Chicago To Host Blackhawks Victory Parade Friday

AP

The streets of Chicago were full of red and black for the 2010 celebration.

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A parade and victory rally will be held Friday morning to congratulate the Stanley Cup-winning Chicago Blackhawks, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office announced Tuesday morning in a statement.

Additional details, including the location, exact time and route, have yet to be announced.

The last celebration, in 2010, was one of the biggest public events the city had ever seen. City officials estimated the crowd at roughly two million people.

Celebrations erupted Monday night after the team's win, with fans spilling out onto streets in Wrigleyville and near the United Center.

Emanuel was quick with kind words Monday night after the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins to bring the Stanley Cup back to the Windy City for the second time in four years.

"The City of Chicago is thrilled to congratulate our own Chicago Blackhawks on their hard-fought victory, once again bringing the Stanley Cup back to their sweet home Chicago," he said in a statement. "Our best wishes go out to the Bruins and the city of Boston for a well-played series. In the past few months, the people of Boston have showed how they can pull together and the Bruins have represented that same spirit, demonstrating what makes Boston a truly world-class city. Our congratulations go out to Rocky Wirtz, Coach Joel Quenneville, the incredible Blackhawks players, and the whole Blackhawks family for their dedication and determination to make Chicago a championship city once again. The City of Big Shoulders stood shoulder to shoulder with the Blackhawks all season and we are all looking forward to welcoming them home as champions."
 

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Sisters Traveling in Same Car Both Charged With DUI: Authorities

Monroe County Sheriff's Office

Steffany Miranda, 18, and Vanessa Miranda, 24

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Two sisters from Miami were both charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in the Florida Keys Saturday night, authorities said.

After they were stopped by deputies, Steffany Miranda, 18, and Vanessa Miranda, 24, switched seats in the Volkswagen they were traveling in, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Deputy Juan Martin-Reyes, who followed the car north from the 23-mile marker to the 30-mile marker of U.S. 1, saw the Volkswagen swerving, increasing and decreasing speeds and braking suddenly, according to the sheriff's office.

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When Martin-Reyes turned on his vehicle's lights and siren, the Volkswagen stopped suddenly in the traffic lane, and through the back window he could see the driver and passenger quickly switch seats, the sheriff's office said.

After Deputy Spencer Curry arrived, the two deputies had the Mirandas perform field sobriety exercises. Both had trouble doing so, and they were visibly impaired and smelled of alcohol, according to the deputies.

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Both sisters were charged with DUI because at some point they were both in control of the car behind the steering wheel with the keys in the ignition, the sheriff's office said.

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It wasn't immediately known whether they have an attorney.

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Santorum Named CEO of Christian Film Company

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Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

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Former U.S. Senator and GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum is bringing Christian films to the big screen.

EchoLight Studios said Monday that Santorum, known for his socially conservative views, has been named CEO of the Dallas-based Christian film production company.

Santorum said he has always had an interest in shaping cultural messages and joined the company's board a year ago. He believes EchoLight has the opportunity to transform the movie industry by tapping into the demand for high-quality films with a focus on "inspirational and uplifting" Christian messages.

There are a number of smaller Christian film companies. Sony Films has its own division, Affirm Films, and which released "Soul Surfer." Actors such as Mel Gibson and Kirk Cameron have promoted their movies that have Christian messages. Still, the market remains under the radar.

Bruce Goerlich, chief research officer at industry data tracking firm Rentrak, said that family movies are significant box office contributors, having grossed nearly $1.3 billion out of the total $10.8 billion box office during 2012. Faith-based TV programming has also drawn viewers. The History Channel quadrupled their usual Sunday night ratings in March with the series "The Bible."

"You have millions of Americans who don't go to the movies because they don't want to see, and they don't want their children seeing, certain content," Santorum said. He believes that Dallas can become the Hollywood of the faith-and-family movie market.

EchoLight's films are small by Hollywood standards, with production budgets of $1 million to $3 million. The company's first film, a story about a bank robber set in the Old West, is called "The Redemption of Henry Myers" and is scheduled to be released this fall. A second film is slated for release in 2014.

The company is funded mostly by three investors from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, whose names Santorum would not disclose. There are also a few small investors in EchoLight, including Santorum.

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LA Road Rage Video Goes Viral

A dashboard-mounted camera video of an apparent road-rage incident on a Los Angeles freeway has gone viral. The nearly eight-minute video shows a man weaving in and out of traffic on the 110 Freeway, shouting racial slurs and hurling bottles and cans. Beverly White reports from downtown Los Angeles for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on June 24, 2013.

Los Angeles Road Rage Video Goes Viral

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A dashboard-mounted camera video of an apparent road-rage incident on a Los Angeles freeway has gone viral.

The nearly eight-minute video shows a man weaving in and out of traffic on the 110 Freeway, shouting racial slurs and hurling bottles and cans. At one point, the road-raging man gets out of his car, runs at the victim's vehicle and appears to throw something inside.

Austin Ho -- the victim -- captured the incident on his dashboard-mounted camera (below).

Ho said he later hand-delivered the footage to the California Highway Patrol.

"They didn't believe my story when I just told them," Ho told NBC4. "I showed them the video, and once they saw the video, they realized how crazy this guy was."

 

Warning: The video contains disturbing language.

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Fight Turns Deadly at Dallas Disco

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A night of dancing ended with a deadly shooting outside of a West Dallas nightclub early Tuesday morning.

Dallas police said a fight outside of El Rio Disco, at 704 S. Walton Walker, ended with gunfire in a parking lot packed with people.

Police said after being shot in the chest, 19-year-old Jose Peralta ran across the parking lot to the nearby Shell gas station for help. 

An officer at the gas station tried to save Peralta, but he later died at Dallas' Methodist Central Hospital.

Homicide detectives arrested Raul Zuniga, 17, and learned that Zuniga and Peralta had been in previous fights, which continued overnight at the club.

According to police, both Zuniga and Peralta were removed from the club and, as Peralta and his friends were in the parking lot, Zuniga restarted the fight and shot Peralta.

Crime scene technicians recovered a gun in the gas station parking lot.

Club-goer Maria Bello said she stopped for a drink at the gas station just when the club's closing time turned chaotic. Bello believes some of the men involved in the fight jumped in her unlocked car.

"There was blood, there was people everywhere.  I couldn't go anywhere, because I didn't want to hit someone's car.  Then I had like four guys hitting my car, just trying to get in my car," said Bello.

Officers took several witnesses to the shooting to police headquarters for questioning.

This is at least the second homicide this year after closing time at El Rio Disco.  In January, a man was robbed, shot and killed, while walking home from the club with friends.  Last July, a 20-year-old woman was reported missing after she said she and a friend were abducted after leaving the club.  The woman was missing for 24 hours before she was found after she managed to escape her captors.

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DISD Scrambling to Find Summer School Instructors

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It's back-to-the books for summer school students on Tuesday in Dallas, but not for many teachers -- a shortage has left DISD leaders scrambling to find instructors.

"I just think it's awful. I just think if they had the interest of the children at heart, they would not do this," says grandmother Brenda Strickland.

Strickland believes a teacher's place is at the head of the classroom, teaching.  She drove her grandson across town for summer school not knowing if he'd have class.

Teachers associations said hundreds of teachers are protesting summer school and taking a stand against Superintendent Mike Miles and changes in the district's policies.

"It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to come up with something better than that," Strickland says.

"I think it's the students that will suffer," says mother Keitwanna Cotton.

National Education Association President Angela Davis argues it's the teachers who have been suffering under the district's heavy-handed management style, intense scrutiny and random evaluations.

"During the regular school year, the teachers were so stressed out that they just can't do summer school," Davis says.

The district calls the summer school teacher shortage "critical," but says it'll make adjustments ensuing students are making the grade.

"We had planned to have class sizes at about 16 to 18 to 1.  It may be a little bit more than that but we'll just have to see," says DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander.

Many kids feel if they have to be in class, so should the teachers.

"There will be more students in each class and distract each other, and we won't learn anything.  There will be no point, pretty much, coming," says Junior Ashley Guillen.

"I'm here to take a class I failed,"; says summer school student Lucero Castro.

"It'll be the same, just fail again," says Sophomore David Lopez.

Strickland believes this summer, it's the teachers failing the students.

"When I was coming up, our teachers cared.  They wouldn't have dared do anything like this.  It was about the students.  It was caring," Strickland says.

The district says it'll know soon how extreme the teacher shortage may be, now that classes have started and students are registered.

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Dog Days of Summer 2013 - Gallery VI

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Disgraced Deen Still Scheduled for Dallas Event

AP

Organizers of a Dallas cooking event say they have no plans to drop disgraced chef Paula Deen from the lineup. (AP Photo/Katy Winn)

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Organizers of a Dallas cooking event say they have no plans to drop disgraced chef Paula Deen from the lineup.

Deen is scheduled to appear at the Metro Cooking Dallas show on September 21.

Deen faces a lawsuit from one of her former employees who said she used racial slurs and other hurtful remarks. As the information about her previous comments came to light, multiple sponsors have pulled away from supporting Deen.

Food Network, QVC, and Smithfield have all pulled their support from the southern culinary star, but the organizers of the local event are sticking close to their "friend."

A statement on the organizer's website reads:
"Paula Deen has been a friend of the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show for many years. She has apologized and we are taking her apology at her word and moving forward accordingly."

Deen is scheduled for an interview with NBC's Today Show on Wednesday. She did not appear for a previously scheduled interview with the program last week.

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Man Says Killing Puppies With a Stick Was Humane

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A Tarrant County man admits to killing three puppies with a stick before setting their bodies on fire in a barrel.

Chris Apala, 33, told NBC 5 the puppies were suffering, so he did the "humane thing" and then "cremated them."

Apala and his girlfriend, 38-year-old Melissa Woodard, and their eight dogs, were living at her sister's home on the 7300 block of Cottonwood Creek Road in northwest Tarrant County. On Saturday, Woodard's sister called 911 after finding three of those dogs burned dogs in a barrel.

Woodard and Apala were arrested in connection with the burned dogs and taken to the Tarrant County Jail; both now face animal cruelty charges and are being held on $15,000 bond. 

Apala spoke with NBC 5 from the Tarrant County Jail on Tuesday.

"I took a stick, because they would not eat, they would not drink, they would not do anything but just lay there and whine, so I hit them with the stick one time a piece and let them lay there to make sure they were dead," Apala said in a jailhouse interview Tuesday.

Apala said that after about 20 minutes, where the dogs didn't move, he wrapped them in a sheet and "put them in a burn barrel and I burned them, like you would a human; cremation, instead of burying them."

Woodard told NBC 5 she had no knowledge of Apala killing or burning the dogs and that the puppies, which were less than 6-weeks-old, starved to death.

Apala and Woodard both admit to using methamphetamines and said they were hungry and unable to feed themselves. However, both said they were getting their drugs for free and not choosing to purchase drugs instead of food for themselves or their seven pets.

Apala and Woodard said none of their family members would help them with food or the dogs and Apala added that the Humane Society refused to come pick up the animals because they lived in a remote part of Tarrant County.

Tammy Hawley, the director of the Humane Society of North Texas could not confirm her organization ever received a phone call from Apala, but said, "We do offer a 24 hour emergency service. I assure you, if someone called and said we have animals, we would have made arrangements to pick them up, at no fee. It doesn't matter where the animal is."

Apala said he did not set the puppies on fire until he was certain they were dead, though Tarrant County investigators are still trying to determine if the puppies were killed before or after they were burned.

When asked if Apala's actions were humane, Hawley said, "No. Absolutely not. He's not qualified to determine that the animals were deceased. They could have been unconscious and burned alive."

Hawley said that's why state law requires animal professions to be certified in euthanasia so they can accurately certify death.

Apala said he is surprised by the charges. He said he is an animal lover and plans to immediately get another dog when he is released from jail.

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