MOKENA, Ill. (WLS) — The National Weather Service has verified that a powerful derecho accompanied by five tornadoes swept through the Chicago area on Tuesday, leaving a trail of destruction.

Residents in south and southwest suburbs are engaged in major cleanup efforts following the intense storms that tore through the region, uprooting trees, damaging homes, and causing widespread power outages.

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One of the tornadoes specifically barreled through the Mokena area, adding to the chaos.

A significant obstruction occurred when a large powerline fell across the road near St. Mary’s Catholic Church on 115th Avenue, complicating travel and emergency responses.

Witnesses described an eerie scene as the sky turned a foreboding green, heralding the arrival of heavy rain that pounded their homes with unrelenting force.

“This is the worse storm I’ve ever seen,” Ken Santefort said.

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A sudden alert appeared on the MyChart medical portal, demanding immediate attention.

The message was stark and alarming: ‘I feel like I’m going to die and I don’t care.’

Rebecca Jollotta, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, had recently begun working with a new patient, Lindsay Clancy, enrolled in the postpartum program at South Shore Health in Massachusetts.

At the age of 32, Clancy was around six months into her postpartum journey with her third child, grappling with intense anxiety and unrelenting insomnia.

On that December 2nd morning in 2022, the mother of three sent a series of distressing messages, revealing her battles with intrusive thoughts, a deep sense of hopelessness, and fears that her medications were exacerbating her issues — or worse, that she was becoming dependent on them.

‘I have never felt anything like this before,’ she wrote.

In response, the nurse sent her messages reassuring her that intrusive thoughts were ‘quite common’ in women with postpartum depression and that they ‘mean nothing about you as a mother.’

This week, those private messages took center stage at Plymouth County Superior Court.

Seven weeks later on January 24, 2023, Clancy strangled her three children Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, with exercise bands in their home in Duxbury.

She then slit her wrists and neck and jumped from a second-floor window in an apparent suicide attempt.

Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, claims that she heard a voice commanding her to kill the children and herself, saying it was her ‘last chance.’

Now, it will be down to a jury to decide whether she is guilty of first-degree murder or if she was in the grips of severe postpartum psychosis – and so lacks criminal responsibility.

Inside the courtroom on Tuesday, Clancy spent her 36th birthday reliving those weeks leading up to the killings.

Dressed in a pale blue blouse and clear wide-rimmed glasses, with her long dark hair loose around her shoulders, she looked every inch the doting, suburban mom she once was.

But sitting at the defense table in her wheelchair – a permanent reminder of her injuries from that awful night – she could only look on as one of the many doctors she had sought help from took the stand at her murder trial.

Jollotta treated Clancy from November 29, 2022, when a colleague leaving the clinic transferred her to her care, through December. Clancy then voluntarily admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital for five days.

During that period of treatment, Jollotta met Clancy once in person and twice over telehealth.

Much of their communication took place through the MyChart portal, with Clancy sending Jollotta messages almost daily, sometimes several times a day.

As the messages were read aloud, Clancy spoke of her numbness and depression and revealed her spiraling anxiety that she was not getting any better.

She also spoke of having intrusive thoughts of suicide and ‘wanting to die,’ Jollotta testified.

‘What I’m really feeling is I cannot go on this way,’ Clancy wrote on November 30, one day after their treatment began.

Later that day, Clancy asked Jollotta if she could give her a call.

Jollotta testified that she did not call Clancy because she was too busy seeing other patients. She had a more junior member of staff call her instead, she said.

The following day, Clancy sent Jollotta several messages describing her intrusive thoughts and revealing her fears about trying new medications.

‘It’s just a very scary stressful time for me, and starting new meds with side effects is very scary to me,’ she wrote.

On December 2, Clancy sent the nurse several messages throughout the day.

‘I took the Remeron,’ she wrote, referring to an antidepressant used for insomnia.

‘I woke up at 12.15 and had intrusive thoughts – of wanting it all to be over.’

Clancy opened up about having an intense fear that she was addicted to the anxiety drug Ativan and asked to speak to someone about substance abuse.

‘I really need to explore the option that I am addicted to Ativan,’ she wrote.

‘I feel addicted to it, and I feel like I’m not being heard that that is a possibility,’ she wrote.

‘I feel like we are throwing all these different meds at my insomnia when the root cause is Ativan dependence. I don’t feel any of the anxious thoughts I had before.

‘I feel completely numb.’ 

Over more messages that day, Clancy wrote that she felt like she was going to die.

‘I also just feel concerningly numb right now, like I have no emotion whatsoever,’ she wrote.

‘I feel like I’m going to die, and I don’t care. What do I do about this?’

The messages continued that day with Clancy begging that she was ‘willing to try anything.’

‘I have never felt anything like this before.’

‘Do you think my symptoms will go away?’

Jollotta testified that she did not believe Clancy was addicted to the medications or that her comments about dying constituted suicidal ideation.

Instead, she believed Clancy was suffering from postpartum depression and told her that her symptoms were ‘very treatable.’

Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial: All the key stories

Jollotta testified that Clancy would sometimes quit new drugs before they had time to take effect because she was concerned about side effects. She would also seek to lower the dose.

Clancy, she said, seemed to attribute a lot of her negative symptoms to her medications rather than her depression.

Jollotta prescribed Seroquel, Valium and Lamictal during the brief but critical period.

During a virtual appointment on December 6, which Clancy’s then husband Patrick joined, Clancy told Jollotta she had gone 48 hours without sleeping yet did not feel tired.

It was then that Jollotta said she considered whether Clancy was suffering from bipolar disorder – a condition that can cause a drastically reduced need for sleep.

But Patrick quickly ruled it out. ‘My wife is not bipolar,’ Patrick said.

Clancy just looked at her but said nothing, Jollotta testified.

Over the coming days and weeks, Clancy continued to message Jollotta.

‘What can I do? I really need help,’ Clancy said in another message to the nurse.

Ultimately, Jollotta recommended her for inpatient psychiatric care in mid-December because Clancy was having ‘persistent, intrusive thoughts of suicide,’ said Jollotta.

Clancy admitted herself to McLean Hospital on New Year’s Day and stayed for five days.

While she did have suicidal thoughts, she never spoke about having a plan for suicide or about having thoughts of harming the children, Jollotta testified.

Several members of the jury had their heads down, furiously scribbling down notes throughout the nurse’s hours-long testimony.

An expressionless Clancy watched on, sometimes conferring with her defense attorney Kevin Reddington.

Among the forensic, detailed questioning, there came a jarring moment where Jollotta loudly giggled into the microphone after Judge William Sullivan overruled an objection from the defense.

Reddington instantly shot her a look across the courthouse before rising to his feet and declaring a fresh objection ‘to the laughter coming from the witness.’

When it became his turn to question Jollotta, any laughter quickly vanished.

Under a barrage of questions, the nurse admitted that she had never contacted Clancy’s other providers for information or for her medical records – despite knowing that she was seeing another psychiatrist.

She also never contacted Clancy again after she checked into McLean.

Less than three weeks after she was discharged from McLean, that tragic evening unfolded.

The full horrors of January 24, 2023, were laid bare inside the courtroom on Wednesday when jurors heard harrowing details about the injuries that Clancy had inflicted on her small children.

Distressing images of Cora and Dawson’s autopsies punctuated the graphic testimony about their deaths from the medical examiners.

As Clancy sat forced to listen to what she had done, she hyperventilated and broke down in guttural sobs.

‘I can’t do this,’ came the guttural wail from the mom-of-three as her body crumpled over the defense table.

Her uncontrollable cries and emotions ended up shuttering the courtroom twice in the space of just 30 minutes.

Though Clancy is the one on trial, Jollotta and several other providers are also defendants in civil lawsuits filed by Clancy and her ex-husband Patrick over her treatment. A joint motion has been filed by the providers to dismiss the claims.

Clancy had sought help from multiple psychiatrists, hospitals and nurses and been prescribed at least 13 medications in the four months before the killings.

The suits allege that poor treatment and over-medication worsened her condition and contributed to the children’s deaths.

To some extent, America’s healthcare system is also on trial with debates around whether crucial warning signs were missed.

At the courtroom on Tuesday, these were questions on the lips of several women who had shown up to support Clancy.

Around three dozen members of the public had lined up outside the courthouse to get a seat inside – the most since Patrick testified on the opening days of the trial.

‘I’m here to support Lindsay and all women who are going through this,’ Karen Whebble told the Daily Mail.

Several among the heavily female crowd spoke of their outrage that ‘the system’ had failed both Clancy and her children.

Sue Blair, a mother from the nearby town of Kingston, said that watching the trial had only ‘solidified’ this thinking.

This was a woman who was repeatedly crying out for help and ‘was failed on every level,’ she said.

In particular, hearing all of Clancy’s messages to Jollotta in the MyChart portal, Blair said she couldn’t understand why her intrusive thoughts were not taken more seriously by doctors.

‘I don’t understand what you need to say to actually be considered suicidal. If you’re thinking about suicide, you’re thinking you don’t care if you die, to me that’s suicidal,’ she said.

‘I’m not a psychiatrist but to me any mention of suicide is a cry for help.’

Meanwhile, tension is escalating as New York’s Democratic leadership considers legal action against ICE in response to the agency’s potential acquisition of controversial new equipment. This equipment includes gloves that can administer an electric shock, drawing concern from state officials.

Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James voiced concerns on Wednesday, warning that recent state laws might subject ICE officers to legal risks if these electric shock devices are deployed within New York’s borders.

This caution arises as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly progressing towards purchasing these devices, identified in federal procurement documents as “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices.” ICE may invest up to $20 million to integrate this equipment into their operations.

The devices are known as G.L.O.V.E.s, short for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitters, and are designed to deliver an electrical charge through contact with a person.

“You cannot trample on someone’s constitutional rights and you cannot cause them undo harm. You will be held accountable,” Hochul said when asked about the electric shock gloves. “[The protections] should be in effect here.”

James said her office is reviewing the DHS proposal and examining whether use of the technology would violate New York law.

The proposal “appears to be in violation of a number of laws,” James said, including the State Administrative Procedure Act.

James also indicated that her office would pursue legal action against DHS if a person in New York were injured by the devices.

“You can best be assured of that,” James said.

ICE defended its process for evaluating equipment in a statement to News Media, saying the agency considers officers’ safety and existing law enforcement standards when assessing new technology.

“ICE is constantly assessing the needs of our officers in the field to ensure they have the tools and equipment necessary to safely arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our country,” a DHS spokesperson wrote. “Every decision is made with careful consideration and appropriately reviewed to ensure that any technology ICE utilizes is consistent with all applicable law enforcement policies and standards.”

They added: “Our officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training. The latest ICE use of force policy is available here.”

The gloves are manufactured by Compliant Technologies, a company based in Lexington, Kentucky. Demonstration videos released by the company show the devices being used on test subjects, who fall to the ground after physical contact with a person wearing the gloves.

Compliant Technologies founder and CEO Jeff Niklaus declined to discuss the potential federal purchase when contacted by The Associated Press.

“Unfortunately, we are unable to speak on this subject,” Niklaus wrote in an email to the Associated Press.

The clash over ICE equipment comes as Hochul and James are also seeking to curtail cooperation between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities.

New York law enforcement agencies have until Aug. 24 to end civil immigration enforcement agreements with ICE or potentially face legal consequences.

James said a dozen law enforcement agencies in the state maintained such agreements as of July, including Nassau County.

News Media reached out to Hochul’s office and Compliant Technologies for comment.

Despite Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s efforts to implement a “rent freeze” in New York, the reality for renters tells a starkly different story. New York apartment costs continue to climb, almost defying the intended impact of Mamdani’s policy. In truth, his initiatives either fail to address the core issues or inadvertently exacerbate the situation.

Industry experts reveal that the average rent for available units in Manhattan has skyrocketed to a staggering $6,655 per month. This figure marks a notable 10% increase compared to last year, illustrating the relentless upward trend in rental prices.

For those interested in smaller accommodations, the scenario remains grim. Renting a studio apartment now demands over $4,000 a month. Meanwhile, securing a three-bedroom flat will set tenants back more than $12,000 monthly, underscoring the mounting financial strain faced by New Yorkers.

A significant factor contributing to this conundrum is rent regulation, which shields about 1 million apartments—exceeding a quarter of the city’s total housing inventory—from aligning with market rates.

This protective measure often results in long-term tenancy, thereby reducing the circulation of available units. Consequently, prices continue to rise for the 1 million apartments that are subjected to market forces, making it increasingly difficult for renters seeking homes in an already competitive market.

And the rent freeze (which actually benefits higher-income folks more that lower earners) only makes things worse.

Plus, when a longtime rent-stabilized tenant finally moves out, 2019 state “reforms” make it unaffordable for landlords to bring the unit up to code, so even vacated apartments can’t get offered to new tenants.

All of this makes the city’s “rent inequities” even worse, with would-be newcomers facing the most ridiculous rents while the “haves” already here get an ever-better break.

Yes, barriers to new construction made the supply crisis worse, and Mamdani’s talking about addressing those — but that means facing down other stale ideas and vested interests, so the going is beyond slow.

Indeed, the mayor’s fellow progressives keep doubling down on stale ideas, such as the state’s “Good Cause” eviction limits (which penalize good landlords and reward bad tenants) and the city FARE Act that tries to make landlords pay all brokers’ fees, as if those were the root problem rather than a response to the market’s insanity.

Mamdani’s rent freeze only benefits people who already live here; he’s done nothing to help those who want to come — which increasingly means only the very well off (highly paid, or with ample wealth) can move to New York.

He’s done nothing to change the recipe for atrophy that’s destroying the city’s middle class.

Tragedy struck a daycare near Minneapolis as a suspected murder-suicide claimed the lives of three individuals, one of whom was a young child, local authorities have reported.

The heartbreaking event unfolded in the heart of a residential area on Tyler Avenue North, specifically within the Brown Bear Childcare center, on Wednesday morning in Hopkins.

Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson was on the scene, describing the situation as a ‘domestic altercation’ occurring around 9 a.m. The victims—identified as a man, a woman, and a child who were thought to be part of the same family—were found deceased.

Authorities suspect the daycare owners, likely related to each other, were among the deceased. The man is thought to have been the perpetrator, though police are still investigating to confirm the details of the weapon involved.

During the incident, the daycare housed seven children. Thankfully, excluding the tragic loss of one child, the other children were safely evacuated without any harm.

‘There’s no worse scenario than this where you drop off your child somewhere you think is safe and you get that phone call,’ Johnson said during a press conference Wednesday. 

Around three hours later, at a separate property, police discovered a 78-year-old woman stabbed to death inside her Burnsville home – a victim investigators believe was a close relative of the suspect in the daycare deaths. 

‘We believe the tragedies in our two cities are linked,’ Burnsville Police Chief Matt Smith said, revealing the suspect had recently been living in the Burnsville home.

Meanwhile, Chief Johnson confirmed that all of the surviving daycare children have since been reunited with their parents. 

Horrified parents were reported to be going in and out of the area near the daycare to reunite with children, according to KARE 11.

Some of them asked for privacy, while at least one mother was escorted by firefighters, per the outlet.

Police said there was no immediate threat to the public, as it was an isolated event, and that an investigation was ongoing. A motive was not immediately known.

Johnson said authorities learned about the incident after one of the daycare’s parents arrived to drop off their children.

When asked if the parent had witnessed what happened, Johnson replied, ‘I believe so.’ 

The Brown Bear daycare was described on a public social media profile as being a licensed home center ‘to help children learn grow.’

It appeared to be running out of a four–bedroom, two–bathroom home that featured ‘1800 square feet of dedicated play space.’

A large law enforcement presence was seen in the area, with police cars and yellow tape spotted among the commotion.

Tyler Street was blocked off between 2nd Street and Lake Street as part of the investigation, according to FOX9. 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey noted the ‘critical incident’ in Hopkins ahead of his 2027 budget address.

‘While there is not a ton of information yet, I know that our hearts and our prayers are with the people of Hopkins and any families that have been impacted,’ Frey said.

He said he had offered assistance to Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon, and that he had authorized his staff to pull him from the speech in case any assistance had to be provided.

‘The city of Minneapolis stands with Hopkins,’ Frey said. ‘We are not strangers to crisis, and when it takes place, we work together. That’s exactly what we will be doing here.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Hopkins police for further comment. 

Washington — In a significant shift within the White House, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will transition from her current position by the close of August, transitioning to a prominent external advisory role. This announcement was made by President Trump via Truth Social on Wednesday.

President Trump highlighted family as a central factor in Leavitt’s decision. Following the birth of her second child in May, she returned to the White House, but is now choosing to dedicate more time to her family.

“Our exceptional White House Press Secretary, and one of my most reliable associates, Karoline Leavitt, will be leaving her position at the month’s end to focus on her wonderful children and family—a choice I fully support and respect!” President Trump stated. “Karoline will step into a new role as one of my top outside advisors, playing a significant part in the Republican Party as we aim to make history and secure victory in the upcoming Midterm Elections.”

He further praised, “Karoline has demonstrated exemplary leadership within the White House, fiercely advocating for Justice, Liberty, and Freedom since 2018, notably during our Historic Re-Election Campaign of 2024. Her performance as one of the best White House Press Secretaries is unparalleled. Thank you, Karoline, for a job well executed!”

As Leavitt steps down, questions arise regarding her successor or interim replacement, especially as her departure precedes the crucial midterm elections by less than three months.

Leavitt has been the White House press secretary since the beginning of the president’s second term, and she thanked Mr. Trump for the opportunity to serve in the high-profile role. 

“The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary — and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life,” Leavitt wrote. “President Trump has asked me to continue serving as a top advisor to him on the outside, and I will always remain a vocal advocate for MAGA and the Republican Party.”

Now 28, Leavitt was 27 when she started the job, making her the youngest White House press secretary in history.