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'Chicago Sings Karaoke' coming to 'The Taste' in Grant Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

CHICAGO — The city of Chicago on Tuesday announced the return of “Chicago Sings Karaoke.” The citywide contest is an opportunity for amateur singers to show off their karaoke skills for a chance to $5,000.Set to commence at the Taste of Chicago this September 8-10, the karaoke challenge welcomes contestants 18 and older to perform their favorite tunes across three rounds of competition. Winners selected in the first round and second round will compete for a chance at perform in Sunday's finale.Meet the winner of the Chicago Sings Karaoke Competition: Jason Jackson of Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhoodCompetition rules state that singers can not perform original songs and songs with profanity will be not allowed.Locals interested in showing off their vocals for fun are also encouraged to register for Open Karaoke hours.Interested competitors can register now at chicagosingskaraoke.com.

Bought Dole Fruit Bowls recently? You may be eligible for settlement cash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — If you purchased a Dole fruit cup recently, you may be eligible for part of a settlement the company has reached, even if you don’t have a receipt to prove your purchase. A lawsuit was filed against Dole Packaged Foods in Illinois, accusing the company of falsely advertising that many of its Dole Fruit Bowls were made with “100% juice.” Instead, plaintiffs said the bowls contained “trace amounts of ascorbic acid and/or citric acid or other ingredients.”Dole has denied wrongdoing, saying the statement “in 100% juice” is about how the fruit is packaged and does not cover every ingredient in the product. Still, the company has agreed to a $4.3 million settlement in the case, according to a website dedicated to the lawsuit. Claim your piece of $725 million Facebook settlement before it’s too late: Here’s how To qualify for a settlement payment, you need to have purchased any of these Dole Fruit Bowls between January 12, 2017, and June 27, 2023: Cherry Mixed Fruit, Dic...

Trump's Georgia arraignment expected to be televised, Fulton County judge says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

(The Hill) — The state judge overseeing former President Trump’s Georgia case ruled that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom for the defendants’ arraignments, marking the first time that one of Trump's criminal proceedings will be televised.Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Tuesday granted a request from four local television stations to bring in live cameras and other recording devices in his courtroom through Sept. 8.Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) is seeking to hold the arraignments for all the defendants the week following Labor Day, which would fall within that window. If the timeline is delayed, however, McAfee’s order would expire. Fulton County case: Trump plans to turn himself in, he confirms McAfee’s order does not indicate whether cameras will be allowed during a trial or any other future proceedings in the case.Willis charged Trump last week alongside 18 co-defendants over their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results...

Billy McFarland announces Fyre Festival II, says presale tickets are sold out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

(KTLA) – Get ready for Fyre Festival II?The ill-fated music festival from 2017 is coming back to the Caribbean, according to an announcement made Sunday by Billy McFarland, the convicted fraudster who spent close to four years in prison for lying to Fyre Festival investors, who lost over $26 million. "It all started during my seventh-month stint in solitary confinement," he explained in a video posted to social media. "I wrote out this 50-page plan of how I would take this overall interest in demand in Fyre and how it would take my ability to bring people from around the world together to make the impossible happen."In this March 6, 2018 file photo, Billy McFarland, the promoter of the failed Fyre Festival in the Bahamas, leaves federal court after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges in New York. More than three years after the highly publicized Fyre Festival famously fizzled out in the Bahamas. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)McFarland said he spoke to "people as far away as the Mi...

Guests sue Las Vegas Strip hotel after bat found in room prompts rabies treatment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A group of Las Vegas guests have filed a lawsuit against New York-New York Hotel and Casino after a live bat was found in their hotel room, a Clark County District Court document said. The lawsuit alleges that the group from Arizona, which includes three families and four minors, had to undergo treatments after they were potentially exposed to rabies and were unable to test the bat for the disease. The families were in town for a volleyball tournament in April 2022. The Rucker family was staying in a hotel room in New York-New York, which two children from other families visited during their stay, the lawsuit explains. On the morning of April 11, Marcus Rucker woke up after he heard a noise coming from the curtains near the window in his family's hotel room. He allegedly found a live bat hanging on the curtains, which he then killed before putting the animal in a cup and placing it in a nearby stairwell, the document stated. Inspectors find bed bugs at several L...

Frey vetoes Minneapolis City Council’s minimum wage ordinance for Uber, Lyft drivers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

Minneapolis’ mayor on Tuesday vetoed minimum wages for Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing drivers, a move one City Council member described as “an inexcusable betrayal of Minneapolis workers.”Mayor Jacob Frey instead negotiated with Uber, securing an agreement for higher pay for only those drivers.In his veto message, Frey wrote he “secured a commitment from Uber” that drivers picking up passengers in Minneapolis or driving within the city will make the city’s minimum wage of $15 an hour. The company also committed to paying Uber drivers at least $5 for any trip in the metro area.Lyft drivers are not covered by the mayor’s deal.Under the ordinance Frey vetoed, all ride-hailing companies would be required to pay drivers at least $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute, or $5, whichever is greater. The rule would only apply for the portion of the ride within the city.Seattle and New York City have passed similar policies in recent years.“It’s clear we need more time to get this...

Boom Dance Fest returns to downtown Stillwater for an evening with some of the Twin Cities’ top dance troupes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

More than a half dozen dance groups will take the stage this weekend at Lowell Park in Stillwater for the second annual Boom Dance Fest, which aims to showcase a variety of high-level dance troupes and styles from around the Metro.The free, outdoor show starts at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26. It’ll last about an hour, said Giselle Mejia, the co-artistic director of Curio Dance, the Stillwater-based dance school hosting the festival.The Saint Croix River Valley is home to many art festivals, Mejia said. She and her brother Dario Mejia have run Curio Dance since 2009, and they noticed there wasn’t a festival focused solely on professional dance. So last year, they built a temporary wooden stage at Lowell Park — mic’d up underneath to amplify tap dancers’ rhythms — and drew several hundred people to the riverside park for the inaugural Boom Dance Fest.“It’s a perfect place to come and see professional dance,” Giselle Mejia said. “And also to get some of the Twin Cities professional d...

Hastings Creamery shutters doors for good after milk leak earlier this summer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

The Hastings Creamery, around for more than a century, has shut its doors after a large milk leak earlier this summer led to the creamery being cut off from the city’s sewer system.Hastings City Administrator Dan Wietecha said the city was supposed to meet with creamery staff last week to work through compliance issues. But a day before the meeting, the city got word the creamery wouldn’t make the meeting.Instead, they were closing.“It’s never easy to lose a long-standing business like this,” Wietecha said. “It impacts the community and the jobs it creates for the local economy.”Wietecha said the creamery had a number of issues to deal with including “internally with management, as well as compliance issues with building permits and discharge of wastewater and a lot of it added up and might have been difficult for them to dig out of the hole they had gotten themselves into.”In a June Facebook post, the creamery called its situati...

Vikings safety Lewis Cine not at walkthrough after tweaking something

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

The hits keep coming for young safety Lewis Cine.Though the Vikings hosted a walkthrough on Monday afternoon to reduce the risk of injury, Cine appeared to tweak something while sprinting at full seed before a drill. He watched the rest of the day from the sidelines, and to make matters worse, Cine was not spotted at the walkthrough on Tuesday afternoon.His availability for this week’s joint practice with the Arizona Cardinals is unclear. If he can’t participate this week, Cine would lose some valuable reps. He needs all the playing time he can get right now as he works his way back from a compound fracture in his left leg suffered last year as a rookie.Asked about Cine over the weekend, head coach Kevin O’Connell praised him for his work ethic. It’s pretty clear that O’Connell still believes Cine can be a good player in the NFL.“I think Lew is in a great spot,” O’Connell said. “He’s doing a great job right now of building upon what he does each and eve...

High school volleyball: Former Wildcats star McKenna Melville is back in Eagan, now leading the program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:44 GMT

McKenna Melville recently walked past a fellow Eagan teacher who shouted out, “You sound just like her!”The reference was obvious to Melville. The teacher was talking about Melville’s mom, hall of fame coach Kathy Gillen. Gillen retired from her post as Eagan’s volleyball coach in the spring. Her replacement? None other than her daughter, who transitioned directly from a legendary collegiate volleyball career into the head of the high school volleyball program she grew up in.Now, everything is new, from running a volleyball program to being a full-time teacher.Amid the transition, there are worse people to emulate than Gillen, who is one of the premier coaches in this state’s history.“I’m like, ‘Oh no,’ ” Melville joked in response to the teacher. “She’s always just kind of been my role model, and she always will be, so it’s very exciting to have her on the bench. And then there’s sometimes where we’ll say the exact same sentences and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, did we both really...