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Tommy's Gift helps bring thousands of toys to kids stuck in the hospital during Christmas

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

CHICAGO — Tommy Sanchez was 23 years old when he died, six years after he began his battle with cancer. Sanchez's dying wish was to bring smiles to kids in the hospital who couldn't spend Christmas with their families. Tuesday, his family did just that. "We dedicate this day to Tommy every year," said Tom Sanchez, Tommy's father. "We've been doing Tommy's gifts 11 years now."According to the Sanchez family, a festive visitor dressed all in red, with the aid of a small army of little helpers, brought bags and boxes packed with toys to kids at Saint Anthony's Hospital who can't come home for Christmas.The elaborate, warm-hearted display was the brainchild of Tommy Sanchez while he was in the hospital battling Leukemia, before he died in 2013. Friends and family members brought Sanchez gifts while he was at the hospital during the holiday season, and as his final wish, he thought it would be cool to do the same for others after he was gone."A few weeks before he died, he said, 'Mom, I ...

Documents naming Jeffrey Epstein's associates ordered unsealed

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

(NewsNation) — A federal judge has ordered the unsealing of a trove of documents that would make public the names of dozens of Jeffrey Epstein's associates.The order issued Monday by District Judge Loretta Preska is part of a settled civil lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison on sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors at her criminal trial alleged she helped Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls for decades.In ordering the release of some of the names, Preska notes that many of the people have already given media interviews or have already had their names listed in other public court documents pertaining to the case. In other instances, Preska writes that individuals did not object to the unsealing or the currently sealed material "is not salacious."Other names were ordered to remain redacted because they would identify minors who were victims of sex crimes. Concerns rise after boy dies while staying at Pilsen migrant shelter Preska has ...

Officer reunited with longtime K-9 partner after fighting Ohio city for ownership

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio (WJW) – An Ohio police officer who recently switched departments can keep his longtime K-9 partner after city officials granted him ownership of the beloved canine.Igor, a German Shepherd, had worked alongside his handler Chad Hagan at the Shaker Police Department since 2018. In November, Hagan was ordered to surrender Igor to a kennel after accepting a job with another department.“The day Chad and I had to take him to the kennel was literally the worst day of our lives,” Hagan’s wife, Danielle, told Nexstar’s WJW. “I was crying. He was crying. Igor knew something was wrong.”When handlers leave the department, their K-9 partners can often retire and live with them. However, since Igor is just over 6 years old, the department deemed him fit to serve for three to four more years. These 10 states have the most spoiled dogs, according to survey Shaker Heights Police Chief Wayne Hudson tried to negotiate terms for officer Hagan to stay on for two more yea...

Two 70-plus year prison sentences for suburban man guilty of murder-for-hire plots

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. — A former southwest suburban school bus driver already serving a 70-plus year prison sentence for a failed murder-for-hire plot has been issued an additional decades-long punishment in connection with another foiled attempt.Will County prosecutors said Christian Shepherd, 44, of Ottawa attempted to employ an inmate to murder a victim he was charged with sexually assaulting, the victim’s mother and two detectives in May 2010. Ed Burke trial: No verdict reached as first full day of jury deliberation wraps Christian ShepherdProsecutors said Shepherd gave the inmate a map to the residence of two of his intended victims, as well as a taunting statement for the inmate to read.The inmate turned the documents over to police and wore a wire, which prosecutors say captured Shepherd planning the murders.Once charged, Shepherd attempted to hire a second inmate to kill the originally targeted victims and the first would-be hitman. The second inmate also informed police ...

Fiery crash involving tractor trailers closes I-70 in both directions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

O'FALLON, Mo. - Interstate 70 was closed in both directions in O'Fallon, Missouri, late Tuesday afternoon due to a fiery crash involving two tractor trailers and a passenger vehicle.The crash happened in the eastbound lanes of I-70 at TR Hughes Boulevard. An exact time could not be immediately determined.Both tractor trailers caught fire, along with another vehicle. Firefighters and other first responders raced to the scene, and the fires were extinguished shortly after 6:50 p.m.O'Fallon police closed all eastbound lanes at Highway K. Meanwhile, St. Peters police shut down the westbound lanes at Highway 79.The Missouri Department of Transportation's accident reconstruction team responded to determine the cause for the crash.This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

How college football’s transfer portal is “killing high school recruiting” in Colorado

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

Last spring, Fountain-Fort Carson left tackle Lincoln Fa’apouli Jr. had five Division I scholarship offers, including one to play Power 5 football at Kansas.Fast-forward to the end of his senior season, and Fa’apouli’s seen his scholarship pool dry up. Those Division I offers? Gone, he’s been told, because of the trickle-down consequences of the college transfer portal. Now, the 6-foot-5, 320-pounder who helped pave the way for one of Colorado’s top rushing attacks this fall is down to one Division II offer, from CSU-Pueblo.“I did try to commit to a few of those (Division I) colleges recently, but I was halted by the words, ‘I’m sorry, all of our spots are taken because we’re taking a couple guys in from the transfer portal,'” Fa’apouli said. “I heard that more times than I’d like to admit. Even other Division I’s that were interested in me and had me on visits but hadn’t offered me yet —...

Denver mayor, under fire for homeless initiative’s tracking of numbers, puts focus on outcomes

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said Tuesday that he and staff members had conversations only in recent days about how the administration has been reporting progress — and numbers — in an online dashboard for his House 1,000 homeless sheltering effort.The mayor’s office has come under fire in the last week for counting people moved indoors for any length of time rather than only those who have been sheltered for at least 14 days. That is the threshold Johnston and his team had said they would use to report progress toward their goal of moving 1,000 people off the streets by Dec. 31, ending a five-month blitz aimed at greatly reducing street homelessness and illegal camping.“I think it wasn’t until, I don’t know, three or four days ago that those conversations came up around where that data was shown,” Johnston said during a news conference.He was referring to counts of people participating in the initiative as well as counts of those who may have...

Violent assaults on L.A. Metro workers are on the rise

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

A new study revealed that bus and train operators in Southern California are being increasingly targeted in violent attacks.A report by the Urban Institute found that, over the past 15 years, major assaults on bus and rail operators across the U.S. have tripled. “Major” assaults were defined as “an event resulting in a fatality or injury requiring medical transport.” From 2008 and 2022, major assaults rose from 168 to 492 nationwide, according to the study.The report analyzed data from the Federal Transit Administration’s National Transit Database. Assaults that didn’t meet the FTA’s “major” threshold that drivers were still subjected to include stabbing, spitting, hitting and kicking, and unwelcome sexual misconduct.“Operators have also reported being robbed, having things thrown at them, being doused with urine and hot beverages, being threatened at gunpoint, and shot at,” the study said.A plexiglass installed for safety near an L.A. Metro bus driver. (KTLA)L.A. Metro bu...

Activists call for permanent closure of Adelanto Detention Center

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

While authorities with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are reviewing the contract with the company that runs the Adelanto Detention Facility, activists are calling on local elected officials to permanently close the prison.  On Tuesday, activists with a group called Shutdown Adelanto Coalition gathered outside the prison. The coalition claims that Congressional Republicans are encouraging the Department of Homeland Security to keep the facility open.  In 2022, the Biden Administration listed the detention center as one of six facilities around the country that should be closed or downsized due to high costs, Reuters reports.  In September 2020, ICE was blocked from sending more detainees to Adelanto because of the COVID pandemic. That rule is still in place, meaning the center, which can hold up to 2,000 immigrants, is only housing a fraction of that.  Over the next 60 days, ICE will be reviewing its contract with the facility to either permanently close the ...

Ruptured water main backs up traffic in Van Nuys

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:08 GMT

Crews with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a ruptured underground pipeline that was spewing water onto the streets in the San Fernando Valley Tuesday.  Calls about the burst pipeline at the intersection of Hazeltine Avenue and Van Owen Street came in at just after 3 p.m., fire officials said.  Video posted to the Citizen App showed a heavy stream of water gushing out of the pipeline in the middle of the roadway.  Water gushing from an 8 inch water main rupture in Van Nuys on Dec. 19, 2023. (Citizen App)Crews on the scene of a water main rupture causing traffic delays in Van Nuys on Dec. 19, 2023. (Citizen App)Crews on the scene of a water main rupture causing traffic delays in Van Nuys on Dec. 19, 2023. (Citizen App)Fire officials said there was no serious risk of flooding, but that broken pipe had caused both street pavement and soil damage in the intersection.  According to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the burst line is an 8 inch ...