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Obama says leaving White House helped his marriage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

(The Hill) -- Former President Barack Obama says exiting the White House helped give his marriage to Michelle Obama a boost.The 44th president was asked in a Tuesday interview with “CBS Mornings” co-host Nate Burleson about comments the former first lady had made about not liking her husband for roughly “10 years” of their union.“How do you get back in good graces?” Burleson asked Obama to laughs from the ex-commander-in-chief.“Let me just say this: It sure helps to be out of the White House and to have a little more time with her,” Obama replied.In an interview last month with “CBS Mornings’” Gayle King, Michelle Obama opened up about her relationship.“We’ve been married for 30 years,” she told King. “If I fell out with him for 10 [years,] and we had a great 20 years, I’d take those odds anytime.” Michelle Obama: ‘We’ve been married for 30 years,’ and 20 of them were ‘great’ The Obamas tied the knot in 1992.The 61-year-old former president said Tuesday ...

Another motorsports event is returning to Chicagoland this weekend - including a Park Ridge native

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

CHICAGO — There is plenty of hype around one race's return to the Windy City in 2023, but there is another that's on the way back as well. In fact, it will include a driver that grew up in the area. Tony Schumacher, who was born in California but spent most of his childhood years in Park Ridge, is among the drivers coming back to Chicago for the Camping World National Hot Rod Association's event in May at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet. The Route 66 NHRA Nationals will take place May 19-21 and is the first event at the venue since 2019. It's one of 21 events for the premiere drag racing series in North America during their 2023 season.Joliet's race for the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and wasn't on the schedule in 2021 or 2022. Now that it's back in 2023, it makes for quite an exciting moment for Schumacher, who spent a lot of his childhood and teen years in Park Ridge."My dad, who also grew up in Park Ridge, at the same house, had a race car shop there," said S...

Woman shot in South Side apartment; critical

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

CHICAGO — A woman was shot inside a South Side apartment late Monday night.Police said a 28-year-old woman was inside a 11th floor apartment, in the 200 block of 42nd Street, with several other people when shots were fired.The woman was struck in the head and transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. 19-year-old woman dies after South Side shooting No one is in custody.

Midday Fix: Live performance from Disney’s ALADDIN

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

Adi Roy, Plays AladdinSenzel Ahmady, Plays JasmineEvent:Disney’s ALADDIN will begin performances in Chicago at Broadway In Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre on May 17 for a limited two-week engagement through Sunday, May 28.Disney’s ALADDINBroadway In Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre151 W. Randolph St., ChicagoWednesday, May 17-Sunday, May 28http://www.BroadwayInChicago.comhttps://aladdinthemusical.com/tour/

5-year-old hospitalized after being stung by scorpion in pool at Las Vegas home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) - It was a frightening Mother’s Day weekend for Kim Chmielewski when her 5-year-old daughter, Cate, was stung by a scorpion in their backyard pool. The sting took them to the hospital twice, and Cate received three doses of antivenin before recovering.A bark scorpion only a few inches long had crawled along the bottom of a shallow ledge in the pool before it stung Cate on her upper leg. "Never in a million years did I think scorpions could survive in the water," said Chmielewski. Two ‘exceptionally rare,’ previously unknown Rembrandt paintings discovered Chmielewski took her daughter to the hospital, where she was given Benadryl and told what symptoms to look out for before being discharged.An hour later at home, Cate experienced involuntary movements and twitches for five to 10 minutes before having full-body muscle spasms. Scorpion found in backyard pool (KLAS)Scorpion found in backyard pool (KLAS)Scorpion found in backyard pool (KLAS)Chmielewski then called 911...

Rainn Wilson is searching for bliss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

Actor and author Rainn Wilson says he's never gotten used to seeing the face of his Office character, Dwight Schrute, tattooed on people's body parts. He told us about meeting fans and finding happiness with his new series.Based on Eric Weiner’s New York Times bestselling book, “The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World,” host Rainn Wilson will explore some of the happiest and least happy places on earth from Iceland to Bulgaria to Ghana, and in a profound, humorous, and experiential way that unpacks the science of happiness.Rainn Wilson is an Emmy nominated actor, writer and producer best known for playing the role of Dwight Schrute on NBC’s The Office. Other Movie and TV roles include Super, The Meg, Backstrom, Blackbird, The Rocker, Utopia, Six Feet Underand Don’t Tell a Soulamong many others. Wilson co-founded SoulPancake, a digital media company designed to celebrate humanity and champion creativity. Wilson most recently crea...

COVID's total cost to the economy will reach $14 trillion by end of this year, research finds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

(The Conversation) - The economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. will reach US$14 trillion by the end of 2023, our team of economists, public policy researchers and other experts have estimated.Putting a price tag on all the pain, suffering and upheaval Americans and people around the world have experienced because of COVID-19 is, of course, hard to do. More than 1.1 million people have died as a result of COVID-19 in the U.S., and many more have been hospitalized or lost loved ones. Based on data from the first 30 months of the pandemic, we forecast the scale of total economic losses over a four-year period, from January 2020 to December 2023.To come up with our estimates, our team used economic modeling to approximate the revenue lost due to mandatory business closures at the beginning of the pandemic. We also used modeling to assess the economic blows from the many changes in personal behavior that contin...

Nearly 2,000 organ pipes stolen from Memphis church

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) - Restoration work on a nearly 100-year-old pipe organ at a historic downtown Memphis church has stopped after someone stole 1,800 pipes that had been boxed up and were headed to a repair shop in the Boston area.Calvary Episcopal Church is asking the public to be on the lookout for a yellow Penske moving truck with a Massachusetts plate. Organist-Choirmaster Dr. Kristin Lensch said when they arrived at church Sunday, they discovered the truck containing the organ pipes was missing.Stolen Penske moving truck (Courtesy: Calvary Episcopal Church)"It wasn't there. It simply wasn't there," said Dr. Lensch. "It's tough to take just because they took something that means so much to us." Lensch said Spenser Organ Company was four days into the restoration project when the pipes were stolen.Two years ago, the same company restored half of the organ. Joseph Rotella, the owner of Spencer Organ Company, said he was looking forward to tackling...

Dean's A-List Interview: Omari Hardwick on 'The Mother'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

CHICAGO — The No. 1 streaming movie on Netflix has now been featured a second time on "Dean's A-List Interview."After a conversation with Jennifer Lopez on "The Mother" last week on WGN Morning News, Dean Richards was talking with Omari Hardwick on Tuesday. He portrays FBI Special Agent William Cruise, who is helping Lopez's character try to protect her daughter. The actor, who is known for his performances in "Power," "Saved," and "Dark Blue," discussed the many stories that are interlaced within the plot of "The Mother" along with the physicality of the role.You can see more of Dean's interview with Omari from "Dean's A-List Interview" from May 16's morning news in the video above or below.

Two 'exceptionally rare,' previously unknown Rembrandt paintings discovered

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:14 GMT

(The Hill) - Two "exceptionally rare" paintings by the renowned Dutch artist Rembrandt Van Rijn have been discovered in a private collection, and are now heading to auction where they're expected to fetch between $6 and $10 million.Henry Pettifer, of the British auction house Christie’s London, discovered the oil paintings while conducting a routine evaluation of a family's collection. The portraits, depicting a husband and wife from the Netherlands, date back to 1635, notes the Financial Times.Pettifer said the works are previously unknown to art scholars and historians."It was extraordinary to me that the pictures had never been studied before," Pettifer told the Times. "They were completely absent from the Rembrandt literature."The family had inherited the artwork that was last purchased in 1824, and didn't realize the works were originals, notes the Washington Post."The family liked the pictures but were never certain that they were by Rembrandt and never really looked into...