Pritzker hails Kansas abortion vote – Chicago Tribune

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Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker took to Twitter to praise the overwhelming defeat of a Kansas ballot measure that would have repealed abortion protections enshrined in the conservative state’s constitution.

“Kansas voters have spoken — and they’ve forcefully stood up for the right to choose,” Pritzker, who’s positioned himself as a national leader on abortion rights as he seeks a second term.

In Lake County, the accused Highland Park parade shooter appeared in court and entered a not guilty plea. During the hearing, Judge Victoria Rossetti informed Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III of the range of sentences he could face, including natural life if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

And as healing from the parade shooting continues, the 93rd annual Bud Billiken Parade is set to launch.

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The driver who survived a fiery I-90 crash near Hampshire on Sunday that killed the rest of his family, plus another child, has died of his injuries, Illinois State Police said.

Thomas Dobosz, 32, had been airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood with severe injuries after a head-on collision around 2 a.m. Sunday. His wife Lauren Dobosz, 31, and their four children — Emma, 13, Lucas, 7, Nicholas, 6 and Ella, 5 — all died at the scene.

An 18-year-old security guard remains behind bars after allegedly faking a mass shooting alert at Lollapalooza so she could leave work early, prosecutors say.

It was shortly before 3 p.m. Friday when Janya B. Williams sent a message via her TextNow number to a witness’ cellphone which read: “Mass shooting at 4pm location Lollapalooza. We have150 targets,” according to prosecutors during Williams’ bond hearing. The witness immediately told her supervisors, setting off a chain of alerts to Chicago police and FBI Joint Counterterrorism Task Force.

Illinois has joined with three other states to build a 1,100-mile EV charging circuit along Lake Michigan, creating a scenic tourism route with enough juice to get electric vehicles from fish boils in Green Bay to cherry picking in Traverse City.

The Lake Michigan EV Circuit Tour will incorporate existing charging infrastructure with strategically located new chargers at key coastal communities, lighthouses, state parks, breweries and other popular tourist attractions along the shoreline route.

A little piece of a legend still lives on in her hometown, a small village southwest of Chicago, while most of Nichelle Nichols’ fans worldwide know her for roles in “Star Trek” and at NASA. Nichols died Saturday night, her son Kyle Johnson announced online. She was 89.

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Nichols still kept in touch with her local roots, though, said Tyrone Haymore, executive director and co-founder of the Robbins History Museum. For some 20 years, the museum has been home to one of Nichols’ outfits from her time playing Lt. Nyota Uhura in the original “Star Trek” series.

The origin of Robert Magiet’s life-changing Facebook group starts with an undeniable moment of clarity.

The 45-year-old Chicago restaurateur was visiting friends in Louisville last October when his obesity turned what should have been a fun family outing into a nightmare.

The worst moment came toward the end of the trip, when he accidentally cracked the metal frame of a guest bed. When he offered to pay, his host waved him off.

“I said, ‘I thought about it and I don’t want you to repay me in dollars,’” she recalled. ‘”I want you to repay me in pounds.’”

Adhering to Chicago tradition, Bruce Finkelman is making no small plans for the Salt Shed. The former Morton Salt complex in West Town is being transformed into a performance venue and had its first outdoor concerts this week.

Located directly across from Goose Island and framed on the east by the North Branch of the Chicago River, the Salt Shed occupies a 4.2-acre site that’s long been a distance marker for anyone headed downtown along the Kennedy Expressway by train or car.