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ISP anti-human trafficking operation lands 6 behind bars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

CHICAGO — An anti-human trafficking operation spearheaded by the Illinois State Police (ISP) has landed six people behind bars this week.Officials say the human trafficking suppression operation was conducted in the Will County area between Oct. 25 and 26, and led by the ISP Division of Criminal Investigation Trafficking Enforcement Bureau. Cook County deputies announce 10 arrests in connection with sex trafficking, prostitution & child pornography Authorities provided the following list of individuals arrested, all of whom have been charged with indecent solicitation of a minor and traveling to meet a minor:31-year-old Enrique Garcia, of Chicago, Illinois.56-year-old Mario Lucas Garcia, of Joliet, Illinois.27-year-old Carlos Mejia, of Chicago, Illinois.56-year-old Raymond Peterson, of Lockport, Illinois.55-year-old Ismael Ruiz, of Bolingbrook, Illinois.63-year-old Yousef Saad, of Lombard, Illinois.According to ISP, the operation, which focused on "identifying individuals seek...

NW suburban taekwondo instructor arrested on child pornography charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

LAKE IN THE HILLS, Ill. — Parents are set to gather for an emergency meeting tonight after a martial arts teacher at a Northwest suburban taekwondo academy was arrested earlier this week and charged with several counts of child pornography.The meeting is set to take place at Ha's Taekwondo Academy on Randall Road in Lake of the Hills, where 29-year-old Allen Nguyen worked before being arrested Tuesday morning by the Huntley Police Department.According to Ha's, the meeting will be an opportunity for parents to express their concerns as the martial arts school emphasizes its commitment to regaining the community's trust by bringing in a professional and implementing new security programs. Residents near Amundsen Park continue speaking out against proposal to house migrants Huntley police said Nguyen is facing four felony counts of possession of child phonography after the department completed a four month investigation into the matter, but police also said the arrest bears no connec...

'Lives lost, voices silenced:' 22 Palestinian journalists killed, power blackout from Israeli airstrikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

CHICAGO -- Twenty-two Palestinian journalists have been killed and communication has been cut off with the outside world due to Israeli bombardments, in efforts to silence the reality in Gaza, a Chicago journalist says. About 27 journalists are confirmed dead, 22 Palestinian, 4 Israeli and one Lebanese. Eight more journalists were reported injured, and nine others are missing or detained, according to data collected by the Committee to Protect Journalists. All the deaths are reported as 'dangerous assignments' on their website as opposed to 'murderer or in crossfire combat,' which Chicago-based Journalist Deanna Othman says is a disparity in the reporting of Palestinian journalist deaths -- despite heavily targeted Israeli attacks. "Some of them are not even receiving the support from their workplaces after they have been killed," Othman said.Issam Abdullah, a Beirut-based videographer for Reuters was killed in an Israeli shelling attack near the Lebanon border on Oct. 13. In this p...

Family believes ex-boyfriend shot, killed Garfield Ridge woman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

CHICAGO -- The family of a Garfield Ridge woman who was shot and killed near her home on Sunday believes her ex-boyfriend was the one who pulled the trigger.Adriana Lopez spent the last three years teaching special education at Nathan Davis Elementary School in Brighton Park. She aspired to be a principal.Her niece, Michelle Martinez, said Lopez feared for her safety and filed an order of protection against her ex-boyfriend, 37-year-old Cristobal Santana, last month after an argument turned physical. According to Martinez, the filing was recently dismissed for reasons unknown. Worker rescued from trench after scaffolding collapses at suburban construction site According to the Chicago Police Department, Adriana Lopez was shot and killed just steps away from her home near 54th Street and Narragansett Avenue in Garfield Ridge around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. She was reportedly approached by a man she knew in a dark-colored SUV and shot at least 10 times. The Lopez family believe Santana ...

Maine shooting brings conflicting ideas on solution to U.S. gun violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- Countries like the U.K., New Zealand, Norway and Australia quickly passed new gun laws after mass shootings.At an event this week, Vice President Kamala Harris pointed out those laws nearly eliminated mass shootings in those countries."Once again, routine gatherings have been turned into scenes of horrific carnage," noted Harris, who added that there is a solution to the gun violence problem in the U.S. In 1996, a mass shooting in Port Arthur, Australia claimed the lives of 35 people. In response, Australia severely restricted semi-automatic firearm and pump-action shotgun ownership and bought back nearly 700,000 guns.In the more than 25 years since, Australia has only had one other mass shooting."We look every time there is one of these events and are grateful that Australia did act in a bipartisan way," stated Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.After the deadly mass shooting in Maine this week, the White House wants to renew the federal ban on assau...

On-and-off wet weather continues as we await Sunday cold front

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Slow-moving heavy downpours are wetting some areas Friday evening, but will slowly taper off during Friday night football games. Warm, humid weather conditions persist on Saturday with a few scattered downpours as we await a taste of winter on Sunday. View your neighborhood rainfall totals Texas football fans can expect a warm, muggy day Saturday afternoon for the game in Austin. While there is a 40% chance of a passing shower or thunderstorm, the forecast Saturday looks a little drier than recent days.Sunday, temperatures start off warm, but plummet late in the day as our first Arctic cold front of the season plows through the area.By Sunday evening, gusty north winds drop temperatures into the 50s areawide. Monday morning, temperatures drop to near 40 degrees with biting north winds dropping wind chills below freezing in much of the Hill Country.In addition to the cold, windy weather behind the front, widespread rain is likely Sunday night through much of the da...

NWS confirms EF-0 tornado in Caldwell County Thursday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- On Friday, the National Weather Service released its damage survey, confirming that an EF-0 tornado touched down early Thursday in Caldwell County.KXAN Chief Meteorologist David Yeomans said tornadoes don't get much smaller or more brief than this. The tornado hit four miles southeast of Niederwald, which is about 40 minutes southeast of Austin.Winds barely even met the threshold for EF-0 intensity, at only 65 miles per hour. The tornado was on the ground for less than half a mile and for only one minute. The tornado damage path was only 10 yards wide.There were no injuries reported in this tornado, Yeomans said, although one shed was damaged.While spring is our typical severe weather season, flash flooding and tornadoes are not unheard of in October. The autumn is Central Texas' secondary severe weather season.

How Paxton impeachment, education savings accounts could set up Texas GOP primary fights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking steps to get political revenge after his impeachment acquittal in the Senate. He's now seeking to push out Republican state representatives who voted to impeach him earlier this year. However, he may not be the only state leader trying to shake up who wins the GOP primary elections in less than five months. Since the Senate reinstated Paxton to his office, he rolled endorsements of at least a dozen people to take down House Republicans who voted for his impeachment. Brian Smith, a political science professor at St. Edward's University in Austin, said Paxton is carrying out an earlier promise to support and fund primary challengers against opponents in his own party. He also recently announced he would file criminal complaints against the 12 state representatives who led his impeachment trial, accusing them of violating a new anti-doxing law. "His problem, of course, is he's still facing a litany of legal challenges that cou...

Retired teachers hope for long awaited pension adjustment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- Joe Ramirez gave and received a lot of love across 28 years in Austin Independent School District.As a high school teacher of the year, two-time middle school teacher of the year and a beloved mentor for students decades after they graduate, Ramirez said he would still be in the classroom if a bad fall didn't force him to retire at just 48. That was 11 years ago, and the pension check of about $2,000 a month hasn't increased a penny, he said."People are basically living from month-to-month. And they need to have a little bit more security to make sure that their futures in their golden years are better off," Ramirez said.This month, retired teachers hope to get the first cost-of-living adjustment in nearly 20 years. Proposition 9 would give as much as a 6% increase to the nearly half a million annuitants in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas -- a needed cushion as retirees face rising prices and the need to pick up a second career."You don't go into it for th...

State girls tennis: Rochester Mayo completes sweep of Class 2A crowns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:36:59 GMT

Rochester Mayo junior Claire Loftus lost her first match of the high school tennis season this fall, falling to Eagan’s Cassandra Li.Loftus won her final match of the high school tennis season this fall, topping Li.The latter match was for the Class 2A individual state championship. Loftus, the No. 2 seed, scored redemption via a 7-5, 6-0 victory at Baseline Tennis Center.“Going up against (Li, the No. 1 seed who hadn’t lost this season), it wasn’t like, oh, I was supposed to win,” Loftus said. “And I think that helped me. I was able to play more relaxed and without the pressure and the stress.”But not without the fatigue. This has been a long, successful week for Loftus, who helped Rochester Mayo win its first-ever team state title on Wednesday.“It’s been a long week. Lots of matches,” she said. “So I was definitely feeling tired.”Loftus took her time between points to catch her breath, but also made a point to switch up her game plan and be aggressive in an attempt to play shorter...