Lifestyle
Shooting at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee leaves 3 wounded
GURNEE, Ailing. – Six Flags Nice America is working with native authorities to search out the offenders liable for a drive-by taking pictures Sunday evening on the Gurnee theme park.
Police stated three folks have been injured when folks in a white sedan opened fireplace within the Six Flags parking zone round 7:50 p.m. after which sped off.
“Based mostly on the preliminary investigation, a white sedan entered the Six Flags parking zone and drove towards the entrance entrance of the park,” Gurnee police spokesperson Shawn Gaylor stated in an announcement.
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“Suspects exited the automobile and started taking pictures at one other particular person within the parking zone. The suspects received again within the white sedan and shortly left the world,” Gaynor stated.
A 17-year-old boy from Aurora was shot within the higher leg and a 19-year-old girl from Appleton, Wisconsin, was shot within the decrease leg. Each have been transported to an space hospital.
A 3rd sufferer, whose age was not launched, was grazed on the shoulder and declined medical therapy, the spokesperson stated.
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Police stated “quite a few” businesses helped to filter the park, however Gaylor famous that it “seemed to be a focused incident outdoors the park.”
“This was not an energetic shooter incident contained in the theme park,” Gaylor stated.
An worker stated the park was crowded with households, attempting to benefit from the final little bit of summer season earlier than faculty resumes.
Brian Donda was on the cellphone along with his son Charlie at Six Flags when the gunfire erupted within the parking zone Sunday night.
” they heard what gave the impression of fireworks go off. Then they went operating,” Donda stated. “They latched onto a household and adopted them. They jumped over a fence and hid behind a hill. They have been looking for a approach to discover to get out of the park.”
Lastly, they noticed firefighters who waved them to security.
Movies posted to social media present a big police presence. Some movies stated folks ran between rollercoasters and jumped over fences to flee the park. Different movies present folks operating and screaming.
Anthony Shannon, 17, was working on the entrance gate and urged everybody to return again into the park.
He stated he didn’t concern for his security however is glad nobody else received damage when the group ran for security, “I felt like they paid to have enjoyable, to not depart and get shot.”
At round 11 p.m., a police truck over a speaker drove across the perimeter saying repeatedly: “Consideration, anyone within the park. That is the police. There isn’t a menace, it’s secure to return out.”
Gurnee Mayor Tom Hood stated swift motion by regulation enforcement prevented others from being damage.
Native politicians took to social media Monday morning to reward the fast response by first responders, whereas saying extra must be executed to handle gun violence.
“Whether or not they will faculty, work, or Six Flags, Individuals mustn’t must concern for his or her lives due to gun violence. I’m grateful for the fast motion by first responders in Gurnee final evening, however we’ve extra work to do to handle the gun violence epidemic,” stated Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ailing.
Three folks have been shot Sunday evening within the parking zone of Six Flags Nice America in Gurnee. Quite a few police businesses responded to studies of a taking pictures and helped to evacuate the park. (Kaitlin Washburn/Solar-Occasions)
Rep. Brad Schneider known as the taking pictures “unacceptable” and stated extra must be executed to “sort out the basis causes” of gun violence.
“We are able to and should discover a approach to hold our children secure in colleges, folks secure of their homes of worship, and households secure whether or not at amusement parks, neighborhood parades or just strolling down the road,” Schneider stated in a tweet.
Six Flags launched an announcement saying the park could be open on Monday.
Lifestyle
A small town in Wales claims the world's biggest Elvis festival. NPR visited
You might expect the world’s biggest Elvis Presley festival to be in Las Vegas or Memphis, Tennessee. But a small seaside town in south Wales, Porthcawl — where each year 40,000 people descend to celebrate the legacy of the King — claims this title.
The main event is a three-day Elvis competition, which pits the best Elvis Tribute Artists (known as ETAs by those in the know) in the world against each other, all vying to be named Porthcawl’s top Elvis for the year. Contestants have to showcase their voices, dance moves, outfits, and stage presence, all of which are assessed by a panel of judges who crown the winner.
While Elvis artists still tend to be men, there were two women in the competition this year. One of them, Janny James, explained that she had worked hard to get her high voice deep enough to sound like Presley’s. “It took two years of sore throat nodules, but I got it low enough,” James told NPR.
Dressed in a white jumpsuit covered in red rhinestones, Janny was competing in heat two. Contestants fly in from around the world. A married American couple were supposed to come over, and also compete against each other, but got stuck at home thanks to Hurricane Helene.
The other woman in the contest, Paula Navarro, had travelled from Portugal. Navorro is a therapist-by-day, but says she works hard on her Elvis tributes. “Once you wear a jumpsuit, you need to do things seriously,” Navarro said. “I’m not a professional, but I’m always demanding in everything I do.”
Porthcawl was once a thriving seaside resort. But the closure of the nearby coal mines and the rise of cheap flights to sunnier parts of Europe have meant lower tourist numbers in recent years.
Organizer Peter Phillips started the Elvis festival exactly 20 years ago to raise money to save the local theater, called the Grand Pavilion. But now the event has grown beyond his wildest dreams, taking over the town for a weekend every year.
“I always say that more Elvis fans celebrate Elvis at the end of September in Porthcawl than celebrate Elvis in Memphis on the anniversary of his death,” Phillips told NPR. Phillips — who has been an Elvis fan since his school days, when fellow students preferred Led Zepplin — says that he believes that tribute acts are part of the reason that Presley remains such an iconic act today, almost 50 years after his death.
Beyond the main competition, all of Porthcawl goes Elvis Presley mad. Every pub books Elvis impersonators, and revelers dress up in costumes. There’s a Young Elvis competition, and a ‘Hound Dog’ prize for the best dressed mutt. Minister and Elvis tribute artist Reverend Wynne Roberts performed as Elvis at a church service — in Welsh, of course.
The Porthcawl Elvis festival is known for spotting the best of the best Elvis tribute acts before the rest of the world. The current champion Emilio Santoro, a 21-year-old from England, became the best Elvis in the world when he won the Ultimate Memphis Championship in August. He thinks he’s only the fourth ever British winner of the prize. Santoro first came to the Porthcawl festival aged 13, and won the first year he entered, aged 16. He says Elvis has been an obsession since he was very young old, inspired by his mother, a massive Elvis fan.
“I remember seeing him on the TV. And then that next Christmas, I was writing to Santa asking for a jumpsuit,” Santoro said. “It’s a full circle moment coming back here.”
As well as having fun, there’s a serious side to being an ETA. Many of the Elvis performers make their living playing in care homes to older people, who often have dementia. “You start singing, and then all of a sudden, people are trying to pull themselves out of chairs,” said local Welshman Darren ‘Graceland’ Jones, who won the competition in 2014. “They want to get up and dance, but they can’t even walk… it’s Elvis that does that.”
There’s also a family element to the Elvis tribute acts at Porthcawl. Last year’s winner at the Porthcawl festival was “TC Memphis,” real name Trevor Chaplin-Smith, a Brit who has a day job as a mental health nurse. This year, his future son-in-law Nick Pitt was competing, and came in second overall. The pair share advice on how to improve their acts. This year, the winner was “Blue Angel”, an entertainer from Malaga in Spain.
“He’s my idol, my favorite artist… hearing Elvis Presley songs always helped me through my life,” he told NPR. After receiving his trophy, Blue Angel did one last Elvis classic for the cheering crowds, looking the part in his pink Elvis jacket.
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