Mexican drug lord ' El Mencho ' supplies Chicago

Flash flood watches declared as 5 inches of rain could hit parts of the Chicago area on Friday

According to the National Weather Service, storms were expected throughout Friday in the Chicago area, with some potential for severe afternoon and evening weather and a chance to rain much of the rest of the weekend.

A flash flood watch for parts of northern Illinois south of Lake-Cook Road, including Cook DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Will and other counties in northern Illinois, as well as Lake, Porter and other counties in northwestern Indiana, was declared Friday afternoon until late Friday night. After an initial storm round Friday morning and early Friday afternoon, another round of storms was expected in the afternoon into the evening, with the possibility of no break between the morning storms and the afternoon storms, weather service meteorologist Charles Mott said. According to the weather service, heavier, severe thunderstorms were possible late Friday afternoon and evening. "Thunderstorm waves will generate torrential rainfall at times with hourly rainfall rates of one to two inches or more," the weather service said in the statement on flood watch. "Some locations may get more than 5 inches of rain, including rain that has already fallen. More than 280 flights to and from O'Hare International Airport had been canceled on Friday just before 1:30 p.m., while 64 flights were canceled at Midway, according to the Aviation Department of the city. O'Hare's flight delays averaged over an hour, while Midway's delays averaged less than 15 minutes. In storms that hit Cedar Lake, Lake County, Indiana, late Friday morning, quarter-inch hail was reported. But, according to the weather service, the later storms could bring quarter-size hail and strong gusts of up to about 60 mph, with the biggest chance for severe weather west of Aurora and Joliet to rise near Rockford. The weather service on Saturday predicts a 30% chance of rain in the Chicago area during the day, with a higher chance of rain— 40% to 60%— overnight that could aggravate the potential flooding caused by storms on Friday, Mott said. The weather service on Sunday, with highs reaching the mid-70s, predicts an approximately 20 percent chance of rain all day long in the area.

25 Chicago restaurants, including 5 newcomers, win Michelin stars

In the 2020 Michelin Guide Chicago, whose star awards were announced Thursday, Chicago's surge in omakase restaurants was recognized, big time. 

For the first time, five restaurants in Chicago received a Michelin star, three of them specializing in omakase, where the chef presents a tasting menu: Kikko, where Mariya Russell presides over a 10-seat omakase bar under Kumiko restaurant; Omakase Yume, the eight-seater West Loop featuring Chef Sangtae Park; and Mako, the relatively spacious Fulton Market District (22-seater) restaurant at B.K. Park. 

You thought it was hard to reserve these places before.

"We particularly liked the fact that all these chefs had local ties," said Michelin's Chief Inspector. "Mariya had been to Oriole (and Senza before), and B.K. And Sangtae have been in Chicago for a long time. This is a great representation of local talent."

Yugen is the first Michelin star is, an expensive, typically Asian (but mainly Japanese) restaurant run by chef Mari Katsumura, who worked previously at Entente and Grace (among others) and was the daughter of Nobuko Katsumura and late Yoshi Katsumura, the beloved chef at Lakeview.

Michelin finally acknowledged Next, the restaurant of the Alinea Group, which opened in 2011. For years, it has been assumed that Next's conceptual changes (three vastly different themes per year) have made it difficult for inspectors to feel the consistency of the restaurant.

"Well, that's exactly right," said the Chief Inspector. "We've said that, and now we've seen most of Next's menus, and it's clear to us that, regardless of the re-engineering and re-engineering, diners are going to have an excellent meal, really interesting food with an excellent technique, and a consistent experience to the point that we feel very comfortable awarding a star."

As the Michelin Man gives, so he sometimes takes away. Dusek's Board and Beer and Roister, both of whom have experienced changes in chef since the last Michelin Guide, have fallen out of the one-star ranks.

Not that change is necessarily costly; the Band of Bohemia and Temporis both underwent significant chef changes this year but retained their respective stars, and the Entente, which moved to River North from its original Lakeview location this year, kept its star. In total, 16 out of 18 of Chicago's one-star restaurants remained among the 2020 recipients last year.

Federal agents raided Springfield, Illinois Sen. Martin Sandoval's Cicero office, source says.

Investigators are investigating allegations that Sandoval used his official position to lead the business to at least one company in exchange for kickbacks, a source with understanding of the case said.

No criminal charges have been filed. Sandoval, who has been in power for 17 years and heads the powerful Senate Transportation Committee, could not be reached on Tuesday, and there was no call back to his office.

In what became a familiar incident in Illinois, FBI and IRS officials spent hours behind locked doors in Sandoval's state office, where an officer stationed in the nearby hallway turned back a reporter seeking comment.

Shortly after 12:30 p.m., at least eight people left the Democratic Senate headquarters carrying cardboard boxes, two brown "proof" pockets, and what appeared to be a desktop computer covered in plastic. News cameras rolled out as agents left the building, loaded the material into two SUVs, and drove off.

Approximately 200 miles away, agents executed search warrants at Sandoval's district office in 5800 block West 35th Street in Cicero, as well as his long-standing family home in Gage Park, sources said.

A person who answered to Sandoval's gate, a three-story house on Tuesday, said that the legislator was not home. Later, two officers with duty belts and handcuffs came out of the house to pick up wheeled hand trucks and take them inside. One recognized himself as a criminal branch of the IRS.

The FBI spokesperson verified that officials were in the capital carrying out "authorized law enforcement activities," but declined to comment further. The raids were the latest in a sequence of ongoing public corruption probes that have sent shock waves from City Hall to Springfield over the prior 10 months.

In November 2018, the FBI took over the offices of the Ald City Hall. Edward Burke, who at the moment was the strong president of the Finance Committee, was papering through the doors with green butcher paper before leaving down a back staircase with computers and files. Burke has since been indicted for sweeping racketeering charges, alleging that he used his clout to direct business to his private law firm. He pleaded not guilty.

A similar event occurred in June when officials executed search warrants at Ald's ward office of influential of the Far South Side. Carrie Austin, 34th, the second longest-serving member of the City Council. Austin was not charged.

Sandoval is also the second state senator to be in the cloud of a federal investigation.

Last month, his coworker Sen. Thomas E. Cullerton of Villa Park was charged with misappropriation allegations, stating that he had pocketed nearly $275,000 in salaries and benefits from the Teamsters Union despite doing little or no job. Cullerton pleaded not guilty.

Born in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of the City's South Side, Sandoval, 55, won the Senate election for the first time in 2002 with the support of former Mayor Richard M. Daley and the now-defunct Hispanic Democratic Organization, a patronage army that collapsed in the midst of a federal investigation into hiring practices in the City Hall.

Controversy has often disturbed Sandoval's political career. In 2011, Sandoval was among a handful of lawmakers whose legislative scholarship records had been reviewed by federal authorities after they had been sent by state education officials. The century-old scholarship program, long riddled with abuse, was eventually repealed.

Last month, Sandoval faced national criticism after photos showing a man pointing a fake gun used as a novelty beverage dispenser to someone wearing a mask depicting President Donald Trump were taken at a political fundraiser hosted by the senator and posted on social media. Sandoval apologized, said he was not aware of the incident when it occurred, and blamed it on a vendor hired to provide music and entertainment.

Bernie Sanders, John Cusack rallied with Chicago teachers as the strike vote started

The Chicago Teachers Union brought some celebrity to support their campaign for a new contract on Tuesday evening, with actress John Cusack rallying with teachers in front of the headliner of the evening — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders — call for big increases for local public school teachers.

"There has never been a better union champion than Bernie Sanders," Cusack said to cheer from a throng of teachers and other members of the local labor group gathered at the CTU headquarters on the first day of its vote to allow teachers strike.

He praised the educators union for "becoming the conscience of the United States of America" when the Vermont senator later reached the stage.

"What we see is teachers standing up and fighting for justice," Sanders said. "... Every problem in society — hunger, domestic violence, poverty — it's going into your doors, isn't it? You see it every day and at a moment when we, in the richest country in the world's history, have the highest rate of childhood poverty in almost any major nation on earth.

"You are demanding, and I am demanding for a change in national priorities," he said.

Sanders highlighted some of the particular requirements of the CTU, calling on the city to "negotiate an agreement that substantially decreases class sizes" and to "boost the pay and benefits for educators in Chicago and support employees in Chicago," as well as address nurses and librarians ' problems.

Earlier in the rally, CTU President Jesse Sharkey called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to say that she had not provided staff levels that would guarantee that librarians, nurses or social workers in schools would work on a regular basis.

But Tuesday again, the mayor pointed to a city proposal that offers base pay increases of 16 percent over five years for teachers. She also said that the union is looking for new roles that are "baked ... In this year's budgets.

At the rally, Sanders also talked about working people not being willing to afford childcare and plugged his suggestion for free college tuition. After he said, "Let me show you something else we're supposed to do," an audience participant called out, "Beat Trump!"At that, Sanders laughed as the crowd cheered and rose to their feet.

Bob Reiter, chairman of the Chicago Federation of Labor, had received the crowd ripped up sooner, stating he's prepared to battle for the employees. He was one of several speeches who punctuated his words with F-bombs.

"The Chicago Labor Movement is a unique place. It's the birthplace of the American labor party," he said, saying subsequently, "If it's a moment ... then an (expletive) rebellion."

At the end of the speech, people rushed to one side of the room, where a path had been designed for Sanders to leave. They lined the path, four to five people deep, holding their phones to try to take a picture. "We love you so much, Bernie!" Some of them called out as he went by.

Steps back, Claire Bartlett and her mom were standing arm-in-arm in red union shirts. Bartlett, a suburban librarian, said her mom was a CPS teacher and now works for the CTU, and her dad used to teach in another district. She went out to help teachers because she saw how difficult they work and believed they deserve a living wage. "The finest wishes of the community are at their core," Bartlett said. She said that she liked Sanders ' speech, too.

Los Angeles: Ask a local

Julie and Dan Resnick, residents of Amagansett and co-founders of Feedfeed, a stylish online crowd-sourcing food website that features more than one million passionate pizza fans, have known Los Angeles well over the past two years. After relocating permanently from New York to Amagansett in 2010, they chose to go bicoastal last year and spend the summer months in the Pacific Palisades region, where they lease a home with a kumquat tree in a fruit-bearing park. 

"The whole family enjoys the climate in Southern California, but the children, who are 7, 11, and 12, particularly love outdoor sports — they've been swimming, playing volleyball, and nonstop volleyball since we came in January," says Mrs. Resnick in an address. "We're heading home south in June, glad to see our friends again and our little cottage at Napeague Harbor. Not to mention surfing, paddleboarding, boating, hunting, clamming, sailing and loving the abundance of our Amagansett Farms — Quail Hill and Amber Waves — which hold us packed with natural vegetables all season.

Stay 

Airbnb or VRBO are excellent choices for an extended stay in Los Angeles, particularly when visiting with children. If the stars are aligned, it's worth trying out HomeAway.com's swapping choice, which could make it easier to remain completely safe on the West Coast.

Visit 

the Huntington Library, the Art Collections and the Botanical Gardens in San Marino was the result of the leg-hold of Henry E. Huntington, an entrepreneur. Between the architecture, the library, and the vast jigsaw of botanical gardens, distributed over 120 acres, it is better liked staying and dawdling over repeated trips rather than in a crazy day.

Do

Hike the Parker Mesa Overlook Trail, a 7-mile out-and-back path situated close Topanga, Calif., which offers lovely wildflowers, breathtaking ocean and canyon landscapes, excellent picnic places, and is rated as mild.

Eat 

Night + Market Sahm in Venice is a foodie mecca and beneficiary of the James Beard Foundation Wine Award. The Resnicks enjoy it for its casual atmosphere, and even more casual decor, though the reservation is a must.

The Mold Discovery prevents elective surgery at L.A. U.S. County Medical Center

Health officials abruptly halted all elective surgery at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center following the discovery of mold contamination in a room used to sterilize surgical equipment.

The Boyle Heights Hospital, part of the L.A. The County Department of Health Services system, which serves as a safety net for millions of the poorest and most vulnerable county residents, will be unable to perform surgery and many other medical procedures for an estimated two weeks, according to an internal hospital email from The Times.

"The Central Sterile Processing Room, which disinfects all[ operating rooms] and clinical processing supplies, suffers from extreme water damage and cavity pollution and should be closed immediately," Brad Spellberg, Chief Medical Officer, wrote to the attending doctors and citizens of the hospital on Wednesday. Elective surgery was canceled on the same day.

The 600-bed facility, one of the country's largest public hospitals, is still capable of disinfecting a small amount of surgical equipment, Spellberg wrote, which will be used in cases of trauma. All other procedures, apart from dentistry, which sterilizes its equipment at an alternative area, would be canceled. 

On Thursday afternoon, Spellberg declined to comment. Hal Yee, the county's chief medical officer, did not comment either.

"LAC+USC discovered low levels of air mold and ceiling mold in a hospital processing area caused by water leakage," the Department of Health Services ' Communications Office an unsigned statement sent to The Times on Thursday afternoon. "We have no evidence of any surgical instruments being affected by mold... There were no patients infected or harmed.

The statement said that only on the last day or two the mold was discovered. It offered no details as to how many surgeries of patients are to be postponed or canceled.

What kind of mold was found at the hospital or who discovered it is not evident.

A very common type of the fungus, Aspergillus mold spores were found earlier this year in Seattle Children's Hospital's air filtration system. In six patients, one of whom died, this led to confirmed infections. Hospital administrators sent 3,000 nurses notifications telling them to be alert to indications of probable infection.

Los Angeles: Best Shows, Concerts, Comedy And More In October 2019

Los Angeles is a city that people love to hate. A city of discrepancies. Sprawl is both a blessing and a curse, as while traffic can be more than a challenge, it is also one of the most diverse cities on earth-wave crashing on one side of the Pacific coast and designer labels flying off the rack to the other. And now, with the advent of Uber and Lyft, it's easier than ever to get around for those who don't own four-wheeled transportation. With a thrilling culinary scene, art and culture offerings reaching new heights, and repeated sunshine, Los Angeles is the place to be, especially in the month of October.

Laugh With Grumpy Old Men: The Musical Theater of La Miranda

Who can forget the beloved 1993 film Grumpy Old Men starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret? Capturing the stories and lives of these memorably humorous and honest crotchet characters, the beloved film has been transformed into a warm, lively stage musical of the same name (until October 13).

Hike to the Falls of Eaton Canyon

This hike up the canyon in the lower part of San Gabriels ends with a cascading 40-foot waterfall. In the spring, wildflowers line the path, and on weekends, tourists and locals alike flock to try out this popular hike.

Learn with the Writers Block

Writers Bloc Presents is a non-profit literary series based in Los Angeles that packs a punch. Having launched its 24th season with none other than Salman Rushdie, the upcoming literary events have a similar star wattage and present intriguing narratives by well-informed and high-profile authors, journalists and TV personalities.

Recharge at the Pasadena of Langham

Old-world luxury abounds, the Langham Pasadena overlooks the mountains of San Gabriel, making it an ideal retreat for avid hikers. With its own 23 acres of manicured lawns and gardens, as well as its pristine facilities— from the gym to swimming pool to tennis courts — Langham feels like a country club of generations past.

The Incident is of Koregoan Park when the two constables who were on their duty patroling spotted two men engaged in the fight near Ruby hall cinema. The Police constables took them to Mangaldas police chowky where they were interrogated.

The two robbers confessed of their crime and how they broke into one house and stolen gold, the officer then let the robbers go but have also taken their share in the form of two bangles and gold pendant. Before the robbers let go, Shinde wrote his phone number on the sheet and gave it to the robber.

The constables were not aware that the Yerawada police were already looking for the two men who broke into one house and stolen the gold. The police nabbed the accused and asked them about the crime, they confessed everything along with the name of a constable whom they gave some part of stolen gold.

After Investigating the Senior officer caught the two constables and made them confess about the crime. The news spread in Media and now the orders are been given of the two officer to be dismissed.

One of the constables is denying his crime and said if they wanted to steal any gold they would have not handed the robbers to the nearest police station for Interrogation and would have let them go.

A 16-year-old college-going boy from Nerul (Mumbai) ran away from home after his parents scolded him for playing PUBG game. The boy was found by Kolkata police with no money with him to return back. The boy was then sent to children home until his parents arrive to take him back.

According to the parents, they had given him Rs 6000 to pay maintenance bill and buy some clothes, once they left the home for work the boy escaped and went missing. According to them, he must have gone for attending PUBG Competition in Kolkata.

The boy was PUBG game Addict and often use to bunk college for attending PUBG competitions and for playing games in the cyber cafe. The police tried to trace the teenager by hacking into his PUBG account but could not trace him due to him changing the account with which he used to play PUBG. 

Many people are Addict with PUBG (Player's Unknown Battle Ground) game and in extreme cases have even lost their lives.

Los Angeles: Ask a local

Julie and Dan Resnick, residents of Amagansett and co-founders of Feedfeed, a stylish online crowd-sourcing food website that features more than one million passionate pizza fans, have known Los Angeles well over the past two years. After relocating permanently from New York to Amagansett in 2010, they chose to go bicoastal last year and spend the summer months in the Pacific Palisades region, where they lease a home with a kumquat tree in a fruit-bearing park. 

"The whole family enjoys the climate in Southern California, but the children, who are 7, 11, and 12, particularly love outdoor sports — they've been swimming, playing volleyball, and nonstop volleyball since we came in January," says Mrs. Resnick in an address. "We're heading home south in June, glad to see our friends again and our little cottage at Napeague Harbor. Not to mention surfing, paddleboarding, boating, hunting, clamming, sailing and loving the abundance of our Amagansett Farms — Quail Hill and Amber Waves — which hold us packed with natural vegetables all season.

Stay 

Airbnb or VRBO are excellent choices for an extended stay in Los Angeles, particularly when visiting with children. If the stars are aligned, it's worth trying out HomeAway.com's swapping choice, which could make it easier to remain completely safe on the West Coast.

Visit 

the Huntington Library, the Art Collections and the Botanical Gardens in San Marino was the result of the leg-hold of Henry E. Huntington, an entrepreneur. Between the architecture, the library, and the vast jigsaw of botanical gardens, distributed over 120 acres, it is better liked staying and dawdling over repeated trips rather than in a crazy day.

Do

Hike the Parker Mesa Overlook Trail, a 7-mile out-and-back path situated close Topanga, Calif., which offers lovely wildflowers, breathtaking ocean and canyon landscapes, excellent picnic places, and is rated as mild.

Eat 

Night + Market Sahm in Venice is a foodie mecca and beneficiary of the James Beard Foundation Wine Award. The Resnicks enjoy it for its casual atmosphere, and even more casual decor, though the reservation is a must.