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Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter buys Vernon Hills mansion for $1.2M

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. on Oct. 10 paid $1.2 million for a five-bedroom, 7,399-square-foot mansion in Vernon Hills.A Florida native and standout at the University of Florida, Dexter, 22, was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.Built in 2011 and located in Vernon Hills’ Gregg’s Landing area, Dexter’s new house has 4½ bathrooms, a formal living room with a fireplace, a great room with a fireplace, a mudroom and a kitchen with Italian onyx countertops, Bosch built-in appliances and a wet bar. Other features include a fully finished third-floor office and a finished English lower level, a wine storage room, a family room and a workout room “fabulous enough for a pro athlete,” according to listing information.Outside on the 0.49-acre property are an outdoor fireplace, a gas fire pit, a two-level wraparound patio, a sprinkler system and professional high-end uplighting in the landscaping.The agent who r...

Boston woman accused of setting a fire at a Massachusetts police station

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

A Boston woman who was waiting for a ride at the Westboro police station is accused of starting a fire in the station’s lobby, according to police.Theresa Abichaker, of West Roxbury, has been arrested and charged in connection with setting a fire at the Westboro police station Sunday evening.Abichaker had been waiting in the station’s lobby for a ride after she was involved in a motor vehicle crash, police said.Following the fire in the station, police officers looked at surveillance video and saw that Abichaker had “intentionally set a clothing donation box and its contents on fire,” police said in a statement.After a search, which included police K-9 units and police drones, Abichaker was found and taken into custody. She has been charged with: burning of a public building (three counts); attempt to burn a public building (three counts); vandalize property; and fire negligence.Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | Westborough defends Div. 2...

Experience snow at these places within driving distance of San Diego

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

SAN DIEGO — While the weather outside in San Diego rarely gets frightful in the winter, one does not have to travel far to enjoy fresh snow.There are plenty of places within driving distance of the city that are perfect for those that want to experience the magic of the season as other parts of the country do — with blankets of snow on the ground.If you are looking to take a day trip with loved ones this holiday season, here are a few destinations in Southern California that will make you feel like you are in a legitimate winter wonderland. ‘I’ll be doing this as long as I can’: Why Knob Hill light display in San Marcos isn’t on this year JulianTrip Length: About 1.25 hoursLocated in the county, Julian is one of the easiest day-trip options for San Diegans looking to experience some fresh snow. There are plenty of small snow-play spots around the town, as well as on the journey east towards it. However, it may be a little early in the season to see a whole lot of powder on the gro...

Brazil’s Lula picks his justice minister for supreme court slot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

SAO PAULO (AP) — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil said Monday that he chose Justice Minister Flávio Dino to fill an empty seat on the country’s top court. Many allies of the leftist leader hoped he would pick another woman to replace Minister Rosa Maria Weber, who stepped down in September after turning 75, the age limit for the nation’s Supreme Federal Court justices. Weber’s departure as chief justice left one remaining female jurist on the 11-person court. The Brazilian Senate is expected to vote before the end of the year on Dino’s nomination, which requires a simple majority for confirmation. Dino, 55, governed the impoverished state of Maranhão between 2015 and 2023 before becoming Lula’s justice minister. He is a former federal judge and was seen for many years as one of the most vocal adversaries of former President Jair Bolsonaro.During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dino imposed curfews and movement restrictions that angered the far-right leader.As justice...

Woman’s decades-old mosaic of yard rocks and decorative art work may have to go

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Iris Logan was having a hard time growing grass in the front yard of her St. Paul, Minnesota, home, so she covered the space with stones, statues and decorative art. More than 30 years later, it’s something of a local landmark.But to a city inspector, it’s a nuisance. Logan, 70, has been given notice to clean up the “planters, wood, metal cans, large rocks and miscellaneous debris” cited after a recent inspection, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. The City Council will take up the matter Dec. 6.Logan says the city’s actions forced her to create the mosaic in the first place because workers on a road repair project dug so deep around one of her trees that its roots were exposed. She brought in bricks and dirt, planted flowers and added stones — and just kept adding.”I’m a rock lover,” said Logan, a former cotton sharecropper from Mississippi. “I’m not going to lie. If I see a rock I like, I try and roll it in my car on a two-by-four.”Logan ...

Food banks urge Ontario government to do more to help residents facing food insecurity

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

Food banks across Ontario are urging the provincial government to do more to ensure hundreds of thousands residents don’t go hungry, as food banks say they are on the verge of collapse.In a press conference at Queen’s Park, Carolyn Stewart, CEO of Feed Ontario, said their data shows there are three key drivers that can be addressed by the government.“These are the progressive growth in precarious work, the erosion of our social support programs and a failure to invest in affordable and supportive housing,” said Stewart.As food banks have been saying for months, employment does not guarantee a way out of poverty. More than one in six food bank visitors in Ontario say their primary source of income is employment, nearly 40 per cent more than last year.“Imagine that $100 to afford all your basic necessities, transportation, medication, food, utilities, even a winter coat for your child,” shared Stewart. “Poverty is a policy choice and our gover...

4 Chinese students killed in car crash near Toronto, Chinese consulate says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

The Chinese consulate in Toronto says four Chinese students died in what it called a “serious” car accident near Toronto over the weekend.The statement from the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Toronto comes after four teens and a woman were killed in a collision in Huntsville, Ont., late Saturday night.The consulate says the Chinese embassy in Canada verified the details of what happened with Ontario Provincial Police and contacted the families of the victims.OPP have said the crash took place on Highway 60 and involved a Mercedes SUV and Ford SUV.Police say the people in the Mercedes were four teens — aged 15 to 17 — from Toronto and nearby Richmond Hill, Ont. Their names were not immediately released.Police say three of the teens in the Mercedes died at the scene and the fourth died later in hospital, while a 42-year-old Huntsville woman driving the Ford died at the scene.

University of North Carolina shooting suspect found unfit for trial, sent to mental health facility

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The University of North Carolina graduate student charged with fatally shooting his faculty adviser has been found unfit for trial after two mental evaluations, a judge ruled Monday.Tailei Qi, 34, is accused of killing associate professor Zijie Yan in a science building at the state’s flagship public university on Aug. 28. He is being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and misdemeanor possession of a firearm on educational property.Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine said Monday that two separate mental evaluations found Qi likely suffers from untreated schizophrenia.“Qi demonstrated delusional thinking, experienced auditory hallucinations, engaged in self-harm in the detention center, showed fragmented thought processes that impeded his communication,” she said.Severe mental illness has rendered him unable to comprehend his situation, assist in his legal defense and understand court proceedings, even with a Mandarin interprete...

‘Absolutely no talk’ of moving Paul Bernardo to minimum security: corrections head

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

The commissioner of Correctional Service Canada says there is “absolutely no talk” of moving notorious serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo to an even lower security level, following his transfer into a medium-security prison.Anne Kelly testified at a parliamentary committee today about the decision to move Bernardo from maximum-security prison in late May.The move set off a politician firestorm, with federal Conservatives demanding that the Liberal government ensure his return to maximum security.The federal government maintained that the decision to transfer him was made by the independent prison authority and politicians could not interfere.Bernardo is serving an indeterminate life-sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont.A review of the decision released in July found officials followed proper policies, and said Bernardo had long met the criteria t...

Foxtrot to merge with Dom's kitchen in grocery expansion

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:40 GMT

CHICAGO -- The Chicago born and bred food retailers Foxtrot and Dom's Kitchen are set to merge, according reports. A spokesperson said the merged companies will be called Outfox Hospitality and owned by CEO Liz Williams.“Dom’s has long admired the Foxtrot brand, viewing it as an industry trailblazer and a market disruptor,” said Jay Owen, Co-Founder and Board Chairman Brhett Vickery to join WGN Morning News as traffic reporter "Together, the two will continue to disrupt the food shopping and cafe landscape while redefine the neighborhood market with multiformat and e-commerce experience built for the next generation of consumer," the spokesperson said.There are 32 Foxtrot locations across Chicago, Austin and Dallas with 16 of them in Chicago. Dom's has two locations in Chicago: Lincoln Park and Old Town. They are expected to open a third location in River North next summer, the Tribune reported.The merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023.