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Suspect charged with murder in Belleville shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- A 19-year-old man is under arrest for a fatal shooting blocks away from Saturday's popular chili cook-off in Belleville, Illinois. Omarion D. Williams has been charged with murder. He is being held at the St. Clair County Jail. The victim has been identified as Aaron Metts. Crackdown on speeders in St. Charles yielding results, mayor says The shooting happened at around noon near First Street and West B Street. Police found the victim had several gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.It is still not clear what might have led up to the shooting. The shooting is not believed to be connected to the city’s large chili cook-off community event, which was located at the Belleville Public Square.Note: The video in this story is from Saturday's report.

Live updates | Israel's Netanyahu says offensive against Hamas will 'reverberate' for generations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday that Israel's fierce offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has “only started.” Netanyahu delivered the pronouncement in a nationally televised address as Israel pressed ahead with a third day of heavy airstrikes in Gaza following Hamas' unprecedented and deadly incursion into Israel.“We have only started striking Hamas,” he said. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”Israel formally declared war on Sunday. The hostilities so far have killed around 900 people in Israel and more than 680 people in Gaza, according to authorities on each side. EUROPEAN UNION REVERSES SUSPENSION OF AID TO PALESTINIAN AUTHORITIESThe European Union late Monday reversed an earlier announcement by an EU commissioner that the bloc was immediately suspending aid for Palestinian authorities and instead said it would urgently review such assistance in the wake of the attacks on Israel by Hama...

Video: Suspect linked to two Metro East burglaries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

FIELDON, Ill. -- Police are searching for a suspect who may have been involved in several Metro East burglaries. The Jersey County Sheriff’s Office has released images and a video to help find the suspect.On September 27 officers responded to a burglary alarm at Bawana’s bar and grill on Highway 100 in Fieldon, Illinois. They discovered that someone forced entry into the building and stole money and other items. Crackdown on speeders in St. Charles yielding results, mayor says A similar burglary happened in Madison County on Clifton Terrace Road on September 25. Police have released video and images from that incident.If you have any information regarding these crimes, call the Jersey County Sheriff’s Office at 618-498-6881 or the Madison County Sheriff's Office at 618-692-6087.

Madison police see sharp increase in fentanyl overdoses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

MADISON, Ill. -- Police have a serious warning about overdoses laced with some humor. They have seen an increase in fentanyl overdoses. Madison Police posted this message to their Facebook page."Within the past couple of weeks, Madison has had an increase of fentanyl overdoses. Most commonly, the users went to use meth and later found out in the ambulance the meth was laced with fentanyl. We wanted to raise awareness as officers are going through NARCAN like crazy.This is a public service announcement that your drug dealer is not a chemist and typically does not know what your drugs are mixed with. If you recently purchased drugs and would like to get your drugs tested for *FREE, Madison police officers are more than pleased to test them for you!*Standard charges apply"Madison, Illinois PoliceThe Associated Press reports: According to a study published in July in JAMA Network Open, as of 2021, accidental opioid overdoses caused 1 of every 22 U.S. deaths. Opioid overdoses were...

Aurora police seek 5 suspects in fatal shooting of 15-year-old outside Southlands mall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

Aurora police believe multiple people opened fire during a shooting outside the Southlands shopping center that killed a 15-year-old boy in late September, and investigators have issued one arrest warrant for first-degree murder, Aurora police Chief Art Acevedo said Monday.The shooting happened at about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in the parking lot of the mall, located in the 6100 block of South Main Street. The 15-year-old boy, Raphael Velin, went to the shopping center to meet with other juveniles and young adults “to conduct some business,” Acevedo said Monday.The chief would not elaborate on the nature of that business, except to say “juveniles should not be involved in what was going on that night.”Investigators have five suspects in the killing, Acevedo said, all juveniles or young adults. He declined to identify them and said police have issued a warrant for only one person so far. Acevedo declined to name that suspect, who has not yet been arrested.Acevedo sa...

Crews battle fire after industrial explosion in Irwindale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

Los Angeles County fire crews were battling a commercial fire after an apparent industrial explosion in Irwindale Monday morning.The incident was reported around 10:35 a.m. at 1418 E. Arrow Highway, according to the Fire Department.The initial emergency call went out as a warehouse explosion, officials said.Heavy smoke was visible from the blaze as Sky5 was overhead. By 11:30 a.m. much of the smoke had dissipated and flames were no longer visible. No injuries have been reported and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Surrounding streets were closed amid the firefight and investigation.

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

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

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. This is how much California workers spend on their work commutes, study says On average, workers who report to the office five days a week spend about $1,020 every month. In comparison, employees 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 Ow...

Deputies find stolen trailer after thief posts it for sale online, VCSO says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

A Santa Clarita man was arrested last week after he allegedly stole a 25-foot trailer from the Fillmore area of unincorporated Ventura County.Albino Carrera Marcos, 26, was arrested Friday after the Thursday theft of the custom flatbed trailer from the driveway of a home in the 1300 block of Cliff Avenue, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.Investigators found Marcos and arrested him for the unlawful taking of a vehicle after they learned the trailer was being sold on social media, investigators said."Marcos was in possession of additional incriminating evidence linking him to the theft and the location of the stolen trailer," the release said. Marcos was arrested at about 12:45 a.m. in the 18000 block of Soledad Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, and investigators then found the trailer in the 10000 block of Lemona Avenue in the Mission Hills area of the San Fernando Valley, according to the VCSO.Marcos was booked into the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Facili...

‘Tenant from hell’ also lived rent-free in an Oakland house

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

A tenant who has grabbed headlines for squatting in a Los Angeles Airbnb for a year and a half without paying rent also squatted in an Oakland home in 2019.In 2021, a month after leaving a Rockridge sublet after refusing to pay rent for a year, Elizabeth Hirschhorn rented an Airbnb for six months from a periodontist in Los Angeles’ tony Brentwood neighborhood, the Los Angeles Times reported last week. But after her stay was up, she refused to move. Hirschhorn hasn’t paid rent in the more than 540 days since, using a legal loophole as justification, the Times reported.Her attorney, Colin Walshok, told the Times that Hirschhorn isn’t required to pay rent because “the city had never approved the unit for occupancy and that its shower was constructed without a permit.” The city has found that because of the code violations, the landlord, Sascha Jovanovic, cannot evict Hirschhorn.The two parties are now suing each other in court. Hirschhorn has demanded $100,000 from Jovanovic to leave t...

Pac-12 legal affairs: With key court date looming, parties agree to mediation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

The Pac-12’s two remaining schools and the 10 departing universities have agreed to mediation in an attempt to settle their dispute over governance of the conference, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.“The talks have been productive,” the source said. “Everybody wants them to succeed. It just has to be on fair terms to everybody.”“Them,” of course, is Washington State and Oregon State — the schools left behind in the realignment game that decimated the conference in early August.One month later, the Beavers and Cougars took commissioner George Kliavkoff and the 10 outbound schools to court to gain clarity on the makeup of the governing board, which controls the assets.Washington State and Oregon State believe the departing universities relinquished their board seats when they agreed to join other leagues starting next summer and that, if allowed to remain on the board, the 10 could vote as a bloc in ways that undermine the ability of WSU and OSU to possibly rebui...