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In US, some Muslim-Jewish interfaith initiatives are strained by Israel-Hamas war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

Shireen Quaizar was wracked with doubt. For years, the school psychologist has been active in Muslim-Jewish interfaith dialogue, but the Israel-Hamas war left her reeling.“What are we doing with talking to each other?” she recalled thinking, frustrated by a conversation about the exact number of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike. “This doesn’t work.”But she decided to fight that thought and tackle the hard discussions once again. Later, Quaizar, who is Muslim, met with women like Aviva Seltzer, the daughter of a rabbi and a Jewish school principal who was raised with the belief that “but for the existence of Israel, we’d all be dead.”The two had come together for a conference in New Brunswick, New Jersey, convened by the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, an organization seeking to build trust and friendships between Muslim and Jewish women.  These conversations are becoming increasingly difficult, with the war and its polarizing reverberations in America testing and straining s...

Republicans had New Yorkers lead the way in expelling Santos. Will it help them keep the majority?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — George Santos is gone from the House, but his name is certain to pop up in key congressional races across New York next year. Democrats are targeting five seats held by first-term Republicans and looking to associate them with their former colleague in the state’s congressional delegation as often as they can.How successful Democrats are in that effort could help determine which party holds the majority in the House in 2025.The strategy of association was evident as Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York castigated Republicans in comments leading up to Santos’ expulsion on Friday.“Look, House Republicans knew a lot about George Santos before he was elected. And we have reason to believe either intentionally kept that information out of the public domain or willfully turned a blind eye,” Jeffries said. “And then, when the information exploded into the public domain, continue to coddle George Santos and play footsie with him for the better part of ...

Plant-based meat industry still poised for growth despite recent setbacks: experts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

It’s been more than five years since A&W first started selling Beyond Meat burgers to customers eager to see whether the patties could compete with their beloved beef.The burger chain sold out of the patties when they first launched, having underestimated how many people would want to try them. The day Beyond Meat went public on the Nasdaq in 2019, its share price rose 163 per cent. These days, however, shares in Beyond Meat are trading at a fraction of their 2019 high.Since the flurry of excitement over A&W’s beef-free burger and the company behind it, the nascent plant-based meat industry has had to swallow a bitter pill: the exponential growth anticipated by many has not panned out. Yet industry experts say there’s still plenty of growth in the future for plant-based meat products — and several areas where the sector still needs investment. The plant-based meat sector was starting to ramp up not long before A&W made a splash by adding the Beyond ...

Heavy police presence at Oakbrook Terrace hotel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- Police are investigating an incident at Hilton Hotel in Oakbrook Terrace Saturday night. Police from multiple west suburbs were spotted at the at Hilton Hotel near 10 Drury Lane around 10:30 p.m.Through the windows, officers were seen swarming the lobby. There are reports of officer sweeping rooms. Brighton Park migrant camp nearing completion, despite opposition There was police presence all the way back to the Spring Road ramp. A portion of Frontage Road was closed off while police investigated. Hotel guests were outside for hours before they were cleared to return to their rooms.There was no additional information provided.WGN is actively following the incident and will update as more information is recovered.

Sunday Forecast: Rain at times, high near 40

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

Sunday: Rain at times, tapers into scattered showers. WSW 5-10 mph. High near 40Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy & chance of showers.  WNW 5-10 mph. Low 34Monday: Chance of AM showers south, elsewhere clouds & some peeks of sun. NNW 5-10 mph. High 41Extended outlook calls for some rain/snow at times for Tuesday with highs in the upper 30s. Not much expected for accumulations at this time. Temps rise for Wed with temps in the mid 40s and cloudy skies. Milder for Thu/Fri with partly to mostly sunny skies and temps getting up to near 50. We'll be above normal for next Saturday with highs in the mid to upper 40s and a chance of rain showers. 

Top 10 countdown: These are the most popular Texas state parks each winter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Looking for an outdoor adventure this winter? Depending on the weather, one of Texas' many state parks may be just what you're looking for.Across the Lone Star State, there are 86 state parks, natural areas and historic sites currently operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. What is the most-visited state park in Texas? Here’s the top 10 countdown for 2023 The first parks were opened to the public in the 1930s and the newest, Old Tunnel State Park, opened in 2012. TPWD also has plans to develop five sites into future state parks.TPWD splits the state into seven ‘natural regions,’ each of which is home to several state parks. The Prairies & Lakes region is home to 22 parks, more than any other region. The South Texas Plains region is home to the fewest, with seven parks.To determine the average winter totals, we looked at the number of visitors each December, January and February since 2018-19. In an average winter, the state park system a...

'Better off without me': Mom shares postpartum depression struggle as Texas works to improve access, treatment 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — She can only describe it as a breakdown. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic when the east Austin mom explained she "could no longer keep the balls all in the air. They all fell down."A book displayed at The Village Place in northeast Austin. (KXAN Photo/Arezow Doost) The 36-year-old was teaching not only students but her daughter at the time. She said her husband helped but nothing could prevent what happened next. "I suddenly had no desire to eat or live. I was just really tired and overwhelmed. Not having a lot of support made things even harder. No one to ask for a break, childcare," she wrote to KXAN investigators anonymously. "I knew it wasn't baby blues because the constant feeling of sadness, hopelessness, and extreme tiredness never went away. There was even some difficulty bonding with my baby and thoughts she would really be better off without me." READ: Austin-based Black Mamas Village debuts new community hub She said she had dealt with ...

Mark Gongloff: Do 70,000 people really need to be at a climate confab?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

How many people do you think it takes to hammer out a global climate agreement? 500? 5,000? 50,000?Apparently, the correct answer is 70,000. That’s about how many people are expected to turn up in Dubai over the next few weeks for COP28, the latest United Nations climate confab, which started on Thursday. This is up from 49,704 at COP27 last year in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and 38,457 at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. Attendance has more than tripled since 2019. In COP’s early years, attendance averaged just 5,000.Whether this explosion is a sign that the world is taking climate change more seriously or just the bloat that naturally accumulates around gatherings of humans who control large pools of political and financial capital remains to be seen. Is COP Man devolving into Davos Man? The answer depends partly — but not entirely — on how much real progress gets made over the next few weeks.On that front, it’s difficult to be optimistic. Many of those 70,00...

Cathedral Christmas Festival among holiday events in the Twin Cities this year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

An hour of live classic Christmas songs, an old-school European marketplace, and special recognition of a rescued fox kit will be featured at the Cathedral of St. Paul’s Cathedral Christmas Festival.The fox kit, which came to be known as the Cathedral Fox, was found on the brink of death on Cathedral grounds in 2021 by the Rev. John Ubel. With the help of volunteers from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota, the fox kit was nursed back to health and released to roam free on a 300-acre piece of private land in Cass County.The fox, and the story of it being saved, has become a focus of the annual festival. The event — from Dec. 7 to Dec. 9 — has been held for the last seven years.“The successful rescue of this cold, hungry, orphaned fox by cathedral rector Father John Ubel is an apt metaphor for the giving spirit of the Christmas season,” Christmas festival chair Andrew Kuhrmeyer said in a news release.How the “Cathedral Fox” was sa...

Editorial: Denver officials right to examine, restructure sidewalk fees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:33:17 GMT

The sidewalk fee lookup tool posted on the Denver government website has been taken down, and that is a good sign. We had hoped the city council would see the gross inequities and sheer burden of the fee, which was approved by voters in November 2022, and take action to prevent it from being implemented as it was written.Voters, focusing on the upside of finally getting a completed and connected sidewalk network in the city, passed Initiated Ordinance 307, the sidewalk repair ballot measure, with 55.9% of voters’ support.But as The Denver Post Editorial Board noted in its opposition to the measure, this one came with implementation problems. For residents already facing increases in property taxes, groceries, insurance, trash services and other basic needs, the reality of the sidewalk fee struck hard as the calculator showed everyone just how much it would add to their mounting financial burdens.As written, the fee is not equitable for Denver’s residents, certainly not b...