1:30 AM on Jul 5, 2020 CDTFor a long time, cancer was the unnamed elephant in the room for my family.Last August, I packed my bags in Dallas and said goodbye to my co-workers two weeks before my internship was scheduled to end. My eyes were puffy from days of sporadic crying that I failed miserably to hide, and a buried anxiety set in as I prepared to confront the greatest challenge my family would face.My mind tried desperately to normalize my family’s new circumstances, but the unsettling fact remained: My mom was unexpectedly diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that had metastasized to...…1:30 AM on Jul 5, 2020 CDTFor a long time, cancer was the unnamed elephant in the room for my family.Last August, I packed my bags in Dallas and said goodbye to my co-workers two weeks before my internship was scheduled to end. My eyes were puffy from days of sporadic crying that I failed miserably to hide, and a buried anxiety set in as I prepared to confront the greatest challenge my family would face.My mind tried desperately to normalize my family’s new circumstances, but the unsettling fact remained: My mom was unexpectedly diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that had metastasized to...WW…

9:34 PM on Mar 29, 2021 CDTUpdated at 3 p.m. March 30: Revised throughout to include more information on Justin Frazell.A longtime Dallas-Fort Worth radio host has been arrested on a sexual assault charge over an allegation involving a teenage girl at a holiday party.Justin Barrett Frazell, 47, was arrested and booked into the Tarrant County jail Wednesday, and he was released a short time later. It was unclear whether he had an attorney.Frazell was a morning-show host for “The Ranch” KFWR (95.9 FM) for more than a decade. In Monday afternoon, the station said it had terminated its...…9:34 PM on Mar 29, 2021 CDTUpdated at 3 p.m. March 30: Revised throughout to include more information on Justin Frazell.A longtime Dallas-Fort Worth radio host has been arrested on a sexual assault charge over an allegation involving a teenage girl at a holiday party.Justin Barrett Frazell, 47, was arrested and booked into the Tarrant County jail Wednesday, and he was released a short time later. It was unclear whether he had an attorney.Frazell was a morning-show host for “The Ranch” KFWR (95.9 FM) for more than a decade. In Monday afternoon, the station said it had terminated its...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 22, 2021 at 5:00 amJoe Starnes can’t hold a cup of coffee in his right hand. He can’t hold much of anything.It’s been five months since Starnes’ right arm was damaged when someone pulled up next to him late one summer night and fired about 14 bullets into his SUV as he was driving home on the Dan Ryan Expressway.Advertisement“When you get shot, your whole life is changed,” Starnes said. “Everything is different.”The shooting was one of 128 that happened on Chicago-area expressways in 2020 — an unprecedented spike that left a trail of grieving loved ones...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 22, 2021 at 5:00 amJoe Starnes can’t hold a cup of coffee in his right hand. He can’t hold much of anything.It’s been five months since Starnes’ right arm was damaged when someone pulled up next to him late one summer night and fired about 14 bullets into his SUV as he was driving home on the Dan Ryan Expressway.Advertisement“When you get shot, your whole life is changed,” Starnes said. “Everything is different.”The shooting was one of 128 that happened on Chicago-area expressways in 2020 — an unprecedented spike that left a trail of grieving loved ones...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneDec 14, 2020 at 11:12 amThe rate of violent crime on CTA trains and platforms has more than doubled this year, even though the number of riders has dramatically dropped and Chicago police have stepped up patrols and surveillance, according to a Tribune analysis of police and CTA data.Ridership this year on the “L” system has been down 61% through September compared with the same period in 2019, according to the CTA. In some months during the spring and summer, it was down more than 85%.The number of crimes has dropped, too, but not nearly as much as ridership....…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneDec 14, 2020 at 11:12 amThe rate of violent crime on CTA trains and platforms has more than doubled this year, even though the number of riders has dramatically dropped and Chicago police have stepped up patrols and surveillance, according to a Tribune analysis of police and CTA data.Ridership this year on the “L” system has been down 61% through September compared with the same period in 2019, according to the CTA. In some months during the spring and summer, it was down more than 85%.The number of crimes has dropped, too, but not nearly as much as ridership....WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneNov 03, 2020 at 2:56 pmPoll workers at some Cook County early voting sites sent home voters who were still in line about 7 p.m. Monday, but officials said Tuesday that election judges made that decision because not everyone was social distancing and preparations needed to get underway for Election Day.Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough’s office, said voters in line at eight to 10 polling locations were waiting but could not cast their ballots. Anyone who was inside the facility at 7 p.m. was allowed to vote, Daly said, but others...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneNov 03, 2020 at 2:56 pmPoll workers at some Cook County early voting sites sent home voters who were still in line about 7 p.m. Monday, but officials said Tuesday that election judges made that decision because not everyone was social distancing and preparations needed to get underway for Election Day.Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough’s office, said voters in line at eight to 10 polling locations were waiting but could not cast their ballots. Anyone who was inside the facility at 7 p.m. was allowed to vote, Daly said, but others...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneSep 15, 2020 at 7:31 pmSmoke from fires rampaging on the West Coast wafted Sunday evening into the atmosphere above northern Illinois, turning the sky a shade of milky white and potentially making the week’s temperatures a bit cooler, forecasters said.The atmospheric effect comes from mega-wildfires burning significant land the last few days in Oregon, California and Washington state. At least 35 people have been killed, 24 in California alone, and thousands of others have lost their homes in the blazes, which have darkened West Coast skies with ash and...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneSep 15, 2020 at 7:31 pmSmoke from fires rampaging on the West Coast wafted Sunday evening into the atmosphere above northern Illinois, turning the sky a shade of milky white and potentially making the week’s temperatures a bit cooler, forecasters said.The atmospheric effect comes from mega-wildfires burning significant land the last few days in Oregon, California and Washington state. At least 35 people have been killed, 24 in California alone, and thousands of others have lost their homes in the blazes, which have darkened West Coast skies with ash and...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJul 21, 2020 at 10:21 amExpressway shootings have surged in the Chicago area this year, already surpassing what is normally seen in an entire year and increasing pressure for the installation of better cameras as well as scanners that read license plates.The Illinois State Police had tallied 62 expressway shootings in Cook County this year as of Tuesday. That compares with 52 for all of 2019, 43 in 2018, 51 in 2017 and 54 in 2016, a year that gun violence in Chicago hit levels not seen since the 1990s.AdvertisementMore than half the shootings this year — 41 —...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJul 21, 2020 at 10:21 amExpressway shootings have surged in the Chicago area this year, already surpassing what is normally seen in an entire year and increasing pressure for the installation of better cameras as well as scanners that read license plates.The Illinois State Police had tallied 62 expressway shootings in Cook County this year as of Tuesday. That compares with 52 for all of 2019, 43 in 2018, 51 in 2017 and 54 in 2016, a year that gun violence in Chicago hit levels not seen since the 1990s.AdvertisementMore than half the shootings this year — 41 —...WW…

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJul 10, 2020 at 6:18 pmChicago police Superintendent David Brown announced plans Friday for a new community policing initiative that would require the department’s summer patrol unit to engage in service projects every week across the city’s neighborhoods.The plan is an attempt to build trust with residents and combat escalating violence, Brown said.Advertisement“This builds trust, getting to know people before you take enforcement action builds trust,” he said during a news briefing in Woodlawn. “It gives officers a valuable perspective on what they are...…AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJul 10, 2020 at 6:18 pmChicago police Superintendent David Brown announced plans Friday for a new community policing initiative that would require the department’s summer patrol unit to engage in service projects every week across the city’s neighborhoods.The plan is an attempt to build trust with residents and combat escalating violence, Brown said.Advertisement“This builds trust, getting to know people before you take enforcement action builds trust,” he said during a news briefing in Woodlawn. “It gives officers a valuable perspective on what they are...WW…