Chicago Sports

Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman claims the team can contend in 2023 with the right moves

Marcus Stroman was brought in by the Chicago via free agency last offseason on a 3 year deal worth $71 million dollars. Stroman himself has lived up to his contract so far, even though he’s spent some time on the IL, with a 3.76 ERA and a 2.1 WAR through 22 starts. Stroman claims the Cubs are close to contending next season so long as they make some moves.

I think we’re close,” Stroman said. “A lot of that’s out of my control. Hopefully, we make a few moves. I think we have a great core group of guys, great young guys coming up that are going to make great contributions throughout a full year. But yeah, if we add a few pieces, I think we can compete in the division right away.

While the Chicago Cubs have been pretty unlucky when it comes to injuries this season. Stroman’s comments ring true. Chicago cannot stand pat this offseason, ever since the teams title in 2016 the fans are hungry for another one. The Cubs haven’t made it past the NL wildcard round since 2017, it’s time for another run and what better time than with an absolutely monster free agent class on deck this offseason.

Who Could the Cubs target?

Reports are already surfacing before the seasons end that the Cubs are already looking into this great upcoming free agent class. Superstar SS Trea Turner has expressed interest in signing with Chicago and the interest is mutual. Carlos Rodon has also expressed interest in signing with the Cubs this offseason. Adding Turner and Rodon to the fold would be huge for the Cubs, especially with the recent rule changes for the 2023 season in effect, having Trea Turner’s speed up the middle would do wonders for Chicago defensively. The Cubs should do everything they can to reunite the former college teammates once more.

Carlos Rodon is a more realistic target in terms of adding pitching for Chicago this offseason and certainly a valuable one. Although the Cubs MUST do their due diligence on the rest of the market for starters this offseason because some serious names could become available. Names such as Jacob DeGrom and Justin Verlander. I don’t see billionaire Steve Cohen and the Mets letting DeGrom walk but still, if any of these superstar hall of fame level pitchers become available the Cubs must throw their hat in the ring.

The effect of adding some punch to the Cubs rotation

Let’s just say the Chi Cubs add one of the top level arms this offseason to their rotation. Chicago would instantly reap the rewards, not only because they would be adding a superstar pitcher to the mix but it would seriously expand their depth. Something Chicago seriously struggled with this year. Guys like Keegan Thompson, Adbert Alzolay, and Adrian Simpson could all be multi inning relievers out of the pen. Then Hayden Wesneski (providing he doesn’t make the team out of spring training),Javier Assad, and Caleb Kilian are only one call away at Triple A Iowa.

The skinny

It is absolutely vital that Chicago makes some moves this offseason. If they do, barring another injury curse upon the team, Chicago should be in much better shape for contending in the 2023 season. They’ll have all the makings of a world series team. The perfect blend of star power, young guys, veteran experience, and a manager that the team respects and wants to play for. Hopefully all these “potential” ingredients are a winning recipe for the north siders in 2023 and the Cubs can get back to their winning ways.

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How do you solve a problem like Dolly Levi?

If you’re half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder of Yonkers, New York, the answer is: You don’t. Dolly solves you. She’s a schemer, a chaotician, a socialite and a BS artist par excellence, an ardent redistributionist, a frankly miraculous dance instructor, and — by her own gleeful admission — a world-class meddler. When she sets her sights on marrying grumpy old Vandergelder (albeit with the stated intent of taking his half-a-millionaire fortune and spreading it around), it takes him nearly two and a half hours, a dozen or so songs and enough hijinks to fill a stuffed whale to realize just how lucky he is. What a wonderful “problem” to have.

But for anyone mounting a production of “Hello Dolly!”, the Dolly problem is a bit more real: Do you have someone who can pull off the part? (Cue “Funny Girl” klaxons.) It’s a role that, from the beginning, has been designed for larger-than-life divas. From Carol Channing and Barbra Streisand to Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters, Dolly has worked best when housing an outsized personality. What to do then when there is no such personality to be had? What is Dolly when she’s just more of a down-to-earth (if still thoroughly fabulous) human being?

That’s the question that hangs in the air throughout director Denis Jones’ “Hello Dolly!” at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.

Actress Heidi Kettenring brings a veteran performer’s comedic chops and a lovely, strong singing voice to the show’s titular role, but her Dolly is undeniably a slighter presence. While Dolly exerts her usual push and pull on Vandergelder (David C. Girolmo) and Co., she doesn’t exert the same kind of centrifugal influence on the audience. Kettenring’s lively, intimate performance rings especially true in the musical’s few moments of real melancholy — but it also emphasizes how, even with a solid, well-acted and well-sung performance at its center in place of a bonafide star turn, “Hello Dolly!” just sort of falls flat.

That flatness isn’t for lack of trying. The entire cast is game, and there’s fun to be had as Vandergelder’s two clerks, Cornelius Hackl (Alex Goodrich) and Barnaby Tucker (Spencer Davis Milford), set off from boring old Yonkers for a secret day of fun in New York City. The two, of course, immediately run into their boss, and tomfoolery abounds.

Under Dolly’s watchful eye, Cornelius falls madly, and mutually, in love with Vandergelder’s ex-fiancee-to-be, Irene (a really stupendous Rebecca Hurd); the same goes for Barnaby and Irene’s excitable shop assistant Minnie Fay (Amanda Walker).

Meanwhile, Dolly is also working on behalf of Vandergelder’s niece Ermengarde (Emily Ann Brooks) and her intended, Ambrose Kemper (Michael Turrentine), in a scheme for Vandergelder’s approval that somehow finds the young lovers entering a polka contest at the Harmonia Gardens, New York’s fanciest restaurant.

The cast, led by Kettenring, gleefully taps into the show’s inherent silliness. A relatively minor song, “Motherhood,” becomes a madcap whirligig of action and delightful faux-patriotic gobbledygook. It really hits the spot even when the traditional showstoppers like the title song or “When the Parade Passes By” breeze by pleasantly but not very memorably.

One element working against the show is its staging, which tries to make the best of Marriott’s in-the-round space with disappointing results. The immediacy and dynamism that comes with the setup is lost on a show that’s so stodgy and old-fashioned. “Hello, Dolly!” seems to demand a proscenium — preferably a proscenium stuffed with big fancy sets.

Jones’ minimalist set dressing (set design by Jeffrey D. Kmiec) leaves his performers ample room to move but does little to set the mood. This was exacerbated by technical difficulties on the night this reviewer attended. Concerns for actor safety meant that hydraulic platforms, which added levels (and presumably some oomph), to the staging were not used.

Jones’ choreography fares better and delivers some moments of inspired no-frills innovation. The dancing waiters are legitimately thrilling — and, when they welcome Dolly back into the fold, there is a real pathos to it.

Dolly Levi is not an overpowering force of nature. Sshe’s simply their dear, beloved friend who’s been gone too long. And they’re glad she’s back. For tonight, at least, their Dolly Levi problem is solved.

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NEW YORK — Michelle Obama is planning a six-city tour this fall in support of her new book, “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times,” with a stop at her hometown’s Chicago Theatre in December.

The tour is set to begin in mid-November in Washington. D.C. and end a month later in Los Angeles.

“I’m looking forward to making some new connections — and of course, seeing some familiar faces from the last tour,” the former first lady said in a joint statement Wednesday released through her publisher, Crown, and tour promoter Live Nation.

“This book means so much to me — it’s a collection of perspectives and practices I’ve used to keep me afloat amid uncertainty. On this tour, I’ll be sharing some personal stories and lessons that have helped me along my path, and I can’t wait to tell you more.”

Obama will open at the Warner Theatre in Washington on Nov. 15, the publication date for her book. She will then travel to Philadelphia’s The Met on Nov. 18, Atlanta’s Fox Theatre on Dec. 3, the Chicago Theatre on Dec. 5 and San Francisco’s Masonic on Dec. 10, before closing at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles on Dec. 13.

The venues have seating capacities ranging roughly from 2,000-6,500. The settings are far bigger than for most book events, but smaller than Obama’s stops on the first leg of her tour for the 2018 memoir “Becoming,” when she appeared at the United Center in Chicago and other arenas holding 15,000 or more.

“Becoming” was a near-instant million seller and went on to sell more than 17 million copies worldwide, making it the most popular book in modern times written by a former White House resident.

As with “Becoming,” Obama will speak at each city with guest moderators, to be announced later. Oprah Winfrey, Tracee Ellis Ross and Sarah Jessica Parker were among those who joined her for “Becoming.” In partnership with Live Nation, Obama will also set aside tickets at each venue for a select number of community members.

Fans can begin registering from Wednesday through Sept. 26 through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan Platform. Any unsold tickets will be available to the general public starting Sept. 30.

Photos: Michelle Obama launches book tour at the United Center in 2018

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Jamere Dismukes, a Rich East grad, took over the program at the relatively new consolidated Rich program this spring.

Back then he said it was “the right opportunity at the right time. It was a no-brainer for me when it was offered.”

Dismukes, who was coaching at Rich East when that program ended, spent the last two seasons at Hyde Park. He left the powerful Red-South/Central to return home.

Now, just four months later and having never coached a game at Rich, Dismukes is leaving again.

The young coach is taking over the program at Homewood-Flossmoor. Expect some backlash. Dismukes had already made a splash at Rich, bringing in transfers and doing his best to breathe some life back into the Big Dipper Holiday Tournament.

It’s likely that Dismukes made promises to the players and to the administration at Rich. There will be hurt feelings , but it’s understandable that a young coach, especially one from the south suburbs, would see Homewood-Flossmoor as a destination job.

The H-F spot is likely one of the best in the state. Marc Condotti recently stepped down after eight years as head coach. Condotti won five regionals with the Vikings and finished with more than 20 wins in six seasons. But Homewood-Flossmoor always had a ton of talent transfer away.

That’s a problem all over the suburbs, from Hillcrest to Joliet to Oswego. Can Dismukes keep the top players at H-F? Only time will tell.

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A gunman in an SUV shot an off-duty Chicago police officer Tuesday afternoon in an apparent road rage incident in Irving Park, then led officers on a chase, hitting two squad cars as police fired at him.

The suspect was able to escape and the SUV was later found abandoned about three miles away by Northeastern Illinois University police.No one was in custody.

The off-duty probationary officer, 27, had been headed north on Elston when the SUV in front of her abruptly stopped at Addison Street around 3:10 p.m., police said in a statement. The driver produced a firearm and began firing.

The officer was shot in the face and was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where Police Supt. David Brown said her injuries weren’t thought to be life-threatening.

“She is talking, she apparently did not lose consciousness,” he said. “So thank goodness that she’s going to be able to recover.”

The officer didn’t appear to have pulled a gun or returned fire, Brown said. “Really, everywhere across this country, it seems personal conflicts have ended more and more with escalating violence,” he said. “So it’s a concern of ours.”

Officers tried to stop a car in the 5000 block of West Lawrence Avenue but it struck two squad cars as an one officer discharged their firearm, police said. No one was struck and no injuries were reported.

The car fled was was later located, unoccupied, in the 5800 block of North Drake Avenue.

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The Cleveland Guardians made quick work of the White Sox’ designs on a sweep Tuesday, coming from behind for a 10-7 victory in 11 innings in the first of a three-game series, dropping the Sox five games out of first place with 14 left to play and clinching the season series and tiebreaker for Cleveland.

The relentless Guardians won for the 12th time in 16 extra-inning games, scoring five runs in the 11th inning. The Sox scored two in the bottom of the 11th on AJ Pollock’s two-run homer, his 1,000th career hit, a meaningless consolation in a loss that all but ended the Sox’ chances for a third consecutive postseason.

“I mean, we know where we’re at,” Pollock said. “We know the situation. The goal was to win the first game.”

Myles Straw had a tiebreaking two-run double in the 11th against Jake Diekman, Steven Kwan (four hits) followed with an RBI single. Kwan scored on Jose Ramirez’s sacrifice fly, and a throwing error by catcher Seby Zavala allowed Amed Rosario to score the fifth run.

While the Sox have played better over in their stretch of 13 wins in 20 games since Cairo took over as acting manager, the error charged to Zavala was characteristic of the Sox’ defensive woes all season. Diekman didn’t hold Rosario, who got an easy break from second, and third baseman Yoan Moncada wasn’t covering third. Zavala’s throw was fine but skipped past Moncada.

Pollock turned a slicing fly ball by Andres Gimenez into a triple in left field when he stumbled and fell and the Guardians got the first run on Austin Hedges’ sacrifice fly against Dylan Cease (six innings, one run).

“We had a bunch of stuff,” Pollock said. “I had a funky play in the beginning. Trying to make an aggressive play and got caught in a weird spot and it was probably a double and it ended up being a triple and the run that ended up scoring was a big run. A couple missed opportunities throughout the game. A couple defensive miscues. It was execution on our end for sure.”

Emmanuel Clase (3-4) allowed a game-tying two-out single to Jose Abreu in the 10th, blowing just his fourth save in 40 chances, but he earned the win.

Josh Naylor’s RBI single and Oscar Gonzalez’ sacrifice fly pushed two runs across against Kendall Graveman in the 10th after the Guardians scored two in the seventh to erase a 3-1 deficit.

The Sox then scored three in the sixth against Aaron Civale and Nick Sandlin. Eloy Jimenez singled in the first run and two runs scored when Pollock beat out a double play and shortstop Rosario’s throw skipped past first baseman Owen Miller.

But reliever Jimmy Lambert walked the first two batters he faced in the seventh, and both turned into runs, the first scoring on Kwan’s single and the second when Jose Ramirez beat out a ball hit to Andrus in the hole at shortstop for a single.

The Sox caught a break when Rosario made the third out trying to score from second after Andrus made a diving stop in the hole. Rosario appeared to beat catcher Seby Zavala’s sweeping tag but umpire Shane Livensparger called him safe and the Guardians had used their challenge.

Cease (2.13 ERA) was behind in the count to all but one batter in the first two innings and needed 107 pitches to complete six.

“I feel like we were ready,” he said. “If I’m efficient maybe I go 7 or 8 and save some arms. I would say that’s as big of a reason as why we lost as anything.”

Cairo blamed himself for making “bad moves” but he sounded more like a manager defending his players unnecessarily.

“I made a few moves I should not have made,” Cairo said. “Today was on me. Our players fight, they fight hard.”

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MIAMI — Cubs infielder Esteban Quiroz’s first major-league hit was a scorching comebacker he lined past Marlins right-hander Pablo Lopez and into center field Tuesday.

”It was a very humbling experience,” Quiroz said through an interpreter of his first major-league start. ”I’ve dreamt of this moment.”

In the Cubs’ 2-1 victory against the Marlins, manager David Ross penciled Quiroz into the starting lineup for the first time. He played second base and batted second.

In his first at-bat of the game, Quiroz lined a single up the middle. Then he bunted for his second career hit in the eighth, loading the bases. That bunt, which moved Michael Hermosillo to third base, set up David Bote for the tiebreaking sacrifice fly.

”His story is awesome,” right-hander Adrian Sampson said of Quiroz. ”I love good baseball stories, not just top-round guys.”

Quiroz, 30, made his major-league debut last weekend after more than a decade in the Mexican League and minor leagues combined.

”I think most of my teammates, if not all of them, know what I’ve gone through to get to this moment in my career,” Quiroz said. ”It’s been awhile that I’ve taken to get here to the big leagues. They’ve welcomed me with open arms.”

Quiroz made his mark on defense, as well, flying all over the right side of the infield.

”It was pretty impressive,” Ross said, ”so he’ll be in there [Wednesday].”

Smyly’s start pushed back

The Cubs pushed back left-hander Drew Smyly’s start, originally scheduled for Wednesday, to give him time to rest a fatigued shoulder. Instead, right-hander Marcus Stroman is penciled in to pitch the series finale.

”There’s been a little bit of some stuff that’s been bothering him that he’s been pushing through a little bit,” Ross said.

The Cubs have a day off Monday, and Ross said he expects Smyly will pitch around then, likely either Sunday against the Pirates on the road or Tuesday against the Phillies at home.

”But it won’t be an [injured list] stint, as of right now,” Ross said.

The Cubs already had pushed back the rotation a day to give left-hander Wade Miley extra time between starts. They moved his start from Saturday to Monday, and right-hander Hayden Wesneski filled in, making his first major-league start.

Now Stroman will pitch on regular rest Wednesday.

Ross also said Monday that he expects Wesneski to get at least one more start.

Sampson stingy

Sampson recorded his third consecutive quality start, holding the Marlins to one run in six innings. He has allowed a combined two runs in his last three starts.

Right-hander Adbert Alzolay replaced Sampson and made his second appearance since returning from the 60-day IL with a strained right lat. Alzolay recorded two strikeouts in two hitless innings before left-hander Brandon Hughes closed it out and earned his sixth save.

”I thought our pitching was the story of tonight,” Ross said.

Bote drove in both of the Cubs’ runs, hitting a home run the inning before his go-ahead sacrifice fly.

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It was only April 24. It really didn’t seem like that big a deal.

But the White Sox had just lost six straight games on a miserable swing through Cleveland and Minnesota, and their losing streak stood at seven overall. Clearly, such an early-season slog hadn’t been anticipated and would not stand — not with the talent on this Sox team, not with its World Series aspirations.

So, how to fix things?

“Hit the reset button,” was pitcher Lucas Giolito’s idea.

That worked so well, the Sox returned to Guaranteed Rate Field and had a losing homestand against the hard-to-lose-to Royals and Angels.

“We still very much believe in this team’s talent,” general manager Rick Hahn said late that same month. “We believe in this team’s upside and are confident over time that that talent will prevail and take us to the level that we aspire to be at.”

It would become, of course, a Sox theme for the 2022 season — “believing” in the invisible as they went days, weeks and months without displaying anything resembling good baseball or embodying anything resembling a good baseball team.

“They get frustrated when they don’t play as good as they should,” manager Tony La Russa said as the Sox had fallen off from an encouraging 4-1 start to a somewhat unsettling 6-10 about 10% of the way through the season. “But the heart and guts are intact.”

Heart? Guts? As it turns out, those are perfect words to describe the first-place Guardians — the youngest team in baseball — who led the Sox by four games as the teams opened a three-game series on the South Side. The baby-faced Guardians clearly are the last ones to know they’re not supposed to win this thing and never were. They haven’t had a five-game division lead at any point, yet they’ve answered one little uprising after another from the Sox and the Twins without in any way, shape or form appearing to be a team in serious danger of fizzling down the stretch.

The Sox aren’t out of it. If they sweep the Guardians, they’ll be only a game back. If they follow that by sweeping the lowly Tigers, they’ll finally have put together the kind of homestand they’ve been alluding to for five months. If, if. Does anybody really want to bet on these “ifs”? I don’t, either. Has everybody had enough of them? I have, too.

“As long as we play good baseball,” reliever Kendall Graveman said Tuesday, “I like our chances.”

But that’s what they’ve all said, over and over.

“To a man and to a woman,” Hahn said on June 7, “we feel good about what the next several months hold for us, potentially.”

The Sox promptly lost four of their next six to fall four games under .500.

After the Sox went into the All-Star break an embarrassing and hard-to-figure 19-25, La Russa boldly declared, “I guarantee you those numbers will be reversed at home from here to the end. We’re going to be a very good club at home.”

And how’s that working out? The Sox have still lost more than they’ve won on their home turf. This, a year after they were an American League-best 51-28.

After the Sox did next to nothing at the Aug. 2 trade deadline — an undeniable setback — Hahn buzzed the same old saw: “We still very much believe in this group that’s inside this clubhouse right now.”

Just a couple of days later, Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert and Yasmani Grandal were all in the lineup together. Hallelujah! The Sox were 53-51 — not terrible — the band was back together again, and all involved were excited.

“Plus-two is a nice place to be, because we’ve been trying to get there,” La Russa said. “Let’s get to 10 and then 15, you know what I mean? It’s like you’re on a trip, and you stop somewhere to get gas or lunch. You’re not at your destination.”

Instead, the Sox locked themselves out of the family truckster and dropped five of eight on the road against the Rangers and Royals. It was uncanny.

On Aug. 11, La Russa said this: “The switch is on. We’re in a position to get hot.”

And they kind of did, reeling off five wins in a row — only to blow their own mojo completely to hell over an ensuing two-week debacle during which they went 2-10.

What a bunch of pretenders.

As September arrived, outfielder A.J. Pollock said, “This is it. This is the chance that we can get on a little bit of a run here. … Maybe they fold and we can get hot, too.”

The Twins were a game in back of the Guardians — and three ahead of the Sox — on Sept. 1. Yep, they folded. The Guardians, though, have only gotten better and done whatever they’ve needed to do.

“We’re not backing down,” Sox closer Liam Hendriks promised on Sept. 7.

“We’re on a mission,” acting manager Miguel Cairo proclaimed on Sept. 10.

After the Sox won a makeup game in Cleveland on Sept. 15, cutting the division deficit to three, Cairo called it “a big one.”

“You see this is who we are,” he said.

Then the Sox went to Detroit and lost the opener against the Tigers, falling to four back, bcause that’s who they really were. That’s who they’ve been since leaving spring training in Arizona.

You want these “ifs”? You can have ’em.

There will be time enough for the reset button. It’s called the offseason.

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The start of the White Sox’ scheduled game against the Guardians Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field is being delayed by rain.

The estimated start time is 7:50 p.m.

Dylan Cease is slated to start against Aaron Civale as the Sox, trailing Cleveland by four games in the American League Central with 15 to play, look for a three-game sweep to get them back in the chase.

The Sox (76-71) have won eight of the last 11 games and 13 of 18. The Guardians (80-67) have won 12 of 15.

“Hopefully the atmosphere will be great,” Sox pitcher Kendall Graveman said. “Our fan base knows what is at stake, we do too.”

The Sox are enjoying their best stretch of the season but it may be too late.

“It’s obviously been what we were expecting, as a team, to be doing all season,” closer Liam Hendriks said.

“Hopefully we can go out there and play our best game for these last couple weeks and see what happens. Obviously, we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’re not exactly thrilled with.”

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MIAMI – When Cubs outfielder Nelson Vel?zquez called home on Tuesday, he learned the electricity at his mom’s house in Carolina, Puerto Rico had been restored. But now, the running water was shut off. He’s been checking in with his family every day since Hurricane Fiona made landfall on Sunday.

“Maybe one day they have electricity and another they have water, instead of everything going away,” he said in a conversation with the Sun-Times. “But everything at my house is good. They’re doing OK.”

Most of the island experienced a loss of running water and electricity. The storm ripped the roofs off houses and flooded residences and airports alike.

The storm also swept across the eastern side of the Dominican Republic. The heart of it missed San Cristobal, where Franmil Reyes’ family lives, and Santiago, Christopher Morel’s hometown, which is further inland.

Still, according to CNN, the hurricane left more than 1 million people in the Dominican Republic without running water.

Reyes opened his family group chat on WhatsApp earlier this week to see videos of destruction his family members had screen recorded from Instagram as Hurricane Fiona slammed the eastern side of the country.

Early on, the Emergency Operations Center issued a red alert for provinces including San Cristobal.

“It was nothing that scared me that much about my family because I knew they were going to be safe,” Reyes said, referencing the sturdy cement construction of their home, “but some people from my town that I grew up with and know, that worries me a little bit. Like I tell them all the time, they can always come to me, with what I can help with.

“I’m happy that nothing happened in my town to those people but sad because of what happened in Puerto Rico and some of those islands and the DR in the East too.”

The official MLB Puerto Rico Twitter account sent out a link to the league’s Red Cross donation collection page (redcross.org/MLB) on Tuesday. Former Cub Javy B?ez is among the MLB players who have lent their support to those affected by the hurricane. He offered free meals through a local restaurant in Puerto Rico, sending out the invitation via his instagram story.

Hurricane Fiona compounded the lingering aftereffects of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. When Maria struck in September 2017, just weeks after Hurricane Irma, it killed nearly 3,000 people and destroyed the power grid.

Vel?zquez said the Cubs had him stay in Arizona in the immediate aftermath.

“It was hard a little bit,” Vel?zquez said. “You want to be with your family. You take care of them and try to take care of anything they need. But I talked with them, they told me they were OK, they were doing good. So, I respected the team’s decision for me to stay there, be safe, and when I had the chance to go there they flew me out.”

Some residents had to wait 11 months for their power to be restored. Five years later, when Hurricane Fiona hit, Puerto Rico hadn’t fully recovered. Thousands of homes were still covered by tarps.

“We as a people, we have to be ready for anything,” Vel?zquez said. “I wish that wouldn’t happen anymore, that we can be good and not lose the house or anything like that. But we have to live with that. It’s natural.”

Hurricane Fiona headed north from the Dominican Republic and hit the Turks and Caicos Islandson Tuesday as a Category 3 storm.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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