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Florida mom fatally shot by neighbor after dispute over playing children, sheriff says

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida mother was fatally shot through the front door of her neighbor’s home while her 9-year-old son stood next to her, a violent culmination of what police said was a 2½-year feud.Ajike Owens, 35, was fatally shot after going to the Ocala apartment of her neighbor, who earlier had yelled at Owens’ children as they played nearby and threw a pair of skates that hit one of them, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said at a news conference Monday.Deputies responding to a trespassing call at the apartment Friday night found Owens suffering from gunshot wounds. The mother of four was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died. Ocala is about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Orlando.“I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into her own hands,” Woods said. “I wish Ms. Owens would have called us in the hopes we could have never gotten to the point at which we are here today.”Since January 2021, Woods said, deputies responded at leas...

David Ross has a short stay in Cubs' series finale vs Padres

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

SAN DIEGO — The Cubs' manager wouldn't have a long stay in the club's season finale against the Padres on Monday evening.In fact, it was only 15 pitches into starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks' outing in San Diego that David Ross had enough with how the game was getting called at the plate. After the second pitch of the at-bat to Gary Sanchez was called a ball, Ross began to argue with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi from the dugout. Within 15 seconds, the manager was thrown out, and then he came out to argue. Ross wasn't about to just go back to the clubhouse as he got in words with Cuzzi for about 30 seconds before heading back to the dugout. It was the manager's 12th ejection since he took over the club in the 2020 season. He wouldn't miss much the rest of the way on what was an off night for the Cubs overall.In the same at-bat as the ejection, Hendricks surrendered a two-run homer to Sanchez and the Padres never looked back. The Cubs' starter allowed four runs over six innings while t...

Mayor Johnson promises 'more sophisticated, sharper response' after weekend violence in Chicago

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

CHICAGO — He's only been on the job for three weeks, but Chicagoans are already looking to Mayor Brandon Johnson for ways to solve the City's violence problem."Chicago has suffered a great deal of pain," Johnson said. "All of us have experienced that pain for a very long time in Chicago and it's one of the motivations that led me to this office."According to the Chicago Police Department's weekend crime statistics, at least 46 people were shot over the weekend, with at least nine of the victims dying from their wounds.The peak of the violence took place Sunday morning in Austin, where a mass shooting left one woman dead and at least six other victims in good-to-critical conditions."This is only the second weekend of summer in the city of Chicago," Alderman Ray Lopez said. "We have 12 more weeks to go and every weekend cannot be a bloody weekend. I think we need to reassess what we’re doing. We have to speak with our communities, speak with our stakeholders." Chicago police to hold...

For cancer patients, drug shortage is a matter of life and death

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

There is a troubling trend of drug shortages potentially shortening the lives of patients.A cancer diagnosis is difficult enough, then add to it the news the drug that was effective against your cancer is now not available.A Chicago area woman is not alone in this frightening scenario. And doctors say their hands are tied.With every bit of fight in her, Anne Spratt has been battling lung cancer for eight years.“I was not a priority patient to receive carboplatin or cisplatin,” she said. “I’ve always been willing to do treatments he thought are best for me and after eight years of fighting to find out you’re not a priority is very disheartening.”Over time it became clear carboplatin was the best treatment for her.“For four rounds I had carboplatin, Olympus and Keytruda, which kept me very stable,” she said.But when the cancer lit up her scan again, the carboplatin treatment, the backbone of metastatic disease care, that was so effective for Spratt, was in short supply.“I was supposed...

CPD: 3 males in the hospital after shooting involving CPD cruiser, car crash in Englewood

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

CHICAGO — Three men are in the hospital after a shooting where a fleeing vehicle fired shots at a Chicago police squad car, followed by a car crash in the Englewood neighborhood, according to CPD.Police said officers were responding to a ShotSpotter notification in the 5900 block of South Ashland Avenue around 7:17 p.m. when a vehicle leaving the scene shot at a marked CPD squad car.Police found a male with a gunshot wound to the arm at the scene of the ShotSpotter notification. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good-to-serious condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.Shortly thereafter, the same vehicle associated with the incident on South Ashland Avenue crashed in the 5900 block of South Wells Street, where police took all five occupants of the vehicle into custody. ‘It’s really odd’: Family pleads for information about missing Logan Square woman Police said two of the vehicle's occupants had been shot. One male was shot in the chest, while ...

Search underway for missing Chicago woman last seen Friday

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Police Department is asking for the public's help locating a missing 39-year-old woman who was last seen on Friday.Rena Baker, 39, was last seen driving a maroon 2004 Hyundai Sonata with an Illinois license plate Z709627 on Friday, June 2. Search underway for missing Chicago teen who may need medical attention Baker is described as 5-foot-3, weighing 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.She reportedly lives near 102nd Street and Forest Avenue in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood and works at a Dental Office near 51st Street and Pulaski Avenue.Anyone with information regarding Rena Baker's whereabouts are asked to contact the Chicago Police Department at 312-747-8274.

Police: Domestic violence suspect arrested in suburban river after trying to flee

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. — A domestic violence suspect was arrested Sunday after allegedly fleeing police and ending up in the Des Plaines River.On Saturday just before 12:25 p.m., Joliet officers responded to Silver Cross Hospital following a report of an unconscious 23-year-old woman who sustained serious head trauma.Police said family members located her at her residence in the 1200 of Kelly Avenue and transported the woman to the hospital.Following an investigation, police allege the woman's boyfriend, Demetrius Glover, 30, of Joliet, battered the woman during a domestic incident.On Sunday afternoon just after 4:15 p.m., officers said Glover was driving northbound on Scott Street near Liberty. A traffic stop was initiated in the 600 block of Scott Street.Police said Glover briefly stopped then fled in a Nissan Sentra. While fleeing, Glover allegedly struck a parked vehicle in the 200 block of Granite Street. 59-year-old woman dies after Bensenville crash He then fled from the vehicle and ...

Florida sheriff reacts to home invasion vid: 'If you kick my door in, in the middle of the night, I will kill you graveyard dead'

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Just after 3 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, a couple of masked intruders kicked in the door of a home in the Copper Ridge subdivision of North Lakeland, Florida, and went inside."As you can see, they are well garbed up, they had masks on, they had gloves," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, reviewing surveillance video from the break-in.Judd said the intruders entered the home but left without taking anything after realizing there were kids inside."When the burglars that did the home invasion heard the kids screaming and crying and noticed it was kids there, he told the others, 'Let's go, it's kids,' and they left without taking anything," said Judd, who is now asking for the public's help to identify the intruders.At the time of the break-in, there were three 11-year-old children inside the home, Judd said. Their parents were not present — and it took nearly 45 minutes for someone to call 911 — but the sheriff said his investigators have no reason to suspect...

This university forgives loan debt so students can come back to school

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

(NewsNation) — More than a million college students drop out every year. One estimate finds almost a quarter of first-time undergraduate freshmen drop out within 12 months. This means many Americans are accruing the debt that comes with attending college but aren't receiving the benefit of a full education and a degree. That's a problem that Wayne State University in Michigan is working to tackle with its Warrior Way Back initiative. Founded in 2018, the program provides both some amount of debt forgiveness and counseling to students who attended the school but dropped out so that they can return and finish their degrees. At these US colleges everyone works and there’s no tuition When the program began, the amount forgiven was $1,500. Earlier this year, the university upped it to $4,000. To put that into perspective, current tuition and fees for a school year at the school is estimated to be just north of $14,000 for in-state students. Out of state students pay more than $30,000....

Oklahoma school board approves nation's first religious charter school

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:34:06 GMT

(The Hill) - An Oklahoma school board on Monday voted to approve a bid to open the nation’s first religious charter school, sparking backlash and questions about the constitutionality of the move to use taxpayer dollars to fund a religious school. Oklahoma’s Statewide Virtual Charter School Board in the meeting approved in a 3-2 vote a plan to create St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.“We are elated that the board agreed with our argument and application for the nation’s first religious charter school,” Brett Farley, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, said after the decision. “Parents continue to demand more options for their kids, and we are committed to help provide them,” he added.The journey for this Catholic school is far from over as many disagree with the idea of a charter school, which receives taxpayer dollars along with private donations, run by a religious organization. Opponents argue it violates the separation between church ...