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Pumpkin weighing 2,749 pounds wins California contest, sets world record for biggest gourd

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A Minnesota horticulture teacher set a new world record in California on Monday for the heaviest pumpkin after growing a giant jack-o’-lantern gourd weighing 2,749 pounds (1,247 kilograms).Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota, won the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, with an enormous, lumpy, orange pumpkin that could produce at least 687 pies.“I was not expecting that. It was quite the feeling,” said Ginger, 43, who has been growing pumpkins for nearly 30 years and last year set a new U.S. record for growing a giant gourd. The previous world record for heaviest pumpkin was set by a grower in Italy who produced a 2,702-pound (1,226-kilogram) squash in 2021, according to Guinness World Records.Gienger grows his gourds in the pumpkin patch in his backyard. He said this year he decided to give his plants extra care, watering them up to 12 times a day and feeding and fertilizing them a bit more than usua...

Hollywood writers vote to approve contract deal that ended strike as actors negotiate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood writers have voted almost unanimously to approve the contract agreement reached by their union leaders that ended a strike after nearly five months, while actors remain in negotiations to find a way out of their own strike.The Writers Guild of America announced Monday that 99% of the 8,525 members who cast ballots voted to ratify the deal.The agreement was widely touted as a win by leaders, and widely praised by members, with major gains in payment, size of show staffs and control of artificial intelligence in scripts. The result of the vote taken over the past week was never really in doubt.“Together we were able to accomplish what many said was impossible only six months ago,” Meredith Stiehm, president of the WGA-East, said in a statement.Meanwhile, nearly three months after their strike began, leaders of the Screen Actors Guild-American of Television and Radio Performers were back in contract negotiations with studios on Monday, a week after ta...

What to know as war between Israel and Hamas militants rages on for a third day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli government promised Monday to hunt down Hamas fighters and to punish the Gaza Strip following a surprise weekend attack killed more than 900 people in Israel, including at least 260 at a crowded music festival that became the scene of one of the country’s worst civilian massacres. A day after formally declaring war, Israel’s military worked to crush Hamas fighters who might remain in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of Gaza, where almost 500 people have died since Saturday’s unprecedented incursion. The militants blew through a fortified border fence and gunned down civilians and soldiers in Israeli communities along the Gaza frontier during a Jewish holiday. Israel struck back with airstrikes, including one that flattened a 14-story tower that held Hamas offices. Here are some key takeaways from the conflict:WHAT DOES THE WAR DECLARATION MEAN?The declaration gave the green light for Israel to take “significant military steps” a...

Skilling: Frost advisory issued for overnight Tuesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

FROST ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL BUT COOK AND LAKE COUNTIES ILLINOIS in Illinois and LaPorte county Indiana late tonight through 8am TUESDAYMuch of the Chicago area is headed for its chilliest night of the season and likely the coldest night at O'Hare—site of the city's official thermometer reading---with a low near 39---the lowest temp here since 38 back on May 3rd this past spring.Inland temps may drop to around 30 at a few of the coldest spots well away from the city.The chill follows a weekend which came in 22-deg cooler than the weekend before and overnight temps this morning which were the lowest of the season to date and included readings as low as 32-deg at Livingston county's Odell; 33 -deg at Waukegan; and 34 deg at Sugar Grove and at Johnsburg (in McHenry county). Those readings at thermometer level were chilly enough to support patchy frost at ground level.The COOL AIR is occurring with a huge pool of cool air draped across eastern Canada, the Midwest and t...

Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day: Chicago communities differ on holiday change

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

CHICAGO — Monday marked a holiday that means different things to different people — Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day — depending on who you ask. Many still celebrate Christopher Columbus, while others remember lives forever changed by colonialism. Across Chicago, the Columbus Day Parade marched on, even as many have moved on from celebrating the explorer. The city, county and state all observe Columbus Day even as communities shift towards Indigenous Peoples Day. Italian-American groups marked the day with statues of Columbus in storage."We all stand here together in unity so that we can be proud and share our pride," said Ron Onesti with the Joint Civic Community of Italian-Americans. Italian Americans in Little Village's Arrigo Park called on city leaders Monday to reinstall the Columbus statues."Monuments and statues are important," Onesti said. "Merely concrete and bronze. It’s the feelings. It’s the passion. It’s what we stand for. It’s what they stand for." In 2020, the...

Plans for migrant shelter at Amundsen Park  put on hold, mayor says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

CHICAGO — The Amundsen Park advisory council and neighbors rallied Monday to protest plans to use the park's fieldhouse as a migrant shelter.The city had planned to house 200 people at the park district facility near Austin and Narragansett in the Galewood neighborhood for at least six months. It would have become the seventh Chicago Park District facility to be turned into a migrant shelter.Many called on Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to develop a better plan. Early Monday evening, just days away from the possibility of hundreds of migrants calling Amundsen Park their temporary home, the city has opted to change course. "The move to Amundsen Park is currently on hold," the mayor's office told WGN News.Since last year, more than 18,000 migrants from Texas have been bused into the city. As of October, more than 10,000 migrants live in shelters, with about 3,500 awaiting placement.At various CPD districts, nearly 2,800 migrants remain — more than 700...

3 teens charged in connection with string of robberies on North, Northwest sides

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

CHICAGO — Charges have been filed against three teen boys accused in a string of robberies on the city's North and Northwest sides, police said.Police say the boys are accused of stealing property from three businesses in Albany Park, Lake View and North Center on Sunday afternoon.According to Chicago police, the three 15-year-old boys were arrested only two hours after the alleged robberies took place. Emergency crews respond after home explodes in Woodstock Police say the boys were arrested in the 3400 block of North Lincoln Avenue just after 5 p.m.Officers say the alleged robberies happened in the 4700 block of North Kedzie Avenue in Albany Park, the 1800 block of West Irving Park Road in North Center, and the 3300 block of North Lincoln Avenue in Lake View. Police did not provide details on what was stolen from the businesses or at the specific times the robberies occurred.All three teens were charged with three felony counts of robbery.Police have not identified anyone charge...

US employees spend $51 daily when they work full-time in office, study says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

(KTLA) -- Employees in the U.S. who have returned to the office full-time are paying a lot to get there, a new study says.The annual “State of Work” report, conducted by videoconferencing company Owl Labs, found that about 66% of employees nationwide have returned to the office five days a week, or full-time, but spend $51 per day when they work in person.Researchers found that, on average, people spend:$16 on lunch$14 on commuting$13 on breakfast and coffee$8 on parkingOn average, workers with pets spend $20 more monthly than their counterparts, bringing their daily total to $71. Chicago is 4th most livable city in US Employees who report to the office five days a week spend about $1,020 every month on average. In comparison, workers who have a hybrid schedule spend $408 a month on office attendance costs, the study found.“There’s no question” working from the office is "wildly more expensive” today than it was pre-pandemic, Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, told CNBC.To combat t...

GOP goes 'behind closed doors' to choose next Speaker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- A new Speaker of the House of Representatives could be selected within the next few days -- but only if Republicans can put aside their differences and unite behind a candidate.And now, for the first time since he was ousted as Speaker, Kevin McCarthy is not ruling out returning to the role.However, House Republicans say this Speaker election will be different than the one in January when it took 15 rounds to elect McCarthy. Colorado Republican Ken Buck doesn't want a repeat."It's better to play out in private where the cameras aren't on and we don't have people trying to get attention," Buck said. "For those folks who think we're projecting a chaotic image, it makes a lot more sense to do this behind closed doors."After the war broke out between Israel and Hamas, McCarthy said the House needs a Speaker as soon as possible. He left the door open to returning to the role."Whether I'm Speaker or not I'm a member of this body. I know what history it's had. And I...

Two in hospital after downtown Austin shooting early Monday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:45 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police said two people were in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries after a shooting early Monday morning in downtown Austin. Police said a Department of Public Safety trooper witnessed the shooting. According to APD, the DPS trooper saw the shooting around 1:30 a.m. near the intersection at East Seventh Street and the Interstate 35 service road. The drivers left the scene, APD said, and one of them was stopped in the 2200 block of Interstate 35. Later, APD said it received a report that two people were at the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Further investigation showed they were connected with the shooting.Austin Police did not give any other information about the people involved other than that officers were investigating. Police closed East Seventh Street at Red River Street for the investigation until 4:30 a.m. Monday.