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1 killed in early morning apartment fire in Ottawa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

OTTAWA, Ill. — One person was killed in an apartment building fire in Ottawa early Wednesday morning.The fire department was called to a report of visible smoke and flames from a five-unit building located in the 100 block of West Campbell street around 2:15 a.m.Upon arrival, firefighters found fire showing from a door and window of a downstairs unit. Crews entered the structure and found heavy fire in the kitchen extending in the bedroom and living room areas. A search was conducted and an unresponsive person was found in the living room. According to fire officials, the person was removed and transported to OSF St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The person's identity has not yet been released. Officials said the fire appears to be accidental and is under investigation.

Here are the most and least disaster-prone states

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

(The Hill) – Wildfires and drought in California, hurricanes and flooding in Florida and power outages in Texas have rendered all three states distinctly less livable in recent years. People still flock to Florida and Texas, drawn by low taxes and warmth. (California, not so much.) But climate change is on everyone’s minds, and dire dispatches about fires and floods dominate the daily news cycle. “The data actually shows that some of the fastest-growing cities are some of those that are at the greatest risk of disasters,” said Diane Vuković, disaster-preparedness expert at Primal Survivor, a popular “prepper” website.  A recent Census Bureau list of the 15 fastest-growing cities includes three each in Texas and Florida. Yet, climate change has posited a new idea in American culture: Parts of the United States may not be habitable for much longer.  “I don’t know if I would say that there are places that are fundamentally unsafe, but I would say that ther...

New York doctor uses firefighter training to save family of 14

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

EAST MEADOW, Long Island (WPIX) – A New York pediatrician is being hailed a hero after he prevented 14 people from potentially being poisoned to death from a carbon monoxide gas leak.Dr. John Zaso, who doubles as a volunteer firefighter in the Long Island hamlet of East Meadow, used his skills from both jobs to diagnose that the family of one of his young patients was actively suffering carbon monoxide poisoning. He helped to dispatch his own fire department to the family's home.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas produced when a fossil fuel is burned. The CDC says CO "can cause sudden illness and death."Zaso said he got an urgent call from the mother of a 3-week-old infant patient of his late Monday night. The mother said her baby appeared sick and mentioned that a number of the family members in their house had started feeling sick within the past several hours. Fourteen people, all related, were living in...

The search for Chicago's next police superintendent

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago's top cop officially resigns Thursday and the search for his replacement will be nationwide.The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) is charged with conducting the search and plan to discuss their plans at a Wednesday press conference. Skilling: ‘Pineapple Express’ storm to bring wind, rain to Chicago Thursday The CCPSA "will discuss the Commission's key powers, the Police Superintendent search process, and timeline," according to a press release.WGN plans to livestream this event in its entirety within this story beginning at approximately 10 a.m.

1 dead, another seriously injured after head-on crash in Lockport

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

LOCKPORT, Ill. — One person died and another was seriously injured in a head-on crash Wednesday morning in Lockport.The crash happened just before 6:40 a.m. near Route 171 and Riley Avenue. Police said two vehicles were involved and it was a head-on collision. 2 dead after head-on collision in Will County One driver was declared dead at the scene and the other driver was transported to an area hospital with serious injuries.All lanes of Route 171 in the area are shut down.

Salt could be key ingredient for clean energy transition, UT Austin researchers say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Salt! Its one of the most common seasonings/condiments on the planet. Every kitchen has it. For thousands of years, it has been a key ingredient in our civilization and now, University of Texas in Austin researchers say, it could be important to our transition to a cleaner future."Historically, salt formations have been associated with oil and gas exploration and production," said Lorena Moscardelli, Director at the State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery Program at UT's Bureau of Economic Geology.In a new paper published last month in Tektonika, researchers with Moscardelli's team argued for the role salt could play. "I think in the next five years, we will we will start to see this implemented," Moscardelli said.Lead author and UT research scientist Oliver Duffy pointed to salt domes in the Gulf of Mexico as an example. "Salt dorms can be 10 or so kilometers tall," Duffy said. Some can be larger the Mount Everest.This diorama of a salt dome shows its size. Each o...

'I don't want to be homeless': Texas rent relief gets over 10K applications in just hours

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) reopened the Texas Rent Relief (TRR) application portal from March 14-28. The program offers rental and utility assistance with COVID-19 federal emergency rental funds. According to the state agency, as of 11:30am Tuesday, they received more than 10,000 applications. Texas rent relief program applications now open It caused some delayed load times on the website for applicants like Eva Cortez."I clicked on it, and it wasn't loading. I was like, I'm just gonna leave it there and see if it loads, and then eventually it loaded," Cortez said. Cortez lives in Austin and is facing eviction. She said without this assistance, she won't be able to afford her apartment. "I have a son, too. So I don't want to be homeless," Cortez said. The program is accepting applications for the remaining $96 million in rent relief funds. It's aimed at helping 15,000 households. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Texas taps into federal fundi...

First major US railroad merger in 2 decades will go forward

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

The way has been cleared for the first major railroad merger in more than two decades after federal regulators approved Canadian Pacific’s $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern.The two railroads are the nation’s two smallest, but the approval Wednesday by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board comes after a lengthy and arduous review because their coupling will create the only railroad linking Canada, Mexico and the United States.The Transportation Board said that the new direct service “new direct will facilitate the flow of grain from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast and Mexico, the movement of intermodal goods between Dallas and Chicago and the trade in automotive parts, finished vehicles, and other containerized mixed goods between the United States and Mexico.”The board said the transaction, which will have little to no track redundancies or overlapping routes, is also expected to add more than 800 new union jobs in the U.S.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s...

The height of domestic luxury? Designer ice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

Nobody loves ice more than Americans. It’s a running joke, a quirk of the national personality: Iced drinks are as American as rock ’n’ roll, pickup trucks and to-go cups.Way back in 1895, Mark Twain wrote that ice had become so inextricably linked with the United States that “there is but a single specialty with us, only one thing that can be called by the wide name ‘American.’ That is the national devotion to ice-water.”For years to come, all ice was good ice. But now it’s entering a new Gilded Age. Frozen water, which costs most Americans virtually nothing, is being redefined as a luxury item.At fashion-brand parties, ice cubes stamped with the company’s logo are de rigueur. On tables at high-end weddings, fairy lights in Mason jars are out and wildflowers suspended in $14 ice cubes are in. TikTok creators routinely draw 30 million views overnight (and sizable paychecks) by showing off stocked ice drawers, along with retail links for buying specialty ice molds in all shapes and s...

03/15/2023: Windy backside of the nor'easter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:34 GMT

The latest Storm Tracker Forecast from Meteorologist Jill Szwed.Happy Wednesday! Where's the nor'easter now? It's sitting in the Gulf of Maine and still churning snow bands back through eastern New York and western New England. The Capital Region is in the clear and the roads are looking better. The snow that is falling now wraps up by lunchtime. Additional accumulations are expected in the Catskills and western New England. These areas have already picked up two, even three feet of snow. For everyone else, snow and clouds clear out today.As you dig out today, remember to take it easy. This is an incredibly dense snowpack. Clear the snow at your house in stages and don't overdo it, especially if you're shoveling.The snow is moving out but impacts from the nor'easter will still be felt today. The main focus is the wind today and ongoing or new power outages. The wind could also blow around some of the powdery snow that fell late yesterday.The wind gusts between 40 mph to 45 mph are l...