here's a breakdown of each version paired with the number of stations, length of the initial route and estimated ridership. Anticipated ridership is based on current census population and employment estimates, CapMetro's current and 2040 future bus network, current bus stop boardings, data from the Federal Transit Administration and traffic analysis data from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.38th Street to Oltorf Street to Yellow Jacket LaneOption No. 1 anticipates between 14 and 15 light r...

INTERACTIVE MAP: Austin voters approve proposition expanding police oversight

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Voters in Austin overwhelmingly approved expanding police oversight. Proposition A received 79% support in Saturday's election, while Prop B was rejected by more than 80% of voters."It's a really big victory. There's a strong mandate for improving police oversight and transparency in the city," said Equity Action Board President Chris Harris. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Austin Police oversight vote: early voting results are in The vast majority of voters approved of Prop A, while rejecting Prop B.In the 231 precincts in which at least one vote was cast, Prop A prevailed in 220 precincts, while Prop B was rejected by voters in 227 precincts.Use our interactive map below to see how your neighborhood voted.What happens now?The measure expands civilian oversight over the Austin Police Department in several ways. It allows the Office of Police Oversight to participate in investigations of officer conduct including anonymous complaints. It also gives its members direct access to...

Austin man with air rifle causes school shooting concern for neighbors

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — What neighbors thought could turn into a possible active shooting threat, turned out to be a false alarm.Over the last two weeks, an Austin Police arrest affidavit states a man tried to break into homes in an east Austin neighborhood, and threatened people with what turned out to be an air rifle, according to court records.Austin Mullins, 29, was charged with disorderly conduct. Police said this isn't the first time he's done something like this.KXAN reached out to Mullins' attorney but hasn't heard back as of Monday afternoon. Mullins' court date is pending.Records state Mullins was roaming the streets with his weapon days before his arrest.Now neighbors said they were worried about what could happen next."We were driving to school, and I saw him walking down the street carrying what looks like a very large rifle," a woman who called 911 said. She asked not to be identified for safety."He was wearing tactical gear... my little boy was so scared that this man was goi...

Texas veteran walks UT-Austin graduation stage at age 99

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — It's never too late to graduate. One special University of Texas at Austin graduate proved this true. Lew Griffith, 99, went to his first-ever graduation ceremony this week at the University of Texas at Austin Cockrell School of Engineering, according to the UT school. While he has a high school diploma and two degrees, Griffith was never able to walk across a stage after graduating high school early and serving in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War, according to UT.Shortly into his first year at UT in 1942, he served in World War II as a B-25 bomber pilot, according to UT. Griffith flew 42 missions in Italy and Austria. Griffith went back to Austin to finish a civil engineering degree but was called on to serve during the Korean War in 1951. He was deployed to Germany as an engineer, according to the university. He returned to the U.S. in 1956 and received a master's degree in sanitary engineering from the University of California at Berkley. But the Vietn...