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Retirees create cable access powerhouse in Palos Heights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. — In Palos Heights, it’s “lights, camera, access!”  Cable access channel PHTV Channel 4, may just be the Chicago area’s most informative and hardest working public access outlet, producing more than 300 programs every year.  “We have shows of all sorts,” said Jeannine Kacmar, the station’s coordinator of on-air productions. “People can learn about schools, hospitals, the library, events from parks and rec department and city council meetings.”In 24 years of leading the station, former NBC5 Chicago executive Ron Jankoswki applied what he learned in commercial television to cable access. There wasn’t much to speak of when he arrived as a newly retired volunteer in 1999. “We had a RadioShack camera, VHS,” Jankowski said. “Very grainy tape, and it was really, really not that good.”The studio was just 400 square feet, a makeshift space at Palos Heights city hall.  “It was a two-car garage and that was converted into a meeting room and given to me,” Jankowski...

Iconic Princess Diana sweater could fetch at least $50,000 at auction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A red sweater adorned with a flock of sheep worn by the young Princess Diana is expected to sell for more than $50,000 at auction.The playfully patterned wool jumper featuring a single black sheep amid a pattern of white ones headlines Sotheby’s online Fashion Icons sale in September.The 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer was photographed in the garment at a polo match in June 1981, soon after her engagement to Prince Charles, who was then heir to the British throne.Diana was already becoming a style icon — and one of the world’s most photographed women — and the moment gave a big boost to designers Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne, who made the sweater for their small knitwear label Warm & Wonderful. Sam’s Club announces $20 membership for teachers – here’s how to get one A few weeks later, Muir and Osborne received an official letter from Buckingham Palace explaining that Diana had damaged the sweater and asking whether it could be repaired or replaced. The ...

Sunny, far quieter start to the week following last week’s twisters. Statewide tally of 119 tornadoes to date now is the 3rd greatest since at least 1950

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

Long duration heat wave continues for the Southwest U.S., including Phoenix, where records for daytime warmth and nighttime lows were established. Tropical Storm Calvin to pass close to Hawaii’s big island bringing a period of heavy rain, high surf, and strong winds.ANNUAL TORNADO FREQUENCY IN ILLINOISDespite a rather quiet period in what’s typically the most active period of the year, (April-June) 2023 to date has had the 3rd most tornadoes (119 thus far) of any year in Illinois since 1950—more than all but 2003 and 2006.PERSISTENT SOUTHWEST HEAT WAVE HAS NOW PUT PHOENIX IN THE RECORD BOOKSFor sweltering daytime highs, but also for dangerously hot nighttime lowsCHINA’S HOT TEMPERATURESChina recorded its hottest temperature in recorded history Sunday afternoon, topping out at an unprecedented 52.2°C or 126°F.The remote Sanbao township in the Turpan depression of Xinjiang saw temperatures climb up to 52.2°C.Sunday’s temperature broke the previous record of 50.3°C, measured in 2015 ne...

Charles Barkley goes after Bud Light critics: 'Y’all can’t cancel me!'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

(The Hill) - Basketball legend Charles Barkley went on a profanity-filled rant over the weekend against those who have criticized Bud Light over its partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. In a video that circulated on social media on Monday, Barkley offered to buy a round of drinks for the crowd at a bar in Lake Tahoe, Calif., where he was reportedly competing in a celebrity golf tournament. “So I’m gonna buy some drinks for y’all and I’m gonna buy Bud Light,” he said.“Hey, lemme tell you something. All you rednecks or a--holes who don’t want to drink Bud Light, f--- y’all. Hey, y’all can’t cancel me!” he added to a mixture of cheers and boos.  Teen banned for 3 years after ‘skip lagging’ flight hack: family “Hey, I ain’t worried about getting canceled because lemme tell you something, if y’all fire me and gimme all that money, I’m gonna be playing golf every f---ing day. So listen, as I said last night: If you’re gay, God bless you. If you’re trans, God bless you. And ...

Woman says thieves distracted her with request for help, then stole her wallet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (WNCN) — A warning from a woman who lost something precious to her: be careful when you're out shopping. What appears to be an innocent request could be a scheme to steal.Cathy Perone is still shaken up. Thursday, she was shopping at a Wegmans in Wake Forest, North Carolina when she says a man asked for help picking out a greeting card."He's pretending that he can't speak English," she recounted to Nexstar's WNCN. "I tried to help him pick out a card."Perone said the man was appreciative, thanked her, and walked away. Then she noticed a woman standing by her cart. Plane evacuation slide falls into backyard of Chicago home "The woman actually stared at me, and it gave me such an eerie feeling," Perone recalled. "Then she walked away, and something told me, 'Check in your bag.'"She realized her wallet was gone.Her daughter-in-law, Christina Perone, said within about 15 minutes, thousands of dollars of charges or attempted charges showed up on Cathy's credit cards."...

ATCEMS sets all-time record in June for heat-related incidents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) --- Austin-Travis County EMS is responding to more heat-related illnesses this summer compared to last year. Already, they are at 149 heat-related calls just for July. "That compares to 223 last July, but we're not done with July yet. So we're probably going to surpass that. I would not be surprised if we surpassed it by a pretty large margin," said ATCEMS Captain Christa Stedman. Cpt. Stedman said this June they set an all-time record for the number of heat-related incidents ATCEMS responded to. "We responded to 228 of those incidents," Stedman said. "Last June, we respond to 159."'Never seen anything like this'It's been one of the hottest summers hikers Kiersten Mueller and Casey Towers have ever seen."I've never experienced this kind of sustained heat, so it's definitely noticeable," Towers said. These triple-digit temperatures have caused more heat-related illnesses, including ones they've witnessed firsthand. "We saw several weeks ago, a young man up there, he mig...

Lake Travis golfer eyeing career in the skies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Since she was 3 years old, Gabby Roth was a competitive swimmer year-round. When the Austin native was 10, her dad began to get her into golf."I started taking a lesson every single week and it kind of just snowballed from there," said Roth. "And then I started playing in competitive tournaments when I was 12."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/newslettersThe Lake Travis High School graduate was a key cog in their run to the 6A state golf tournament in 2023. One of Roth's former teammates plays golf at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Always having a passion for airplanes, Roth began to research."Ever since I was a little kid I've always been stuck staring at the sky," said Roth. "And when I'm playing golf tournaments, I'm always stuck staring at the sky if we're playing near an airport or anything." ‘I want to celebrate them’: Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian ...

Canadian wildfire smoke spurs another air quality warning for Northwest Minnesota

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, or MPCA, issued an air quality alert for northwestern and far west-central Minnesota on Monday. Parts of North Dakota may also be affected.The alert is effective through 10 p.m. Tuesday, the MPCA said in a news release.Smoke from wildfires in Quebec has cycled around a large, low-pressure system near Hudson Bay and has looped around into the northwestern part of the state. The smoke will continue to move south along the Red River Valley and will linger across northwestern and west-central Minnesota through Tuesday evening, the MPCA said.The smoke will be slow to dissipate, and the alert may need to be locally extended depending on how fast the smoke clears on Tuesday, the MPCA said.The affected areas in Minnesota include East Grand Forks, Moorhead, Roseau, Thief River Falls, Bemidji, Crookston, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls and Ortonville, as well as the tribal nations of Leech Lake and Red Lake, the MPCA said.“We are seeing that upper-lev...

Matt Wallner out of Twins’ starting lineup again

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

SEATTLE — The Twins recalled Matt Wallner in time to play in last Friday’s victory at Oakland, but as the team started its fourth game of this seven-game road trip, the outfielder from Forest Lake had yet to see his name on manager Rocco Baldelli’s lineup card.Minnesota likes to recall players who will have a chance to play regularly, but in this case it might be difficult.Wallner, 25, was called up for his third stint with the big league team after third baseman Jose Miranda was lost to an impingement in his right shoulder. A left-handed hitter, he joins a team that already has left-handed-hitting outfielders Max Kepler, Joey Gallo and Alex Kirilloff, plus switch hitter Willi Castro.“You know,” Baldelli said, “we lose a third baseman, we get a left-handed-hitting outfielder.”Optioned May 29 to the Saints after hitting .636 with a 1.692 OPS in his last four big league games, Wallner remained hot in St. Paul, hitting .308 with 11 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 31 RBIs, 20 wal...

For Twins’ Emilio Pagán, highs and lows starting to even out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:38:52 GMT

SEATTLE — Every major league team, every season, has a relief pitcher who becomes a punchline. For the Twins last season, it was Emilio Pagán — and the reputation has largely stuck.“That comes with the territory of being a reliever,” he said. “You come in with a one-run lead and you blow it, you give up a run, you suck. … I get it. It doesn’t bother me at all. We wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for the fans. They’re allowed to be passionate. They’re allowed to hang on every pitch and every outcome.”Through more than half of this season, though, Pagán hasn’t quite deserved the residual ire from 2022.The right-hander has rebounded from a disappointing, and sometimes confounding, season that finished with a 4-6 record, seven blown saves and a 4.43 earned-run average in a year that saw the Twins fall from first in the American League Central to 14 games out over the final month.Pagán started the season as the closer, and had seven saves in the Twins’ first 46 games, but by July, the on...