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'Dobbs decision just made me angry:' Pritzker, Democrats return focus to reproductive rights ahead of next election season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

NEW YORK — Fourteen months before the next national election, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and fellow Democrats are gearing up to rerun a familiar playbook from the last election cycle."The Dobbs decision just made me angry," Pritzker said at the Clinton Global Initiative Tuesday.Pritzker, along with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were front and center in New York, placing the national spotlight on abortion and reproductive rights."The biggest and most important decision that a woman will make in her lifetime is whether and when to have a child," Whitmer said. "If you don’t think that access to abortion is about the economy, you probably don’t have a uterus or know someone who does.""Every state around us in Illinois is an anti-choice state now," Pritzker added. "And that means that we’ve had a massive increase in the number of women who are seeking just to exercise their fundamental rights, their reproductive rights." Latest fro...

Clean up underway after suburban high school has flooding

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

BENSENVILLE, Ill. — Heavy rains over the weekend apparently left some damage at a high school in Bensenville.School staff said there was standing water, but it has been drained and affected areas were cleaned in preparation for school Monday. ‘Rain was everywhere’: South Suburban residents cleaning up after heavy rains, damaging floods Officials at Fenton High School confirmed they experienced some flash flooding.In a letter sent to parents, Dr. Sam Benseten, the associate superintendent and principal said carpets in a few office areas and classrooms were still damp.Benseten said a mitigation company is cleaning and drying the affected offices and rooms.

Did your kids buy gear in Fortnite without asking you? You could get a refund

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Parents whose kids bought virtual gear without their knowledge on the popular Fortnite video game could soon be able to get a refund.U.S. regulators are starting to notify more than 37 million people by email that they may be eligible for compensation as part of a legal settlement with Fortnite's maker, Epic Games Inc.The Federal Trade Commission announced late last year that Epic Games would pay $520 million in penalties and refunds to settle complaints revolving around children’s privacy and its payment methods that tricked players into making unintended purchases. Hey Dude to pay $1.95 million for suppressing negative reviews, other violations Part of that $520 million consists of $245 million in customer refunds, as part of a settlement finalized in March. It's meant to cover some of the costs of unwanted V-Bucks, the game's in-game currency, or virtual items such as outfits or cartoonish purple llama loot crates.Consumers have until Jan. 17 to subm...

Mom thinks someone stuck needle in daughter's arm, drugged her in downtown Austin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN)— The mother of an Austin woman has a warning after she said her daughter might've been drugged — but not through her drink.She thinks someone might've also tried to abduct her.It happened in the Red River Cultural District in downtown Austin over the weekend. According to the woman's mother, her friend may have saved her life.On Tuesday, the trauma was evident when KXAN spoke to the woman who said she started acting out of character after two drinks.She asked KXAN not to identify her. She said she is timid about talking about what she remembers."I don't know," the woman said with a deep sigh. "We went to one of the places I'm really familiar with, and then I had one drink at the next place and went to the bathroom...from then on out. I don't know what happened."The woman told KXAN's Jala Washington the night was a blur. Her friend said she saw her trying to get into a rideshare with a stranger, outside a bar in the Red River area.When they both woke up the next morning...

Austin works on program to test for spiked drinks at bars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- City staff in Austin are in the early stages of developing a program to distribute alcohol test strips to bars on Sixth and Rainey Streets that would allow patrons to see if their drinks got spiked."[It] is an important element to the overall goal of keeping our community safe, particularly considering a spiked drink is often a precursor to a more traumatic event," according to a spokesperson for the City of Austin's Development Services Department. The strips would detect the presence of date rape drugs. Council Member Zo Qadri said he put forth the idea after people brought concerns to his office about getting drugged downtown. While he's not connecting spiked drinks to the February death of Jason John, who was last seen on Rainey Street on a night out, he said subsequent conversations with constituents addressed druggings. "Folks talking about their drinks spiked, having their friends' drink spiked," Qadri said. "We want to make sure we're on top of that."The pro...

Gov. Abbott will call special session for school vouchers in October

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- After two weeks of a tumultuous impeachment trial following nearly nine straight months of work for the part-time legislature, Texas lawmakers are preparing to return to the Capitol in October for a special session that will determine whether Gov. Greg Abbott can finally finish his push to send public dollars to private schools.On Tuesday, Gov. Abbott is holding a tele-town hall with Christian faith leaders across the state to announce "School Choice Sunday," an event in support of state-funded education savings accounts and expanded parental rights taking place on Oct. 15. The Governor will discuss "how empowering parents with education freedom is the key to saving the hearts and minds of our children," the Texas Public Policy Foundation said ahead of the event. Rural districts fret as Gov. Abbott rallies supporters for ‘school choice’ at Capitol All year, the Governor has spent considerable time and political capital in support of his "school choice" initiati...

Nearing triple digits through the weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Hot... and only getting hotter.Afternoon highs will run +5° hotter than normal this week with most areas running up the thermometer to the mid- to upper 90s. Mainly sunny and dry skies will stretch areawide with increasing humidity making the heat feel even more uncomfortable.Unseasonably hot through the weekA quick-passing disturbance may bring a small chance at a few showers late Friday, but eyes continue to stay focused on a cold front with a better chance of rain-bearing opportunities. New data points to this front arriving sometime late in the day Monday.Cold front brings opportunity for rain late weekend into next weekScattered showers look possible beginning Sunday and continuing through Tuesday. Meanwhile, temperatures will cool a few degrees to the low 90s. NEW BLOG: El Niño into 2024: What that means for winter and spring STORY: Central Texas drought ‘top one or two driest’ Austin Interactive Weather Stats (2023) FIRST WARNING WEATHER: Stay up to d...

Austin launches emergency preparedness pop-up events

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin emergency preparedness officials are taking newer steps to keep residents informed on what to do in the event of a weather-related emergency event.The City of Austin's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management launched emergency preparedness events this year. HSEM will host 10 pop-up events at Austin Public Library branches across the city, said Billy Callis, public information officer with HSEM."The intention is really to help get people prepared and aware, and thinking about how to prepare themselves, their home, their family, their pets and their community for emergencies," Callis said.Why the City of Austin began offering emergency preparedness eventsThe events feature HSEM staff alongside officials from Austin-Travis County EMS, the Austin Fire Department, Austin Energy and the Austin Watershed Department, among others. Callis said the need for these publicly accessible events is especially important, given the onslaught of weather-related emer...

Second man sentenced in deadly St. Paul marijuana deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

A St. Paul man was sentenced Tuesday to 9½ years in prison for his role in a 2022 fatal shooting during a marijuana deal in the city’s Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood.Traivon Dennis Campbell, 22, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree unintentional murder in connection with the killing of Michael Alexander Pleasants, 33, who was shot in the head by Kemarri Miller Roan. As part of a plea agreement, Campbell agreed to a 128-month prison term and to testify against Roan, if there was a trial.Traivon Dennis Campbell (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)Roan, 19, reached a plea agreement with the prosecution in May — admitting that he shot Pleasants in the back of the head — and was sentenced to 19 years in prison in July.Ramsey County District Judge Kellie Charles on Tuesday handed down a 116-month term to Campbell, who will receive credit for 509 days already served in custody.Officers sent to a shots-fired call in the 200 block of Bates Avenue shortl...

0-2 Vikings have simple mindset against 0-2 Chargers: ‘Just go get a win’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:39:59 GMT

Don’t expect the Vikings to make wholesale changes heading into this Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers at U.S. Bank Stadium. Though the 0-2 start has been frustrating for everybody involved, the Vikings still believe they are a good team, and they know they can change the narrative this week.“It’s a pretty simple mindset,” safety Josh Metellus said. “Just go get a win.”How exactly do the Vikings go about doing that? They need to look themselves in the mirror and tweak a number of things following the Week 1 home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Week 2 road loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.On offense, the Vikings need to be more effective in the run game, having only gained 69 yards on the ground this season. On defense, the Vikings need to do a better job stopping the run, after allowing Eagles running back D’Andre Swift to post 28 carries for 175 yards last week.Still, as much as head coach Kevin O’Connell ha...