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Elderly man, 82, reported missing from Portage Park located

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

CHICAGO — Police were searching for an elderly man who was reported missing from Portage Park Wednesday night. He was located Thursday afternoon. Who Might be Chicago’s ‘next’ Top Cop?

Former Chicago Bull Ben Gordon arrested on weapons charge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Former NBA guard Ben Gordon, who spent five seasons with the Chicago Bulls, was arrested on weapons and threatening charges after he began behaving erratically in a Connecticut juice shop, police said.The episode started just before 10 a.m. Tuesday when several 911 callers reported “a male acting aggressively and in a bizarre manner” inside a juice shop in Stamford, the city's assistant police chief, Richard Conklin, said Thursday.The man, identified as Gordon, continued to act erratically when officers arrived and tried to take him into custody, Conklin said.The officers eventually subdued Gordon and placed him under arrest. They found a folding knife clipped to Gordon's pocket, and a stun gun and brass knuckles in his backpack, Conklin said.Gordon was arrested on charges including carrying a dangerous weapon, second-degree threatening and interfering with an officer. Previous Coverage: Report: Former Bulls guard Ben Gordon arrested for allegedly hitting so...

5 people die after Missouri tornado sweeps trailer away

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

BOLLINGER COUNTY, Mo. (KTVI) – A Missouri tornado left a miles-long path of destruction that took the lives of five people in an instant around 3 a.m. Wednesday. Tearful relatives later stood at the site of what was once a trailer in Bollinger County.One man, who did not want to be identified, detailed finding his five loved ones, who had been swept away far from their home. He said one had even shared last words with him.Two of the victims were 18 and 15 years old, he added.Search and rescue efforts continue in the area, which is now being toured by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. Even the nearby house is gone, with the roof tossed into the next lot, and the foundation unrecognizable.“Seven neighbors, you don’t know where they are; four of them are missing," said David McCormick, a storm survivor.On Wednesday afternoon, law enforcement confirmed five deaths, five injuries and 87 damaged buildings, 12 of which were completely destroyed.Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott described...

Organizers of Easter egg hunt in Ohio apologize after event goes wrong: 'Absolutely unacceptable behavior'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – The organizers of an Easter egg hunt in Ohio have said there will not be another after the parents of some participants allegedly exhibited “absolutely unacceptable behavior” during the event.The management of The Greene, an open-air shopping center and residential space in the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek, explained in a Facebook post on Monday that staffers had instructed guests on how the hunt would work: Children would be hunting for 2,000-plus hidden eggs in three waves, with the youngest kids (ages 1 and 2) going first. But some of the adults completely ignored the instructions and instead became aggressive, the organizers said.“When we began to gather the 1 & 2 year olds to head to their designated hunting area, parents rushed to the grassy area and began picking up eggs from other areas, which prompted all other participants to rush out and begin hunting," the organizers wrote in a now-unavailable Facebook post, versions of which have since been archived onli...

New medicine option helps ATCEMS keep patients out of emergency room

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin-Travis County EMS has added a new tool for its mental health crisis response team. It's an antipsychotic medicine, called olanzapine, and it can help with lower-level symptoms of several mental health conditions including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to the medication's website.ATCEMS has it on hand because of Capt. Kim Griffith."This came from a call where I really could have used it and instead the patient had to go to an ER and was unhappy with that option," she said. "So after running this call, I was pretty mad that I didn’t have this [medication] option, so I went back to the station and wrote a proposal for about two hours between calls."She said since the agency secured the medicine in November, it has helped divert 75% of eligible mental health patients from the emergency room. The remaining 25% had additional, separate medical issues that needed hospital attention. "When you have someone who’s hearing voices or seeing things where t...

Church sex abuse report gives voice to survivors: ‘I just want the darkness … to finally come to light’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

Jean Marbella, Abigail Gruskin, Angela Roberts | (TNS) The Baltimore SunBALTIMORE — Time has moved on. Many are gray-haired now, and their abusers long dead or otherwise beyond being prosecuted.But with Wednesday’s release of the Maryland attorney general’s sweeping report on decades of child sex abuse in the Baltimore archdiocese, these now grown Catholic schoolchildren feel a measure of vindication — however delayed, however incomplete.“It’s been a long time coming,” said Linda Malat Tiburzi, a Baltimore woman who was among the students raped in the 1970s by their teacher, John Merzbacher, at Catholic Community Middle School in South Baltimore.“I just want the darkness, the crimes, the heinous things that were done to children to finally come to light,” she said.The 456-page report shines a harsh light on the physical and sexual violence exacted on children by clergy and other employees of the archdiocese, and how the church covered up the crimes and failed to protect its youngest...

Report shows ‘astonishing’ depravity in sexual abuse of more than 600 in Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

Lee O. Sanderlin and Jonathan M. Pitts | (TNS) The Baltimore SunBALTIMORE — A four-year investigation of Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese reveals the scope of 80 years of child sex abuse and torture and how church officials often covered it up and, in some cases, paved the way for further abuse.Among the stories: A deacon who admitted abusing more than 100 children. A priest who chained and whipped boys for his own gratification. Another priest who, after receiving psychiatric treatment, went on to abuse 20 students at a Baltimore boys’ school.The Maryland Attorney General’s Office released Wednesday its “Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.” Its nearly 500 pages tell how 156 clergy and other church officials tormented more than 600 children and young adults, abuse dating back to the 1940s. The Baltimore archdiocese covers Baltimore City and nine counties in Central and Western Maryland.The report names at least 36 abusers who are not listed on the Archdioce...

With pothole season underway, St. Paul asphalt plant roars to life after holding pond-related delay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

Last year drivers filed 85 claims against the city of St. Paul over pothole-related car damage. That total has already been eclipsed several times over this season, even with winter snowfall yet to fully melt. Claims in the past two months alone surpass 250, with more expected.“It gives you a sense of the scale,” said St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw.The silver lining? On Wednesday night, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency gave the all-clear to a rebuilt holding pond at the city’s asphalt mixing plant on Burgess Street, which had to be reconstructed after a leak was discovered last year. The plant roared into operation Thursday morning, with Kershaw, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, state Sen. Sandy Pappas and other city officials cheering it onward.“Happy Asphalt Day!” shouted the mayor, who was also accompanied by City Council Member Mitra Jalali and representatives of the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council and the Laborers&...

NYPS: Gloversville man arrested on drug and gun charges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

GLOVERSVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- State Police, with the assistance of the Johnstown Police Department, arrested a Gloversville man on charges stemming from multiple incidents. Joseph A. Politsch, 33, was arrested at his home on March 29 and arraigned at the Gloversville City Court. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Police say Politsch had a firearm despite an active court order preventing him from lawfully possessing any firearm. In another incident, Politsch had allegedly held a victim against their will while threatening to harm them with a brandished firearm.Police executed a search warrant at his residence and discovered an illegal quantity of cannabis, felony-weight narcotics, and multiple illegally possessed firearms. Politsch was charged with the following:Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third DegreeCriminal Possession of Cannabis in the First DegreeCriminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree...

Albany man arrested in child pornography investigation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:48 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- State police arrested Taykwun Smoaks, 30 of Albany. Smoaks was allegedly involved in child sexual exploitation. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Police explain Smoaks is accused of having and promoting images consistent with child sexual exploitation. His arrest follows an investigation and execution of a search warrant on his home in Albany on April 5. The investigation stemmed from a cyber tip received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. ChargesPromoting a sexual performance by a childCriminal possession of a sexual performance by a childSmoaks was arrested and processed at Latham state police. He was taken to the Albany County Correctional Facility where he was held until arraignment on April 6, in the Albany City Court and released to the supervision of probation.