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Illinois waitress surprised with $800 tip in honor of customers' late daughter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

SWANSEA, Ill. (KTVI) – Tipping stories are not uncommon among folks in the service industry. But an $800 tip? It took waitress Maggie Carty’s breath away.“Well, I was at a loss for words when it all happened,” she said. “I had none.”A family outing brought Karen and Scott Gebke, along with their children Emma and Austin, to Fletcher’s Kitchen & Tap in Swansea, Illinois, last week. The group was commemorating the death of the Gebkes' daughter, Alice, who died at birth 18 years ago on June 21.“We were having a family day for our daughter’s birthday,” Karen Gebke said. “She would have been 18 last Wednesday. So, every year for her birthday, we go out and do a family day.”And on this day, the family had $800 to give away and an idea to do some good. They collected money from friends and family and picked a family-owned establishment to visit.“We didn’t expect [people to contribute] this much,” Karen Gebke said. “We expected people to give $1 or $2 or, at most, $5. Many people gave $...

Former Bears GM Ryan Pace reportedly gets a promotion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

ATLANTA — A former Bears' general manager is getting a promotion with his new team ahead of the 2023 NFL season. Per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Ryan Pace will get bumped up to the role of Director of Player Personnel for the Falcons.Prior to that, he served as a senior personnel executive in the team’s scouting department under general manager Terry Fontenot. Pace had worked for him during his time with the Saints, with the pair working in the front office together from 2003 through 2014.He was also the New Orleans director of player personnel in 2013 and 2014 before accepting the Bears' general manager job in January 2015. Community meeting with Bears President and CEO held in Arlington Heights Pace remains on the Falcons with another former Bears general manager, Phil Emery, who has served as a scout for Atlanta since 2016. It was Pace who replaced Emery in Chicago in 2015 after he served in that role for three seasons. Hired at 37 years old to lead the Bears, Pace would have...

Cash App glitch: Some users report double charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

(WJW) — The popular mobile payment application Cash App notified users Tuesday that a technical issue caused customers to get charged double the amount of their transaction.Around 12:30 p.m. ET the company tweeted that they had fixed the problem and "will refund any amount that was incorrectly charged by the end of the day."In an earlier status report post, Cash App support said it was "aware of an issue causing duplicate Cash Card transactions, which is making some customers see a negative account balance." Fan throws mom’s ashes at Pink onstage: ‘I don’t know how I feel about this’ "We’ll notify customers who were impacted," said Cash App Support in a tweet. While the cash balance should show a refund, it may take up to 24 hours for "activity" and "receipts" to be updated.Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned customers of Venmo, PayPal, and CashApp that they should not store their money within those apps for a long period of time because the funds m...

Jimmie Johnson won't take part in NASCAR Chicago Street Race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

STATESVILLE, N.C. — After reportedly enduring a tragedy in his family, one of NASCAR's most accomplished drivers in history won't be racing in Chicago this weekend. Jimmie Johnson will not take part in Sunday's inaugural Cup Series race on Sunday, the Legacy Motor Club said on Tuesday. TMZ is reporting that his wife Chandra Janway's parents, Jack and Terry Janway along with Johnson's nephew Dalton Janway were found dead in Muskogee, Oklahoma.According to the report, police are investigating it as a murder-suicide."Legacy Motor Club has elected to withdraw the No. 84 Carvana Chevrolet from this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event in Chicago," said the race team in a statement on social media. "The Johnson family has asked for privacy at this time and no further statements will be made."A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Johnson was scheduled to run the No. 84 Carvana Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Chicago Street Race. It's part of a part-time schedule for driver who retired from ful...

Starbucks planning 'clearer' store guidelines after clash over Pride displays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

(The Hill) - Starbucks is planning to roll out “clearer” guidelines for stores on its decoration policies amid a clash with the company’s union over Pride-themed displays this month. Sara Trilling, the executive vice president and president of Starbucks North America, emphasized in a memo to all U.S. partners on Monday that it has not made any changes to its policies on “our inclusive store environments, our company culture, and the benefits we offer our partners.” “To further underscore this, we intend to issue clearer centralized guidelines, and leveraging resources like the Period Planning Kit (PPK) and Siren's Eye, for in-store visual displays and decorations that will continue to represent inclusivity and our brand,” Trilling said. The announcement comes as 3,500 workers from more than 150 stores plan to strike this week over the union’s allegations that Starbucks has banned Pride decorations in its stores. The coffee retail giant has denied that it has banned these d...

You may need to start bringing your ID to Costco, even if you aren't buying alcohol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Costco is known for checking your membership card at the door, but now the big box store might also ask you to prove you are really you. Costco said its membership policy has not changed, but more non-member shoppers are using cards that they didn't pay for. "Our membership policy states that our membership cards are not transferable and since expanding our self-service checkout, we’ve noticed that non-member shoppers have been using membership cards that do not belong to them," company officials said in a statement sent to Nexstar. The company routinely asks for the membership card at checkout, but now, officials say staff will ask for proof of identity at the self-service line. That means asking for photo ID if your membership card does not include a picture. "We don’t feel it’s right that nonmembers receive the same benefits and pricing as our members," Costco staff wrote. Costco says the membership fees are essential to their business m...

University files $1M lawsuit after janitor turns off research freezer over 'annoying' alarm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

(The Hill) - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute filed a $1 million suit this month against a cleaning firm after one of its janitor turned off a laboratory freezer, ruining years of research that “had the potential to be groundbreaking,” according to the suit.The janitor, the suit says, was annoyed by an alarm from the freezer and turned it off, causing the fragile cell structures inside to be damaged by temperature changes. Daigle Cleaning Systems, who employs the janitor, is being sued for damages and legal fees.The Troy, N.Y., university alleges that Daigle improperly trained and prepared the janitor to work around fragile lab materials.Lab materials in the freezer were kept at -80 degrees Celsius, or -112 degrees Fahrenheit, and the freezer alarm would sound if the internal temperature rose or fell by two degrees from that point. The alarm sounded on Sept. 14, 2020, but freezer maintenance workers couldn’t reach the unit due to COVID-19 protocols at the time.Researchers determ...

5 teens killed when car crashes into Florida retention pond

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Five teenagers were killed when their car ran off a curving street and landed in a southwest Florida retention pond where it went underwater, authorities said.It happened either late Sunday or early Monday, killing everyone inside. The crumpled Kia sedan was pulled from the water on Monday.On Tuesday morning, Fort Myers Police confirmed their identities as Eric Paul, 19; Jackson Eyre, 18; Amanda Ferguson, 18; Breanna Coleman, 18; and Jesus Salinas, 18. Americans are hiding their credit card debt The News-Press in Fort Myers reported that Paul, Eyre, Ferguson and Coleman worked together at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant, and had gone out together to get fast food after finishing their Sunday night shifts. The steakhouse was closed Monday so their friends and families could grieve together at a dinner where flowers were placed alongside their framed pictures.

Tourist filmed vandalizing Rome's Colosseum; officials vow to find, punish person responsible

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

(KTLA) – Officials in Italy have vowed to find and punish a tourist who was recently filmed defacing a wall of the Colosseum in Rome.A tourist from California was visiting the site Friday when he saw the man carving a message reading "Ivan+Haley 23” into the stone.“I was pretty upset," said Ryan Lutz, who spoke with Nexstar's KTLA.Lutz is currently on a two-month tour of Europe. He said he visited the Colosseum after becoming "entranced" by depictions of ancient Rome in movies and TV, citing "The Gladiator" as one of his favorites. "I wanted to see it and it came to life,” Lutz said.  Tourist from California fined for driving over medieval bridge in Italy But his visit was ruined when he spotted a man carving his name into one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Lutz recorded the tourist and said he confronted him, but the video shows the vandal grinning as he continues to carve with what appeared to be a set of keys.“You always hate to see any tourist doing that … You kind of...

EV startup Lordstown Motors files for bankruptcy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:36:42 GMT

(The Hill) -- Lordstown Motors, a U.S.-based electric vehicle startup that launched with huge fanfare and financial backing five years ago, has filed for bankruptcy. In a statement on Tuesday, the company said it filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Delaware bankruptcy court in an attempt to find a potential buyer, and said it remained confident that a future owner could take its Endurance truck and “multiple EV variants and take the product to the next level.” Lordstown blamed its financial situation on Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, which wavered on a $170 million earlier this year. And it filed a lawsuit against the company, called Hon Hai Precision Industry in Taiwan and China, for allegedly destroying its business. "Despite our best efforts and earnest commitment to the partnership, Foxconn willfully and repeatedly failed to execute on the agreed-upon strategy, leaving us with Chapter 11 as the only viable option to maximize the value of Lordstown's assets for the benefit o...