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Cook County Jail farming initiative planting seeds of change for inmates

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

CHICAGO — Within the walls of the Cook County Jail, there grows a garden where hope springs eternal in the days of summer. Inmate and gardener Jammie Williams said it's home away from home while he awaits trial for felony burglary.  “I love gardening,” Williams said. “I have been gardening all my life. It soothes me. It's peaceful.” The formal program name is the Sheriff’s Urban Farming Initiative. “We got tomatoes, greens, beets. We got some flowers. We got some pumpkins,” Willaims said. “We got cherry trees. We got some herbs growing.” Gardeners also tend to a bee colony. Cook County Sheriff’s Office prioritizing mental health for recruits and beyond Williams is one of 20 inmates at the jail who toil in the soil, undertaking an initiative that started in 2006.While the Cook County Sheriff readily admits he is no farmer, Tom Dart is proud to say the program has grown in the number of crops and participants over the years. “All of them will tell you A.) they love being ...

Destination Illinois: Historic Ottawa

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

OTTAWA, Ill. — Historic Ottawa is a two-hour drive southwest of the Loop and is Chicago's sister city.It's home to the first Lincoln-Douglas debate, great restaurants and so much more. Take a walk through automotive history at Roscoe’s ‘Historic Auto Attractions’ On Aug. 21, 1858, More than 10,000 people attended the first debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. "There are over 10,000 people on the day of that debate," Tom Aussem, with Awesome Ottawa Tours, said. "It would've been a loud and raucous event."The debate was held in Washington Square. A boulder now marks the spot where the grandstand was.Aussem, a lifelong resident and tour guide, has a lot to share about Ottawa's remarkable history and its vital connection to the Illinois and Michigan canal. Destination Illinois: Floatzilla "Chicago and Ottawa were platted at the same time by the same guy, James Thompson from southern Illinois, for the purpose of the canal," Aussem said.The I&M Canal opened in 1848 ...

1 dead in 4-vehicle crash involving semi-truck on I-90

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — One person is dead following a four-vehicle crash Thursday morning involving a semi-tractor-trailer on Interstate 90.Around 11 a.m., Illinois State Police troopers responded to I-90, eastbound at Meacham near Schaumburg, for the multi-vehicle crash.According to troopers, one occupant of a passenger vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. Driver dead, passenger seriously injured after semi-truck hit-and-run on I-55 Two lanes were closed amid the crash investigation Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesNo other injuries were reported. 

Former Round Rock pastor pleads guilty child pornography charges

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A former Round Rock pastor pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to an "enhanced charge of possession of child pornography," according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.David Lloyd Walther, 57, knowingly searched for, downloaded, distributed and possessed child sexual abuse material, including child pornography—some of which depicted prepubescent minors—using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing network, according to the DOJ.Two large computers were found during a search of Walther's home and vehicle in November 2022 that contained more than 100,000 images and more than 5,000 videos of child sex abuse material, the release said. DOJ: Round Rock pastor arrested on child pornography charges Walther was the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Round Rock at the time of his arrest, the release said.According to the DOJ, Walther faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. A federal district court judge will determ...

Texas lawmaker files bill to ban affirmative action after SCOTUS ruling

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action admissions for private and public universities Thursday, a Texas representative filed legislation to codify it.State Rep. Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, filed House Bill 54 to prohibit public universities and colleges from adopting affirmative action policies. Only one school, University of Texas-Austin, uses affirmative action. Tepper admits, his proposal's chances are "not strong," considering lawmakers just commenced a second special session with only one call on the agenda: property tax relief. "You never know, it might inspire somebody to add to add it to the call," he said. "We want people to not have an advantage or disadvantage of their race going into the future and giving them the privileges of higher education or a job," he said. In Texas, only the governor has the power of setting the agenda for special sessions. Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to eventually call legislators back for a special sessi...

Why an article you may have seen on Austin homelessness is 'not based in fact'

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

Editor's Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for June 29, 2023AUSTIN (KXAN) -- An article written by a news outlet outside of Austin claims there are 10,000 people living in tent communities in the city right now. KXAN viewers have reached out asking why we haven't reported the number. The answer: It isn't contextually accurate. So let's break it down. Where does the 10,000 number come from? The article cited a page of the City of Austin's website, which very briefly describes an external study done in 2020: "While the most recent Point in Time Count estimated that 2,506 people experience homelessness on any given night, National Consultants put our homeless population at about 10,000 out of the million Travis County residents, so roughly 1 percent." But looking through the study hyperlinked shows national consultants largely used city and Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) data to model the number of people who may use se...

Some folks in Bee Cave were left with little water pressure Thursday. Here’s why. 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Some West Travis County Public Utility Agency customers were left with little to no water pressure Thursday morning. A Bee Cave city official said this was due to an increased number of residences irrigating their lawns amid drought restrictions. “We had a string of very hot days, and we had the highest irrigation demand that we've had so far this year,” Bee Cave City Manager Clint Garza said.“That will drain the storage tanks that we have in place, and it takes a while for the system to recover. So we lost pressure on portions of the system,” he continued. Garza said the West Travis Couty PUA is currently in stage 1 of drought restrictions. This means that homes and businesses are allowed to irrigate their outdoor living spaces only twice a week. “We don't have a ton of users that consistently irrigate on off days, but of course, that does happen,” Garza said. “On the other side, some folks want to make sure that their investment in their landscaping ...

Report: Texas' abortion restrictions led to nearly 9,800 more births

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Senate Bill 8, the Texas law called one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country at the time of its passing, resulted in almost 9,800 more births in the state, according to a new analysis.The study, from Johns Hopkins University, estimates 9,799 births in Texas between April and December 2022 were because of the state law.SB 8, signed by Gov. Abbott in May 2021, prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. While the bill doesn't specify a timeframe, heartbeats can be detected as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant.A previous study, led by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, found a 39.7% decrease in facility-based abortions in the month after SB 8 went into effect. Out-of-state abortions that same month increased by 500%."There has been a lot of speculation about how restrictive abortion policies will affect the number of babies being born. This research adds valuable information...

Wild add lots of center depth (and more Minnesotans) in 2023 NHL Draft

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — There’s no doubt the Wild loved their selection of Rosemount native Charlie Stramel in the first round of the NHL draft on Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena. They had the 18-year-old center highly rated on their list of players and were thrilled he was available for them with the No. 21 overall pick.That said, the Wild still had a tough decision on their hands when they were on the clock because they actually had someone else ranked ahead of Stramel on their list.Though he wouldn’t provide the name of the other prospect, general manager Bill Guerin confirmed Thursday that the Wild did indeed skip over the best player available to instead pick Stramel because he fills a position of need.“Yeah,” Guerin said while acknowledging the lack of center depth within the prospect pool. “We really felt we needed to fill that void.”That’s emblematic of a blueprint that the Wild followed throughout the 2023 NHL draft. They added six ...

New wellness program for older adults in Castleton

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:51:30 GMT

CASTLETON, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A housing complex for older adults is launching a new program to help its residents stay active. The Spinney at Pond View in Castleton held a ribbon cutting on Thursday to celebrate the start of Spinney Life, a wellness program designed for active adults living in their communities.Organizers said it will benefit the physical and mental health of the residents. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! "But it's more than just providing them with a roof over their head," Livewell Group Pres. and CEO Morgan Ruthman said. "It's providing them with the types of resources that they can thrive with. That they can interconnect with their community members with."They also hope the program can be a model as more people live longer and want to remain independent.