Latest news with #Heights
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Candidates file for Wichita city, school positions
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Later this year, Wichita voters will choose who they want to represent them on the Wichita City Council and the Wichita USD 259 School Board. Candidates who wish to run for the positions had to file with the election office by noon on Monday. These are the positions available and the candidates who filed: District 1 – mostly in northeast Wichita Wichita City Council Member Brandon Johnson cannot seek re-election because of term limits. Five people want to replace him: Aujanae Bennett Darryl Carrington LaWanda DeShazer Chris Pumpelly Joseph Shepard District 3 – southeast Wichita Mike Hoheisel, incumbent Genevieve Howerton District 6 – north Wichita Maggie Ballard, incumbent Brett Anderson Margaret (Wheeler) Shabazz District 1 The schools in this district include: Adams, Buckner, Gammon, Isely, Jackson, Mueller, and Spaght elementaries, Gordon Parks K-8, Brooks and Stucky middle schools, Heights and Northeast Magnet high schools, and Chester I. Lewis Academic Learning Center (Wichita Virtual School, Wichita Alternative High School and Wichita Adult Learning Center), Little Early Childhood Center, and Wichita' Children's Home. Diane Albert, incumbent Sarah McMillen Mackenzi Truelove Kyle R. Wiseman District 2 The schools in this district include Beech, College Hill, Hyde, Minneha, Price-Harris, and Seltzer elementaries, Christa McAuliffe K-8, Coleman and Robinson middle schools, Southeast High, and Towne East Learning Center. Julie Hedrick, incumbent Brent T. Davis Valerie Most District 5 The schools in this district include Benton, Black, Dodge, Kensler, Lawrence, McCollom, OK, and Peterson elementaries, Mayberry and Wilbur middle schools, Northwest High, Bryant Opportunity Academy, and Levy Special Education Center. Kathy Bond, incumbent Michelle Cunningham Amy Jensen Phillip Samuels Caleb Smith District 6 The schools in this district include Chisholm Trail, Cloud, Earhart, Franklin, Irving, L'Ouverture, McLean, Ortiz, Pleasant Valley, Riverside, Washington, and Woodland elementary schools, Horace Mann K-8, Allison, Marshall, and Pleasant Valley middle schools, Heights and North high schools, and the Gateway Alternative Program. Hazel Stabler, incumbent Amy Warren Some of these races will appear on the Aug. 5 primary ballot, allowing voters to narrow down the list of candidates. All of the races will be on the Nov. 4 ballot. Other towns and school districts are also electing new leaders. The Sedgwick County Election Office shows more than 160 candidates. Click here to view the complete list. To see who is running for office in other counties around the state, visit your county's election website or county clerk's website. For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Heights Crematory hit with more than 30 lawsuits alleging mishandling of human remains
In the wake of the Illinois comptroller's office's decision to shut down a Chicago Heights crematory, at least 30 lawsuits have been filed by people who believe their loved ones remains were mishandled. Gabriel Hawkins, Scott Yonover and Karen Enright are representing those whose experiences with Heights Crematory include long periods of alleged improper storage of bodies and believing they received the wrong remains. Also named in many of the lawsuits are Castle Hill Funeral Home in Crown Point and Crown Cremation Services, with locations in Calumet City and Dyer, which worked with Heights. 'When loved ones contract with these kind of companies, they seek closure, and obviously that closure is not provided when their loved ones are violated,' Hawkins said during a news conference Thursday by the Indianapolis-based CohenMalad law firm. Hawkins said while about 30 lawsuits have been filed in Indiana, many more are to come, including in Illinois. Darla Smith, who said her husband, Darryl, died in August 2024, sued Heights Crematory and Crown Cremation Services April 29. Smith, who lives in Munster, said Wednesday she chose Crown Cremation to process her husband's remains after working with them after her brother died in 2017. She said Darryl, at age 60, died unexpectedly, though he had been frequently in and out of the hospital for chronic conditions over the past several years. She said Crown Cremation told her they would need between five and seven days to cremate her husband through Heights and return his remains to her. Smith said after that period passed, she was regularly calling Crown and receiving excuses as to why the remains were not ready. 'I thought it was funny, but I believed what I was being told. I had no reason not to believe that,' she said. It ultimately took 19 days before Smith was able to bring Darryl home. But since hearing about the Heights Crematory shutdown, she worries about how he was treated there and whether she has her husband's remains at all. 'I was immediately infuriated,' Smith said. 'I fear he was mistreated and just thrown in a trailer and left there. And I feel like if I hadn't kept calling, he could have been there several more weeks … It bothers me every day that I don't know whose cremains I have, because I obviously can't trust them anymore.' Smith is asking for a jury trial for her lawsuit, in hopes that Crown Cremations and Heights Crematory will be shut down for good once outrage builds about their handling of remains. But most of all, Smith said she is hoping for answers. The attorneys representing her and other plaintiffs said they are working with the comptroller's office to provide through sorting of documentation and identification tags. 'Obviously what the lawsuit provides is financial remedies, but really what's most important is the closure,' Hawkins said. Messages left Thursday with Heights Crematory and Crown Cremations were not immediately returned. Hawkins and Enright said they hope the lawsuits trigger tighter, better enforced regulations on funeral homes and crematories across Illinois. 'We want to make sure that there won't be any future victims or families that have to go through this,' Enright said. Before the state comptroller's office shut down Heights and filed a complaint to revoke the owner's license in March, officials said they performed surprise inspections in July, October and December of 2024. Each time, they found problems that the owner agreed to correct, the comptroller's office said in a news release. It took complaints of bodies stacking up on the property for state regulators to shut the crematory down and provide on-site support to process remaining bodies. The office's news release disclosed inspectors found an undisclosed refrigerated trailer that contained 19 bodies from Indiana as well as hundreds of boxes of unclaimed remains, for which the office is working to find paperwork. 'I am appalled, disgusted, and deeply saddened by the disrespect Heights Crematory showed to the remains of the deceased, and we are working swiftly to strip the facility of its license,' Comptroller Susan Mendoza said in the release. 'No family should have to wonder what happened to their loved one when they pass or learn a deceased family or friend wasn't treated with the utmost respect and dignity they deserve.' ostevens@
Chicago Tribune
22-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Heights Crematory hit with more than 30 lawsuits alleging mishandling of human remains
In the wake of the Illinois comptroller's office's decision to shut down a Chicago Heights crematory, at least 30 lawsuits have been filed by people who believe their loved ones remains were mishandled. Gabriel Hawkins, Scott Yonover and Karen Enright are representing those whose experiences with Heights Crematory include long periods of alleged improper storage of bodies and believing they received the wrong remains. Also named in many of the lawsuits are Castle Hill Funeral Home in Crown Point and Crown Cremation Services, with locations in Calumet City and Dyer, which worked with Heights. 'When loved ones contract with these kind of companies, they seek closure, and obviously that closure is not provided when their loved ones are violated,' Hawkins said during a news conference Thursday by the Indianapolis-based CohenMalad law firm. Hawkins said while about 30 lawsuits have been filed in Indiana, many more are to come, including in Illinois. Darla Smith, who said her husband, Darryl, died in August 2024, sued Heights Crematory and Crown Cremation Services April 29. Smith, who lives in Munster, said Wednesday she chose Crown Cremation to process her husband's remains after working with them after her brother died in 2017. She said Darryl, at age 60, died unexpectedly, though he had been frequently in and out of the hospital for chronic conditions over the past several years. She said Crown Cremation told her they would need between five and seven days to cremate her husband through Heights and return his remains to her. Smith said after that period passed, she was regularly calling Crown and receiving excuses as to why the remains were not ready. 'I thought it was funny, but I believed what I was being told. I had no reason not to believe that,' she said. It ultimately took 19 days before Smith was able to bring Darryl home. But since hearing about the Heights Crematory shutdown, she worries about how he was treated there and whether she has her husband's remains at all. 'I was immediately infuriated,' Smith said. 'I fear he was mistreated and just thrown in a trailer and left there. And I feel like if I hadn't kept calling, he could have been there several more weeks … It bothers me every day that I don't know whose cremains I have, because I obviously can't trust them anymore.' Smith is asking for a jury trial for her lawsuit, in hopes that Crown Cremations and Heights Crematory will be shut down for good once outrage builds about their handling of remains. But most of all, Smith said she is hoping for answers. The attorneys representing her and other plaintiffs said they are working with the comptroller's office to provide through sorting of documentation and identification tags. 'Obviously what the lawsuit provides is financial remedies, but really what's most important is the closure,' Hawkins said. Messages left Thursday with Heights Crematory and Crown Cremations were not immediately returned. Hawkins and Enright said they hope the lawsuits trigger tighter, better enforced regulations on funeral homes and crematories across Illinois. 'We want to make sure that there won't be any future victims or families that have to go through this,' Enright said. Before the state comptroller's office shut down Heights and filed a complaint to revoke the owner's license in March, officials said they performed surprise inspections in July, October and December of 2024. Each time, they found problems that the owner agreed to correct, the comptroller's office said in a news release. It took complaints of bodies stacking up on the property for state regulators to shut the crematory down and provide on-site support to process remaining bodies. The office's news release disclosed inspectors found an undisclosed refrigerated trailer that contained 19 bodies from Indiana as well as hundreds of boxes of unclaimed remains, for which the office is working to find paperwork. 'I am appalled, disgusted, and deeply saddened by the disrespect Heights Crematory showed to the remains of the deceased, and we are working swiftly to strip the facility of its license,' Comptroller Susan Mendoza said in the release. 'No family should have to wonder what happened to their loved one when they pass or learn a deceased family or friend wasn't treated with the utmost respect and dignity they deserve.'
New York Times
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Alice Tan Ridley, a Subway Singer Who Dazzled on ‘America's Got Talent,' Dies at 72
Alice Tan Ridley, who rose to fame after decades singing for tips in the New York City subway with an unexpected run in the television show 'America's Got Talent,' died on March 25 in New York City. Ms. Ridley, who was the mother of the Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe, was 72. Her family announced the death in an obituary published online. It did not include the cause of death. Ms. Ridley's public life as a singer began underground in the mid-1980s, and she spent decades belting out songs in New York City subway stations. At first, the subway busking was meant to supplement income from her day job in education. Eventually, she quit to sing full time. In her early days of busking, the performances were collaborations with her brother Roger Ridley and their cousin Jimmy McMillan, the political activist who would become famous for founding the Rent Is Too Damn High Party in New York. 'We are not homeless,' she told 'Good Morning America' in 2010, referring to buskers. 'We are not beggars. And we're not under drug influence, you know? There are traditional jobs, and there are nontraditional jobs.' She compared busking in New York to 'being in a cathedral.' 'It's wonderful,' she said. 'There's just music all over this city, and especially down underground.' For Ms. Ridley, singing underground fulfilled a calling. In 2005, she appeared in the film 'Heights,' directed by Chris Terrio, as a subway singer. 'People always say, 'Why don't you sing in clubs?' ' Ms. Ridley told The New York Post in 2010. 'I tell them, 'This is my club.'' Her big break came that year when she auditioned for 'America's Got Talent.' Typically, most contestants on competition shows are younger, but Ms. Ridley was in her late 50s. In her audition, she impressed the judges with her rendition of the Etta James classic 'At Last.' She would be eliminated in the semifinals, but not before delivering other highly praised performances, including renditions of 'Proud Mary' and 'Midnight Train to Georgia.' The talent show stint kicked off her career above ground, and she began touring worldwide. Finding the travel grueling, Ms. Ridley returned to busking in 2014. 'When I was no longer down under there,' Ms. Ridley told The New York Times in 2016, 'I missed it.' That same year, she released her debut album, 'Never Lost My Way.' Alice Tan Ridley, the daughter of Melton Lee and Lessie B. Ridley, was born Alice Ann Ridley on Dec. 21, 1952. She grew up in a large musical family in Lumpkin, Ga. 'My mother was my greatest influence,' she told The Morning Call in 2013, referring to her mother, Lessie. 'She wrote songs and plays and had us all singing.' Her father, Melton Lee, was a guitar player. Roger, her older sibling, was also a street musician who played around the country and became prominent after appearing in performances for 'Playing for Change,' a project that unites musicians across the world. She graduated from Stewart County High School in Lumpkin, Ga., around 1969, before moving to New York, where she had visited during summer breaks in high school. Ms. Ridley married Ibnou Sidibe, who was then a cabdriver, around 1980. They had two children, Ahmed Sidibe and Gabourey Sidibe, before their marriage ended in divorce in the early 1990s. Ms. Ridley is also survived by two brothers, James D. Ridley and Tommy Lee Cherry; two sisters, Julia Van Mater-Miller and Mildred Ridley Dent; and two grandchildren. Singing was a third career for Ms. Ridley. In the early 1970s, she worked as a nursery teacher after moving to New York. In 1976, Ms. Ridley took a job as a teacher's aide for special needs children at a public elementary school in New York. The year before Ms. Ridley appeared on 'America's Got Talent,' her daughter, Ms. Sidibe, hit it big: She starred in the movie 'Precious,' a role for which Ms. Sidibe was nominated for an Oscar. The role came about, in part, because of Ms. Ridley. From her telling, she was approached to be in the movie. 'They asked me to play the part of the mother,' Ms. Ridley told The Post in the 2010 interview. 'But being a mom and teacher, I just couldn't play that part. It was just too hard.' The movie is an adaptation of the 1996 novel 'Push' by Sapphire. 'I read the book, and I gave it to Gabby,' Ms. Ridley said. 'Her friends encouraged her to try out for 'Precious,' and she got it.' At the time, Ms. Sidibe was a psychology student secretly working as a phone-sex operator. In the 'Good Morning America' interview, Ms. Ridley recalled how she told her children that they 'can be whatever you want to be.' 'You can do whatever you want to do,' Ms. Ridley said. 'You just have to get up and do it.' In Ms. Ridley's case, she wanted to be a singer — no matter where. 'Travelers would be worried about their mortgages, getting fired and their jobs,' Ms. Ridley told The Toronto Star in 2012. 'They would pass by me and see me singing. They would stand by me for two or three hours, hang with me in the heat all sweating or as cold as the dickens because they were entertained.' She added, 'I brought a little joy to people who were traveling.'
Express Tribune
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Alice Tan Ridley, 'America's Got Talent' Singer and Mother of Gabourey Sidibe, Dies at 72
Alice Tan Ridley, the soulful singer known for her standout performances on America's Got Talent and mother of actress Gabourey Sidibe, has died at the age of 72. Her death occurred on March 25 in New York, according to a family announcement. A cause of death was not disclosed. Born Alice Ann Ridley on December 21, 1952, in Charles Junction (now Lumpkin), Georgia, she was one of eight siblings. She moved to New York in 1971 to work as a teacher for special-needs children. Known affectionately as 'Tan,' she shifted her focus to music in 1992, becoming a well-known presence in New York City subways, performing at stations like Union Square and Times Square. Her powerful vocals and street performances caught the attention of passersby and online audiences, eventually leading to national exposure. In 2010, Ridley auditioned for America's Got Talent with a soaring rendition of Etta James' 'At Last,' reaching the semifinals of Season 5. Prior to that breakout moment, she had won the first episode of Fox's 30 Seconds to Fame in 2002 and appeared on Showtime at the Apollo in 2005. Her voice was also featured in the film Heights and David LaChapelle's dance documentary Rize. In 2016, Ridley released her debut studio album Never Lost My Way and continued to perform internationally until retiring in 2018 due to health concerns. She is survived by her daughter Gabourey Sidibe, son Ahmed Sidibe, brothers James D. Ridley and Tommy Lee Cherry, sisters Julia Van Mater-Miller and Mildred Ridley Dent, two grandchildren, and extended family.
