CHICAGO (WLS) — In Edgewater, Chicago, an evolving tribute at the feet of a Dolly Parton mural is attracting admirers who insist that her impact surpasses her illustrious musical journey.

Bouquets and flickering candles now adorn the area in front of The Lytle House on Broadway. Fans are gathering to honor the beloved country star, actress, and philanthropist, who passed away at 80 in Nashville after a brief cancer fight, as confirmed by her representatives.

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“Dolly was a woman who courageously voiced her thoughts, standing firm on her beliefs without sowing discord,” shared Michelle Lytle, the owner of The Lytle House.

For those who cherished her, Parton embodied a legacy of warmth and empathy.

“Love and kindness were Dolly’s guiding lights. She truly exemplified what it means to be loving, and her absence is profoundly felt,” expressed admirer Curtis Kimberlin.

For some, memories of personal encounters with Parton have resurfaced following news of her death.

David Hernandez said he met Parton by chance at O’Hare International Airport when he was 9 years old.

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In a heart-wrenching incident that rocked a serene Montana community, a man fatally shot eight relatives, including four children, during what should have been a peaceful Sunday dinner. According to a family member, the shooter’s parents had requested that he vacate the family’s property several weeks prior to the tragedy.

Brad Ireland informed The Associated Press that the perpetrator, Alan Smith, aged 44, was responsible for the brutal act that claimed the lives of Ireland’s former wife and their two children. The Billings Police Department has labeled the massacre as an “unimaginable tragedy.” Smith reportedly ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, leaving investigators to piece together the motives behind this dark event.

The Associated Press identified the victims as Brad Ireland’s ex-wife, Megan Ghekiere, along with their children, 13-year-old Owen and 7-year-old Chloe. Tragically, Megan’s stepchildren—Landon Ghekiere, 15, and Charlotte Ghekiere, 12—also perished, along with Smith’s parents, Dana and Barb, and his grandmother, Evelyn.

“What we know for sure is that Charlotte was a hero,” shared Jennifer Mercer, a neighbor and close family friend who has initiated an online fundraiser to help cover the funerals and related expenses. Mercer emphasized the importance of recognizing Charlotte’s brave actions. “Charlotte called 911 and attempted to save her family. It’s crucial that people know her courageous efforts.”

The Billings Police Department said it responded to a 911 call of an active shooting at 6:01 p.m. Sunday and heard shots fired from the back of the house. Minutes later, the property was fully engulfed in flames.

Firefighters ultimately fought the blaze until around 1 a.m. Monday, according to Billings Fire Department Chief Matt Hoppel. The home is in a subdivision outside of city limits that’s not required to have fire hydrants.

“Due to the condition and structural integrity of the residence, recovery and investigative efforts must be conducted carefully and methodically,” the Billings Police Department said Tuesday, adding that, “we extend our sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones affected by this unimaginable tragedy.”

Mercer described the family as “very loving and close,” and said the children all got along and that their parents remained amicable even after divorcing.

The Smith family was originally from the Seattle area. Ireland said that after he and Megan Ghekiere divorced six years ago, she moved to Montana with their children and met the man who would become her second husband, Adam Ghekiere, who was working and not at the home when the shooting occurred.

She and Alan’s parents, Dana and Barb Smith, soon followed, buying a house in Billings near their daughter’s home. Evelyn Smith, their grandmother, lived in a nearby retirement community, Ireland said.

Alan Smith, who also moved in with his parents in Montana, was described by Ireland as a “hermit” who spent most of his days in his room on his computer.

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“No one knew what he did in there 24/7,” he said.

Smith’s parents had asked Alan to move out weeks ago after he stayed with them for years, Ireland told the AP.

Alan Smith had attended Eastern Washington University but had been unable to find or hold a job, the AP reported. Ireland told the news agency that to his knowledge, Alan Smith had never been violent, though he could be verbally abusive.

Adam Ghekiere, who works at the airport in Billings, told the AP that he heard over a dispatch radio about an active shooting. After calling each member of his family, he raced across town to the Smith home.

When he got there, the house was ablaze, and two hours later, he learned his wife and children had been killed. His children weren’t supposed to be there because family dinner was usually on Friday, he said.

“I don’t think he expected my kids to be there,” Ghekiere said, referring to his brother-in-law. “Monster isn’t even enough to describe what he did.”

A GoFundMe page said Adam Ghekiere’s 15-year-old son Landon, who was set to enter his sophomore year of high school, was “looking forward to getting his driver’s license this week and was a patient, protective, and loving big brother.”

“Charlotte was 12 and preparing to begin seventh grade. Funny, precocious, and adorable — with just the right amount of stubborn — Charlotte had an angelic smile and loved posing for pictures,” it added.

A heartbreaking report has surfaced, confirming that Emilie Kiser, a prominent mommy influencer, tragically lost her 3-year-old son, Trigg, to an anoxic brain injury resulting from drowning. This revelation comes over a year after the devastating incident rocked the family.

The tragic incident occurred in May 2025 when Trigg fell into the family’s unfenced swimming pool located in Arizona. At the time, Kiser’s husband, Brady, was alone at home, caring for their two children.

According to a report from the Maricopa County medical examiner, released this Tuesday and detailed by People magazine, Trigg’s death has been classified as an accident.

In his statement to the police, Brady recounted losing sight of young Trigg after the child ventured outside following their evening meal. Brady admitted he was preoccupied with the couple’s newborn, who was just five weeks old, when the incident occurred.

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Investigators disclosed that Trigg had been left unattended for nearly 10 minutes and was submerged in the pool for approximately seven minutes before being rescued.

He died on May 18, 2025 — six days later.

Kiser has since revealed that she has forgiven her husband.

This afternoon, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, along with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, made a notable return to Britain after spending six years in the United States.

Touching down at Birmingham Airport around midday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex took a private flight from California, signifying the beginning of a new chapter in the UK.

It’s believed that the family traveled on a luxurious Bombardier Global Express XRS business jet, a long-range aircraft, departing from Los Angeles’s Van Nuys Airport.

Chartered through Planet Nine Private Air, a company based in California specializing in private flights, the cost of the jet is estimated at approximately $12,000 (£9,000) per hour.

Questions linger regarding security expenses, as it is understood that the family was not provided with police protection upon landing, raising discussions about whether taxpayers will be responsible for their safety measures.

The Sussexes – who are also believed to be bringing their dogs Mia and Pula across the Atlantic – are now setting up their home in the UK. It marks a shock development after they quit the working monarchy in 2020 and bought a house in Montecito.

Former Suits star Meghan is said to be pursuing an acting role amid reports that she remains in talks about a role in the third series of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen.

Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, will live in a non-royal residence outside of London and the children have both been enrolled in UK schools ready to start next week.

It comes a month after the couple took Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, to see their grandfather the King for the first time in four years at his Highgrove home in July.

The couple are not thought to have raised the prospect of a return to the UK at that meeting. The King was told they were moving back three days before it was revealed.

Some reports have suggested the Sussexes’ stay in the UK could last just until the autumn, with the family keeping their houses in Montecito and Portugal.

Meghan meanwhile has unveiled the latest addition to her As Ever range – Spiced Apple Butter.

The jar of ‘orchard apples and fragrant spices’ is being launched today, ‘just in time for fall’, with Meghan’s brand saying the product captures the season’s ‘promise of crisp mornings and changing leaves just around the corner’.

She also posted an Instagram story in which she chuckled at what appeared to be a tea towel with the message: ‘People who take care of chickens are literally chicken tenders’.

It follows news that the Sussexes’ brood of chickens are remaining at their home in California to be cared for there.

Sussex-friendly People magazine suggested yesterday that the monarch wanted to see his estranged sons Harry and the Prince of Wales ‘together over time’, but the report has not been confirmed.

According to Harry’s autobiography, Charles pleaded with his sons during a tense meeting after Prince Philip’s funeral in 2021: ‘Please, boys. Don’t make my final years a misery.’

The brothers no longer speak, having fallen out around the time of Harry and Meghan’s 2018 wedding, with the relationship worsening post-Megxit following Harry’s accusations against the Royal Family in his Oprah interview, Netflix documentary and memoir Spare.

Separately today, sources close to Harry claimed he ‘never really stopped missing home’ after stepping down as a senior royal and leaving Britain for the US six years ago.

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The duke is said to have ‘missed that sense of connection and belonging’ in the UK while building a new life in California with Meghan.

Harry also wants their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to ‘understand the world he grew up in and where their family comes from’, according to insiders.

Now, the family are set to return to Britain where they will live for an ‘extended period’ of time, with the children enrolled in UK schools ready to start next month.

Sources, speaking to People, said the decision to move was ‘taken as a family’ and they want to ‘give the kids the opportunity to be here’.

Meghan, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, is also feeling ‘very fortunate that they’re able to give Archie and Lilibet the opportunity to experience both worlds’.

Harry will also be involved in preparations for his next Invictus Games in Birmingham in July 2027, with the source saying he ‘will be in the weeds on it every day’.

Meanwhile the rest of the Royal Family have gathered at Balmoral for their summer break.

Charles arrived at the Aberdeenshire summer retreat on Tuesday last week and William and Kate have since been pictured at the estate, as well as the Princess Royal and her brother the Duke of Edinburgh.

William and Kate have not reacted publicly to the news of the Sussexes’ return, but may have private conversations with the wider family during the break.

The future king is estranged from his younger brother after Harry levelled a barrage of accusations against him, Kate and the King and Queen in the wake of his stepping back from royal duties.

Charles is said to be happy to be able to spend more time with the Sussex family, but remains adamant they will not be working royals.

Harry and Meghan have not commented on their reasons for relocating to the UK, though a source close to the duchess did not deny reporting that she has been offered an acting role.

Questions have been raised over the Sussexes’ finances as decisions about whether taxpayers will foot the bill for their security remain unanswered but the duchess will continue to run her lifestyle brand, As Ever, from their new base.

After his level of protection changed when he stepped down as a working royal in 2020, the duke has faced a protracted legal battle with the Home Office over security for him and his family while they are in the UK, and their arrangements may change when they become permanent residents again.

At the end of June, Harry was still waiting for a review by the Risk Management Board, part of the process by which the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) rules on his security requirements – and he and his security detail were working to try to ensure his July visit could go ahead safely.

Individual decisions on protective security for key public figures, including members of the Royal Family, are made by Ravec – which includes the Home Office, Metropolitan Police and Royal Household – which advises an independent chairman.

Rumours are rife over where Harry and Meghan will choose to settle, with suggestions including rural locations in the Cotswolds.

Archie and Lili are expected to start at their new schools next week, at the beginning of the autumn term, and it is understood there will be no published photographs of the children when they start or on their birthdays.

The Daily Mail has contacted a representative of the Sussexes for comment on the couple’s return today. 

A spokesman told the BBC: ‘This is not something we would comment on.’

A chilling ordeal involving a man dressed in a “Chucky”-inspired mask who was suspected of menacing pedestrians in Philadelphia has culminated in an arrest in Las Vegas, marking the end of an extensive multi-state search. This information was confirmed by the U.S. Marshals Service.

The suspect, identified as 22-year-old Zymire Hughes, was apprehended thanks to a coordinated effort between the U.S. Marshals Service’s branch in Philadelphia and the Nevada Violent Offender Task Force. Hughes is now being held at the Clark County Detention Center, awaiting his return to Pennsylvania where he will face charges.

Reports indicate that Hughes left the Philadelphia area on August 19, embarking on a journey that began at Trenton-Mercer Airport in New Jersey. He traveled first to Orlando, Florida, and eventually made his way to Las Vegas, as noted by FOX5 Vegas, referencing federal officials.

According to the U.S. Marshals, Hughes had settled in Las Vegas earlier in February, maintaining employment connections across Nevada and California. To evade capture, Hughes is said to have frequently moved locations, spending a clandestine five-day period at an apartment complex in southeast Las Vegas.

Task-force officers ultimately located Hughes through surveillance footage from the complex, according to the report. Hughes allegedly questioned the arrest and resisted officers before deputies subdued him.

“Nothing was recovered upon arrest, and he did not make any statements about his motive,” the U.S. Marshal’s office told Fox News.

Philadelphia police had been searching for Hughes in connection with a series of confrontations near City Hall in the early morning hours of Aug. 12. Authorities allege he approached, chased and threatened multiple people while wearing a cracked doll-style mask and recording the encounters on a cellphone.

In one incident, police said Hughes allegedly asked a 40-year-old female jogger, “Are you ready to die?” while keeping his arm behind his back as though he had a weapon. The woman fled and suffered a leg injury requiring extensive treatment, authorities said.

Hughes was wanted on an active aggravated assault warrant, FOX5 reported. Philadelphia officials had previously said he faced felony and misdemeanor assault charges and was already on probation in an unrelated Montgomery County case.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner had warned Hughes last week that authorities were closing in.

“If Zymire Hughes was trying to scare people, make them run — who’s scared now? Who’s running now?” Krasner said at a news conference.

An Arizona State University hockey player experienced a sudden collapse during practice last Thursday morning and was swiftly transported to the hospital, as reported by The Athletic this past Tuesday.

Identified as 21-year-old Matthew Mayich, he remained under medical care as of Tuesday, according to someone familiar with the family’s situation who confirmed this to the news outlet.

Chris Fiscus, who serves as the Vice President of ASU media relations, communicated that an ongoing investigation is being conducted into the “circumstances surrounding the workout.” Mayich’s name has not yet been officially released by the university.

“The university extends its support to the student-athlete, his family, and all student-athletes during this challenging period,” a spokesperson from Arizona State communicated to the Arizona Republic.

Responding to a call about a “heat-related illness,” Tempe Fire Medical Rescue dispatched a team at 8:31 a.m. to 400 S. Rural Road, the location of Sun Angel Stadium, an outdoor track and field venue.

A patient was treated at the site and then transported to a local hospital.

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Phoenix has been in an extreme heat warning all week and the average temperature Thursday was 92.5 degrees with a high of 106 degrees in the afternoon.

Fiscus declined to answer whether the workout was team sanctioned.

NCAA rules enable college hockey teams to begin formal activities when classes start, and ASU kicked off its fall semester Thursday.

Mayich, who is a sophomore defenseman, started his college career at Clarkson before transferring to Arizona State this offseason.

The St. Louis Blues selection him in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Last season with Clarkson, he scored 15 points on seven goals and eight assists.

Mayich also previously played in the Ontario Hockey League for over 250 games.

In a disaster along the Nepal-Tibet border, devastating floods and mudslides have left hundreds of tourists unaccounted for, including 12 from Britain and three from the United States. This calamity has swept away essential infrastructure such as buildings and bridges.

In Nepal, homes and roads have been obliterated, while across the border in Tibet, under Chinese administration, officials express grave concerns about potential heavy casualties in Gyirong County, where a mudslide disrupted a critical land crossing between the two nations earlier this morning.

Chilling footage has surfaced showing a massive wave of floodwater tearing through a town in Nepal’s Rasuwa region, obliterating everything in its trajectory in this mountainous area.

Another dramatic video from Tibet captures the moment when the Chinese-controlled Gyirong Port land crossing was almost instantaneously demolished by the surging floodwaters, with panicked dozens fleeing moments before the structure succumbed to the onslaught of water and mud.

At least 19 fatalities have been confirmed as the water surged down the Bhote Koshi River valley after landslides, suspected to be triggered by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake, according to experts who noted the tremor just minutes before the catastrophe struck the Gyirong Port crossing.

There are fears that a second flood may plunge Nepal, Tibet and neighbouring India into further chaos. Flood alerts were issued in the populous northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as they border Nepal and several rivers flow down the mountains into their plains. 

Nepali officials said as many as 384 tourists and trekkers are unaccounted for, made up of 291 foreign nationals and 93 Nepali citizens. 

Among the unaccounted are 12 from the UK, 105 Indian nationals, four from South Africa, 17 from Malaysia and three from the United States. One each from Australia and the Netherlands are also unaccounted for.

South Korea said eight of its citizens were unaccounted for, while an additional 12 were stranded following the deadly floods. 

The nationalities of nearly 100 more people has not yet been established, while an additional 37 people are believed to be non-resident Indians living in Nepal. 

Qianggong Zhang, head of climate and environmental risks at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, warned the region may come under threat again: ‘With a blockage still lodged upstream on the Nepal-China border river, authorities warn a second flood may occur.’ 

Search operations are currently under way on both sides of the border between Tibet and Nepal. 

At the Gyirong Port, authorities have deployed nearly 600 rescuers. 

But a rescuer told Chinese media that it would take at least four hours for the team to reach the site due to the five foot deep sediment that blocked pathways leading to the affected area. 

The debris had surged upstream from the Nepalese side of the crossing, the rescuer said.

The Nepal Army said 14 helicopters and disaster response teams have been deployed for rescue and relief. 

But officials said the waters were too high for helicopters to land in Nepal’s affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure in the mountainous district of Rasuwa, with a population of about 50,000. 

Nepal’s rescue helicopters would be unable to land in the affected areas until the waters recede, however, army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said. 

‘There could be heavy casualties or loss of property,’ district administrator Narendra Pariyar told Reuters. 

‘But I cannot say for sure now.’ Pariyar urged those living on the banks of the Bhote Koshi river in the area to seek higher ground, pointing to reports that nearby villages and infrastructure project sites were washed away.

‘It all came suddenly,’ the Onlinekhabar portal quoted a witness from the area as saying. ‘We heard a loud sound, like a volcano erupting. People started to scream and ran away.’

Around 60 houses in the Trishuli Bazaar area were swept away, while the nearby Devighat was also badly affected. Two bridges over the nearby Trishuli River were also washed away. 

Nepali media reported that 60 employees of an under-construction hydropower project are missing following the floods. 

Staff working at the Langtang Khola Hydroelectric Project in Rasuwa have not been accounted for. 

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Local media reported that workers were ‘carrying out concrete construction work inside a tunnel’, adding: ‘The flood caused severe damage to the project.’

Rasuwa is home to several hydropower plants. Nepal’s energy ministry said 430 MW of electricity supplies were affected, mostly from hydroelectric projects, or more than 12% of total national hydropower capacity of 3.2 GW, a Reuters calculation showed. 

The mudslide on the Nepali side hit China’s Gyirong port, cutting off roads, communications and power in the Shigatse region near the border with Nepal.  

‘I witnessed the flood sweep away eight or nine trucks, along with houses and people,’ Suman Chalise, a 34-year-old teacher, told AFP in Nuwakot district.

‘It was absolutely heart-wrenching. I had not witnessed such devastation before.’

One Chinese businessman told the BBC that his logistics firm has seven container trucks in the area of the flash flood, which are all staffed by Nepalese employees. 

Yee Liang told the broadcaster: ‘We have lost contact with all of them. There is no signal, so we cannot reach anyone.’

He said that, as far as he’s aware, there was no warning prior to the disaster: ‘There were occasional mudslides and landslides, especially in the rainy season, but this one seems much more serious.’

President Xi Jinping urged ‘all-out’ search efforts for the missing as well as stronger monitoring and early warning systems to prevent secondary disasters.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah said police and military were joining rescue and relief teams.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said New Delhi was ready to provide all possible humanitarian assistance and teams form the two countries were coordinating closely on rescue and relief efforts. 

‘Instructions have been given … to move the people living in the lower areas to safer places,’ he said. ‘People along the river are advised to exercise extra caution and remain alert.’ 

The Red Cross said this morning that it had activated emergency response teams, mobilised volunteers and was deploying an emergency team with relief supplies in response to the natural disaster. 

The Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi River, witnessed maximum flooding on Wednesday, experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said.

‘The Lhende Khola has flooded twice in fourteen months, this time triggered by an ice rock avalanche from a glacier on the Nepal side that blocked the river and released a sudden surge downstream,’ said Saswata Sanyal, a disaster risk reduction specialist at the climate research group.

‘In a warming Himalaya, early warning is the first line of adaptation,’ he added.

Another expert at the centre warned that a second flood may happen. Qianggong Zhang, head of climate and environmental risks, said: ‘With a blockage still lodged upstream on the Nepal-China border river, authorities warn a second flood may occur.’

From its origins in Tibet, the Bhote Koshi river empties into Nepal’s Trishuli river that eventually flows into India as the Gandak river.

A deadly flash flood on the same river last year was eventually traced to the draining of a glacier lake. 

Last year’s Bhote Koshi flood killed nine people, with 24 missing, as it washed away a ‘Friendship Bridge’ linking Nepal and China to disrupt trade and transport for months.

That flood was triggered by the draining of a supraglacial lake in Tibet. 

The Himalayan region, which crosses Nepal and several nearby countries including India, is especially vulnerable to heavy rains, floods and landslides because the area is warming up faster than the rest of the world due to human-caused climate change. 

Research has shown that extreme weather events including heat waves, heavy rains and melting glaciers have become more frequent in the region.

Researchers at the Kathmandu research group found earlier this year that glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are melting at an accelerating rate, with ice loss rates doubling since 2000 primarily due to rising global temperatures and climate change.

The Daily Mail has contacted the UK’s foreign office for comment.