The Chicago School Board voted Wednesday to shutter 49 elementary schools and one high school in the nation's third-largest school system despite demonstrations and community outrage over the closings. 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools officials said the move is necessary to improve education and get the school district on better financial footing.

"The only consideration for us today is to do exactly what is right for the children,'' schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said before the board's vote.

But Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis called the closings a "cowboy mentality" and said education "has been hijacked." She said Wednesday was a "day of mourning" for many schoolchildren who will be forced to cross gang boundaries in order to get to their new classrooms.

"Mayoral control is out of control," Lewis told reporters. She pledged a voter registration drive in an attempt to register 200,000 new voters before the 2015 municipal elections -- when Emanuel will be up for re-election -- and to raise funds to support candidates for mayor, city council and statewide office.

"We know that we may not win every seat we intend to target but with research, polling, money and people power we can win some of them,'' she said.

Emanuel noted there may be political consequences for the closures but paid them no mind, saying that taking no action would mean far greater consequences for students.

"I know this is incredibly difficult, but I firmly believe the most important thing we can do as a city is provide the next generation with a brighter future," he said in a written statement after the board's action. "More hard work lies ahead, but I am confident that together with teachers and principals, engaged parents and community support, our children will succeed."

Four schools escaped the closure list that was released in March. Chicago Board of Education vice president Jesse Ruiz confirmed to NBC Chicago hours before the vote that Byrd-Bennett had  withdrawn her recommendation to close George Manierre Elementary School, Marcus Garvey Elementary School, Mahalia Jackson Elementary School and Leif Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy.

• Four Chicago Schools Spared from Closure List

The Chicago Teachers Union has said a single school closure is one too many and 50 or more would be catastrophic for the district, but teachers admitted the late move was a step in the right direction.

"It's a great start. We have 50 more to go," Chicago Teachers Union member Kristine Mayle said earlier Wednesday. 

"There's an old expression," CTU Vice President Jesse Shakey said. "Don't put a knife in my back six inches, pull it out a couple and say you're doing a favor."

• CPS to Shutter 54 Schools in Closure Plan
• Teachers, Supporters Rally in Opposition of School Closures
• Schools CEO: Delaying Closures Would be "Criminal"
• Lewis: School Closures Plan Racist, Classist and Unnecessary
• Commission Chief Defends Recommendation to Close Schools
• Mayor Not Concerned About Political Fallout from CPS Closures

Other union members left for Springfield Wednesday morning to press lawmakers to pass legislation that would put a moratorium on school closings, and in Chicago, there was optimism that more schools could be saved.

"We saw at the last board meeting that there actually was some dissension for the first time," Mayle said. "We'd never seen that before in all these years we've been doing this. Hopefully when they actually got out to these schools they saw what was actually happening in these neighborhoods."

Chicago is among several major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Washington and Detroit to use mass school closures to reduce costs and offset declining enrollment. Detroit has closed more than 130 schools since 2005, including more than 40 in 2010 alone.

The school closings are the second major issue pitting Emanuel against the Chicago Teachers Union. The group's 26,000 members went on strike early in the school year, partly over the school district's demand for longer school days, idling students for a week.

More than 300 of the district's 681 schools were initially eyed for closure. That number was dwindled to 129 schools in February when Byrd-Bennett announced more specific criteria as to which schools might be affected to deal with what she called a "utilization crisis."

She's maintained the district has about 100,000 more seats than students at a time the district is facing a $1 billion deficit. Each closed school, she's said, would ultimately save the district between $500,000 and $800,000, saving the district $560 million over 10 years in capital costs and an additional $43 million per year in operating costs.

CTU officials have openly questioned those figures.

 
The Associated Press' Sara Burnett contributed to this report.

You can't fault the teachers at Highcrest Middle School for seeing double on occasion.

The Wilmette school is seeking a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most twins in a single grade. The fifth-grade class has 23 sets of twins, which is close to 10 percent of the 470  pupils in that grade level at the school.

Highcrest twins Luke and Ryan Novosel (pictured, below) discovered the record was 16 sets of students in a single grade while reading the Guinness book one night, and figured their grade was close to the record. After a little more research, they learned that they not only beat the record, they smashed it.

"I was thinking is this really happening did we really beat it? It turns out that we did,"  Ryan said.

School officials have been gathering documentation over the past few weeks to officially confirm the record with Guinness.

They believe a post 9-11 baby boom in 2002 and the advancement of fertility treatments helped to account for the unusual number of twins.

"When we were placing the kids last summer, I thought we had a awfully high number of twins, But I never dreamed it was a world record," fifth-grade administrator Tracy Messier said.

Of the 23 Highcrest twins, only one set is identical.

The twins took an official photograph for Guinness on Wednesday morning, with each set of twins dressed alike for the visual effect.

Brian Urlacher will not play for another team in the 2013 season.

The sure-bet hall of fame middle linebacker released a post on the social media site WhoSay.com letting fans know that he will be ending his career as a Bear.

"After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a desicion," he wrote.

Urlacher, 34, played 13 seasons for Chicago, earning numerous honors including Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2000. Urlacher was selected to 8 Pro Bowls.

The defensive stalwart parted ways with the team shortly after the free agency period began. Bears General Manager Phil Emery offered Urlacher a deal that amounted to just over the veteran minimum to stay with the club, Urlacher declined the offer and moved on.

See the statement below.

Former Gov. George Ryan may spill long-buried Springfield secrets in a tell-all book.

Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed reports the once-imprisoned governor is writing his memoir, and Ryan's son calls it a "humdinger.”

George Homer Ryan told Sneed readers should prepare for a "no-holds-barred book" that's expected to name names and "tell it like it is."

Ryan served in state government for 40 years and spent nearly six years in prison in Terre Haute, Ind., for corruption. He was released from prison in January and bypassed staying at a halfway house to return to the Kankakee home he shared with his wife, who passed away while Ryan was in prison.

Ryan works at his son's insurance company and must report to the Chicago halfway home weekly.

After Ryan's release, his close friend and former Gov. Jim Thompson said he will "go forward with his life the best he can."

"He has paid a severe price," Thompson said. "The loss of his wife and brother while he was in the penitentiary. The loss of his pension, his office, his good name. Five-and-a-half years of imprisonment, now near 80 years old, that is a significant punishment, but he's going to go forward with his life the best he can."

 Leo Strauss had Donne Trotter’s number. Strauss was the University of Chicago professor who coined the term reductio ad Hitlerum.

The Rip Hamilton experiment didn’t go quite as well as people had hoped, particularly the Chicago Bulls' front office. With the team desperately in need of a shooting guard at the time, fans balked at the signing of the aging guard while management clearly had visions of Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton, who was an All-Star and won a championship while in Detroit, streaking down the court together and being a fast break nightmare for the opposition.

Unfortunately, we only got to see that a few times as injuries hampered Rose and Hamilton the last two seasons.

Branded a malcontent while in Detroit, Rip Hamilton was a model citizen in Chicago. He just couldn’t stay healthy enough to make a real impact. In his first season, he missed 38 of the Bulls' 66 games, and this season, he appeared in 50 games, missing 32 with a variety of different ailments.

Late in the season and going into the playoffs, Hamilton was pulled from the rotation completely and spent a lot of time on the bench as a spectator. And in the playoffs, Hamilton appeared in just four of Chicago’s 12 postseason games.

He logged a total of 10 scoreless minutes on the court in the two games he played in the series against the Brooklyn Nets but was much more impactful in his two games in the Miami Heat series. Hamilton said he was healthy and ready to contribute, but Tom Thibodeau obviously didn’t feel that way and seemed to play Hamilton because he just didn’t have anyone left in the series against the Heat.

Through it all, Hamilton never complained or made waves, he just waited for his opportunity. It’s unlikely he’ll return to the Bulls next season and it’s a shame that injuries, age and attrition have diminished his game the way that it has.

But if we’re being honest, Rip Hamilton was never a factor in Chicago, plain and simple. And even though he feels he still has more to give to the game of basketball, he just wasn’t able to give it to the Bulls.

Grade: D-

Follow Outside Shot on Twitter (@Outside_Shot) for more Bulls news and information

Much ado has been made lately of the fact that the Chicago Blackhawks have not lost more than two games in a row this season. In fact, they only lost two consecutive games in regulation twice this season, making the team’s Game 2 and Game 3 losses to the Detroit Red Wings even more uncommon.

The question, then, is how have the Blackhawks reacted to consecutive losses this season?

Here’s a breakdown:

Jan. 30 and Feb. 1: Two consecutive shootout losses to the Wild and Canucks

How The Hawks Reacted: They reeled off four straight victories, including a 6-2 thrashing of the Phoenix Coyotes and a 3-0 shutout of the Nashville Predators, their first shutout since April 2011.

March 8 and 10: Two straight regulation losses to the Avalanche and Oilers

How The Hawks Reacted: They won three straight games, including an 8-1 beatdown of the Dallas Stars and a 5-2 revenge-driven stomping of the Avalanche in Denver.

March 20 and 25: Two straight regulation losses (and third period meltdowns) against the Ducks and Kings.

How the Hawks Reacted: A nice shutout win over the Flames, and then following another late loss to the Ducks, they destroyed the Red Wings 7-1 in the Motor City.

April 20 and 22: A shootout loss to the Coyotes and a 3-1 loss to the Canucks

How the Hawks Reacted: Wins over the Oilers and Flames by a combined 7-2 margin, which clinched the President’s Trophy.

As the Hawks have shown this season, they apparently don’t take too kindly to losing consecutive games. The set among these to really pay attention to are the losses to the Ducks and Kings. At that point in the season, questions began to be asked about whether the team had what it took to close out games, and they responded with arguably their most impressive offensive effort of the season against the Red Wings on national TV.

If the Hawks are going to get back into this series, then they are going to need a similar effort against the Wings in Game 4. It’s put up or shut up time for the Hawks, and as they have shown this year, they are more than capable of putting up a crooked number in a hurry.

There’s not a big market for gubernatorial memoirs. Few governors are known outside their own states, and once they leave office, most voters want to forget about them.

Former Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher has left the game of football.

Let the sappy retrospectives re-commence.

The drawn out process that led to his retirement was fraught with tension, misplaced pride and for the Bears, simple logic.  Urlacher wasn't a star-caliber athlete.

The team moved on. Urlacher couldn't find a new home. On Wednesday, it ended. 

Let's hope the end isn't what we remember about Urlacher. 

Because the divorce between the 34-year-old linebacker, coming off of a knee injury, and the team wasn't pretty.

Fans had to contemplate the idea of seeing their favorite Bear playing in Minnesota, Dallas or Denver. They had to imagine Urlacher lining up against Jay Cutler, and Matt Forte and Brandon Marshall. Thankfully for the fans, no team signed him.

He was out of options.

Retiring was the only play for the former defensive signal caller.

"After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a decision to retire," Urlacher said in a statement. "Although I could continue playing, I'm not sure I would bring a level of performance or passion that's up to my standards. When considering this, along with the fact I could retire after a 13-year career wearing only one jersey for a storied franchise, my decision became pretty clear."

It wasn't a great end to a great career, but it's not the ending we will remember. When you think of Michael Jordan's career, do you think about the stop with the Washington Wizards? Can you even remember what Johnny Unitas looked like in a San Diego uniform? Even the greatest careers end badly.

A test drive turned into a brief hostage situation over the weekend when a Chicago man allegedly stole a vehicle with the car salesman still inside, police said.

Kendall Jackson, 18, of the 4800 block of West Superior Street is accused of taking off with a 2007 Dodge Charger from World Discount Auto, located at 1449 N. Cicero Ave. Jackson was taking a test drive of the vehicle with a 31-year-old employee when he allegedly drove outside the boundaries and wouldn't turn around.

The salesman repeatedly asked to return to the dealership before jumping from the vehicle to escape, prosecutors said.

Jackson was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, unlawful restraint and driving without a license. His bond was set at $75,000.

He reportedly told police he took the car so he could show it off to his friends.

After weeks of protests, four Chicago public schools eyed for closure have been spared.

George Manierre Elementary School, Marcus Garvey Elementary School, Mahalia Jackson Elementary School and Leif Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy on the West Side have been removed from the list of more than 50 schools district officials proposed closing, Chicago Board of Education vice president Jesse Ruiz confirmed.

The move comes a day before the city's Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the closings.

"These schools, for a variety of reasons, are trending well in terms of population, increases in attendance, utilization of the building, which is one of the primary factors for closing schools, academic progress, special needs populations," Ruiz said. "We just want to make sure [they] have the best possible setting, and leaving them in the schools that they are in was the best decision."

In addition, Miriam G Canter Middle School will be phased out over the next year and won't close until the following school year. Clara Barton Elementary School was removed from the turnaround list, which had slated the school to get new staff.

• CPS to Shutter 54 Schools in Closure Plan
• Teachers, Supporters Rally in Opposition of School Closures
• Schools CEO: Delaying Closures Would be "Criminal"
• Lewis: School Closures Plan Racist, Classist and Unnecessary
• Commission Chief Defends Recommendation to Close Schools
• Mayor Not Concerned About Political Fallout from CPS Closures

Mark O’Donnell usually books his family’s summer vacation in January. For the last dozen years, that meant reserving an oceanfront house for a week in Long Beach Island, a quiet cluster of beach towns on the New Jersey shore. But this January, he didn’t book the trip. He had Sandy on his mind.

The storm ripped through LBI in late October, but for months he watched the scenes of destruction replay on TV—the whitecaps lapping storefronts on the boulevard, the houses shifted and battered. So he put off vacation planning, too wary to book a trip to a place that might be nursing gaping wounds.

Each summer, families, couples, and carloads of friends migrate to one of the 40 shore towns that dot the coast of New Jersey for brief escapes to the ocean or bay. But this year, many people who have devotedly returned to the Jersey Shore each summer are grappling with the same question that conflicted the O'Donnells: Will it be the same as it used to be?

With Memorial Day around the corner, it's a question that has taken on more urgency for prospective visitors finalizing their summer plans, and for those on the shore who depend on the seasonal influx of vacationers.

On Long Beach Island, one of the shore's marquee summer destinations, the problem is playing out in the realm of summer real estate, a key industry for much of the Shore. Realtors and homeowners on the island say they’re seeing more rental vacancies than usual for this time of year and worry that the damage from Sandy got more attention than the cleanup.

“People think we’re Seaside Heights and we’re not,” says Joe Mancini, the mayor of Long Beach, the island’s largest township. Like others on LBI, he believes that images of lingering damage in Seaside and Mantoloking, LBI’s neighbors to the north, have sowed the flawed notion that the entire Jersey shore is still damaged.

“This was a horrific storm,” Mancini adds, “but we were aggressive in cleaning it up.”

Certainly, much of the island appears to be in good shape. Fresh signs and flags adorn shops and restaurants along the island’s main drag, letting passersby know they’ve re-opened. A hilltop of debris that was parked outside the Acme supermaket, a symbol of the island's devestation, has been hauled away. The island’s main attractions, the pale sandy beaches, have been restored and will be open for the summer.

But some property owners are having trouble relaying that message to seasonal renters, still clinging to the images of flooding and mayhem. 

Todd Cohan, a 46-year-old entrepreneur who has rented out properties on LBI since 1997, cannot remember a slower summer. Neither of his two luxury oceanfront homes suffered any flooding or damage and still, with just two weeks until Memorial Day, Cohan had vacancies for 40 percent of the season.

To attract prospective guests, he’s posted current images of his properties to real estate websites Homeaway.com and Beachrentals.net. He's added a “pay by credit card” option to his listings, which is something he has never done before, and he estimates that he has emailed about 2,000 people—anyone who has ever inquired about either of his 5-bedroom properties—to see if they’d like to book a few nights.

So far, he’s gotten few positive responses. “They write back to say, ‘due to the devastation and destruction from Sandy’—What destruction? I want them to come down here and show me what they think the destruction is,” Cohan says.

Since the rentals are not his only source of income, he doesn’t expect the vacancies to cripple him, though he says he’ll certainly feel the impact. Each home goes for about $9,000 a week—money he puts toward his mortgages.

Weekly rates for rentals on LBI range in price from the high triple digits for inland cottages to more than $12,000 for exclusive oceanfront properties. While realtors say that the dip in demand has been seen across all price levels, luxury homes have taken it particularly hard.

"Normally, they go first," said Matt Kulinski from the G. Anderson real estate agency. "The way the market works, in January and February, the high-end properties go." But this year, he says, "it's been the other way around."

Vacancies are a concern for both homeowners and local businesses, which depend on a surge of summer income to last them through the slower season. LBI, an island with less than 12,000 residents, has more than 17,000 rental homes, which fill up each summer with visitors. In 2011, summertime tourists generated more than $1.2 billion in spending at restaurants, retail shops and other businesses in southern Ocean County, according to a report commissioned by the LBI Chamber of Commerce.

John Franzoni a realtor at Oceanside Realty who has been in the real estate business for the last 30 years, acknowledges that the storm was worse than any that has hit the island in generations, but doesn’t attribute the dip in rental demand to any real storm damage.

“It’s really because of the perception out there,” he said, noting that just 5 percent of his properties had to be delisted after the storm. “We’re in really good shape, we’re ready to go.”

Still, his rentals are down 20 percent from this time last year—a figure repeated at many agencies along the island—and he says the internet is partially to blame.

“Twenty years ago, on a Saturday or Sunday anytime after the Super Bowl, you’d have people lined up outside to look at rental properties,” he said, referring to the early February weekends when the wave of summer rental bookings begin. “Now, we do 80 or 90 percent of the rentals right over the internet. So that’s been a big change. If people were coming down, they would see the condition, but they only know what they’ve heard. And they’ve gotten a lot of bad reports.”

The island surely wasn’t spared. More than 3,300 applications for residential federal disaster assistance were submitted from Long Beach township alone—a township with just over 8,000 homes. And while the clean-up was aggressive, LBI still bears distinct Sandy scars. Oceanfront homes at the southern end of the island jut out of sand dunes on skinny trunks of exposed pilings. Dumpsters and construction signs still dot the island, particularly in the community of Holgate, which buzzes with the sounds of construction.

But for the most part, the sort of damage that might matter most to tourists has largely been repaired: The beaches have been cleaned and restored and Mayor Mancini says that 95 percent of LBI’s stores and restaurants will be open for business by Memorial Day.

To combat whatever negative impressions would-be visitors may be harboring, a group of LBI devotees organized a commercial aimed at New Jersey residents who may not have seen the island post-recovery. It began airing in early May on about a dozen networks, including Bravo, CNBC, Fox News and Nat Geo, after local businesses and the mayor’s office raised $50,000 for airtime.



While there’s no way to predict the impact the commercial and other publicity may have on wary visitors, rental prices point to optimism. Real estate agents say that homeowners have not lowered their prices just yet. (Cohan hasn't either.)

Kulinski from the G. Anderson Agency predicts that warmer weather will bring more business to the rental market. "When it's cold and windy and not really beach-like weather, [beach vacations] are put on the back burner." He also thinks that prospective renters are waiting to see how much progress the island makes and will eventually commit.

O'Donnell did. After four months of vacillating, he took a daytrip to LBI to assess the storm damage for himself.  He found his usual summer home in Holgate badly beaten, as he had expected. But he found plenty of other homes to choose from and settled on a 4-bedroom in Beach Haven, which he booked for a week in July.

“I was pleasantly pleased. The rest of the island seemed to be in decent shape," he said, adding that he was happy to contribute to the island's summer economy. "They’re working like demons to get it ready.”

The house that Tracy Johnson and Paul Merker share in Sandy-ravaged Highlands, N.J., isn’t so much a home as a campsite: insides gutted to the studs, kitchen sink propped up by two-by-fours, a bathroom with no walls.

They endured winter with a propane heater. They cook meals with a portable stove and hot plate. They take baths warmed by boiled water.

“There are days when I say, ‘I can’t take it anymore, I gotta get out,’” Johnson said.

But when she goes for a walk, she is overwhelmed by the sight: home after home that has been abandoned or ripped apart, months from habitability.

“You see people working on them, but they’re not nearly as far as they’d like to be. It’s depressing,” Johnson said. “It’s everywhere, and that’s the point. You try to get away from your own home, but even when you do that, you’re still not seeing anything different.”

It’s hard to relax in Highlands, a small but proud middle-class town at the northern tip of the Jersey Shore. The borough of 5,000, where the Shrewsbury River meets Sandy Hook Bay, is undergoing a profound transformation that won’t end with the physical rebuilding. The carnage wrought by Sandy—up to eight feet of water inundated downtown—has prompted what might best be described as an existential crisis, with residents, business owners and public officials confronting daunting questions about the kind of place Highlands will be for those who remain, and how it will survive.

Highlands, a modest fishing and commuter community known mostly for its seafood restaurants, doesn’t get as much attention as other communities along coastal New York and New Jersey that were battered by Sandy. It doesn’t boast a boardwalk or amusement park or golden sand. It is, however, emblematic of the region’s post-Sandy struggle. The borough is in a fight for its life, and the solution just might be a colossal engineering project that has been tried just once before, more than a century ago.

Waves of destruction

Before they can tackle such big thoughts, however, the people of Highlands are trying figure out a more pressing question: how to get safely back in their homes before the next big storm arrives.

A significant proportion of property owners have thrown themselves into the task, raiding their savings to start repairs while negotiating a dizzying tangle of red tape required by banks, insurance companies and the government.

At the same time, an unsettling number—exactly how many is not clear—are trying to sell their homes, or have simply walked away.

In the middle are homeowners and business owners who, for various reasons, are waiting. Some have received insurance payouts but can’t afford to supplement rebuilding costs with their own money. Others have decided to see what additional aid they can get from the state or Federal Emergency Management Agency. The local government has requested about $140 million in grants to divide among property owners, a process that could take several months or longer.

The lucky ones have friends or family to stay with, or can afford to rent a second home. The unlucky ones feel so overwhelmed that they simply cannot decide what to do. The Bay Avenue business district remains pockmarked with vacant restaurants.

“Sandy has really struck a blow and shaken people to their core,” said Steve Szulecki, a scientist who heads the local environmental commission and whose home, on a hill, was spared.

Szulecki described two phases of destruction in Highlands. First, he said, was the physical, which displaced people and damaged their homes. “The second wave,” he said, “is the bureaucracy and economics that people are starting to confront.”

Click on interactive map icons to hear stories and see images of the damage:

Even the local government is in a jam.

Three municipal buildings, including Borough Hall, did not have flood insurance and were evacuated after the storm, Borough Administrator Tim Hill said. The government’s deductible on each building is $500,000, leaving the town, which operates on an $8 million annual budget and is already facing a painful drop in tax revenues, unable to foot the bill. One of the three buildings has been put into partial use; most government offices, including the police department, are still working out of trailers.

In the end, the town may have to permanently abandon the buildings and move to higher ground.

Lifting a community

Public officials, meanwhile, are scrambling to help residents navigate the rebuilding process. They’re taking steps to adopt new construction and zoning rules that will make it easier for people to rebuild.

“We’re hoping folks want to remain in town and we’re trying to enable them to do that,” Hill said.

Ultimately, Highlands’ future hinges on a single concept: lifting.

Most of Highlands, including the entire downtown, sits in a major flood zone shaped more or less like a bathtub; parts of it regularly flood at high tide. The only sure way to prevent Sandy-like destruction is to prop everything on stilts or pilings. Depending how badly a building was damaged by Sandy, and its current height in relation to the sea, a home might eventually have to be lifted as much as 14 feet.

About 800 of the downtown’s 1,200 homes and businesses were deemed damaged enough to require that they be lifted. That number could fall as property owners appeal those assessments.

Lifting is an expensive undertaking. Many property owners have found that their $30,000 insurance allotment won’t cover it. The town's $140 million grant proposal would go entirely toward helping residents meet those costs. Some have gone ahead and started the lifting process anyway.

Those who elect not to lift are taking a gamble: they may find it difficult to find insurance, or see their property values drop.

Then there are the quality of life issues. In a town of stilts and small yards, how do the elderly or disabled or parents of young children get in and out of their homes without hurting themselves?

“There are many folks who are in a situation where they’re not sure if they want to go through all of this,” Hill said. “But in the long term…the common sense approach for long-term marketability is going to come into play. If you don’t raise your house, its value isn’t going to be as high.”

But no matter how high people raise their homes, the streets of Highlands will still flood. And property owners and developers will question whether it’s worth the investment.

The Army Corps of Engineers has proposed building a levee system, but the downtown often floods from the inside, through storm drains, and takes additional runoff from nearby hills.

A century-old solution

Szulecki, the head of the environmental commission, believes there is one way to ensure the long-term viability of Highlands: raise the town itself.

His model is Galveston, Texas, the Gulf Coast city that was virtually destroyed by a storm in 1900 and then, over the next decade, was backfilled and raised by as much as 16 feet.

If Galveston succeeded with century-old engineering techniques, Szulecki figured, then a modern, smaller Highlands could pull it off.

He originally suggested it to town leaders before Sandy, but since then the plan has been taken a lot more seriously. Many local officials, including Mayor Frank Nolan, now endorse it. Nolan has estimated that the project—which would be performed in phases, requiring temporary displacement for many homeowners and the demolition of dozens of buildings that could not withstand being lifted—would cost about $25 million, a combination of insurance payouts, public funding and private money.

But the plan has fueled old fears among longtime residents that downtown Highlands, dominated by modest bungalows and vinyl-clapboard homes, will be turned into cookie-cutter rental units and tourist-trap restaurants.

Resistance to change

“This town always had a plan: they wanted to buy houses, knock them down and build condos,” Paul Merker said.

Merker is Tracey Johnson’s fiancé, an unemployed construction worker and Highlands native who says he suffers from insomnia and vomiting from the stress of living in their gutted home. At the stoop is the kayak he paddled around town during Sandy, when he watched what seemed like a tsunami swallow the nearby peninsula of Sandy Hook. His glassy blue eyes and pallid complexion show the toll.

“I think this town is done,” Merker said. “Anyone who has left this town ain’t coming back. I think it will be a new wave of people who are going to have to make it what it’s going to be.”

Merker is among many people born and raised in Highlands who see developers repopulating the town with tenants who don’t have much connection to its history, or stake in its future.

But others think developers could turn out to be the town’s saviors, because there are few options for the growing number of dormant properties—the leveled trailer park, the shuttered restaurants, the abandoned homes.

Those who want to push forward with new development point out that there’s no going back to the pre-Sandy Highlands. What old-timers love about the town—the ability to live modestly near the water and resist interference from the forces of commercialization—seems less viable now. Along the shore there are ramshackle buildings that bring to mind the shotgun shacks of New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. It’s hard to imagine those structures remaining.

Determination and hope

And yet, with all the doubts and suspicion and anxiety, there is a fighting spirit that pervades the place. It’s visible on any casual drive around town: constructions crews laying drywall, the sounds of forklifts moving fishing boats out of dry dock, clam shack owners furiously scrubbing floors and tables in hopes of opening in time for summer.

“This is terrible. It’s horrible. It sucks. But guess what? It’s not the end of the world,” said Leo Cervantes, a owner of Chilangos, a popular Mexican restaurant on Bay Avenue that was ruined by six feet of water. A native of an impoverished neighborhood of Mexico City, Cervantes calls himself a survivor, and has called in all sorts of favors and loans to get his kitchen running by Memorial Day.

“This is a new opportunity,” he said. “A new start. To me, this is the only way: you get up and you do it again.”

Douglas Lentz, co-owner of the Inlet Café, a seafood joint, was more blunt. “I got no choice in the matter but to rebuild,” he said as he pushed a wheelbarrow full of building materials into his restaurant.

Tracey Johnson is more optimistic than Merker, her fiancé. She sees hope in that she's managed to hire a small team of local contractors who are, in piecemeal fashion, slowly putting her house back together.

“I look at it this way: I’m not going anywhere,” she said one warm, breezy Friday in early May. “I’ve lived in this town my whole life. I’m not leaving it to be a resort town.”

A few blocks away, on Shrewsbury Avenue, Regina Yahara-Splain stepped out onto the deck of her ravaged two-story home, across the street from a marina. To her right she could see the place where she nearly drowned while fleeing Sandy, clinging to a fence as the storm surge heaved to her chest. As she recalled the experience, tears streaked mascara across her cheeks.

A disabled widow, Yahara-Splain has borrowed from her retirement accounts to raise enough money to rebuild and raise her house. After months of phone calls, reams of paperwork and thousands of dollars in fees, work was finally underway. Talking about that revived her mood, and she began to daydream about returning home for good.

She closed her eyes and let the sun warm her face. She listened to the gulls, a flag snapping in the wind. She took a gulp of salty air. She imagined pulling an air mattress out there and sleeping under the stars, like she used to.

For the first time in a long while, she could see it happening: something very good coming out of something very bad.

“I wouldn’t live in another town," she said. "The people here have come together so strong. People say, ‘How could you stay?’ I tell them, ‘How could I not?”

She smiled. “What greater place could you ever imagine?”

A third-grader at Marcus Garvey Elementary is now the face of the fight to stop school closings.

Nine-year-old Asean Johnson delivered a speech at Monday’s downtown rally that has already been viewed over 30,000 times on YouTube. Marcus Garvey, originally slated for closing, would have shifted Johnson to Mount Vernon Elementary School. Johnson also testified before the Board of Education last Wednesday and was featured in a Sun-Times editorial, which noted he has “poise and confidence” beyond his years, and had this to say about his school:

A wandering bear was on the move for about an hour Wednesday morning north of Los Angeles with squad cars and a helicopter on its tail as it scaled fences and surprised several horses in their corrals.

The bear was first seen in the Shadow Hills area, about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

"He was probably just trying to find a spot where he feels comfortable, safe and can find a food source," said California Fish and Wildlife Department warden J.C. Healy. "This is the time of year -- there are bigger males looking for food, and in the animal world, they're going to compete and push the little guy out."

The black bear surprised two horses as it emerged from a backyard, then walked through another corral that contained three horses a few blocks away. The bear scaled a fence around the second corral and walked along the top of it until leaping back to the ground and trotting under a tree.

Police in squad cars and an airship followed the bear, which was first spotted along Clybourn Avenue at about 6:30 a.m. 

"We deploy officers like we look for suspects," said LAPD Sgt. Rudy Lopez. 

Officers and at least one California Department of Fish and Wildlife agent -- armed with a tranquilizer dart gun -- cornered the bear under trees along Wentworth Street. Aerial video showed agents loading the tranquilized bear into the bed of a pickup.

"The California black bear is very docile, very timid, very afraid of people -- so they're going to do what they can to get away from people," said Healy. "But the general rule of thumb with wild animals is don't take their food source and don't get in front of mom and her cubs.

"Right now, he's just looking to get away from people."

The bear had a tracking tag attached to its right ear, indicating that wildlife officials were in contact before with the bear. The bear was tagged just a few weeks ago in a Santa Clarita neighborhood, about 20 miles northwest of Shadow Hills, Healy said.

The warden planned to transport the bear to a wildlife area, likely the nearby Angeles National Forest. The bear was sedated about four minutes after he was struck with the tranquilizer dart.

"I'm going to sit with him for a while until he wakes up and watch him walk off," Healy said after hoisting the bear into the pickup.

Healy estimated the 2- to 3-year-old male bear weighs about 150 pounds
 

As a rookie punting prospect, Tress Way is in Chicago for OTAs with hopes of making the Bears team. But you can't blame him if his heart is back in Oklahoma. Way went to the University of Oklahoma, which is a short drive from tornado-ravaged Moore.

"The movie theater that was hit, that's where we all go see our movies," Way said on Tuesday. "The biggest thing, I was in our rookie meeting yesterday and my phone just kept buzzing and obviously I wasn't checking it or anything but I was really eager to see what happened, because we had no idea. We had been here all day. I just started getting pictures, text-message pictures from people. I mean, my goodness, it's heartbreaking because it's five minutes down the road from us. ... I was just so heartbroken because, man, I just want to go home."

He tweeted a similar sentiment. 

Can't stop wishing I could be there tomorrow to help everyone. I should be there. I commend everyone who's eager to help. #OklahomaStrong

— Tress Way (@Tressway36) May 21, 2013 

Way said people at Oklahoma are already organizing to help.

"My fiancé, who is a softball player at the University of Oklahoma, the softball team started a charity where they're taking in shoes, and clothes and everything," Way said. "They're already donating. What's amazing is that in just a horrible natural disaster like that, God just can bless people by people helping out each other. You look outside and there would be a lot of times when people are running away from something that horrible, but in Norman, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, I've heard news reports that they actually had to keep people away from the accident and away from the disaster because people were wanting to help that much. So that makes my heart feel a little bit better."

He said he plans to go home for Memorial Day weekend and will help out then.

Brian Urlacher will not play for another team in the 2013 season.

The sure-bet hall of fame middle linebacker released a post on the social media site WhoSay.com letting fans know that he will be ending his career as a Bear.

"After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a desicion," he wrote.

Urlacher, 34, played 13 seasons for Chicago, earning numerous honors including Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2000. Urlacher was selected to 8 Pro Bowls.

The defensive stalwart parted ways with the team shortly after the free agency period began. Bears General Manager Phil Emery offered Urlacher a deal that amounted to just over the veteran minimum to stay with the club, Urlacher declined the offer and moved on.

See the statement below.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday he's not concerned with the political consequences that could come his way if the Chicago Board of Education approves a plan to shutter more than 50 schools.

He's so sure his plan is the right one that he said not taking the action would have far greater consequences for the students he said would be robbed of a quality education.

"You can about the political consequence to me versus the lifetime consequence to a child that drops out because of poor education, and to me, the balance, if you're weighing equities -- I will absorb the political consequence so our children have a better future," Emanuel said during a press conference at the Department of Water Management headquarters.

Across town, parents and teachers gathered with Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) at DuPrey/Von Humboldt School to protest the planned closures.

"If Lafayette closes and DuPrey/Von Humboldt closes, there will be no public school in East Humboldt Park," Moreno told those gathered. "That is not acceptable."

Emanuel and CPS officials say closing schools is a bold but necessary step to improve education and get the nation's third-largest school district on a better financial footing. But many teachers and their supporters say the closures are based on fuzzy math and are altogether unfair because they disproportionately affect students of color and put them in harm's way.

Additionally, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle last week criticized the mayor for ignoring a recommendation by a group of retired judges to take 13 schools off the closure list.

But that criticism seemingly hasn't affected the mayor.

"Not doing anything and allowing 56 percent of African American male adolescents to drop out would be a political concern to me," said Emanuel. 

The mayor drew a parallel between the proposed school closures with last year's fight over longer school days.

"In the same way, .... we have a full school day, and nobody's talking about going back to the shorter school day and the shortest school year in the country, which was a laughing stock around the country," he said.

While there may be a few final tweaks, the Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday is expected to sign off on the mayor's plan.

• CPS to Shutter 54 Schools in Closure Plan
  
• Teachers, Supporters Rally in Opposition of School Closures
  
• List of School Closures / Consolidations
  
• Schools CEO: Delaying Closures Would be "Criminal"
  
• Lewis: School Closures Plan Racist, Classist and Unnecessary
  
• Commission Chief Defends Recommendation to Close Schools

A Schaumburg village trustee visiting relatives in Oklahoma got caught in Monday's massive tornado and may have a water heater to thank for saving his life.

Frank Kozak and his wife, Char, were in his brother-in-law's home, alone, when the incredible EF-5 tornado passed through. They headed for the middle of the home and were hit by the toppling water heater. But the weight of that appliance likely held them down and prevented further injury.

"They chose the right spot to be in. I think they should jump on a plane and go to Vegas," Kozak's son, Steve Kozak, told NBC Chicago on Tuesday.

Char Kozak wound up needing staples in her head from her injuries. Her husband suspected he suffered a broken rib in the ordeal.

The home in which they were staying was completely destroyed. The Kozak's new SUV was found in a tree in a neighbor's yard.



 

In the news business, the best laid plans can vanish in an instant. 

The Today Show had planned a full, experiential visit to our fine city of Chicago --- with its entire cast along for the adventure --- on Wednesday May 22. 

Alas, tragedy struck in Moore, Oklahoma, and the network's most popular A.M. correspondents headed to that beleaguered and storm-struck town to bring you tales of hope from among the devastation. 

Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker will bring you reports from Moore all week, as that Oklahoma town begins to emerge from the destruction wrought by a monstrous tornado that ripped through the town on Monday. 

Willie Geist and Natalie Morales will, however, be able to keep their appointment in Chicago. The Today Show duo will broadcast the 8 a.m. hour of the Today Show (which plays in Chicago at 9 a.m.) from Millennium Park in Chicago, right in front of the Cloud Gate sculpture, more popularly known as "The Bean."

Come out to Millennium Park to see them in action. Bring a sign or a prop and give them a Chicago welcome. Later, upload your photos to todayadventure13@gmail.com or to Facebook.com/TodayShow. 

Good morning and welcome to Bear Bites, your morning rundown of Chicago Bears news. Read on for where key players are this week, how much money young Kyle Long is making and which Bear rules the video game world.

• Matt Forte and Tim Jennings are missing a portion of OTAs, but they have a really good reason. They're on a USO tour. (ESPN Chicago)
   
• First-round draft pick Kyle Long signed his contract on Friday night. See how much he's making and how the numbers break down. (Chicago Tribune)
   
• The Florida man who killed a Bears fan in Jacksonville appeared in court Tuesday. He plead guilty and is facing a life sentence. (Chicago Sun-Times)
   
• While it's early in the off-season, one unknown Bear is turning heads. Fendi Onobun is growing as a player. (Chicago Tribune)
   
• In OTAs, the Bears have some fierce battles on the field. According to Stephen Paea, the video game battles are pretty fierce, too. (Instagram)

Buried deep inside a massive piece of legislation passed by Congress sits a little-noticed passage that, with few exceptions, wipes out any statute of limitation for a debt owed to the federal government.

Thanks to the "Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008," anyone overpaid by a federal agency, at any time in their life, can now be tracked down and put on the hook for debts that are decades old.

For Bridget Galazkiewicz of Minooka, the unexpected tax grab began in the form of a mysterious message from the IRS she received the day after she expected her tax refund.

"If you haven't already seen a letter, expect one," she said of the message.

Soon thereafter, a letter arrived from the Department of the Treasury announcing the government had seized all $1,200 of her 2012 return for a debt about which she said she knew nothing.

There was no warning letter or call, just the seizure notice.

"It just raised more questions because it said the money went to Social Security, and I am not on Social Security... haven't been since I was a kid," Galazkiewicz explained.

Calls to the Social Security Administration left her more confused.

"(They) told me that I was making too much money in 1968. I was eight years old, so I don't think I was making any money," she said. "I had a .25 cent allowance."

The letter contained a social security number that Galazkiewicz thought had belonged to her mother. Galazkiewicz later found out it was actually her father's. And the confusion, she said, got thicker from there.

"And then (they) told me that my mother was working, if I wasn't working, in 1968 and she made too much money," Galazkiewicz recalled.

If you are thinking 45 years is too far for the government to reach back, you would have been correct until very recently. The tiny section tucked away on page 561 of the legislation allowed the federal government to blow out any existing statute of limitations and go after debts decades old.

"This completely lacks due process. It is not a fair system at all," Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability told NBC5 Investigates. "So now they can go back 20, 30, 40 years -- which they are doing. It is problematic for taxpayers on a number of levels."

Martire pointed out that some federal agencies, such as the SSA, already had a 10-year statute of limitations. To wipe that out and give agencies an "indefinite" timeframe to go back and find their own mistakes, he said, is a bad idea.

"If they haven't acted on a claim in 10 years, maybe they ought not act on it at all. Maybe it is marginal," he said. "This is guilty until proven innocent... a really unfair burden to put on the taxpayer."

Ultimately, in Galazkiewicz' case, the SSA said she was overpaid for survivor's benefits for her father, who died in 1964. After an inquiry by NBC5 Investigates, a spokesperson for the SSA said Bridget's wages rose for a four-month period in 1979, and that increase led to an overpayment of the survivor's benefits. Almost 35 years later, Galazkiewicz said she has no way to prove or disprove what happened so many decades ago.

• Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
• SSA: Collection of Overdue Debts by Administrative Offset
• SSA: Guidelines on Reopening a Final Determination, Decision
• SSA: Compilation of the Social Security Laws

Former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday threw his weight behind legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois, calling on the state House to approve the stalled bill.

Pointing to "the days of Abraham Lincoln" for inspiration, Clinton in a statement asks legislators to stand up for the "proposition that all citizens should be treated equally under the law" as they have in the past.

“Illinois has stood for the proposition that all citizens should be treated equally under the law,” Clinton said. “Lincoln himself came to Springfield in search of opportunity, and he dedicated his life to securing equal opportunity for all citizens. I believe that for Illinois and for our nation as a whole, in the 21st century that must include marriage equality.”

Clinton joins a chorus of voices, including Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, who publicly backed the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act. The legislation passed the Illinois Senate on Valentine's Day, but a lack of votes kept it stalled in the House.

Gov. Pat Quinn said as recently as Monday that he will sign the bill and thinks there are enough votes to get the bill onto his desk.

Clinton said he believes the vote will strengthen the country, putting it closer to the nation's mission of forming a "more perfect union."

“That mission has inspired and empowered us to extend rights to people previously denied them," he said. "Every time we have done that, it has strengthened our nation. Now we should do it again, in Illinois, with marriage equality.”

Los Angeles Councilman Eric Garcetti defeated City Controller Wendy Greuel in a mayoral election that set spending records and saw both candidates rack up high-profile endorsements on the way to Tuesday's runoff.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Garcetti garnered 54 percent of the vote and Greuel 46 percent.

"Thank you Los Angeles--the hard work begins but I am honored to lead this city for the next four years. Let's make this a great city again," Garcetti, 42, wrote on Twitter early Wednesday.

Decision 2013: Election Results | Full Coverage

Garcetti planned to conduct a news conference at 2 p.m.

Garcetti becomes the first Jewish candidate to be elected to the mayor's office. In 1878, Bernard Cohn was a member of the city's council when he was appointed acting mayor to fill a vacancy. He served for less than one month.

Garcetti will inherit a city still struggling to pull itself from an extended fiscal slump.

"We're going to have to give a little something to get a lot," Garcetti said Tuesday night. "Independent leadership and doing what's right for the city is what I'm going to continue to do."

The contest to succeed outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who leaves office at the end of June with high marks from his constituents, broke spending records as outside contributions topped $33 million.

"We're talking a whole lot of money and very few votes," said NBC4 political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. "It's not only the money, but how that money was used.

"It shows the increasing dominance of independent expenditure groups. Those groups can't be controlled by the candidate. Garcetti had greated control over the message. Even though he had far less in contributions from the independent groups, he came out ahead."

Greuel would have become the city's first female mayor, if elected. She called Garcetti early Wednesday to concede, The Los Angeles Times reported, citing a Greuel campaign source.

In their sprint to the finish line after two years of campaigning, both Democratic contenders with similar voting records tried to differentiate themselves from each other in down-to-the-wire pitches to undecided voters.

Greuel had racked up endorsements from the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, the Daily News and high profile figures including former President Bill Clinton, Magic Johnson, and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer.

"He cares deeply about Los Angeles," Greuel said of Garcetti as she addressed supporters Wednesday in Van Nuys. "He will work tirelessly and be a strong leader at a critical point in the city's history."

Garcetti had the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the L.A. Times and Newark Mayor Cory Booker in his corner. The fluent Spanish-speaker had talked during the campaign about his paternal grandparents' emigration from Mexico.

Villaraigosa issued a statement Wednesday morning on his Facebook page, thanking Greuel and congratulating Garcetti: "Eric is a true leader who I trust to guide our city into its bright future. I know I am leaving Los Angeles in good hands. I look forward to working with Eric and his team over the next month for a seamless transition so that we can keep Los Angeles moving in the right direction.

"I also want to thank Wendy Greuel for her commitment to the people of Los Angeles and admire her for being willing to put her name on the ballot."

The race to become LA’s next mayor was tight Tuesday night with City Councilman Eric Garcetti leading by a slim but swelling margin.

With 44 percent of the precincts reporting as of 12:55 a.m., Garcetti had garnered 54 percent of the vote. His opponent City Controller Wendy Greuel had netted 46 percent of the vote.

The winner of the run-off election to replace outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will give the city of Los Angeles either its first female or first Jewish mayor—a leader who will inherit a city still struggling to pull itself from an extended fiscal slump.

The contest to succeed Villaraigosa, who leaves office at the end of June with high marks from his constituents, broke spending records Saturday as outside contributions topped $33 million.

Although the race was too close to call, Garcetti was optimistic as he addressed his supporters Tuesday night.

"If this (lead) holds, and it looks like it will, on July 1, we will assume the responsibility of creating jobs, of balancing the budget, of keeping the streets safe, and of improving the quality of life for all Angelenos," he said.

Refresh this page for updates and watch Today in LA for the very latest on the election results.

Anthony Weiner has announced his candidacy for New York City mayor with a campaign video posted to YouTube, days after NBC 4 New York exclusively spotted the former congressman shooting part of the video on the stoop of his childhood home in Brooklyn.

"Look, I made some big mistakes and I know I let a lot of people down. But I've also learned some tough lessons," Weiner says in the two-minute, 16-second video posted late Tuesday night, acknowledging the sexting scandal that forced him to resign his congressional seat two years ago.

"I'm running for mayor because I've been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it my entire life," he continues. "And I hope I get a second chance to work for you." 

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that if Weiner jumped into the race, he would get 15 percent of Democratic votes, putting him in second place behind City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, with 25 percent. Neither comes close to the 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. The survey of 701 Democrats was taken May 14 through Monday and has a plus or minus 3.7 percentage point margin of error.

Weiner did not make any public appearances on Wednesday. His rivals, when asked about the new candidate joining the field, had mixed reactions.

"Why should I talk about anybody but myself? I'm the one running for mayor here," said Quinn.

Former Comptroller Bill Thompson said simply: "welcome aboard," while his successor, John Liu, said: "Honestly, I won't be voting for him."

The campaign video, which opens with a shot of Weiner, his wife, Huma Abedin, and their toddler son in their home, highlights Weiner's upbringing in Brooklyn and his parents' backgrounds as a public school teacher and lawyer.

Timeline: Anthony Weiner Sexting Scandal

Weiner lists rent, job security, education, public safety and business regulations as citywide problems he wants to tackle. He ticks off congressional victories like securing money to put more police on the streets, getting sick 9/11 responders financial help, and leading the campaign for health reform. 

In the closing shots of the video, captured by NBC 4 New York in Park Slope last Thursday, Weiner, sitting alongside Abedin, says "New York City should be the middle class capital of the world."

Abedin, who was pregnant with their son when the sexting scandal broke in May 2011, adds, "We love this city, and no one will work harder to make it better than Anthony." 

Photos: Anthony Weiner Twitter Scandal

The Park Slope home is where Weiner launched his bid for mayor in 2005, and where he later announced that fall he was stepping aside in order to avoid a divisive primary runoff.

Weiner first revealed he was weighing a 2013 run for mayor last month in a New York Times Magazine story that detailed his efforts to repair his marriage. He has also hired a campaign manager, according to Politico, and has released a policy booklet. 

Weiner ran for mayor in 2005, and nearly forced a runoff against Fernando Ferrer, but conceded in the name of party solidarity. He planned to run again in 2009, and was considered a leading contender, but dropped out after Mayor Bloomberg chose to run for a third term.

Prior to his unraveling, Weiner had begun to plan for a 2013 campaign. He still has more than $4 million in his campaign account.

Full Coverage: Anthony Weiner Sexting Scandal

Chicago is out of the woods for severe weather, hours after a severe thunderstorm warning was issued by the National Weather Service, but there's still plenty of rain on tap.

The overnight warning was issued for the area as a line of powerful storms marched toward the city from the western suburbs. Earlier in the evening, the same storm system hit the Peoria area with massive amounts of hail and 60 mph winds. Lightning struck homes in Chicago and Peoria.

Periods of showers and thunderstorms continued through the night. The possibility for scattered showers and storms persists Tuesday, especially in southern counties and northwest Indiana, as conditions turn humid and warm with highs in the mid-80s.

• Interactive Radar
  
• How to Prepare For a Tornado

Models indicate the area's overnight storms stabilized the atmosphere, taking us out of severe-risk territory. Showers are still expected in the late afternoon and evening hours.

The rain continues for much of the week. A few thunderstorms are possible Wednesday morning and in the afternoon, marking the beginning of a cooling trend. Temperatures could fall up to 30 degrees by Thursday. Expected highs are in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Showers again are expected in the morning.

The week dries out with cool, unseasonable temps in the low 60s. That trend continues through the weekend before warming to the low 70s.

If you're participating in Sunday's Bike the Drive in Chicago, watch the weather. Another round of showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected.

An embattled Chicago teen rapper was arrested near Atlanta Monday for allegedly smoking weed in his hotel room.

Keith Cozart, aka Chief Keef, faces disorderly conduct charges after security at a Dunwoody, GA, hotel called police after observing smoke and smelling marijuana coming from his room.

Cozart was booked at 4:37 p.m. and wasn't released from jail until 3:38 a.m. Tuesday.

The 17-year-old rapper wasn't trying to hide the arrest, posting the mug shot on his Instagram and Twitter accounts a few hours later with the message "Just Got Out Of Dekalb County jail" and "Mad as (expletive)."

A police spokesman told NBC 5 that Cozart was arrested without incident. A court hearing will be set for a later date.

Cozart was just released from jail last month after serving 60 days on a probation violation. He was initially on probation for pointing a gun at a Chicago Police officer in 2011. 

Over the past year, the rapper has managed to sign a major record deal and released a full-length CD in December, but he's also come under fire for joking on Twitter about the shooting death of an 18-year-old rival rapper, Joseph "Lil JoJo" Coleman.

A gay couple was attacked early Tuesday in SoHo and a man was beaten in the East Village, hours after thousands marched to protest the killing of a gay man and several other bias attacks that have shaken the community, officials said.

Mayor Bloomberg said at a news conference Tuesday that "New York City has zero tolerance for intolerance."

"We are a place that celebrates diversity ... hate crimes like these are an offense against all we stand for as a city, and we will do everything possible to stop them," Bloomberg added.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the two men in the SoHo attack were walking on Broadway between Prince and Houston streets at about 5 a.m. when two men started yelling anti-gay remarks in English and Spanish. The victims, 41 and 42, are Hispanic.

The men were both punched, and one suffered an eye injury, sources said.

Police said two suspects, 32 and 33, were arrested and face a charge of assault as a hate crime.

In the East Village beating, Kelly said two men who had known each other for about a month were out together in Manhattan on Monday. At some point they began fighting about the victim being gay.

The other man then became "enraged," Kelly said, and hurled anti-gay slurs before he beat him unconscious. In that case, the 39-year-old suspect, who is homeless, was arrested and charged with felony assault and aggravated harassment as hate crimes, among other offenses.

Dan Contarino, the victim, told NBC 4 New York he thought the recent spate of attacks have to do with "society changing quickly" as gay marriage becomes legal in more states, causing people with "repressed anger" to lash out. 

"I'm very lucky," said Contarino. "I could be 6 feet under right now."

The Empire State Pride Agenda said in a statement Tuesday that "enough is enough."

"No more violence. We won't stand for it as a community or as a city," said Nathan Schaefer, executive director.

On Monday evening, gay activists and supporters marched to condemn the death of 32-year-old Mark Carson in Greenwich Village, and several other attacks on gays in recent weeks.

Carson was killed Saturday as he walked with a companion through the Village. Police say a man charged with murder as a hate crime shot Carson in the head.

Officials said Monday that police would increase their presence there and in nearby neighborhoods through the end of June, Gay Pride Month.

Police say there has been a rise in anti-gay crimes overall so far this year, to 24 from 14 during the same period last year. 

Kelly said police believe bias crimes are actually underreported, but said there is one theory that the NYPD gets more reports of them after a high-profile case is in the news.

One of the most expensive homes to hit the market in the United States is now on sale—in Connecticut.

The $190 million Greenwich estate includes two islands in the Long Island Sound, nearly a mile of shore front property, and a rich history dating back to the late 19th Century.

The 12-bedroom home was built in 1898 and purchased just after the turn of the century by the daughter of George Lauder, a partner in Carnegie Steel. It was then purchased in the early 1980s by timber tycoon John Rudey, who has decided to sell the property, the Wall Street Journal reported.

An 1,800-foot driveway with cobblestone gutters leads up to the so-called Copper Beech Farm, which boasts a pool, a spa, a grass tennis court, a greenhouse, a stone carriage house and cottage on more than 50 acres of land.

Inside, the home has all the marks of old world luxury: a library with a fireplace, balconies, a staff wing, staff kitchen, dumb waiter, wine cellar, skylights and marble bathrooms.

It's unclear whether the home will actually sell for its asking price. The Journal points out that in 2009 Candy Spelling made headlines when she listed her Los Angeles mansion at $150 million—the home sold for $85 million.

The property is by far the most expensive currently listed on the site of David Ogilvy & Associates, an affiliate of Christie's International Real Estate. The next priciest available is another Greenwich estate selling for just $32 million.

Christie's shows several properties hovering around the $100 million-mark, but none that touch the Copper Beech Farm's $190 price tag. A Beverly Hills home that appeared in "The Godfather" and "The Bodyguard" is on sale for $115 million, as is a $95 million Fifth Avenue residence overlooking Central Park.