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Pick a college bank account as carefully as your college

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

Attending college can get pricey, so you’ll want to avoid costs from other places — like your bank account.More than 668,000 students paid nearly $15.5 million in bank account costs in a year, an average of almost $26 per person, according to a 2022 report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What’s worse is that some colleges endorse costly bank accounts as part of their partnerships with banks.“Do not assume that because your college or university partners with a bank, that bank is offering you a good deal,” Aaron Klein , senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, said in an email.Before heading off to college, consider what factors you need in a college checking account. There’s no grade on this, but the wrong bank can cost you.DECIDE WHAT FEATURES MATTERChecking accounts work similarly wherever you bank, but some features vary or aren’t available at every bank, including branches, highly rated mobile apps, certain account fees and perks such as direc...

Man fatally shot outside violence prevention center on South Side

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

CHICAGO — A man who was working with a violence reduction non-profit in Chicago was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon in the organization's parking lot.According to Chicago police, the man, 28, was walking around 12:15 p.m. in the 1000 block of East 95th Street when he was approached by two people who fired shots. He was shot in the head and died on the scene. Indiana man charged with selling gun eventually found during arrest connected to officer’s death Chicago CRED, a non-profit violence reduction organization, said the man had been with the program for nine months. His identity hasn't been released by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, Chicago police or Chicago CRED."He came to us because he wanted a way out of his life on the streets and had made great progress toward that goal," a statement from Chicago CRED read. "Because Chicago CRED targets the individuals at highest risk of shooting or being shot, we live with this possibility every day." ‘It feels amazing’: ...

Thursday Forecast: Temps in high 70s with mostly sunny conditions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Mostly sunny Thursday with cooler conditions lakeside. Winds: SSE 5-10 G15. High: 78/67. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Mostly cloudy tonight with a chance for rain. Winds: SW 10-15 G20. Low: 61.FRIDAY FORECAST: Mostly cloudy Friday with rain and t-storms. Winds: NW 10-15. High: 71.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog

Indiana man charged with selling gun eventually found during arrest connected to CPD officer's death

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

CHICAGO — An Indiana man is facing a federal charge after he allegedly sold a firearm bought in Indiana to a person in Chicago and was recovered during an arrest made in connection with the death of Officer Aréanah Preston.Corey Gray, 21, of LaPorte, was arrested Wednesday morning and is charged with one count of knowingly transferring a firearm to an individual who was neither a licensed dealer nor an Indiana resident, according to court documents. Funeral services held Wednesday for slain CPD officer Aréanah Preston According to a federal complaint, one of Gray's relatives bought the Glock 17 from a licensed dealer in April 2021 in Valparaiso and gave it to him.A few months later, Gray told ATF special agents he gave the gun to a person he knew as "Lil' Pooh" for $1,200 in Chicago, according to the complaint.The man Gray sold the gun to is only identified as Lil' Pooh and Individual B in the complaint, but an ATF special agent wrote the man was 19 and died in April.It's not clea...

NYC's famous red-tailed hawk Pale Male dies after nesting above Fifth Avenue for 30 years

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk who brought a touch of the wild to swanky Manhattan as he nested above Fifth Avenue for three decades, has died.Pale Male died late Tuesday after being found ill and grounded in Central Park, wildlife rehabilitator Bobby Horvath posted on Facebook. The hawk was believed to be 33 years old.Horvath posted that he picked Pale Male up and took him to his rehab group's veterinarian, who did bloodwork and X-rays. The hawk later ate a small meal but remained weak and lethargic, Horvath said. “We hoped for any improvement, but sadly it was not meant to be,” he said.Pale Male, so named because of his whitish plumage, was first spotted in Central Park as a juvenile in 1991 and began nesting on Fifth Avenue across from the park in 1993.Bird lovers crowded inside the park to watch as Pale Male and his succession of mates hatched and raised their young each spring.The birders were outraged in 2004 when Pale Male's nest with then-mate Lola wa...

Air quality concerns as hot, dry weather takes hold today

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Hot and dry conditions courtesy of sinking air overhead will cause concerns for air quality today.An Air Quality Alert is in effect for the I-35 corridor + Bastrop and Caldwell Counties for elevated ground-level ozone. Consider limiting how much you drive and turning your thermostat up a couple of degrees to conserve energy.Afternoon highs will top 90° again this afternoon with mostly sunny and dry skies areawide. IN-DEPTH: Despite the current heat, temperatures this May are running nearly 6° cooler than May 2022, which ended up being the hottest May on record.Friday storm systemWe are tracking a low pressure system and cold front arriving Friday evening that will bring a chance of severe thunderstorms, then cooler weather over the weekend.Slight risk (2 out of 5) for severe storms late FridayStorms look most likely after 5 p.m. Friday from Austin through the Hill Country, and may persist in some areas until after midnight. Large hail and damaging winds appear most ...

Solar-powered street vacuum makes Austin debut

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- You may have recently seen a strange contraption picking up trash along the streets of Austin. It's called the Solar-Umba 4000. It turns out the sun can be used to clean our streets.Freedom Solar made a solar-powered Roomba-like contraption."Underneath the solar panel here, which is how it gets its power, there's a sort of a street sweeping vacuum element that as it moves forward, picks up the trash and puts it in a bin that get we can empty out," said Sherren Harter, Chief Marketing Officer for Freedom Solar Power.It took some development and a lot of welding to put together."It was an idea that we've kind of talked about and batted around and then to see it actually work was was a bit of an 'aha' moment for us. We were pretty pumped about it," added Bret Biggart, CEO of Freedom Solar.But once it was ready, it debuted in Austin on Earth Day… and not just to turn a few heads."One is to show that solar can do more than you think it can do. Two was to raise awareness...

It's official: Blue Bell, Dr Pepper team up, release 'Dr Pepper Float' ice cream

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

(KXAN) -- What do Texas, noted author John Green and Blue Bell have in common? An affinity for Dr Pepper, it seems. Blue Bell teamed up with Dr Pepper to release a new flavor. 'Dr Pepper Float' starts selling in stores on Thursday. Blue Bell announced the flavor on Twitter early Thursday morning, after previously tweeting several teasers to the new flavor with hints on what it could be.The ice cream company at first didn't overtly say the flavor had anything to do with the soda, but the tweets led to speculation that it would be connected to Dr Pepper. One of the hints Blue Bell tweeted included a video depicting a Dr Pepper-colored deep red can of soda being poured, with a caption reading, "The sound of 23 flavors." Dr Pepper, John Green's favorite soda company, is a Texas-based company known for having 23 flavors packed into one soda. MORE: Made in Texas: Viewers name the top Texas brands, businesses they love Blue Bell is also a Texas-based company, headquartered in Brenham, w...

How to prepare your home for Texas summer heat

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — We’ve all experienced it, the weather warming up as the summer starts.As we inch closer to the triple-digit temperatures that Texas is known for, energy experts believe now is the time to prepare your home for the heat ahead.Victor Freelund is a manager at Abacus Air Conditioning.“This spring, it's been up and down on temperatures,” he said. “When it kicks off, as everybody who's lived in Central Texas knows, it's going to get hot and it's going to stay hot.”Last year, Austin endured a historically hot summer. DEPTH: Air conditioner use in full swing this summer Freelund said his team at Abacus were at times, overwhelmed with calls for HVAC repairs.“We were not able to keep our techs running into the middle of the night and still expect them to function the next day,” he said. “So, we had to turn the phones off, we were that busy.”This year, Freelund is preaching preparation and advising folks to get their AC unit serviced before any major issues begin.“If there ar...

Canada wildfire smoke rolls into MN again, with air quality alerts outside Twin Cities

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:04:00 GMT

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has issued another air quality alert for parts of northern and central Minnesota beginning at 10 p.m. Wednesday and continuing through noon Thursday due to drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires.(Courtesy of MN Pollution Control Agency.)Much of the same area was under an alert Tuesday. Southern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, hasn’t been covered by the alerts, but smoke has still filtered into the atmosphere over the region.Poor air quality impacts health and sensitive groups or those with prolonged exposure experience health effects sooner than others.“The smoke will reach the Twin Cities and southeast MN by late afternoon,” the agency (MPCA) reports in its latest forecast.Air quality will be “yellow” or moderate on Thursday in the Twin Cities.Counties in the “orange” and “red” alert include Aitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Big Stone, Cass, Clay, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Ita...