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About 1% of Illinois gun owners registered banned weapons before deadline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Monday, January 1st, 2024, was the deadline for Illinois residents who own any of 170 “assault-style weapons” banned under law to register them with the state police.Anyone who fails to register their guns could be charged with a Class 2 felony.According to the Illinois State Police, as of this week, about 29,357 of Illinois' 2.4 million Firearm Owner's Identification card holders (about 1.22%) had registered the banned weapons.Registration opened on October 1st. The affidavit can be found under the owner’s Firearm Owners Identifcation Card account on the Illinois State Police website.Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act on January 10th in response to the shooting deaths of seven at the Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, where 30 were also injured.The Protect Illinois Communities Act bans the future sale of semi-automatic pistols, shotguns, and rifles because they are now considered...

What you'll find in Missouri's largest lost and found

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

(Image courtesy: Shutterstock)JOPLIN, Mo. (KSNF/KODE) — Now that it's a new year, it may be a good time to check and see if your money or property is being held in Missouri's largest lost and found.Each year, government agencies, businesses, financial institutions, and other organizations hand over millions of dollars in cash and property to the Missouri Treasurer's Office. For example, the contents of a safe deposit box will be turned over to the state if there has been no contact with the owner for more than five years.The Office currently holds more than $1 billion in unclaimed assets. 1-in-10 Missourians have unclaimed property, and the average return is $300. The Treasurer's Office never charges to return unclaimed property. Unclaimed money or assets can, among other things, include:Cash from bank accountsStocks and bondsContents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandonedUncollected insurance policy proceedsGovernment refundsUtility deposits and wages from past jobs| Here’s...

Five Weeknight Dishes: Flavorful recipes to reboot and refresh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

By Emily Weinstein, The New York TimesWell, everyone, I’ve eaten a lot of cookies in the last few weeks, and I’ve had a good time doing it. But now I’m cruising into 2024 ready for food that’s lighter on the butter but still brimming with flavor.Maybe you’re in the same boat? If so, this week’s recipes are for you: five fast and fresh ways to reboot your cooking for the new year, or at least through the end of resolution season.1. Stir-Fried Shrimp With Snow Peas and GingerIn 2005, Julia Moskin wrote an excellent article about woks, the best sort for American kitchens (a 14-inch heavy-gauge carbon-steel wok with a flat bottom) and how to season it. This recipe, adapted from Grace Young’s book, “The Breath of a Wok,” ran alongside it. It is simple, fresh and fast. It cooks in under 5 minutes, so start your pot of rice as you clean the shrimp and chop the ginger, garlic and scallions.Recipe from Grace YoungAdapted by Julia MoskinYield: 2 to 4 servingsTotal time: 30 minutesIngredients1...

Azerbaijan’s achievements in clean-energy transition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

2023 was a very successful year for Azerbaijan as the country restored its territorial integrity and reached significant achievements in different sectors of the economy including the energy sector. - writes Shahmar Hajiyev, Senior Advisor at the Center of Analysis of International Relations It is worth noting that the energy sector plays a key role in Azerbaijan’s economy and, driven by its natural resources, the country’s energy production is strongly tied to fossil fuels. The finalization of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) enables the country to export its natural gas to the European energy markets. In 2016, the country signed the Paris Agreement on climate change, which set up a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by up to 35 per cent by 2030. Overall, Azerbaijan aims to export not only fossil fuels but also green energy to Europe. To this end, the country has already started to develop its renewable energy capacity, and one of the country’s primary goals is to support...

California restaurant bouncing back after racist dog meat claims

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

David Rasavong’s cultural pride is evident all throughout his restaurant.It’s on the wall of family portraits and where a stunning mural depicts his family’s journey from Laos to California. It’s on the menu filled with Lao and Thai dishes like the crispy coconut rice salad of Nam Khao and the stir-fried rice noodles of Pad See Ew.And it’s in the fact that Love & Thai in Fresno, California, restaurant is open at all. A baseless accusation grounded in a racist stereotype about Asian food using dog meat brought a six-month barrage of harassment so heated that Rasavong, 41, closed down its previous location over fears for his family’s safety.His earlier restaurant had only been open for seven months when a so-called animal welfare crusader in May implied on social media that a pitbull tied up at an unconnected home next door was going to be served on the menu.A day after the initial commentary, vitriolic statements, voicemails and calls rained down. Rasavong’s body still tenses up ...

Packs of wild dogs terrorizing Riverside County: LAT

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

Packs of wild dogs may be played for laughs in Hollywood movies, but in Riverside County, they're no joke.Groups of canines have slain livestock near Anza and, in 2018, killed a woman "in broad daylight," according to a report in the Los Angeles Times."Earlier this spring, a pack of free-roaming hounds — identified as three Labrador mixes, two Queensland blue heelers and a husky — slaughtered a herd of goats and two sheep," the Times reports.The Valley News also reports that "dozens of goats were killed by dogs ... near Anza’s Hamilton Schools" last year. Authorities Round up Stray Dogs in Anza After Woman Was Severely Attacked by Pit Bulls The Riverside County Department of Animal Services is working to combat the canines by "bringing a spay-neuter bus to the region, providing occasional vaccination and educational clinics, and urging people to keep their pets indoors and behind fences," the Times says, but "it only takes a few bad actors — and a couple of breeding seasons — for ...

More people are canceling their streaming subscriptions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

Retaining customers is getting more difficult for streaming services.Customer cancellations on major streaming platforms rose to 6.3% in November, from 5.1% the year prior, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The newspaper cited data from Antenna, a subscription analytics provider.The data comes as multiple streaming services have announced price changes and hikes over the past year. The many ways to watch KTLA for free Amazon Prime Video is moving ahead with plans to introduce advertisements to its content unless users pay an additional fee of $2.99 per month. Netflix upped the price of its "Basic" and "Premium" tiers by $2 earlier this fall.People who use Peacock, Paramount+, Hulu and Apple TV+ also saw price increases in 2023.Companies have been trying a range of tactics to boost revenues, including lower-priced options that include advertising. In a shareholder letter earlier this fall, Netflix said roughly 30% of its incoming subscribers are opting for its $7 plan...

Las Vegas judge attacked by convicted felon in the courtroom (video)

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

Graphic warning: The video above may be disturbing for some viewers.A man attacked a Las Vegas judge in her courtroom Wednesday, forcing her to take cover and injuring a marshal in the process, a video obtained by Nexstar's KLAS reveals. KTLA's sister station KLAS reports. Deobra Redden, 30, a three-time felon, was in Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus’ courtroom for sentencing on a charge of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm, records said. Meat market thief wearing ‘Dirty Bird’ hoodie flees on scooter Holthus was sitting behind the bench when Redden ran up to her, jumped over the bench and attacked her, the video shows. Several other people then fought with Redden before throwing him to the ground. An alarm also sounded for several minutes alerting others to the incident.Before the attack, Redden's attorney asked Holthus to sentence his client to probation. Holthus then said, "I think it's time he get a taste of something else."Deobra Redden, 30, a th...

Inside the Spiral Unearths Robert Smithson’s Childhood, Catholicism, Art, and Death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

A spiral, when you think about it, works like an inside-out labyrinth. The end is completely visible from the outside. If you can walk it, there’s hypnotic pleasure in following your feet to the center. That’s the experience promised by Spiral Jetty, the monumental earthwork that arcs through the blood-red waters at Rozel Point, in Utah’s Great Salt Lake. This is a massive sculpture — a 1,500-foot-long rock pathway conceived and built in 1970 by the enigmatic artist Robert Smithson. A tall, skinny, brooding, chain-smoking ersatz cowboy from Passaic, New Jersey, Smithson lived only three more years after finishing Spiral Jetty. He went up in a light plane for a long view of his newest project, Amarillo Ramp, still in its beginning stages, and crashed in the desert. He was 35.A good artist bio is a treasure box, and Suzaan Boettger gives the reader more of Smithson than anyone has to date. Still, reading Inside the Spiral is like getting a Snickers bar and being forced to eat the wrap...

TGI Fridays abruptly closes 36 restaurants. See the list

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:06 GMT

By Jordan Valinsky | CNNNew York  — Some fans of TGI Fridays were likely surprised this week when they found their local restaurant permanently closed because the chain abruptly shut down dozens of locations around the US.The chain said in a release that it closed 36 “underperforming” restaurants as part of its “ongoing growth strategy,” which also includes also a shakeup of its executive ranks and selling some restaurants back to its former CEO.Related ArticlesRestaurants, Food and Drink | 7 amazing Bay Area things to do this weekend Restaurants, Food and Drink | Central California restaurant’s comeback shows how outdated, false Asian stereotype of dog-eating persists Restaurants, Food and Drink | Taco Bell staple is coming to a store near you Restaurants, Food and Drink | New at Starbucks: Customers may use their own cups for mobile, drive-thru orders Restaurants, Food and Drink | High-end Oakland Mexican r...