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Elburn woman 'planting seeds of change' in community

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

ELBURN, Ill. -- For nearly two decades, Jaimie Valentini worked as a special education teacher. She loved the work, but often worried about opportunities for her students once they transitioned into adulthood.Two years ago, she put that calling into action."Plant a seed, watch it grow," a phrase Jaimie Valentini embodies every day."In my brain it was always this very easy fix to a big problem we had in our community," Jaimie Valentini, the founder of the Rising Lights Project said.Jamie started the non-profit "Rising Lights Project" two years ago. A place where young adults of all abilities could harvest their collective talents to grow something bountiful and beautiful.The rising gardeners grow, dry, pack, and then sell their herb infused creations at farmer's markets throughout Geneva and Batavia.Right now, the gardeners rely on artificial lights, but come spring, the office moves outdoors."It's trickling down from this little garden club that I heard of," Loreen Niforatos said. "...

TikTok creators say ban would destroy their businesses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — TikTok creators took to Capitol Hill Wednesday to discourage Congress from banning the social media app nationwide.The creators use TikTok for all sorts of things, from posting poetry to discussing mental health to teaching grammar to showing off their fashion lines. They say banning the app would crush their businesses."I would lose a business that I've worked almost a decade for," said Summer Lucille, who said the app increased e-commerce for her small fashion business by 800%.She said the booming business allows her to support her family."It changed my life forever, so I would be devastated (by a ban)," she said.The full-court press sponsored by TikTok came one day before the company's CEO was scheduled to testify before senators and as the White House and a growing number of lawmakers from both parties say they are concerned the China-owned app could share millions of Americans' data with the Chinese government."TikTok poses a national security threat," Se...

6 dead after car drives into construction zone on Maryland interstate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

WOODLAWN, Md. (WDCW) — Six people are dead after a car drove through a work zone on Interstate 695 in Maryland Wednesday afternoon.Maryland State Police said that the incident happened around 12:40 p.m. on the inner loop of Interstate 695 at Security Boulevard in Woodlawn. Close call: Departing Southwest Airlines plane comes within less than 200 feet of ambulance According to authorities, the car involved went into the work zone, passing in between jersey walls that were placed there temporarily, and hit multiple construction workers. The car then overturned, sending debris across multiple lanes of traffic. Emergency personnel work at the scene of fatal crash along Interstate 695 near Woodlawn, Md., Wednesday, March 22, 2023. At least six people were dead after a crash that closed the Baltimore Beltway in both directions Wednesday, snarling traffic along the west side of the highway that encircles the city, Maryland State Police said. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP)Emerg...

Man arrested after fire burns vacant downtown Austin building

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man was arrested one day after Austin Fire crews put out a fire at a vacant building on Congress Avenue between 9th and 10th streets. No one was hurt, but it caused an estimated $1 million in damages, AFD said.The Austin Fire Department told KXAN crews were called out around 11:40 p.m. Monday after a 911 caller reported seeing smoke. Fire crews saw flames in a second-floor window of the building at 907 Congress Avenue and called out more crews to help. AFD posted on social media at 1 a.m. that crews were working outside the building because of structural conditions. AFD said crews were putting out hotspots and you could no longer see flames from the outside of the building. The fire was out early Tuesday morning, and AFD tweeted at 9:21 a.m. Tuesday the building was under fire standby all night as crews were watching it and extinguishing small flare-ups.John Daniel Banks, 32, was arrested in connection with the fire and faces an arson charge, according to AFD. If c...

UT professor awarded 'Nobel Prize of Computing' for developing Ethernet 50 years ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — University of Texas at Austin Professor Robert Metcalfe has been awarded the 2022 Association for Computing Machinery A.M. Turing Award – referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing” – for the invention, standardization and commercialization of Ethernet.Metcalfe is a professor emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UT Austin. The award is named after Alan M. Turing – famous for his role in developing the modern computer – and includes a $1 million prize with financial support provided by Google, according to a UT Austin release. “It is dangerous to accept an award for developing Ethernet, which turns 50 on May 22, 2023,” Metcalfe was quoted saying in the release. “Over Ethernet’s 50 years, hundreds of people have earned some claim of inventorship. Join me in saying to these folks, ‘Thank you.’”Metcalfe developed Ethernet in the 1970s while working as a computer scientist with the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). It was there...

When will Austin decide on its official light rail design?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austinites have a little more than a month to weigh in on Project Connect's initial light rail options before work happens to finalize the official design.The Austin Transit Partnership debuted five scaled down options for the city's upcoming light rail system at an open house Tuesday evening. Greg Canally, ATP's executive director, referred to it as the program's initial investment in light rail, with options featuring between 6-mile and 10-mile-long routes that are projected to service up to nearly 40,000 people each day. ICYMI: Project Connect debuts five scaled down light rail options For community members who missed Tuesday's open house, ATP is offering a virtual version online, which residents can view and submit feedback on through May 2. A virtual light rail community update will also be held on April 6 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.Beyond that, officials said Project Connect leaders will host informational meetings with city and transit boards and commissions, neigh...

Texas committee to take up drag performance, story time restrictions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A couple of bills that would restrict drag-related events and even criminalize performers in Texas will come up Thursday for discussion for the first time during this legislative session. This debate follows a statehouse rally earlier this week that brought out hundreds to defend drag and call for more LGBTQ protections. Members of the Texas Senate state affairs committee will start discussions on Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 1601, both filed by Republican State Sen. Bryan Hughes. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Senate chamber. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Drag story time puts state funding in jeopardy for Texas libraries Senate Bill 12SB 12, if ultimately passed by both chambers and signed by the governor into law, would levy a penalty up to $10,000 against any business owner who hosts a "sexually oriented performance" with anyone who's younger than 18 present. A city or county would also not be able to host these kinds of performances on public property, according t...

Windy, humid weather ahead of storm potential on Friday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Gusty south winds are bringing warm, humid air into the region as a western storm slowly approaches.Thursday will look and feel similar to Wednesday with morning clouds and a bit of drizzle, clearing into break of afternoon sun. Southerly wind gusts are expected to reach 25-35 mph, potentially affecting the Dell Match Play golf tournament on Lake Austin.The western storm drags a front through our area early Friday morning, bringing a broken line of strong to severe storms into the Hill Country before sunrise.Line of storms expected to move in early Friday morningThere is a marginal threat of wind or hail damage with these storms Friday, then sunshine returns Friday afternoon.Severe thunderstorm threat early FridaySevere thunderstorm threat daytime FridayOverall, rainfall totals look minimal with most of us not favored to see more than a quarter of an inch. Isolated higher rainfall amounts are possible in parts of the Hill Country where storms are stronger. BLOG: ...

Other voices: Law students shout down free speech

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

The disdain law students and their administrators show the First Amendment and differing viewpoints should be a major societal concern.Earlier this month, federal circuit court Judge Kyle Duncan appeared at Stanford Law School to give a speech. He came at the invitation of the Federalist Society. His talk was titled, “The Fifth Circuit in Conversation with the Supreme Court: Covid, Guns, and Twitter.” Such gatherings are one of the benefits of attending an elite law school.Instead, what took place would have gotten a preschooler sent home for the day. Many Standard law students were angry that Judge Duncan was coming, because he is — gasp! — a traditional conservative. Some held up profane signs in the room where he was speaking. As he began his lecture, many students shouted and heckled him with taunts such as “scumbag” and “you’re a liar.”This is wildly inappropriate, but it has become the norm from the “tolerant” l...

Theater review: ‘My Fair Lady’ returns with energy to Ordway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:36:00 GMT

When the pandemic brought everything to a halt in March 2020, the last theater production I’d experienced was Lincoln Center Theater’s “My Fair Lady.” It had just completed a week at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre, and I found the show curiously low on energy and heart. Yes, it was beautifully designed and choreographed, but the cast lacked much in the way of palpable enthusiasm for the material.In hindsight, I contemplate whether the performers were distracted by trepidation, for COVID-19 was starting to claim victims in much of the country, including the company’s home base of New York City. Surely, there were more important things on their minds.So I attended opening night of the production’s Twin Cities return – this time at St. Paul’s Ordway Music Theater – optimistic that a new cast would relish the return to live performance, and run gleefully into the arms of a musical theater masterpiece.And I’m happy to report that is indeed the case. This “My Fair Lady” is a high-energy del...