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Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians get 3% annual raises in 3-year labor contract

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and members of the Chicago Federation of Musicians voted Tuesday to ratify a three-year labor contract that incudes 3% annual salary raises.The deal was announced Sunday and replaces a five-year contract expiring this month. The orchestra said health care, insurance and retirement benefits will be retained. The CSO said the deal includes cost reductions, managerial efficiencies, increased revenue opportunities and improved working conditions.CSO musicians struck for two days in September 2012 and for seven weeks in March and April 2019 before agreeing to a contract calling for a 13.25% wage increase over five years.Music director emeritus for life Riccardo Muti will lead the CSO season-opening concert Sept. 21 at Orchestra Hall and take the orchestra to New York to open Carnegie Hall’s season Oct. 4.The Associated Press

Actor Bijou Phillips files for divorce from Danny Masterson after rape convictions

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

Bijou Phillips has filed for divorce from Danny Masterson, days after the former “That ’70s Show” star was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for two rape convictions.Phillips, a 43-year-old actor, filed a petition in Santa Barbara Superior Court on Monday to end her nearly 12-year marriage to the 47-year-old Masterson, according to the court’s website. The couple has a 9-year-old daughter. No further details were immediately available.An attorney for Phillips did not respond to emails, and a representative for Masterson declined to comment. Masterson maintains his innocence and his attorneys have said they plan to appeal, contending there were problems with evidence and constitutional issues with his conviction.Phillips sat with other Masterson family members in court throughout two long trials, the first of which ended in a mistrial, the second of which ended in a conviction on two of three rape counts from 2003.She wept when in court when the guilty v...

Arguments to free FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried get rough reception from federal appeals panel

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court in Manhattan seemed unreceptive Tuesday to arguments that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should be released on bail before his trial starts in two weeks so he can better prepare for trial.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in Manhattan, and all three judges were dismissive of his lawyer’s claims that the First Amendment protects him from a judge’s conclusion that his actions while confined to his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, for eight months violated the conditions of his $250 million bail.Bankman-Fried, 31, was extradited to the United States last December from the Bahamas to face charges that he stole billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits, spending tens of millions on his businesses, speculative investments, charitable donations and campaign contributions meant to influence cryptocurrency regulation in Washington.Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty, was jailed Aug. 11. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan con...

Indiana US Senate candidate files suit challenging law that may keep him off the ballot

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An egg farmer seeking the Republican nomination for Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2024 filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of a state law that could prevent him from getting on the ballot. John Rust, the chair of Seymour-based Rose Acre Farms, filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Diego Morales, the Indiana Election Commission and Jackson County Republican Party Chair Amanda Lowery. Rust told The Indianapolis Star he hopes the lawsuit will allow Indiana residents that identify with their party to run for office without following requirements in Indiana law on political party affiliation.The law says a candidate’s past two primary elections must be cast with the party the candidate is affiliated with or a county party chair must approve the candidacy. In the lawsuit filed in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis, Rust states that this statute “should be struck down as being unconstitutionally vague and overly broad.” Rust voted as...

Lawsuit filed over cleaning worker who died in department store bathroom, body not found for days

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The family of a cleaning worker whose body remained in a locked bathroom at a department store for days after she died filed suit Tuesday against the Belk chain, saying her body was so decomposed they couldn’t even hold an open casket funeral. Bessie Durham, a 63-year-old worker with a contractor hired to clean the Belk store near Columbia, South Carolina, went into a family bathroom around 7 a.m. on a Thursday in 2022 and died shortly after from a cardiac problem, attorney Chris Hart said. Durham had clocked in for work but never clocked out and her cleaning cart sat outside the locked door for four days until Columbia Police called the store trying to find Durham because her family reported the woman missing, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. The suit was filed a year to the day when her body was found on Sept. 19, 2022, at the store in Columbiana Mall.The store was open for regular hours the entire time. Durham worked for a company contracted to ...

Police search for men wanted in violent robbery, stabbings in downtown core

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

Two men are wanted by police in a violent robbery that involved two victims being assaulted and stabbed in the city’s downtown core last weekend.Police were called to a stabbing in the Adelaide Street and Simcoe Street area at around 3 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17.It’s alleged that a group of men assaulted two male victims in their 20s. Police said one victim was able to run away eastbound on Adelaide Street West, where two suspects chased him.The two suspects caught up to the one victim on Simcoe Street and produced knives, demanding his jewelry and threatening him. The victim was stabbed, kicked and punched multiple times and had his jewelry stolen.Authorities said that during the attack on the first victim, the second man was stabbed and had his items stolen, too. The two suspects fled the area on foot.Police said the two victims were taken to the hospital that morning. One victim has since been released; the other is still being treated and is in stable condition.Investi...

With thousands of migrants pouring into the City, where's the money being spent to help?

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

CHICAGO — It's a crisis that's dominated the headlines almost daily. More than 13,500 asylum seekers have poured into Chicago since last August, with many left sleeping on the floors of police stations across the city.This all despite tens of millions of dollars being forked over to manage the ongoing humanitarian crisis, which begets the question — where are all of these funds being spent?According to a Freedom of Information Act request obtained by WGN News, hundreds of invoices were uncovered that revealed a whopping $84.5 million already paid out since the first buses began arriving from Texas."We are spending money hand over fist to assist these individuals," said Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th). "Yet we still have children, their parents, and the elderly sleeping on floors." Couple, 2 children, 3 dogs found dead inside Romeoville home: police The majority of the money already spent — $56.78 million — was paid to a company named 'Favourite Healthcare Staffing,' with another $12.58 ...

Police looking into apparent videos from missing former NFL player after mother's death

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

MAYWOOD, Ill. — Police are still searching for a missing former NFL player as they investigate his mother's death.Maywood police say Sergio Brown is still considered a missing person even after two videos have been shared on Instagram by an account that is believed to be run by the former NFL player.A new video shared as a story on an Instagram account that is believed to be run by Sergio, shows him laughing as he is surrounded by images from the movie Finding Nemo, he even quotes the film.It is the second video that has been posted to the account in the last two days as Maywood Police investigate the killing of Sergio's mother, Myrtle Brown.In the first video, which was also shared as a story on Monday, Sergio made vague references to Maywood police and the FBI and said that he had thought his mother was on vacation.The 35-year-old ex-NFL player is a Proviso East graduate who played from 2010 to 2016 with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts.Myrtle’s family, with a searc...

FBI releases photo, video from armored truck robbery at Chicago Heights grocery story

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill. — The FBI is investigating an armored truck robbery on Tuesday at a grocery store in Chicago Heights.According to the FBI, the incident happened in the 1300 block of Western Avenue. 3 charged after 2 men shot, killed in Chicago Heights Three men in their 20s displayed handguns during the robbery, the FBI said.One of the men was hit by the armored car and may be injured.The FBI said a dark-colored Nissan sedan, the suspected getaway vehicle, sustained extensive damage to the rear passenger side door in a collision with the truck.The Nissan didn't have any license plates but had a dealer advertisement with a star and blue lettering, the FBI said.Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI online or by calling 312-421-6700.Tips can be reported anonymously.The FBI said a reward of up to $20,000 for information this or other armored car robberies is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Opinion: It’s more so Luke Getsy, than Justin Fields

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:20:25 GMT

CHICAGO — Justin Fields is a hot mess, and so are the Chicago Bears, but when it comes to blame for an 0-2 start, the buck stops with coaching and scheme before any one player’s performance.“We’re just searching for consistency,” said Matt Eberflus at a press conference Monday. “It’s about consistency, doing it right.”It certainly feels familiar, doesn’t it Bears fans?I, like most of you, spent my Sunday yelling at a TV – with Chicago's almost total ineptitude on offense, save for two possessions, driving me up a wall.In honor of the lucky few who missed the Bears’ performance, here are the Spark Notes.Chicago got off to a hot start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — scoring on their opening drive — only to digress so much as the game went on, that gouging an eye out seemed more enjoyable than watching Bears football.In similar fashion to a week before, it appeared the once vaunted Monsters of the Midway salvaged momentum in hopes of making a comeback, only to squander it in grand f...