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Dean's Weekender: 'Shrek: The Musical,' 16 Candles and more

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

Check out Dean's Weekender for all the latest events coming to the Chicagoland area this weekend.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Symptoms of RSV, strep, flu, COVID: How to tell them apart

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

(WGN Radio) – Feeling a little gross after the holidays? You may have one (or two, or three) of the overlapping symptoms of RSV, flu, COVID and strep. We asked Dr. Sindhu Aderson at Northwestern Medicine to run through some of the most common symptoms and treatments for each virus and bacteria, to break down the differences. With strep, the most common signs are sore throat and fevers, but not often a cough, Aderson said. When it comes to flu, you're more likely to see body aches. With COVID, one distinguishing symptom Aderson sees is fatigue, and occasionally loss of taste and/or smell. With RSV, you'll often hear wheezing and coughing as the main symptom. However, coughing is reported with all three of the viral illnesses (COVID, RSV and flu). It's less common with strep, which is caused by a bacteria, Aderson said. Testing negative but still feeling sick? Doctors explain why Trouble breathing is most common with COVID and RSV, but it can also be seen with patients with the flu,...

US military space plane blasts off on another secretive mission

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

(AP) — The U.S. military's X-37B space plane blasted off Thursday on another secretive mission that’s expected to last at least a couple of years.Like previous missions, the reusable plane resembling a mini space shuttle carried classified experiments. There's no one on board.The space plane took off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at night, more than two weeks late because of technical issues.It marked the seventh flight of an X-37B, which has logged more than 10 years in orbit since its debut in 2010.The last flight, the longest one yet, lasted 2 1/2 years before ending on a runway at Kennedy a year ago. Mystery note found in sealed cereal box in Pennsylvania Space Force officials would not say how long this orbital test vehicle would remain aloft or what's on board other than a NASA experiment to gauge the effects of radiation on materials.Built by Boeing, the X-37B resembles NASA’s retired space shuttles. But they're just one-fourth the siz...

Marjorie Taylor Greene says daughters' homes were 'swatted'

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

(The Hill) — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) claimed that her two daughters were “swatted” Thursday — just days after she experienced what she estimated was her eighth swatting incident.Swatting refers to a large-scale response by law enforcement officials in response to false claims of an emergency, often at the homes of public officials.“Both my daughter’s houses just got swatted today. Big thanks to the police who responded! We appreciate you and support you!” Greene wrote Thursday afternoon in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Greene says she was swatted while at home with family on Christmas “Whoever is doing this, you are going to get caught and it won’t be funny to you anymore,” Greene added, before tagging the FBI account.Greene did not provide more information about the incidents her daughters experienced.On Christmas Day, Greene reported she was swatted at her home in Rome, Ga., for what she estimated was the eighth time.“I was just swatted. This i...

Albany man arrested after breaking window with brick

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- An Albany man was arrested early Friday morning after breaking a window with a brick and causing a disturbance, according to the Albany County Sheriff's Office. Thomas Bruni, 51, is charged with third-degree criminal mischief. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! On Friday, around 1 a.m., deputies from the Albany County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a man screaming and banging on the front door and windows of the victim's home. Upon arrival, law enforcement says they found the suspect, identified as Bruni, standing outside the house by a window that had been broken. Deputies later found a brick inside the home that was used to break the window.Bruni was arrested and was held at the Albany County Correctional Facility. He was arraigned in the Albany County Correctional Facility at 9 a.m.

Denver Art Museum curator named one of the 100 most influential art figures in the world

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

Raphael Fonseca joined the Denver Art Museum in 2021 as its first-ever curator of Latin American Modern & Contemporary Art, a position created to showcase, and grow, the museum’s considerable collection of objects from the region.His most notable move here — so far — was curating last year’s “Who Tells a Tale Adds a Tail,” a group show built around the talents of 19 millennial-aged artists from places like Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil.Raphael Fonseca is the first person to hold the title of Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Denver Art Museum. (Provided by Raphael Fonseca)But Fonseca, who is Brazilian, is also busy working in both South America and Europe. He continues to organize important exhibitions internationally, and has gained a reputation for discovering new voices from across the hemisphere. That work has not gone unnoticed. This month, the well-respected Art Review magazine placed him on its annual “Power 100,” a list ...

A cannoli recipe that’ll bring Sicily to you

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

By Claire Saffitz, The New York TimesI have a burning desire to visit Sicily, which has a little to do with “The White Lotus” and a lot to do with a tube-shaped pastry made of fried dough and filled with ricotta: cannoli.Last year, I came across a video of Nicola and Luca Petta, father-son bakers who own Extrabar, a pastry shop in Piana degli Albanesi, preparing their specialty, cannoli. In the video, Luca mixes and rolls the dough, punches out the shells, and fries them until they’re golden and blistered. The shells flare outward dramatically at the ends, creating more surface area to hold the creamy sheep’s milk ricotta filling.I was captivated.Extrabar’s cannoli looked nothing like the tough, often-soggy versions with too-sweet filling I’d eaten before. Knowing that a trip to Sicily wasn’t happening anytime soon, I set out to make my own version, inspired by the perfect simplicity of Extrabar’s. I bought a set of stainless-steel cannoli molds, needed to maintain the tubular shape...

As “food is medicine” movement takes hold, Colorado Medicaid looks to pay for produce and better meals

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

Colorado’s Medicaid agency, health care providers and nonprofits want more people to get nutritious food as part of their overall health care, but no one is sure how to fund something beyond the current patchwork of programs.The “food is medicine” movement has gained traction in recent years as insurance providers and government agencies determined they could achieve better health outcomes, for less money, by improving people’s diets than by giving them medical treatment after their conditions worsened.The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which oversees the state’s Medicaid program, has made nutrition a priority and plans to ask for federal funding to bring healthy food to more members.As it stands, the state’s Medicaid program can only pay for meals for people with certain disabilities who recently got out of the hospital, left a nursing home, or are at risk of being placed in a facility because they lost their caregiver o...

RTD’s reduced fares and monthly pass prices take effect in the new year. Here is what’s changing.

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

Colorado’s Regional Transportation District will give its train and bus riders’ wallets a break in the new year by reducing its base local fare for the first time in its history — and slashing monthly pass costs even more deeply as part of a full revamp of its pricing.The metro Denver transportation agency’s board approved the fare restructuring plan in July, and it takes effect on Monday, Jan. 1. The standard fare on most buses and most trains will be $2.75, down just a quarter from the current $3 local fare.But by simplifying and combining some of its fare tiers, RTD’s changes will save many riders even more than that — including up to 56% if they purchase a full-price monthly pass.An overview of the changes:The new $2.75 standard fare will replace the current local ($3) and regional ($5.25) fares for up to three hours of bus and train rides.Day passes for all rides except for those to Denver International Airport will cost $5.50, down from the ...

5-year-old child found dead with barricade suspect in Long Beach home

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:00:33 GMT

A standoff ended in tragedy when officers discovered the bodies of the suspect and a 5-year-old child inside a Long Beach home.Officers responded to a domestic dispute in the 3400 block of Adriatic Avenue shortly after 2:30 p.m. Thursday, the Long Beach Police Department posted on X, formerly Twitter.Long Beach firefighters were called to the scene when officers noticed smoke and fire coming from the residence. Police respond to a barricade situation in Long Beach on Dec. 28, 2023. (OC Hawk)Once the flames were extinguished, officers established a perimeter and called in a SWAT team believing the suspect, described as an adult male, was still barricaded in the home. Some nearby homes were evacuated and other residents were ordered to shelter in place.Officers eventually obtained a search warrant and located the deceased suspect inside the home with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the department posted in an update at 12:15 a.m. Friday. Police also located a 5-year-old chil...