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'Weekend Break' visits 2023 Ribfest Chicago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

CHICAGO — A popular event in Chicago for BBQ fans is making it's return to North Center once against in 2023. Featuring a variety of vendors from the Chicago area and the entire country, Ribfest Chicago opens up Saturday and continues through Sunday evening at 4000 N. Lincoln Avenue. We decided to feature the event on Saturday's "Weekend Break" on WGN Weekend Morning News as Christine Flores made her way to the festival site to preview what's ahead the next two days. Christine spoke to Mike Frost, who works for Chicago BBQ Company, about what he's looking forward to this week while also showing off the brisket he made for Ribfest. The event also features a number of out-of-town vendors, including Nikki Haggerty of Austin Texas Lightning BBQ.She spoke with Christine during one of the segments on the WGN Weekend Morning News on August 19.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delive...

What's the deal with the Bass Pro Shops pyramid in Memphis?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (NEXSTAR) — It may be a familiar sight to Memphis residents, but visitors continue to be confounded by one particular downtown building — it's the oddball Bass Pro Shops Pyramid.In addition to a massive Bass Pro Shops store, the 32-story steel Pyramid houses the Big Cypress Lodge hotel, restaurants, multiple aquariums, waterfalls, a cave, a bowling alley, live alligators, and a cypress swamp containing "nearly 600,000 gallons of water," according to Bass Pro Shops. That's not to mention it boasts the tallest free-standing elevator in the U.S. Earn $1K to test Buc-ee’s snacks: Here's how to apply But despite all that it offers, you may be wondering how this pyramid came to exist at all. After all, even though Memphis, Tennessee, is named after the ancient Egyptian city, most pyramids usually don't house businesses (unless you're counting Luxor Las Vegas).Here's the bizarre backstory behind this modern marvel.The swampy exterior of the Big Cypress Lodge (Courtesy of B...

ATCEMS: 2 dead after crash on Bee Caves Road

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Two people died after a crash on Bee Caves Road on Friday night, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.Officials said a vehicle rescue call came in at 9:23 p.m. in the 7000 block of Farm-to-Market Road 2244. ATCEMS said it arrived on the scene of a two-vehicle collision with three patients involved.ATCEMS said two adults were pronounced dead at the scene, and one adult was taken to the hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries.  Officials had no other information available, and EMS was no longer on scene as of 10:58 p.m.

Williamson County names new elections administrator

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Judith Ritchie will be Williamson County's next elections administrator, the county announced Wednesday. Ritchie was appointed the interim elections administrator until the Williamson County Elections Commission starts a permanent replacement search. She has worked as the county's deputy elections administrator for over two years. Ritchie replaces Chris Davis, who resigned from the role Aug. 9. The reason for Davis' resignation was not shared. PREVIOUS: Williamson County elections administrator resigns The county said Ritchie meets the statutory requirements for the job. A release said while Ritchie can apply for the permanent position, the elections commission advised Richtie her appointment "is based on the expectation that she will step down and resume her role as deputy elections administrator should someone else be selected."

What damage Southern California can expect from Hurricane Hilary 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

Hurricane Hilary continues to travel towards Southern California, and while the storm will weaken before it makes landfall, damage is still expected to be widespread.The National Weather Service placed SoCal under its first ever tropical storm warning on Friday evening, impacting most of Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange counties as well as mountain communities in the Inland Empire. Almost all of San Diego County will be effected by the storm.Major, and in some cases, historic flooding is expected throughout Southern California, according to the National Weather Service, especially in mountain and desert areas. “Rivers and tributaries may rapidly overflow their banks in multiple places,” NWS said. “Small streams, creeks, canals, arroyos and ditches may become dangerous rivers.” The projected path of Hurricane Hilary. Aug. 19, 2023. (KTLA)In addition to overflowing rivers and tributaries, runoff from mountain valleys may impact foothill communities and other areas susceptibl...

Photos: Southern California braces for Hurricane Hilary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

Images from the Los Angeles/Long Beach area as Southern California braces for the arrival of Hurricane Hilary. Hilary is expected to weaken into a tropical storm by the time it makes landfall on Sunday.Seal Beach resident Tom Ostrom, walks past a home protected with sandbags in Seal Beach, Calif., Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. Hurricane Hilary is churning off Mexico's Pacific coast as a powerful Category 4 storm threatening to unleash torrential rains on the mudslide-prone border city of Tijuana before heading into Southern California as the first tropical storm there in 84 years. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)A couple walks along berms in Seal Beach, Calif., Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. Officials in Southern California were also re-enforcing sand berms, built to protect low-lying coastal communities against winter surf. Hurricane Hilary is churning off Mexico's Pacific coast as a powerful Category 4 storm threatening to unleash torrential rains on the mudslide-prone border city of Tijuana before ...

Stray bullet wounds woman asleep in Oakland home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

OAKLAND — A 50-year-old woman asleep inside her East Oakland home early Saturday suffered a graze wound to her head from a stray bullet fired during an apparent gun battle outside the residence, authorities said.The woman was in stable condition at a hospital.The shooting happened around 3 a.m. Saturday in the 1800 block of 88th Avenue. Police said based on initial reports it appears a gun battle erupted between different people or groups outside.At least 20 shots were fired, prompting the activation of a gunshot detection system.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | East Bay man pleads guilty in lottery ticket theft scheme Crime and Public Safety | Family men or cruel cops? Indictments expose Antioch officers’ stunning dark side Crime and Public Safety | San Ramon woman shot in West Oakland Crime and Public Safety | Martinez police fatally shoot person after responding to reported burglary at cannabis dispensary ...

Editorial: Antioch police union’s tone-deaf indictment response suggests need to clean house

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

The long-anticipated federal indictments this week of 10 Antioch and Pittsburg police officers reveal a pattern of corruption that should outrage not only residents but also cops.For some of the accused officers, policing wasn’t about serving and protecting the public, it was just the opposite. Policing was a vigilante assault game and suspects were the target.“lol putting a pistol in someone’s mouth and telling them to stop stealing isn’t illegal,” Antioch Officer Morteza Amiri texted in a telling exchange highlighted in one of the indictments. “It’s an act of public service to prevent further victims of crimes.”Unfortunately, the Antioch Police Officers Association seems to think this is just another case against some officers. “We are saddened to learn of what has happened and look forward to the legal process playing itself out,” the association posted Thursday on its Facebook page.The charged officers are entitled to due process. But if other cops in the Contra Costa County cit...

When Is a Coup Not a Coup? When the U.S. Says So.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

Not long ago, President Joe Biden vowed that the U.S. would “counter democratic backsliding by imposing costs for coups” in Africa. But three weeks after a military mutiny in Africa involving U.S.-trained officers, the Pentagon refuses to call the takeover in Niger a coup d’état.After a Nigerien junta, which calls itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland, seized power on July 26 and detained the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, France and the European Union immediately called it a coup. But weeks later, in public statements and responses to The Intercept, Pentagon officials have repeatedly stopped short of using that word.“Not calling a coup a coup not only undermines our credibility but harms our long-term interests in these states.”“Not calling a coup a coup not only undermines our credibility but harms our long-term interests in these states,” said Elizabeth Shackelford, a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and l...

Water quality concerns halt Paris Olympics swimming test in the Seine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:25 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Another Paris Olympics test run in the Seine River was canceled on Saturday because of concerns about water quality, in a fresh blow to Games organizers and the city’s ambitions to reopen the iconic river to public swimming.Triathlon swimmers took to the Seine in competition on Thursday and Friday, but results of water quality tests showed “significant discrepancies” in the hours leading up to Saturday’s scheduled paratriathlon events, organizers said in a statement. The competition was transformed into a duathlon of just running and biking. Water safety officials are trying to determine why two testing systems used for the river produced different results. One indicated too-high levels of bacteria overnight, said Pierre-Antoine Molina, who oversees public policy for the Paris regional administration. Rainfall in recent days may have been a factor.A previous test event had to be canceled this month because heavy rain caused overflows of untreated waste in the Seine, lea...