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Fallen CFD Lt. Kevin Ward to be laid to rest Wednesday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

CHICAGO — A fallen Chicago firefighter will be laid to rest Wednesday.The funeral service for Lt. Kevin Ward will begin at 11 a.m. at the The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, located at 126 East Chestnut Street, just off Michigan Avenue.Ward was one of three firefighters injured in a blaze Aug. 11 in the 8300 block of West Balmoral in the city's Norwood Park neighborhood. He died days later.Ward, 59, joined the department in 1996 and worked out of Truck 9, located in the 5300 block of North Cumberland. CFD lieutenant dies following Northwest Side fire earlier this month The Chicago Fire Department will fly flags at half-staff until sunset Wednesday to honor his service.Ward’s death is the third line-of-duty death the department has dealt with in 2023. In the same week in April, CFD lost Jermaine Pelt, 49, and Jan Tchoryk, 55, in separate fires.

Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante captured

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — An escaped Pennsylvania murderer was captured Wednesday after eluding hundreds of searchers for two weeks by hiding out in wooded areas, breaking into suburban homes for food, fleeing under gunfire with a rifle pilfered from a garage, stealing a vehicle and changing his appearance, authorities said.State police announced Danelo Souza Cavalcante’s capture on social media on Wednesday, as the search entered its 14th day, and planned a news conference announcing details for 9:30 a.m. Cavalcante's condition wasn't released.The end to the search for Cavalcante, 34, unfolded just beyond Philadelphia’s heavily populated suburbs, in an area of woods, rolling farmland and a county park. The search forced schools to close right at the start of the academic year, led to warnings for homeowners to lock their doors, and blocked roads over the busy Labor Day weekend.Overnight into Wednesday, heavily armed law enforcement officers searched for the fugitive...

Can I get the updated COVID vaccine for free?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

(WJW) – A newly formulated COVID-19 vaccine should be available at pharmacies and doctor offices this week, but how much will it cost?The list price of a dose of each shot is $120 to $130, according to the manufacturers, but you may not end up paying that.For most Americans with private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, the vaccine will be free. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has a program that provides free vaccines to uninsured and underinsured Americans. The so-called Bridge Access Program collaborates with pharmacies, local health centers and local healthcare providers to provide free access to the vaccine. The program is temporary, however, and is currently slated to stop giving out free vaccines at the end of December 2024.What is this new vaccine?The latest formulation is designed to target the highly infectious XBB.1.5, which spread rapidly earlier this year and earned the unofficial nickname "The Kraken." Unlike previous vaccines, this one is monovalent ...

Coke invites you to taste AI-created mystery flavor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

(WXIN) - Coca-Cola is giving you the chance to taste the future.The company used artificial intelligence and human insights to come up with its new limited-edition Coca-Cola Y3000 flavor, saying it was "created to show us an optimistic vision of what’s to come." USA Today is looking for a ‘Taylor Swift reporter’ Coke invited fans to imagine what the future would taste like, and an AI-powered process helped synthesize the taste. The drink is available for a limited time in regular and zero-sugar varieties.“Taste the Future – enjoy a Coca-Cola flavor from the year 3000,” reads the description on the company’s website.“We hope that Coca‑Cola will still be as relevant and refreshing in the year 3000 as it is today, so we challenged ourselves to explore the concept of what a Coke from the future might taste like—and what kind of experiences would a Coke from the future unlock?” said Oana Vlad, senior director, global strategy, adding that the company "intentionally brought human inte...

WATCH: Good Samaritan rescues driver from burning car after crash into Florida building

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

SEMINOLE, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man was caught on camera this week as he rescued a driver trapped inside a burning car.    Travis DuPont, of St. Petersburg, was on his way home from work around 3:30 a.m. Sunday when he saw a flash in the sky. As he got closer, he realized a driver had crashed into a nearby consignment store."I ran right to the driver's window, saw this man unconscious. I reached in, shook him, started yelling at him," DuPont told Nexstar's WFLA. The sound got resident Stephanie Turow out of bed. "It was extremely loud. It shook my house," said Turow, who recorded video as Dupont tried to wake up the trapped driver. Caught on camera: Police union official laughs at student fatally struck by patrol car "I was like, 'Hey man, you gotta move your legs, you gotta move your legs,'" said DuPont. Once he noticed the flames, DuPont knew he had no time to waste."He picked him up like a baby," said Turow, "and, like, just scooped him up and ran all the way over with h...

A collection of dramas & sports documentaries on 'Dean's Home Video'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

CHICAGO — There were two themes to this edition of "Dean's Home Video" on Wednesday's WGN Morning News. Along with a number of dramas, both movies and show, Dean Richards spotlighted a few sports documentaries that are making their debut on streaming services this week. He looked at a host of them during the segment, at season 3 of "The Morning Show," "The Other Black Girl," "Wilderness," season 2 of "Surviving Summer," "The Little Mermaid," season 2 of "Welcome to Wrexham," "Football Must Go On," "Kelce," and more.You can watch this edition of "Dean's Home Video" from the September 13 show in the video above. Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Austin Energy rate to rise for the third time in a year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Your energy bill may be a bit more expensive next month.According to Austin Energy, there will be a 5% increase to its Power Supply Adjustment on October 1st. Austin Energy rate to increase 5%, will cost customers roughly $2 more AE spokesman Matt Mitchell says this covers the costs of previously purchased energy on the ERCOT market."This is not going into Austin Energy's pockets,” he said. “This is recovering costs that we've already incurred on behalf of our customers during this very hot summer."According to the public utility, the bill impact will be “less than $2 per month” for the typical residential customer.This marks the third rate increase that Austin Energy has put in place over the past year.Last November, the public utility upped customers' monthly bills by an average of $15 to cover the cost of buying and transporting energy. PREVIOUS: You’ll pay $15 more a month on your Austin Energy bill starting in November, here’s why In March, AE's base rates r...

Star Trek science advisor on bringing real physics to fiction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Erin Macdonald didn't grow up in a science fiction household. She watched X-Files as she got older, but the big names in Sci-Fi weren't something she was familiar with. Today, she is the science advisor for one of the biggest franchises in the universe: Star Trek. "I didn't even get into Star Trek until I was at college because I was a physics major, and there's a big crossover of Star Trek fans," Macdonald said.Since 2019, she has helped Star Trek writers bring some scientific reality to the influential franchise. She sometimes has to find scientific explanations for some wild concepts."The first assignment was really for The Burn." That event, depicted in Star Trek Discovery, disables or destroys starships across the galaxy after the fictional dilithitium crystals go inert.She's also had to understand the franchise's big concepts like transporters, artificial gravity and faster than light travel."Star Trek: The Original Series" premiered on NBC 57 years ago this mo...

UT group hopes focus on Red River Showdown will help keep students fed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A food pantry at the University of Texas at Austin is doing its part to beat rival the University of Oklahoma and make sure Longhorn students stay fed.The UT Outpost began a food donation drive called the Red River Food Fight on Sept. 5. The food pantry is accepting shelf-stable food donations through Sept. 30 at the following spots: 2400 Nueces ApartmentsDobie CenterGregory GymJester West DormitoryKinsolving Residence HallPeter T. Flawn Academic CenterStudent Services BuildingTexas UnionUniversity Co-opWilliam C. Powers Student Activity Center (Sept. 25 - 29)Donation bin in the Student Government office located in WCP 2.102 (Sept. 1 - 22)Courtesy @UT Outpost According to Office of the Dean of Students, the UT Outpost food pantry provides "nutritious food for students so that they can focus on their education."The Red River Showdown is Oct. 7 at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.

Veteran Texas football leaders key to keeping team focused

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:08 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Texas football made as big a statement as the program has in years with their win over No. 3 Alabama Saturday evening. While the Longhorns don't want the victory to linger into preparation, there's no denying how impressive their performance was in Tuscaloosa."I don't want our guys to not feel confident coming out of that game," said Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. "They earned the right to be confident by the way they played. Now we're trying to recreate it." Texas DE Ethan Burke, an All-American lacrosse player, gave up the sport for a school that ‘didn’t really recruit him’ Sarkisian noted Jaylan Ford, Jerrin Thompson, Jahdae Barron, Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, Ja'Tavion Sanders, Quinn Ewers and Christian Jones as leaders he relies on. For the most veteran of that group, the sixth-year offensive lineman Jones knows how the young guys will take after them."Leading by example for sure," said Jones. "Just telling [the younger players] we have something tha...