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Sunny, cooler and clear with a mild weekend ahead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

Powerful NON-STORM winds have raked the area amid plunging temps Wednesday afternoon. Gusts have hit 54 mph at Midway and 46 mph at O'Hare. And temps will have tumbled from a 2023 high of 72-deg Wed morning at O'Hare to 49-deg by 6pm.The past two days have seen 1.05" of rain at O'Hare and 0.57" at Midway—but more than 2" of rain has fallen the past several days at Arlington Heights and Riverwoods (2.07").  And t-storm gusts overnight and Wed morning reached 79 mph in Lee County, IL at Compton—and 66 mph at northwest Indiana's Valparaiso.Chillier weather's ahead in coming days—with lows tonight dropping to the low and mid 30s and highs Thursday of 54—a reading several deg below the "normal" high of 55 for this time of year.Winds will turn in off Lake Michigan Friday and Saturday restricting Friday highs to the upper 40s and cooling shoreline areas into Eastern Sunday—but with less impact each day.  While inland highs return to the 60s Saturday, lakeshore air temps are likely to be cl...

Hyde Park girls boxing program looks to change perceptions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

CHICAGO -- Girls are fighting outdated stereotypes, poor self confidence and preconceived ideas with a right hook at Saint Thomas School in Hyde Park."I just want every girl to know how much strength and power she has inside herself," says Box United Founder, Mary Kate Vanecko.Vanecko founded Box United in 2019, the only all girls boxing program in Chicago."Anytime someone looks at a young girl boxing really well it can instantly transform or change perceptions about what you think is possible in terms of how strong girls are or what you think girls can do," says Vanecko. ‘Let’s show them’: Elmhurst mother starts sports program for special needs children More than 350 girls have found new inner strength through the ten week boxing program, finding their power and voice through a set of pink gloves.A two punch approach, teaching fundamentals, followed by a second hit of self love. The second half of every session is dedicated to building mental health and wellness, through confiden...

Novel treatment shows promise against rare cancer in kids, researchers say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

(AP) - A novel treatment using supercharged immune cells appears to work against tumors in children with a rare kind of cancer, researchers reported Wednesday.Nine of 27 children in the Italian study had no sign of cancer six weeks after the treatment, although two later relapsed and died.The treatment — called CAR-T cell therapy — is already used to help the immune system fight leukemia and other cancers in the blood. This is the first time researchers have achieved such encouraging results in solid tumors, experts in the field said, and raises hopes that it can be used against other kinds of cancers.It’s too soon to call it a cure for neuroblastoma, a nerve tissue cancer that often starts in infancy in the adrenal glands near the kidneys in the abdomen. After cancer scare, Hugh Jackman urges fans to use sunscreen Standard treatment can be intense, involving chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, depending on the cancer’s stage and other factors. The children in the study had cance...

Woman killed after pushing climber away from falling ice column in Utah

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

DUCHESNE COUNTY, Utah (KTVX) – A 40-year-old woman is dead after pushing a fellow climber out of the way of a massive, falling ice column in Utah. The woman, identified as Margrett O'Neill of Salt Lake City, was attempting to scale Raven Falls near Indian Canyon in northeastern Utah on Sunday with two other climbers, according to the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office.As they were climbing, authorities say the ice column fractured and began falling toward the group."One climber pushed their fellow female climber, age 21, out of the way, which probably saved her life," the sheriff's office explained. Cruise passenger falls off balcony, dies after ship leaves Florida O'Neill then became trapped under two blocks of ice while a third climber, a 34-year-old man, fell roughly 40 feet down the icy edge. The 21-year-old woman was able to climb down and contact emergency crews. Authorities were able to find the man, who suffered serious injuries, and airlift him to an area hospital. Initial...

Liberty Hill ISD school apologizes to parents after misinformation about gun threat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for April 5, 2023.LIBERTY HILL, Texas (KXAN) — A Liberty Hill ISD elementary school apologized to parents in a letter after a student's "inappropriate" comment led to misinformation, according to a letter from the school.A student at Santa Rita Elementary School told a student there was a gun in their backpack, and the letter said the student then told a teacher.After a three-hour investigation involving Liberty Hill ISD police, the student did not have a gun or access to a gun at home, the letter said. Furthermore, the school said, "at no time did this student threaten to harm anyone.""We apologize that the lack of communication in this incident led to misinformation and created concern for the SRE community," the letter said.To read the letter in full, see the document below:Santa Rita ES Statement 04.05.2023_1680726643DownloadThe student was then turned over to the administration to work with the child's parent...

Do you know where your home's safe place is during severe weather?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Central Texas' severe weather season is here. From March to early June is the time this area sees the majority of its severe thunderstorms. April 5, 2023, has been set aside as the day for you and your family to review or develop a plan of where to go in your home if one of our KXAN First Warning Weather meteorologists comes on the air to say a tornado is affecting your hometown or neighborhood. The National Weather Service in tandem with Weather-Radio Nation is asking you to be a part of Wednesday's call to action by taking a selfie in your safe place and posting it. It's called a Safe Place Selfie. Take a picture of you or your family in the safest part of your home and send it NWS by using the hashtag #SafePlaceSelfie.Using the hashtag lets you join in the conversation and show others that important safe place.On this day, Kristen Currie, Sean Kelly, Weather Producer Eric Henrikson and I found our safe space at the KXAN studios. And, lucky for us, we don't have f...

Boring Company cited for 3 more TCEQ violations at Bastrop facility

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — The Boring Company received three violations — two moderate and one minor — from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality last week for its Bastrop facility, according to TCEQ records.The violations are for the company's stormwater permit, which was issued in April 2022, according to TCEQ. Three violations were reported in October 2022, investigated in November and the violation notice was posted March 28. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: TCEQ investigating complaints against Boring Company KXAN has reached out to The Boring Company for comment but has not yet received a response. The article will be updated if a statement is received.Elon Musk's The Boring Company makes "safe, fast-to-dig, and low-cost transportation, utility, and freight tunnels," according to its website. The violations were for "failure to design, install, and maintain effective erosion controls and sediment controls to minimize the discharge of pollutants," "failure to post a TCEQ Large...

Where the 2022 Texas Longhorns MLB draft class is playing to start the 2023 season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Minor League Baseball squads gear up for another season, eight Texas Longhorns from last year's College World Series team are set to take the field across the country.The 2022 Longhorns MLB Draft class was the second-largest in the past 10 years — 2017's class was 11 players — and most of them have landed spots on Single-A rosters for the upcoming season.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersIvan Melendez, the 2022 Golden Spikes Award winner and No. 10-ranked prospect for the Arizona Diamondbacks by MLB Pipeline, hasn't been assigned to a team yet. According to MLB Pipeline's Sam Dykstra, Melendez is dealing with a sore left hand but, "should be back soon." He didn't break camp with a club this spring due to the injury but played for the Single-A Visalia Rawhide for part of last season right after he was drafted. He played 25 games, hitting .207 with three...

APD: Man faces intoxication assault charge in connection with fatal crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department released details Wednesday surrounding a traffic fatality that occurred the morning of March 31 in the 2900 block of North Interstate 35 Upper Deck southbound.APD said officers responded to a crash between a two-door car and an SUV at approximately 5:14 a.m.According to police, a preliminary investigation showed 24-year-old Milton Castanon-Villatoro crashed his car into the SUV and left the scene without stopping to render aid or call 911. MAP: Where have Austin’s fatal crashes occurred in 2023? The driver of the SUV, 57-year-old Elias Saenz, was taken to a hospital where he later died, according to APD.Police said Castanon-Villatoro was found and arrested a few hours later for intoxication assault and failure to stop and render aid.According to Travis County jail records, Castanon-Villatoro was held on two charges: intoxication assault with a vehicle involving serious bodily injury and an accident involving serious bodily injury. His b...

23rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Career Fair happening Thursday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:47 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--The 23rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Career Fair will be taking place on Thursday at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center from 11-3pm.The event is free with over 150 local employers in the public and private sector, as well as 30 state agencies expected to attend. Over 9,000 jobs are open and some employers will even be offering job interviews on the spot."This is a great opportunity," said Roberta Reardon, New York State's Labor Commissioner. "If you actually get one of those onsite interviews, it’s like walking into any interview. You need to have your resume together. Have your outfit together. Look like you’re ready to go to work and we are able to help people. We have a pop up career center in the plaza. We will have a professional photographer there for free and we will take headshots."Job seekers are encouraged to bring multiple copies of their resumes. For those with digital copies, they can get their resumes reviewed and updated as well.CDTA wil...