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A public school district north of Minneapolis said ICE agents detained four of its students in recent weeks, including a 5-year-old. Zena Stenvik, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, said in a Wednesday news conference that four of the district’s students had been “taken” by ICE agents in recent weeks, Two of the students were on their way to school, she said. On Tuesday afternoon, 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were taken into custody by ICE agents in their driveway, just after the child returned home from preschool that day, Stenvik said. She added that another adult who lived in the home and was present at the time of the incident “begged” the agents to let him take care of the kid, but the agents refused. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that “ICE did NOT target a child.” McLaughlin said that ICE agents were targeting the boy’s father, and that during the arrest, Conejo Arias “fled on foot — abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child” while agents apprehended the father. “Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.” A bystander took this photo of Conejo Ramos with agents on Tuesday and provided it to the school district, giving them permission to share with the media. (Courtesy Columbia Heights Public Schools) Marc Prokosch, an immigration attorney representing the family, said he believed both father and son are being held in Texas currently. “I’m exploring whether we file a habeas corpus petition to get him out,” he said at Wednesday’s news conference. “We’d have to actually file that down in Texas now and then, also continuing to look through the family’s overall immigration case, because obviously, Liam doesn’t have his own individual case. It’s the family as a whole.” NBC News reached out to Prokosch for further comment but he did not immediately respond. Stenvik noted that the family involved “is following U.S. legal parameters and has an active asylum case with no order of deportation.” “Why detain a 5-year-old?” Stenvik asked Wednesday. “You can’t tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.” The Columbia Heights Public Schools released a statement saying that 20 minutes after the boy and his father were taken “the middle school brother came home to a missing dad, a missing little brother, and a terrified mother.” Conejo Ramos is escorted by a federal agent on Tuesday in a photo taken by a bystander who gave the school district permission to share with the media. (Courtesy Columbia Heights Public Schools) Conejo Ramo’s teacher Ella Sullivan said that his removal has been a shock. “He comes into class every day, and he just brightens the room,” she said. “His friends haven’t asked about him yet, but I know that they’ll catch on, and it’s just a very unfortunate situation. It should not be happening.” Additionally, on Tuesday, Stenvik said a 17-year-old student was removed from their car and “taken by armed, masked agents alone.” Stenvik said no parents were present. Two weeks ago, a 10-year-old student was “taken by ICE agents” while she was on her way to school with her mom, Stenvik said. She called her dad during the arrest to let him know what was happening, and by the end of the school day, both the girl and her mother were in a detention center in Texas, where they remain, the superintendent added. And last week, agents “pushed their way into an apartment” and detained a 17-year-old student and her mother, Stenvik said. NBC News has asked DHS for…

It may be in the 20s Thursday, but don’t be fooled: an Arctic front headed to the Chicago area by nighttime will send temperatures plunging overnight, with perilous wind chill values that could cause frostbite in as little as 10 minutes. According to the National Weather Service, the coldest conditions will come starting at about 3 a.m., when an extreme cold warning goes into effect for all of northeastern Illinois. “Dangerously cold wind chills as low as 30 to 40 below zero expected,” the NWS said. “Dress in layers including a hat, face mask, and gloves if you must go outside.” The warning led more than 100 schools across the city and suburbs to move to e-learning or fully close Friday, including Chicago Public Schools, the largest district in the state. According to NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Kevin Jeanes, Friday is likely to break weather records, and could be Chicago’s coldest day in years. As the cold approaches, here’s a look at when and where it will be the worst, and what to know. Extreme cold timeline While Thursday afternoon will see highs in the 20s, a sharp drop in temperatures and wind chills will come overnight, with a “brutally cold air mass” moving in around midnight. At 3 a.m., an extreme cold warning for all of northeastern Illinois and parts of southeastern Wisconsin will go into effect. By 6 a.m. Friday, temperatures will have nosedived below zero, with air temperatures in Chicago predicted to be around -10 degrees. Those readings will be even lower in counties to the north and west. And, wind chill values will be even worse than that, especially in parts north and west of I-55, the NWS warned. Friday morning in Woodstock, the predicted “feels-like” temperature was -40 degrees. The temperature was expected to feel like -39 in DeKalb, -37 in DuPage, and -38 in Waukegan. In parts southeast of I-55, and in northwest Indiana, wind chills would range from -20 to -30. The worst of the cold was expected to last through 12 p.m. Friday, though the afternoon wouldn’t be much better, Roman said, with a high of -2 degrees. “Some areas will likely see actual temps remain below zero all day,” the NWS said. The NWS added that there was also “high confidence” in a period of bitter cold with dangerous temperatures through Saturday morning. Saturday, the high temperature was 11 degrees, and Sunday, the predicted high was 18, with snow chances both days as a major winter storm makes its way across the country. Next week, temperatures will rise, but only into the teens, the NBC 5 Storm Team said. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Suburban ski jumper Kevin Bickner was named to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Olympic team Thursday morning. The Wauconda, Illinois, native will represent Team USA for the third time at the 2026 Winter Olympics, which begin next month in Italy. Bickner qualified for the team by performing well on the world cup circuit, earning enough points to be one of three Americans who will jump in Predazzo, Italy. “It’s such a unique experience,” said Bickner in an interview in December. “[Ski jumping] is so much fun. It’s a sport unlike any other.” Bickner previously competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing China. He briefly retired following the 2022 games, citing burnout and poor performance. In 2018, Bickner finished 18th in the normal hill competition and 20th in the large hill competition. In 2022, he finished 39th and 43rd respectively. “[2022] was a year I was struggling,” said Bickner. “Pretty consistently I was struggling a lot that year and was basically trying to get by.” He returned to the sport after Team USA formed a partnership with the Norwegians to help improve American performance. Team USA has not won a medal in ski jumping since 1924. Norway, which invented the sport over 200 years ago and has traditionally dominated international competition, saw the partnership as a way to grow its popularity. One out of every four Olympic medals awarded in men’s ski jumping has gone to a Norwegian. Bickner credits the program for reinvigorating his love for the sport and improving his jumps. “As hard as it was in the beginning to come back, I was then able to…have by far the best season of my career,” said Bickner. The 29-year-old grew up jumping at Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove, Illinois. The club has minted several Olympians, including Michael Glasder, Casey Larson and Patrick Gasienica. Bickner was close friends with Gasienica, who was killed in a motorcycle crash in McHenry, Illinois, in 2023. “He is always in the back of my mind,” Bickner said. Predazzo, which is about 180 miles northwest of Milan, will host ski jumping from Feb. 5 through Feb. 22. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Brutally cold wind chills are set to grip the Chicago area this week, and warming centers are opening around the region. From Chicago to the suburbs, those warming centers will offer relief from wind chills that could drop to as much as 40 degrees below zero in some locations. Here is a list of information on warming centers around the area, and how to find exact locations in your area. Chicago: All public libraries and police stations can be used as warming centers during business hours. Numerous senior centers in the city will also be available. The Garfield Center at 10 South Kedzie Avenue is available 24 hours a day to help connect residents to shelter options. Those residents seeking to use a warming center can dial 311 to find the closest one. Cook County: Des Plaines – Des Plaines Public Library, GenCenter, Prairie Lakes (Open during business hours) Evanston – Evanston Ecology Center, Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, Levy Senior Center, Prieto Community Center, Robert Crown Community Center (Hours vary) Markham – Courthouse, 16501 South Kedzie Avenue (8:30 a.m. Thursday-4:30 p.m. Monday) Maywood – Courthouse, 1500 Maybrook Drive (8:30 a.m. Thursday-4:30 p.m. Monday) Skokie – Courthouse, 5600 Old Orchard Road (8:30 a.m. Thursday-4:30 p.m. Monday) DeKalb County: DeKalb – Unitarian Universalist Church, 158 North Fourth Street (Open 5:30 p.m. to 8:15 a.m. each night) DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak Street (open daily, hours vary) For a full list of available sites in DeKalb, visit the city’s website. For other county residents, call 815-748-8460 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to find your nearest warming center. Sycamore – Public Library, 103 East State Street (Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday)   Police Department, 535 DeKalb Avenue (Open seven days a week) DuPage County: Wheaton – 703 West Liberty Drive (Open nightly 4 p.m. to 8 a.m.) For a full list of warming centers and hours, including in Addison, Elmhurst, Downers Grove, and Bloomingdale, visit DuPage County’s website here. Grundy County: Illinois’ emergency management offices offer access to lists of warming centers in Grundy County, which you can find here. Kane County: Batavia – Police Headquarters, 100 North Island Avenue A number of other communities, including Aurora, Campton Hills, Carpentersville, East Dundee, Elgin, Geneva, Maple Park, Montgomery, North Aurora, Pingree Grove, South Elgin, St. Charles, and West Dundee have warming centers. A full list and hours for each site can be found on the Kane County Health Department’s website. Kankakee County: Bourbonnais – Public Library, 250 West John Casey Road (Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) Bradley – Public Library, 296 North Fulton Avenue (Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) Grant Park – Community Center, 2209 West Dixie Highway (Call 815-278-3242 for availability) Hopkins Park – Village Hall, 13043 East 2260 South Road (Tuesday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) Kankakee – Public Library, 201 East Merchant Street (Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) County Health Department, 2390 West Station Street (Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) River Valley Mass Transit (All bus rides on local, fixed route buses are free when wind chills are below zero degrees) Manteno – Leo Hassett Community Center, 211 North Main Street (Call 815-929-4801 for availability) Momence – Edward Chipman Public Library, 126 North Locus Street (Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) Pembroke Township – Senior Center, 4019 South Wheeler Road (call 815-944-5283 for availability) Kendall County: Warming Centers can be found in Joliet, Yorkville, Plano, Newark and other communities. Information on locations and hours can be found here. Lake County: Lake Forest – Recreation Center (6 a.m. to 8 p.m.) For other warming center locations, including in Antioch, Vernon Hills, Highland Park and Waukegan, visit Lake County’s website and enter your address and ZIP…