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2 Chicago breweries are finalists in a major beer competition - and it's helping them toward their main goal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Two Chicago companies have been named finalists in a major competition involving craft beer as they each do their part to diversify the brewing industry.Azadi Brewing Company and Funkytown Brewery, both based in the city, have been chosen to take part in Samuel Adam's "Crafting Dreams Beer Bash" in New York on Friday. As one of six breweries chosen from 50 applicants, it gives each the chance to win a brewing & business "experienceship" in which one of the companies can work side-by-side with Samuel Adams to learn more about the business. As part of that, the brewery would get the opportunity to make a collaboration beer with the Boston-based brewer.Azadi and Funkytown will get the chance to share their own unique stories at the event, one that's not only about the beer they produce but also their mission in brewing.Bhavik Modi & Gator Schrand of Azadi Brewing (Courtesy Azadi Brewing)Azadi Brewing was started in 2020 by friends Bhavik Modi and Gator Schrand, partne...

Leftover food going from would-be trash to ice cream and pizza

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) — At Tyler Malek's ice cream parlors, one cook's trash is another chef's frosty treat.The head ice cream maker at the Portland, Oregon-based Salt & Straw uses the whey leftover from yogurt makers in upstate New York to make his lemon curd flavor. For chocolate barley milk, he mixes in the remnants of rice and grains from beer brewing to give it a light and creamy taste.“Instead of calling this food waste, we need to call it wasted food and start decreasing how much wasting we're doing,” Malek said.Malek’s ice cream chain is among those at the forefront of the upcycling movement, the process of creating high-quality products from leftover food. Malek's shops from the Pacific Northwest to Miami now feature flavors like “Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato,” which is made from leftover cacao pulp from chocolate production that otherwise would have gone to waste.It's a trend gaining ground as consumers spend more time reading packaging labels and m...

Motorcyclist dead after crashing into center Median in Rogers Park

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

CHICAGO -- A Motorcyclist is dead after crash that took place on Sheridan Road in Rogers Park Thursday night. According to police, the crash took place around the 7700 block of North Sheridan Road around 9:15 p.m. when the motorcyclist, a 36-year-old man was found unresponsive. Interim Supt. Fred Waller to discuss plans to tackle weekend violence He was travelling south on Sheridan Road on a motorcycle before he struck the center median. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. There were no vehicles involved.

How animal sedative adding new pain to opioid drug crisis

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful animal sedative in the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, scrambling longstanding methods for reversing overdoses and treating addiction.Xylazine can cause severe skin wounds, but whether it is leading to more deaths — as suggested by officials in Washington — is not yet clear, according to health and law enforcement professionals on the front lines of efforts in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. In fact, early data suggests the drug may inadvertently be diluting the effects of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid behind most overdose deaths.There is broad agreement, however, that much more information is needed to understand xylazine’s impact, to craft ways of disrupting illegal supplies and to develop medicines to reverse its effects.“We don’t know whether xylazine is increasing the risk of overdose or reducing the risk of overdose,” said Dr. Lewis Nelson of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, who advises federal ...

Nearly half of US honeybee colonies died last year. Struggling beekeepers managed to stabilize the population

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s honeybee hives just staggered through the second highest death rate on record, with beekeepers losing nearly half of their managed colonies, an annual bee survey found.But using costly and Herculean measures to create new colonies, beekeepers are somehow keeping afloat. Thursday’s University of Maryland and Auburn University survey found that even though 48% of colonies were lost in the year that ended April 1, the number of United States honeybee colonies "remained relatively stable.”Zac Lamas, post doctoral fellow at ORISE, holds a bee as he inspects them for the parasitic mite Varroa at a hive in the backyard of University of Maryland bee researcher Nathalie Steinhauer on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, in College Park, Md. A new survey says America's honeybee hives just staggered through the second highest death rate on record. The mites are a factor why bee deaths are on the rise. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)University of Maryland bee researcher Nathalie Steinh...

Is restaurant tipping getting out of hand?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

(The Hill) -- American diners may be reaching a tipping point. Not long ago, a restaurant tip was a 15 percent gratuity for the server, calculated on a napkin and scrawled on a credit card receipt at the end of a sit-down meal. The server didn’t know the sum until the diner had departed. In 2023, tipping, or choosing not to, has expanded into a near-universal ritual of food service. Customers at a humble takeout joint might face a choice among three double-digit gratuities on a touch screen, under the penetrating gaze of a cashier.  Two societal forces, the COVID-19 pandemic and touch-screen point-of-sale tablets, have conspired to transform the American tipping culture. The gratuity has colonized the food-service universe, from fast-food restaurants to food trucks to farmers markets. “My family went strawberry picking last weekend,” said Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com. “I made the reservation. They asked me for a tip. I asked my wife, ‘What are we ...

Austin ISD approves budget with $52 million deficit; highest since 2017-18

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin ISD Board of Trustees approved the 2023-24 budget early Friday morning. The $1.82 billion budget includes a $52.25 million deficit. According to Thursday night's district presentation by Chief Finance Officer Ed Ramos, that is the highest deficit since the 2017-18 budget deficit of $54 million. In May, the Board of Trustees approved using up to $53 million of the district’s reserve funds to give teachers and school employees a raise for the 2023-24 school year.Ramos said detailed recommendations on deficit reductions will be made to the board of Trustees in the fall of 2023. According to the AISD presentation, the district will budget the $1.82 billion for:$940.5 million on recapture$354.4 million on operational costs, Central Office Administration, UIL, front office campus staff, TRS on behalf, property insurance premiums, etc. $304.8 million on teachers, subs, tutoring, supplies, dual language program, etc. $156 million on Special Education$33.1 millio...

Readers and writers: Reading and exploring go hand in hand

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

Today we’ve got suggestions for books that combine reading and outdoor activities and a roundup of nature guides that help your family explore our natural environment and its inhabitants.“Busco: We are all just mutts after all”: by Robert J. Kowalski, illustrated by Larisa Ivankovic (Independently Published, $14)Busco is a mutt who escapes from an animal shelter and wanders far away to a place where he sees big and small dogs happily playing in a park. Sleeping in the forest every night, Busco wishes he could join the fun but he’s afraid he won’t be accepted because of his mixed-color coat. Then the dog angels help him meet a little girl who’s also lonely. Together they enter the park, and Busco frolics in the water with the other dogs, who don’t care what Busco or any other of their friends looks like. Kowalski, a St. Paul native, made his writing debut with “Jaycee: A Heroine’s Journey,” a novel about what the world would...

5 things to know this Friday, June 23

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- It's finally Friday, folks. The "muggies" will be kicking in today, according to Meteorologist Jill Szwed, as a slow-moving low will produce high humidity and showers over the weekend and beyond. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! The Albany Empire saga isn't completely resolved yet, as final game checks for players and coaches reportedly hit their bank accounts, and were pulled not long thereafter. Meanwhile, Albany Police are investigating a homicide on Third Street. These stories, and more, are covered in your five things to know this Friday morning. 1. Final game checks pulled from Empire players, coaches’ accountsThe drama surrounding the Albany Empire continues, even after the team’s termination from the National Arena League. Former Empire interim head coach Moe Leggett tells NEWS10 ABC Sports Director Griffin Haas that the entire Empire staff had their final game check pulled out of their bank ...

Drag story hours supported -- and opposed -- in the Capital Region

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:56:00 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Drag Queen Story Hours aren't new to the Capital Region. But as libraries around the area are announcing their first-ever Drag Story Hours, they are often met with backlash. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! In Lake Luzerne, the Drag Queen Story Hour at Rockwell Falls Public Library originally scheduled for April 15 was canceled after backlash from the community. At a public library meeting a few days before the event was supposed to go on, residents voiced their concerns about having a drag performer read to children.Drag Story Hours consist of a Drag Queen reading children's stories and singing songs with the kids in attendance. Some involve arts and crafts. The programs take place in schools, libraries, and other community spaces around the United States.The Bethlehem Public Library is scheduled to hold its first Drag Story Hour on July 13 at 11 a.m. with local drag performer Noelle Diamond. The pr...