Latest news with #Barrington
CBS News
3 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Dad of teen girl killed by Metra train in Barrington, Illinois wants to know why there's still no pedestrian gate
The father of a 17-year-old girl hit and killed by a Metra train in Barrington, Illinois, last year says his grief will never go away — and he is ramping up his fight to keep other students safe. Mike Lacson is raising new concerns about why it has taken the Village of Barrington so long to install a pedestrian gate to prevent such tragedies. Lacson's daughter, Marin Lacson, was on her way to Barrington High School on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, when she was struck and killed by a Union Pacific Northwest Metra train. Almost a year and a half later, there are still fresh flowers. Marin Lacson Family Photo/CBS But there is no pedestrian gate. "I can't believe that 15 months in, we're still asking for gates to be put up," said Mike Lacson. Lacson's interview with CBS News Chicago was the first time he spoke one-on-one about losing his daughter — and the pain that never goes away. "There's no healing for us. There's no healing from this," he said. "It's learning to live with it." Marin was a junior at Barrington High School. Like dozens of other students, she crossed the tracks at Hough and Main streets to get to school on that gray, foggy January morning last year. She waited for one Metra train to pass. When it did, she began to cross — and a train coming from the other direction hit her. "The witnesses that saw the accident — I think one of them actually said, you know, that train jumped out of the fog," said Lacson. Shortly after Marin's death, Lacson began fighting for a pedestrian gate at the crossing. Dozens in the community joined him. "We will not take excuses anymore," said Roma Khan. Khan and other activists are also fueled by the knowledge that Marin wasn't the only student hit at Hough and Main streets. Eleven years earlier, then-11-year-old Dominic Szymanski lost his foot in a similar incident. CBS News Chicago spoke to Dominic's mom last year. "I had very strong feelings about what needed to change," said Gayle Szymanski. "My answer was gates." In February 2024, CBS News Chicago asked then-Barrington Village President Karen Darch if she thought the village had dropped the ball at the Metra crossing. "I feel like it has been — we can put things place that enhance safety," said Darch. Darch said at the time that getting a gate was complicated. But officials said one should be in place by early 2025. A frustrated Lacson confronted the Barrington Village Board this past April. "You've delayed this process," he told the board. "You have delayed this process." In fact, it took until late March of this year for the Village of Barrington event o submit a petition, as is required for the project, to the Illinois Commerce Commission. Lacson said this also followed 14 months of victim-blaming. "They are actively telling people it is Marin's fault," he said, "and I'm not going to accept that, because if there were pedestrian gates there, she would still be here." Newly elected Illinois state Sen. Darby Hills lives in Barrington. "This has been an issue my constituents have been bringing up to me from day one," Hills said. Hills supports a ped gate at the crossing too. "I, again, am jumping into this, and I'm trying to find out where the missteps are, or where there's some sort of way I can help," said Hills. Lacson and his wife recently met with Marin's lacrosse teammates at what would have been one of her final games as a senior. "One more thing," he told the girls on the team. "Hug your parents." Some members of the team wore shirts in Marin's honor. Lacson said his way of honoring his daughter will be getting that gate installed — and he is going to keep fighting until it happens. "Absolutely," he said. "Absolutely." So why the delay? According to a Barrington village spokesperson, the Illinois Commerce Commission — which must improve the ped gate — recommended that all renderings and reports be completed before the project petition was submitted. The ICC will hold a hearing on the hearing on the ped gate on Thursday, June 5.
Business Wire
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Annual Barrington Research Virtual Spring Investment Conference on May 29, 2025
CENTENNIAL, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE: DHX) today announced that it will be participating in the Barrington Research Virtual Spring Investment Conference on May 29, 2025. Greg Schippers, Chief Financial Officer, will host one-on-one meetings with institutional investors throughout the day. To schedule a one-on-one meeting or for more information, please contact the Barrington conference coordinators at corporateaccess@ or DHI Group's investor relations firm, PondelWilkinson, at ir@ About DHI Group, Inc. DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE: DHX) is a provider of AI-powered career marketplaces that focus on technology roles. DHI's two brands, ClearanceJobs and Dice, enable recruiters and hiring managers to efficiently search for and connect with highly skilled technology professionals based on the skills requested. The Company's patented algorithm manages over 100,000 unique technology skills. Additionally, our marketplaces allow tech professionals to find their ideal next career opportunity, with relevant advice and personalized insights. Learn more at Learn more at
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Barrington native Scott Sloan wins javelin national title
GENEVA, OH (WPRI) — Barrington native Scott Sloan is a college national champion. This past Thursday, the Wheaton College freshman took first in the javelin in D-III with a throw of 67.97 meters. The throw not only helped him secure gold but it also broke his former program best by 1.44 meters. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
Drowned herds. Towns underwater. Farmers in NSW are facing ‘absolute devastation'
For dairy farmer James McRae, the floods arrived in a perfect storm. It had been a wet autumn on the New South Wales mid-north coast, saturating the soil, which made it hard to sow new pastures. When 200mm of rain hit overnight on Monday, low-lying farms in his community of Barrington were 'completely decimated'. One of McRae's friends remained on his farm with his cattle for days until he had to be rescued by boat, leaving the cows behind to drown. Another, with a young family, has lost whole herds – including calves – their house and their machinery, three years after their farm was inundated in 2021. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'They've lost absolutely everything, just completely blank-slated,' he said. 'How do you even get through that? You've got young farmers being impacted by this, and they're probably thinking: 'where do we go from here? Can we rebuild? Can we get back on track?' 'A generation of farmers are potentially going to go out of the industry.' The vice-president of the NSW Farmers, Rebecca Reardon, said many farmers that have been hit by this week's devastating floods were still recovering from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, when paddocks had become waterlogged, making it near impossible to get pastures ready to feed their stock through winter. 'This is a horrific flood,' she said. 'There's going to be infrastructure damage, further road damage which will affect getting fresh milk to market and machinery losses, pasture losses. 'It's too late in the season to be able to re-sow and grow pasture, because we're going into the cold period … there's a huge knock-on effect. 'You're running into the hundreds of millions [in losses], and it's going to be very difficult for some of these guys to get back on their feet.' Then there was the personal toll. Reardon said losing livestock was 'very distressing for any farmer', and this time the flood was so high many had been unable to get their animals to higher ground. 'A lot of these guys are coming off those 2021 floods, it will be heartbreaking for some. There's no doubt, it's events like these which make people rethink if they can continue to farm,' she said. As in so many natural disasters, community spirit kicked into gear. At St Joseph's primary school in the town of Taree, where a record deluge had inundated the Manning River, locals were taking care of five horses that were rescued by boat after becoming stranded. Businesses were quick to offer free food and hot showers to residents who had lost their homes, while local volunteers rushed out on dinghies conducting rescues. But despite their resilience, locals had questions as to why a natural disaster declaration wasn't made earlier, and how it had taken so long for rescues to occur. As of Thursday afternoon, three people had died, one remained missing and 48,000 people were isolated as the flood waters 'smashed through' communities on the mid-north coast and parts of the Hunter. The NSW premier, Chris Minns, warned people were experiencing 'levels of rise in local tributaries, creeks, rivers, that we haven't seen since 1920'. Taree resident Emma Browne said volunteer rescuers were 'tired and need help'. 'The community is now launching their own boats to help rescue people still waiting for two days,' she said. 'Where's the navy, army and everyone else?' About 20km south-east of Taree at Old Bar, Miranda Saunders was watching items wash ashore from Farquhar Inlet – one of the entrances from the Manning River. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Lounges, mattresses and chairs from churches had all spilled downstream alongside council barriers, shoes and cows, which washed up on beaches as far south as Forster. 'I know so many people that had to leave or are staying to try to save their homes,' she said. 'In 2019, we had the fires. In 2021, the record floods. And now this. 'In Taree … streets are waist deep. Wingham is completely under water. A national disaster should have been declared on Tuesday afternoon … our first responders do an incredible job, but they're overwhelmed.' Saunders, the station manager of 2TLP 103.3 Ngarralinyi, broadcast live to the Old Bar community for 15 hours on Tuesday from her kitchen, taking song requests from families and singles who had lost their power and were relying on radios to get information. 'From 7am to 9pm, I was on air … bringing comfort, connection, and critical updates to our community during one of the toughest days we've faced,' she said, describing the feeling across the community as one of 'absolute devastation'. Apart from extensive road closures, she hadn't been personally affected by the flooding, but her sister-in-law, along with her husband and four children, had to evacuate their home by boat late yesterday as flood waters entered their home. At the bend of the Manning River at Tinonee, Janeece Irving had just been elected to the local council on Wednesday when she evacuated her home, right next to where a ferry would cross to Taree in the 19th century. Her house was built in the 1930s, set 6 metres above the river on a hill. In two decades living there, this was the first flood where she'd had to evacuate. 'It's coming around over the top of my deck and under the house,' she said, speaking from her neighbour's property which was on safer higher land. 'We're just not prepared for this kind of flooding event … the volume of water is insane. It was just too scary for me to stay in the house – I was in fight or flight mode, I thought I was going to be washed away.' Her house was still standing strong on Thursday afternoon, but she knew what was to come – mopping up 'sticky, smelly mud', that was full of bacteria and clung to everything. 'I'm standing out here looking at the river, and there's this smell, like a dead animal smell coming off the river,' she said. 'I've lived in this valley for 60 years, came here when I was two. We're flood prone, but I've never seen anything like this.' Back in Barrington, McRae considered himself lucky. Their property was set among hills, so despite pasture damage and a power outage, the cattle had survived. He was just hoping grants provided in the 2021 floods would be available this time – which saved people from going out of business. In the meantime, his friends who had lost everything were in 'no state to talk'. He feared for the PTSD, and the years of recovery ahead. 'It's devastating,' he said. 'Completely devastating.'
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Dairy farmers in Barrington, NSW, faces floodwaters
James McRae, a dairy farmer from Barrington, NSW, says his community is facing drowned pastures and injury to cows.
