TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalDanville mayor proposes summer curfew for those under 18
DANVILLE — In response to an uptick in violence in recent weeks, Danville Mayor Scott Eisenhauer announced Tuesday night that the city will enact a more stringent curfew again this summer.
In "special" comments at the outset of the city council meeting, Eisenhauer said he will bring a resolution to aldermen next week outlining a temporary curfew for youth under 18 years old.
Eisenhauer also reviewed other initiatives in the city to address crime, including extra police patrols that will continue into the summer months; a focus by police on "hot spots" in the city; multiple law-enforcement agencies conducting sweeps for drugs, guns and those wanted on warrants; and on-duty firefighters spending time in city parks and neighborhoods as extra "eyes and ears."
Recent violence culminated last week with multiple shooting incidents that resulted in lockdowns at Danville schools on multiple days and a weekend shooting that injured one.
Read more: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2017-04-25/danville-mayor-proposes-summer-curfew-those-under-18.html
Illinois Legislature heads into session's final 6 weeks
SPRINGFIELD (AP) — The Illinois General Assembly is back in Springfield and is heading into the final six weeks of its spring session.
The House appeared briefly Monday afternoon, positioning legislation for final votes. The Senate returns Tuesday.
The Senate will take up a House-approved measure to provide $800 million in emergency funding to human services and higher education. The "lifeline" budget would come from special funds that continue to collect tax dollars despite a two-year budget impasse.
The Senate is still mulling its "grand bargain" budget comprised that fizzled in February. Democrats are still hoping to draw enough Republicans to approve an income-tax increase in exchange for regulatory changes Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner wants.
Read more: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/state/2017-04-25/illinois-legislature-heads-sessions-final-6-weeks.html
China talking with European Space Agency about moon outpost
BEIJING — China is talking with the European Space Agency about collaborating on a human outpost on the moon.
The secretary general for China’s space agency, Tian Yulong, disclosed the talks Wednesday in Chinese state media. Further details on what the collaboration could entail were not revealed.
The European Space Agency, or ESA, has described its “Moon Village” as a potential international launching pad for future missions to Mars.
China has ramped up its space program since its first manned spaceflight in 2003, more than 42 years after a Soviet cosmonaut became the first to reach orbit.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/china-talking-with-european-space-agency-about-moon-outpost/2017/04/26/7c883e24-2a44-11e7-9081-f5405f56d3e4_story.html
Skokie couple, married 69 years, die minutes apart, holding hands
Isaac Vatkin cared tenderly for Teresa, his wife of 69 years. When she began having memory problems more than a decade ago, he fed her and made sure she ate right. He washed her clothes and bathed her. He brought her to Mayo Clinic and enrolled her in research trials.
Only when he couldn’t lift her any longer did he agree to place her in a memory-care facility.
In his 80s, Mr. Vatkin mastered a computer so he could go online to search for breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s disease research. As recently as a year ago, he dreamed of getting an apartment where they could be together.
So when they died within 40 minutes of each other Saturday, after holding hands in their shared hospital room, it seemed fitting that Mr. Vatkin, who’d been such a loving caregiver, didn’t stop breathing until after his wife.
Read more: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/skokie-couple-married-69-years-die-minutes-apart-holding-hands/
Emanuel says Rauner's word no good on abortion, budget, energy
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday accused Gov. Bruce Rauner of “flip-flopping” on three pivotal issues — abortion, pension reform and energy — and said his old friend cannot be trusted to make and keep a deal.
With a Women’s March going in Springfield to highlight the governor’s evolving position on abortion, Emanuel attempted to do the same in Chicago on the same day that the Illinois House approved the abortion bill that Rauner has vowed to veto.
“When it comes to the issue of choice and health for everybody, the governor when he was a candidate took a position . . . that was clear and defined. And he’s now flipped on that,” the mayor said.
“When it came to the energy bill, he told people in the renewable industry he would never sign that. He flipped and he signed that bill. He was for, and agreed to, pension equity for Chicago Public Schools, teachers and the students and he flipped on that.”
Read more: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/emanuel-says-rauners-word-no-good-on-abortion-budget-energy/
Hawaii reassures tourists after brain parasite cases
HONOLULU (AP) — A California couple on their honeymoon and two people who drank a homemade herbal beverage are among the rising number of victims in Hawaii falling ill with a potentially deadly brain parasite.
After the newlyweds’ plight with rat lungworm disease recently got attention online, the couple and some experts accused Hawaii of failing to adequately warn tourists and residents of the danger they can face.
Tourism officials say the disease is rare and there’s no need to cancel vacation plans.
Hawaii has seen the same number of infections so far this year that it’ll often get annually. Eleven cases have been confirmed.
Read more: http://chicago.suntimes.com/lifestyles/hawaii-reassures-tourists-after-brain-parasite-cases/
Illinois Senate will vote on stopgap budget Rauner opposes
Democratic Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said Tuesday that his chamber will vote this week on a proposal to send more than $815 million to universities and social service providers that have gone months without funding, despite objections from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
The House approved the legislation before leaving town for spring break, though it's possible the Senate may put its own stamp on the proposal instead of sending it directly to Rauner's desk.
Under the measure, two specialized state accounts set aside for higher education and social service programs would be tapped to help ease the financial pressure facing schools and those who care for the vulnerable. Those funds are separate from the state's main checking account, with the money coming from a small portion of income tax revenues.
Of the money, $258 million would be split among social service agencies and $559 million would go to community colleges, scholarships for low-income students and day-to-day operations at state universities.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-illinois-senate-president-john-cullerton-2018-met-0426-20170425-story.html
Bill would identify Illinois lawmakers who fail to file tax returns
Any tardy tax filer who sits in the Illinois House or Senate would be subjected to public shaming under a newly filed bill that would require the state to reveal the names of lawmakers who do not file state returns.
The proposal follows the Tribune's disclosure, published online April 14, that two Illinois lawmakers have yet to file their 2014 state tax returns, which were due two years ago.
Because of confidentiality laws, the Illinois Department of Revenue would not identify the two statehouse stragglers. But a spokesman for the agency, part of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration, said it supports the bill.
The proposal, sponsored by Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, is aimed at pressuring state lawmakers to file returns before their tardiness drags from months to years.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-workers-late-tax-returns-bill-met-20170425-story.html
Chicago Archdiocese to pay $4.45M to settle priest abuse lawsuits
The Archdiocese of Chicago will pay $4.45 million to settle three lawsuits brought by three men who allege they were sexually abused more than a decade ago by former Roman Catholic priest, basketball coach and convicted sex offender Daniel McCormack, the plaintiffs' attorney said Tuesday.
According to Mark Brown, the attorney for the three plaintiffs, two brothers reached settlements in late January. They accused McCormack of sexually abusing them more than once during their participation in an after-school program called S.A.F.E. at Our Lady of the Westside Catholic School in the mid-2000s. The other man, who played basketball for the team McCormack coached at Our Lady of the Westside, reached his settlement April 20.
A spokeswoman for the archdiocese said she could not discuss the case "out of respect for the privacy of those involved," but did confirm the settlement had been reached.
Now 24 years old, the former basketball player, identified in court papers as John Doe, said in an interview with the Tribune that he told his parents and the archdocise about the abuse once he was out of Our Lady of the Westside and attending high school. The archdiocese offered to cover the cost of therapy, he said.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-mccormack-settlement-met-20170425-story.html
Ex-suburban cop pleads guilty to drug charges, faces at least 10 years in prison
A former Melrose Park police detective faces at least 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to selling narcotics he'd stolen from an evidence room and transporting what he thought was a 5-kilogram load of drugs for local dealers in his unmarked squad car.
Gregory Salvi, 43, pleaded guilty to one count each of possession of drugs with intent to deliver and using a gun in a drug trafficking crime.
The charges carry a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years, but U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve warned Salvi that federal sentencing guidelines could call for as much as 14 or more years in prison. The statutory maximum on the drug count is life in prison.
Dressed in a black jacket and sporting a dark goatee, Salvi, who recently began working as a car salesman while free on bond, answered "Yes, ma'am" in a soft voice when St. Eve asked if he understood the consequences of his guilty plea.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-melrose-park-cop-stole-cocaine-guilty-met-20170425-story.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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