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December Nights: What to know about the two-day event at Balboa Park

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Balboa Park is preparing to celebrate the holiday experience with December Nights.The two-day festival will take place from 3-11 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1 and from 3-11 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, the City of San Diego said in a press release Tuesday.Known as the city's largest free event, December Nights consists of more than 1,600 performers, 200 food and retail booths and museum venues open to the public for free during the evening hours.“Our December Nights celebration is a joyous and beloved annual tradition that helps San Diego kick off the holiday season,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said. “I want to thank our City of San Diego staff and everyone who bring this event to life every year.”  Experience snow at these places within driving distance of San Diego Guests will be able to use the December Nights mobile-friendly website to make their way through the event, whether it is information about parking, entertainment, vendors, food and more. Those coming to Balb...

Arrest made after Mater Dei Catholic High School receives shooting threat

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. — A 15-year-old was arrested on Tuesday after Mater Dei Catholic High School received an anonymous school shooting threat, according to Chula Vista police.Entry to or exit from the school was briefly suspended with the implementation of the "secure campus" protocol shortly before 12:30 p.m. The pause was initiated after CVPD was notified by a staff member that a caller threatened to commit a shooting at the school, authorities said.Police were on scene and had support from a DFR drone to search for any active threats, CVPD said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. At about 1:35 p.m., officers determined the campus was safe and lifted the closure.Preliminary investigation findings identified the possible individual that called in the threat as a 15-year-old juvenile in Chula Vista, who was not a student at the school. According to CVPD, he was arrested at about 3:05 p.m."At this point in the investigation, it appears the call was a hoax and the students and staff at ...

Maple Leafs win 2-1 shootout thriller after Panthers goal overturned

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 in the shootout on Tuesday, but not without some last-minute drama. After Auston Matthews and Sam Reinhart exchanged shootout goals in rounds three and six, Evan Rodrigues appeared to win it in round 10 after he snuck it past Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll’s pads. But upon further review from the referees, the replay showed that Rodrigues double-tapped the puck on a slight rebound, overturning the goal. WELL UH THAT WAS SOMETHING ????Evan Rodrigues and the Florida Panthers thought they won this game in the shootout. After review the goal was called back. pic.twitter.com/OMblrPZDxN— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 29, 2023Woll and some other Leafs had left the ice as the Panthers celebrated what the team thought was a 2-1 shootout win. However, after the announcement, everyone — including several Scotiabank Arena fans — made their way back. Noah Gregor, who scored Toronto’s lone regulation goal in the...

Coal power, traffic, waste burning a toxic smog cocktail in Indonesia’s Jakarta

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Against the backdrop of smokestacks from a nearby coal power plant, the sky above Edy Suryana’s village stays grey for months at a time, while ashes and the stench of smoke hang in the air.Suryana has spent more than three decades living in the shadow of the power plant in northern Java, just 60 miles from Jakarta, Indonesia’s most populous city. She and other villagers have watched as their loved ones suffered from coughing fits, itchy skin and other health problems that many believe are partly because of the ever-present smog. Pollution is causing a rise in respiratory illnesses and deaths in northern Java, including Jakarta, experts say. Smog in the metropolis of 11.2 million people comes from a combination of the coal-fired plants, vehicle and motorcycle exhaust, trash burning and industries, and many in the city are demanding that the government take action. Emissions from coal-fired power plants contribute to greenhouse gases that rise into the atmosp...

Book on tribalism in the modern world wins Balsillie Prize for Public Policy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

TORONTO — Anthropologist David R. Samson has won the Balsillie Prize for Public Policy for his book about how tribalism can be harnessed for good and ill.The Writers’ Trust of Canada awarded the prize to “Our Tribal Future: How to Channel Our Foundational Human Instincts into a Force for Good.”The $60,000 award goes to a book of non-fiction that advances policy debates.Samson’s book posits that the desire to form “tribes” is behind some of the division in today’s society, but that it shouldn’t be eliminated outright and can instead by used to make things better.Jurors praised the book as essential reading with “deep and enduring implications.”The runners-up, which each receive $5,000, are “Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups: Canada’s Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade” by Ryan Manucha; “Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence” by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Ga...

‘A unifier’: Fans and band pay tribute to Les Cowboys Fringants singer Karl Tremblay

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

MONTREAL — There was an outpouring of sadness, tears and love at Montreal’s Bell Centre on Tuesday as thousands of music fans joined the remaining members of beloved folk-rock band Les Cowboys Fringants in paying tribute to lead singer Karl Tremblay. Tremblay died earlier this month at age 47 after a long bout with prostate cancer, spurring a wave of grief and affection from across the province that led Premier François Legault to offer the singer a national funeral.Tuesday’s event featured music, as could be expected for a man whose voice was an ever-present mainstay of shows, festivals and radio airwaves for over 25 years. The crowd burst into a lengthy standing ovation when Tremblay’s bandmates Marie-Annick Lépine, Jérôme Dupras and Jean-François Pauzé took the stage, delivering speeches and eventually leading the crowd in a version of the band’s song “Sur mon épaule” (On my shoulder). It was a performance reminiscent of one the band’s la...

Suburban English teacher creates space for empathy and for students to be themselves

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

OAK LAWN, Ill. — WGN’s November Teacher of the Month is a high school English teacher in the southwest suburbs.Students say Mrs. Shatha Odeh is fun and relatable and she’s building genuine bonds in the classroom.At Oak Lawn Community High School, Mrs. Shatha Odeh has been teaching English for more than 20 years.One of her own teachers planted the seed.“Her name is Katy Cunningham. She’s at Reavis High School and she’s still there,” she said. “And I wanted to be just like her — touch students, connect with students, make them want to learn. And I thought it was such a beautiful art - the art of teaching.”Odeh says the art of teaching branches out well beyond the subject matter to delivery and relationship building. “As educators we have to find ways to keep their attention and keep them interested,” she said.It’s why she taps into TikTok, sharing unpublished videos with reviews and reminders for students. Nominated a teacher here! Senior Ava Johnson was in Odeh’s class, last s...

Former freshman All-American, 1st-team All-MAC wide receiver from South Suburbs hits the transfer portal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

DEKALB, Ill. — A wide receiver who played high school football in the southern suburbs and earned both freshman All-American and First Team All-Mid American Conference (MAC) honors, has hit the transfer portal, according to a post on X Tuesday.Trayvon Rudolph, who played football at Crete-Monee High School from 2016-19, announced his intent to enter the transfer portal after spending three seasons at Northern Illinois University.NIU wideout and return man and former @CreteMoneeFB standout Trayvon Rudolph entering the transfer portal. https://t.co/RCmqt2m3AF— Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) November 28, 2023Rudolph was a freshman All-American in 2020 and a First Team All-MAC selection by Pro Football Focus in 2021, his best season with the Huskies, where he caught 49 passes for 877 receiving yards (17.9 yards-per-catch) and seven touchdowns. Rudolph also returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and scored a rushing touchdown in 2021.Originally a walk-on before earning a schola...

Fighting Illini's Jer'Zhan Newton cleans house at Big Ten Awards

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Jer'Zhan Newton, the University of Illinois' star defensive tackle, took home top honors in just about every category he qualified for during Big Ten awards season, the conference announced on Tuesday.Newton was voted the Nagurski-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the Smith-Brown Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year by conference coaches and media. Newton is the fourth Illini in history to earn the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award, joining Dana Howard (1993, 1994), Darrick Brownlow (1990), and Moe Gardner (1990).Newton was also voted a First Team All-Big Ten selection by coaches and media.One of the most disruptive players in the nation, Newton led Power-5 defensive tackles in quarterback pressures for the second straight season in 2023, according to PFF. His 44 pressures this season leads all Big Ten defensive tackles by 15, and he also led Big Ten defensive tackles in sacks with 7.5, which ranked second overall in the conference. Over th...

Charges filed against man accused of shooting Bedford Park officer

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:26 GMT

BEDFORD PARK, Ill. — Charges have been filed against a man accused of shooting a Bedford Park police officer after he and another man allegedly attempted to steal a car on Sunday.According to Bedford Park police, 24-year-old Raul Perez is facing one count of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, one count of attempted aggravated vehicular hijacking, and an armed habitual criminal charge. FBI agents offer reward for information on man who attempted to rob banks in Chicago Police say the charges stem from an alleged shooting that took place after an altercation broke out between him and a Bedford Park police officer.According to police, officers responded to reports of a crash in the 6700 block of South Archer Road around 3:40 p.m. and found an unoccupied vehicle that was heavily damaged. Police then determined that the vehicle had been reported as stolen in a carjacking in Chicago.Police say after reviewing surveillance video, two men were seen fleeing the scene of the...