Civilian Office of Police Accountability Interim Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten

Thursday’s mea culpa came after 20 alderpersons signed a letter to Mayor Lightfoot saying they want Andrea Kersten disqualified as she seeks approval to become the permanent head of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

Heeding Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s call, the interim chief of Chicago’s police watchdog agency extended a “sincere and heartfelt apology” Thursday to Ella French’s loved ones but said “there was no procedure” to change the report that recommended a suspension for the slain Chicago police officer.

“There is truly no greater act of service than laying down one’s life for the City they serve as Officer French did. She is to be honored and remembered as a hero,” Andrea Kersten, the acting head of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, said during a meeting of the Chicago Police Board.

“I have profound regret and sadness that the work of our agency has in any way hurt the French family,” Kersten added, “and those who mourn her and I will work steadfastly to ensure that a situation such as this never happens again.”

Kersten’s comments came a day after Lightfoot demanded an apology for including French in a report COPA published last week on the botched raid of social worker Anjanette Young’s home in 2019. The report accused French of failing to activate her body-worn camera when she showed up at the home and recommended a three-day suspension.

Lightfoot has called the report the “height of tone-deafness” but nevertheless anointed Kersten COPA’s permanent chief on Tuesday. That same day, 20 alderpersons signed a letter to the mayor saying they want her handpicked choice disqualified for the job amid the mounting controversy.

Then on Wednesday, Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), one of the mayor’s staunchest critics, used a parliamentary maneuver to try to derail the appointment. Lightfoot later said that Kersten “understands she’s got to explain herself” and “apologize to the family.”

While Kersten began her prepared comments Thursday by effusively apologizing to French’s family, she insisted that “COPA did not and never would make a posthumous discipline recommendation for any officer.” Still, she noted the agency had an obligation to publish the report “when and how we did.”

Kersten added that COPA’s recommendations were sent to the Chicago Police Department on April 27, over three months before French was killed and Officer Caros Yanez Jr. was wounded in a shooting during a traffic stop in West Englewood. She said Chicago Police Supt. David Brown agreed with all COPA’s findings and recommendations on July 26, though the process of notifying the other officers involved in the incident about their disciplinary charges wasn’t completed until Nov. 9.

Once that process was complete, Kersten added, the agency “had an obligation to the timely and transparent release of our report,” which was published the following day.

“When we release reports to the public, COPA does not alter a report or redact more information than the law permits,” Kersten said. “The report that COPA publishes is the final version submitted to the [police] department in support of our findings. Despite the overwhelming tragedy of Officer French’s murder, there was no procedure by which to change our report or recommendations and no request made to do so.”

Kersten ultimately acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding the report “have clearly indicated the need for further discussion and clarification around how our city wants transparency to function.

“I would welcome a conversation to examine a process for ensuring that a situation like this never happens again.”

Contributing: Fran Spielman

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Arlington International Racecourse at 2200 Euclid Ave in Arlington Heights in September. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file

Regulators at the Illinois Racing Board on Thursday tabled a request from Arlington to keep operating its off-track betting parlors even though owner Churchill Downs Inc. shut down the historic track nearly two months ago and announced a pending deal to sell the land to the Chicago Bears.

The corporate owner of shuttered Arlington International Racecourse has gotten out of the live horse racing game in Illinois — but it still wants a piece of the action.

Regulators at the Illinois Racing Board on Thursday tabled a request from Arlington to keep operating its off-track betting parlors even though owner Churchill Downs Inc. shut down the historic track nearly two months ago and announced a pending deal to sell the land to the Chicago Bears.

Arlington president Tony Petrillo said the company’s controversial request highlights its “commitment to thoroughbred racing in the state,” but Racing Board commissioner Alan Henry suggested they were trying to squeeze more money out of a struggling industry they’ve already abandoned.

“What I see in these requests seems an awful lot like the farmer who sells his prized Holstein [cow], then expects to still get paid for some of the milk it produces,” said Henry, a former Chicago Sun-Times editor.

Charles Rex Arbogast/AP file
Spirit One, right, from France, ridden by Loritz Mendizabal, leads the Arlington Million pack at Arlington International Racecourse in 2008.

The final races at the 94-year-old track were run Sept. 25, leaving only two other tracks remaining in the state. Days later, Churchill Downs announced it would sell the 326 acres to the Bears, who are considering building a new stadium there.

Arlington didn’t apply for racing dates next year and had already passed on the opportunity to open a casino adjacent to the northwest suburban oval, drawing the ire of the horse owners and trainers represented by the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. That group has said Churchill Downs is more concerned with protecting its other Illinois asset: Rivers Casino in nearby Des Plaines, which is the most lucrative casino in the state.

But the company still wants to take bets on races broadcast at its several OTBs scattered across the suburbs.

Petrillo said he would expect the OTBs to take about $76 million in bets, generating $8 million for purses and fees going to the Chicago area’s only surviving track, Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney.

Taylor Hartz/Sun-Times file
Hawthorne Race Course pictured in October 2017.

He estimated Churchill Downs would turn a profit of about $300,000. Meanwhile, Churchill Downs remains “committed to finding another solution and another location” to restart racing, Petrillo said.

Henry pushed back, saying “common sense tells me that inter-track wagering licenses should only be granted to viable track operators that actually want to engage in horse racing.”

The dispute hinges on interpreting a vague part of state horse racing law and whether it requires tracks to have actual racing dates in order to operate OTBs, or if they only need to have run races in the past calendar year.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file
Arlington International Racecourse in September, just days after the historic track held its final races.

Racing Board staffers sided with Arlington. The agency’s general counsel, John Gay, noted two other former suburban tracks — Maywood and Balmoral — operated OTBs even though they didn’t have any race dates before they shut down for good.

Board members voted 10-0 to delay a vote on the matter until their next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 16.

The Bears $197 million deal to acquire Arlington Park is expected to close in late 2022 or early 2023.

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New Trier’s Jackson Munro plays against Glenbrook South last season. | Provided

The emerging 6-8 senior has officially committed to the Ivy League school, choosing Dartmouth over Loyola and a host of other mid-major programs.

New Trier’s Jackson Munro had a pretty good idea of where he was headed for college when he sat down last Saturday to watch the Dartmouth-Georgetown game online on ESPN-Plus.

But Dartmouth’s upset win over the Hoyas, as Munro described it, was “just a cherry on top.”

The emerging 6-8 senior has officially committed to the Ivy League school, choosing Dartmouth over Loyola and a host of other mid-major programs.

“I just loved the coaching staff, especially coach Mac, who seems like an incredible guy,” said Munro of his future head coach, David McLaughlin. “I really enjoyed getting to know him.”

Between the connection he felt with his head coach and players in the program, the elite academics and the culture at Dartmouth, Munro felt the fit was ideal for all that he was looking for in a college basketball program.

While on his official visit he saw firsthand what he believes an Ivy League degree could mean for him in the future. The homecoming weekend provided Munro a chance to see and interact with alumni who were all there reconnecting.

“To see all that was going on there, to see that type of network there, it really spoke to me because you could see all the people who are connected in the Dartmouth network and how supportive that network is,” said Munro. “Having those connections going forward are second to none. That network, with that degree, and to be able to mix that with playing Division I basketball is a unique opportunity for me. Given my personality and what matters to me, I thought it was a really good blend.”

The long road to Division I

Munro wasn’t a household name in high school basketball early in his career. And his road to securing Division I interest and ultimately playing at that level developed slowly. Very slowly.

While he showed promise and improvement over the course of his shortened junior season with the Trevians, averaging 14 points a game, he didn’t put up whopping numbers. He didn’t grab headlines or have the opportunity to play in packed gyms, big games, the Pontiac Holiday Tournament or high-profile shootouts.

But he was an enticing, late-blooming big man with a growing game, capable of working on the block and stepping away from the basket with a much-improved perimeter jumper. Plus, he played hard, with a blue-collar approach and helped the Trevians to a 13-2 record.

He showed he was a Division I prospect in the spring while playing with Fundamental U on the AAU circuit. The only problem was no college coaches were watching; there were no “live” evaluation periods in the spring months.

But there was a certainty in evaluating Munro, who played the game the right way and found so many ways to impact each game he played. He vaulted up the City/Suburban Hoops Report player rankings and was a top 15 prospect in Illinois — but without a single scholarship offer — by the time the summer rolled around.

Munro admittedly became a little frustrated. Heading into the month of June he had no Division I offers. Then after what was just a so-so month of June while playing with New Trier, the frustration mounted.

“I think the spring I had with Fundamental U was a really good one,” said Munro. “Then there was some hype heading into June, and I wanted to capitalize on that with my high school team. But honestly, I played pretty bad with my high school team during the June live periods. So nothing came of that. That put pressure on me in July to perform and to show that what they had heard in the spring wasn’t a fluke.”

Regardless of any June struggles, the City/Suburban Hoops Report labeled Munro as “the most overlooked prospect in the state” heading into July. He had shown enough at his size to warrant the hype.

Munro’s big July

Munro went to work in July, showcasing a combination of toughness and skill, which included some impressive space-the-floor shooting that extended to the three-point line.

“Being able to do that on a big stage in July was special to me,” said Munro. “I felt a ton of satisfaction. The group of guys I played with was pretty amazing. They were so supportive of me and they built me up and gave me confidence, even after a poor June where I lost some confidence. All the hard work you do and put in paid off.”

By the middle of July he finally had a few offers. Navy, Toledo and Purdue-Fort Wayne were the first to step up with scholarship offers. The doors then blew wide open as he closed out the month with additional offers from Lipscomb, Indiana State, Northeastern, Bucknell, American, Brown, Evansville, Cal-Poly and Eastern Illinois.

The performance in July also piqued the interest of Loyola, the red-hot program in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Ramblers offered Munro a five-to-play-four opportunity, meaning Munro would walk-on his first year and then have four scholarship years remaining.

Munro took his time, analyzed many programs taking a bevy of official and unofficial visits throughout the fall. But it was Dartmouth in the end.

Still a lot of work ahead

Munro has certainly put in the work in becoming a self-made player. The individual progression of Munro is a big reason why New Trier is a Sun-Times preseason top 10 team and is expected to be a threat to reach Champaign and the State Finals this March.

All the hard work Munro put in to attract all the Division I interest must continue at Dartmouth. Despite the recent win over Georgetown out of the Big East Conference last weekend, Munro’s future basketball program has had their share of struggles. The Ivy League didn’t have a season during Covid last year and haven’t tasted a winning season in 22 years. Munro says he is ready — and excited — to help change that.

“I just think the situation at Dartmouth is unique,” said Munro. “It’s no secret they haven’t been winning very much recently, but I like and enjoy the challenge of helping turn that around. The idea, if all things go well, having a legacy there if we can turn that around? I think that’s a unique challenge and cool opportunity.”

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“This handsome rascal” of a buck. | Bob Coine

Learning a new word, “urohydrosis,” while looking up black vultures, the first woman to win the Hobie Bass Open Series Tournament of Champions, a “handsome rascal” of a buck, and an angler catching the 25,000th smallmouth bass he logged are among the notes from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

Notes come from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

BUCK OF THE WEEK: UNPLUGGED

Bob Coine emailed, “If you a Buck of the Week, I’ll offer up this handsome rascal.” Handsome indeed.

BOTW Unplugged, the celebration of live big bucks around Chicago outdoors, runs as apt in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email [email protected] or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).

WILD OF THE WEEK

A black vulture spotted last Saturday, Nov. 13, in Lincoln Park in a rare sighting in northern Illinois, had an interesting few days this week. Black vultures, smaller than turkey vultures, are year-round in southern Illinois. The Lincoln Park black vulture, after being mobbed by crows and hawks, was rescued and sent to Oaken Acres Wildlife Center (oakenacres.org) in Sycamore, where it is recovering.

While looking up black vultures in Illinois, I found this gem from the Illinois Natural History Survey: “Black Vultures are not birds of prey. Their claws are weak, they do not catch what they eat, and their beaks are not strong enough to rip fresh meat. Instead, vultures are in the same order as storks and herons. Like members of this group, vultures practice urohydrosis, where they squirt liquid excrement onto their legs for an evaporative cooling effect.”

WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email [email protected] or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside). ALE’S

WILD TIMES

ILLINOIS SEASONS

Sunday, Nov. 21: First firearm deer season ends

Next Saturday, Nov. 27: South zone, duck, Canada geese, white-fronted geese and first scaup seasons open

DALE’S MAILBAG

“I just attempted to email the IDNR to apply for or to obtain the steps . . . for getting a certified scale for fish-weighing purposes.” Mike

A: Scales are usually certified at the county or city level. A muskie angler who keeps a certified portable scale had it certified as part of doing business. Enlighten us, if you know how a private citizen can certify a scale.

BIG NUMBER

1st: Woman, Kristine Fischer, to win the kayak-fishing event, Hobie Bass Open Series Tournament of Champions, on Sunday at Lake Eufala, Alabama. She measured a winning total of 240.5 inches on the way to earning $35,000.

Dustin Murguia, of Forest Park, was in the title hunt and finished fifth. He totaled 230.25 inches.

LAST WORD

“I love river fishing, and rivers have accounted for many of my catches over the years. But I wanted to be up on Lake Michigan in Door County to maximize my chances for a bigger fish for number 25,000.”

Bill Schultz, who has kept a fishing log since 1992, on catching his 25,000th smallmouth bass on Aug. 4, via the National Professional Anglers Association

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Protesters against “Gender Queer” hold up signs during a school board meeting on Monday at Downers Grove North High School in Downers Grove. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

There’s a good chance that someone, somewhere, at some point, is going to be offended by a book they feel goes against their beliefs or ideals. But banning books is never the answer.

Removing books from library shelves is not what America is supposed to be about.

Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are two of our country’s core ideals. Writers are free to express themselves as they so desire. Readers are free to read a book, or not.

Yet every year, we read or hear the news that parents or citizens somewhere — earlier this week, in west suburban Downers Grove — are clamoring to have a book they deem offensive taken off the shelves of their child’s school library or their local public library.

It happens scores of times every year, when words or stories make people uncomfortable and America’s “culture wars” flare up. The American Library Association publishes an annual list of the top 10 “Most Challenged Books” — those most likely to be condemned and targeted for removal. In 2020, 273 books were targeted and among the top 10 were three acknowledged literary classics: John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.”

In case readers are not aware: Morrison and Steinbeck both won the Nobel Prize for literature. “To Kill a Mockingbird” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.

Not mandatory reading

On Monday, as the Sun-Times’ Nader Issa reported, the issue flared up in Downers Grove when about 200 people packed a school auditorium to demand that the book “Gender Queer: A Memoir” be removed from the libraries at Downers Grove North and Downers Grove South high schools. According to protesters, the book exposes children to “homoerotic” or “pornographic” content.

The book is the story of author Maia Kobabe’s journey of gender identity and sexuality as a teenager and young adult. A few pages include illustrations of sex acts, but the book’s publisher says it is appropriate for high school-aged students.

“Gender Queer: A Memoir” has come under fire elsewhere too. Virginia’s largest school district removed it from its high school libraries earlier this fall while it considers parents’ concerns. A Florida district banned it altogether. Schools in New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington have had the book challenged. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told the state’s education department to investigate the book, which he considers “sexually explicit” and “pornographic.”

It’s worth noting that “Gender Queer” is not mandatory reading at either Downers Grove high school. In fact, there’s only one copy available for students to check out at each school’s library at Downers North and Downers South high schools.

Lauren Pierret, a senior at Downers Grove North, said at the meeting that she didn’t even know “Gender Queer” existed until last week.

“This isn’t being forced upon your kids,” Pierret said, “but it gives kids who would be interested in this story a choice to read it.”

Trying to ban 850 books

It is not the job of this editorial board to judge whether a book is too sexually explicit, profane, violent or otherwise unfit for a child, teenager or another adult to read.

Nor is it the job of conservative culture warriors — or anyone else.

Some of the past attacks on “Of Mice and Men” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” it should be noted, came from people who were bothered by racial stereotypes and slurs they said would have a negative impact on students, according to the ALA.

Good literature can sometimes make us uncomfortable, for any number of reasons. Censorship is never the right response.

Besides, once it starts, where does it end?

Consider the case of Texas Rep. Matt Krause, who is running for attorney general in his state and made headlines when he compiled a list of about 850 books that “might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex,” as the Texas Tribune first reported. Most of the books on his list were written by women, people of color and LGBTQ authors.

We’ve got to ask: Did Krause bother to read all 850 books? Or is his list just for political theater?

Books in our schools and libraries must be protected. Even when we don’t approve of them.

Send letters to [email protected].

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Arlington International Racecourse at 2200 Euclid Ave in Arlington Heights. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file

Regulators at the Illinois Racing Board on Thursday tabled a request from Arlington to keep operating its off-track betting parlors even though owner Churchill Downs Inc. shut down the historic track nearly two months ago and announced a pending deal to sell the land to the Chicago Bears.

The corporate owner of shuttered Arlington International Racecourse has gotten out of the live horse racing game in Illinois — but it still wants a piece of the action.

Regulators at the Illinois Racing Board on Thursday tabled a request from Arlington to keep operating its off-track betting parlors even though owner Churchill Downs Inc. shut down the historic track nearly two months ago and announced a pending deal to sell the land to the Chicago Bears.

Arlington president Tony Petrillo said the company’s controversial request highlights its “commitment to thoroughbred racing in the state,” but Racing Board commissioner Alan Henry suggested they were trying to squeeze more money out of a struggling industry they’ve already abandoned.

“What I see in these requests seems an awful lot like the farmer who sells his prized Holstein [cow], then expects to still get paid for some of the milk it produces,” said Henry, a former Chicago Sun-Times editor.

The final races at the 94-year-old track were run Sept. 25, leaving only two other tracks remaining in the state. Days later, Churchill Downs announced it would sell the 326 acres to the Bears, who are considering building a new stadium there.

Arlington didn’t apply for racing dates next year and had already passed on the opportunity to open a casino adjacent to the northwest suburban oval, drawing the ire of the horse owners and trainers represented by the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. That group has said Churchill Downs is more concerned with protecting its other Illinois asset: Rivers Casino in nearby Des Plaines, which is the most lucrative casino in the state.

But the company still wants to take bets on races broadcast at its several OTBs scattered across the suburbs.

Petrillo said he would expect the OTBs to take about $76 million in bets, generating $8 million for purses and fees going to the Chicago area’s only surviving track, Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney.

Taylor Hartz/Sun-Times file
Hawthorne Race Course pictured in October 2017.

He estimated Churchill Downs would turn a profit of about $300,000. Meanwhile, Churchill Downs remains “committed to finding another solution and another location” to restart racing, Petrillo said.

Henry pushed back, saying “common sense tells me that inter-track wagering licenses should only be granted to viable track operators that actually want to engage in horse racing.”

The dispute hinges on interpreting a vague part of state horse racing law and whether it requires tracks to have actual racing dates in order to operate OTBs, or if they only need to have run races in the past calendar year.

Racing Board staffers sided with Arlington. The agency’s general counsel, John Gay, noted two other former suburban tracks — Maywood and Balmoral — operated OTBs even though they didn’t have any race dates before they shut down for good.

Board members voted 10-0 to delay a vote on the matter until their next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 16.

The Bears $197 million deal to acquire Arlington Park is expected to close in late 2022 or early 2023.

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University of Chicago students protest for campus safety following the death of graduate student Shaoxiong “Dennis” Zheng at the main quadrangle at University of Chicago in Hyde Park, Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 16, 2021. A memorial service was held on the campus Thursday. | Mark Capapas/Sun-Times,

Shaoxiong “Dennis” Zheng’s mother, Li Rong, was among the last to speak at her son’s memorial service Thursday. “They say that someone who shines everywhere is an angel,” she said in Chinese. “Please, God, give my angel back.”

Hundreds of students from the University of Chicago and others filled the school’s historic chapel Thursday to attend the memorial service of a 24-year-old recent graduate who was killed during a brazen daytime mugging near the Hyde Park campus.

The hour-long service at U of C’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel began with a photo montage that showed Shaoxing “Dennis” Zheng go from a smiling toddler, to a Chengdu high schooler, to a graduate student posing with friends on the Chicago lakefront.

Zheng’s mother, Li Rong, whose first trip to the United States was for the memorial service, was among the last to speak, her words expressing deep mourning and outrage.

“They say that someone who shines everywhere is an angel,” she said in Chinese. “Please, God, give my angel back.

“Countless mothers and families are standing by. We all share the same grief and anger, and call for severe punishment for the murderer.”

Opening slide of livestream of University of Chicago’s memorial service on Thursday, November 18 for Shaoxiong “Dennis” Zheng, a recent University graduate who was killed on November 9.

Zheng completed his master’s degree in statistics at the university in June, and was shot by an alleged armed robber on Nov. 9 in the 900 block of East 54th Place — just a few blocks from the chapel.

Alton Spann, 18, was arrested for Zheng’s murder three days later and ordered held without bond.

Friends and U of C faculty described Zheng as a dedicated student who had a zest for life. He was also a devoted table tennis player and enjoyed photography “though he was less captivated by the technical aspects of capturing images than the simple act of admiring the world’s beauty,” a news release from the university said.

“He wanted to savor every moment of life,” Zheng’s girlfriend, Shirley Cai, a graduate political science student, was quoted as saying in the release. “The sky, the sunset, the stars– he just wanted to keep it.

“Meeting him was one of the most fortunate things that has ever happened to me. I was so lucky to be with him. He was the kind of person I want to be.”

Dan Nicolae, chair of the statistics department, said Zheng was a particularly bright and engaged student, recalling the time he suggested a problem in network theory for Zheng to work on as part of his research.

“He politely listened, acknowledged my idea, took notes on the books and the papers I suggested he read,” Nicolae said.

“He came back weeks later to report on his progress: he read a couple of advanced books, different than the ones I suggested, he took an online course…and he made significant problem on a research question that was very different than the one I suggested, one that was more challenging and better suited to his research interests.”

Zheng’s murder prompted protests on the South Side campus, where two other students or recent graduates have been killed this year. While Thursday’s memorial service did not feature any demonstrations near the chapel, a memorial pile of flowers, signs and candles at the crime scene had grown noticeably.

A GoFundMe campaign to raise money in Zheng’s name totaled more than $300,000 by Thursday evening.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
A memorial for University of Chicago graduate Shaoxiong “Dennis” Zheng is set up at the 5400 block of S. Ellis Ave. in the Hyde Park Neighborhood, Friday, Nov. 12, 2021.

Before he was killed, surveillance cameras captured Zheng standing on the sidewalk around 2 p.m. when a black Mustang pulled up and Spann hopped out, holding a gun, prosecutors said.

Spann allegedly went on to demand that Zheng hand over his belongings, and the two men struggled briefly before Zheng tried to run away. Spann then fired a single shot that struck Zheng in the chest, prosecutors said. A bystander tended to Zheng before paramedics arrived.

After the shooting, prosecutors said Spann took Zheng’s computer and cellphone and pawned them for $100. Spann, who is on parole for a 2019 armed robbery, was carrying two guns when he was arrested in the 1400 block of North Sedgwick last week, prosecutors said.

In January, doctoral student Yiran Fan was gunned down, apparently at random, by Jason Nightengale, who would go on to shoot six other people — two of them fatally — during an hours-long shooting spree that began in Hyde Park and ended when Nightengale was killed in a shootout with police in Evanston.

Then in the summer, undergraduate student Max Lewis, 20, was killed by a stray bullet that went through the window of a Green Line train.

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A dealer resets a deck of cards during a break in poker play at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas in 2013. | Julie Jacobson/AP file

A Wisconsin tribe claims Waukegan’s casino developer selection process was “rigged,” but the north suburb counters that the “scorched earth lawsuit” is designed to protect the tribe’s Milwaukee casino from competition.

The lengthy process to select the developer of a new casino in Waukegan just got longer.

State regulators were expected to name a winner in the two-years-and-counting race for the coveted north suburban gambling license Thursday, but the Illinois Gaming Board deferred action due to an ongoing legal battle waged by a spurned operator that claims Waukegan officials “rigged” their selection process to favor a bid backed by a former state senator.

The Forest County Potawatomi Community sued the city in 2019, shortly after the Wisconsin tribe was eliminated from consideration among four bidders to break ground on the new casino. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a massive gambling expansion into law that year, which requires host communities to sign off on bids before they’re vetted by the state.

Waukegan advanced three proposals, including the two remaining finalists being weighed by the Gaming Board: Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts, and North Point Casino, which is led by former Grayslake state Sen. Michael Bond, who also runs a slot machine business.

The third group, a joint venture between billionaire casino mogul Neil Bluhm and Churchill Downs Inc., withdrew from consideration earlier this fall.

Potawatomi lawyers have questioned why they were eliminated despite scoring well on a city-contracted consultant’s scoring system for the bids.

Provided
Rendering of the first phase of development for the proposed North Point Casino.

And in a lawsuit court filing unsealed last week, Potawatomi lawyers alleged former Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham told aldermen which bids to approve, “the culmination of a rigged process.” Bond poured thousands of dollars into local elections through his video gambling machine company Tap Room Gaming ahead of the state gambling expansion.

Attorneys for Waukegan have dismissed Potawatomi’s claims, writing in court filings that “this scorched earth lawsuit is factually suspect,” intended to stifle development and protect the tribe’s Milwaukee casino from potential competition. They accuse the tribe of using “the federal court’s jurisdiction as a means of appealing the city of Waukegan’s licensing decisions.”

Provided by Full House Resorts
Artist’s rendering of the proposed “American Place” casino in Waukegan.

The Gaming Board was scheduled to issue preliminary approval to one of the remaining casino hopefuls at a meeting Thursday, but administrator Marcus Fruchter said the agency would delay its vote indefinitely “out of respect for the judicial process.”

“This decision is in no way a comment about or reflection of the IGB’s views of the respective merits of the pending lawsuits or of any claims in those lawsuits,” Fruchter said.

A North Point spokesperson declined to comment on the suit but said in an email “we respect the Illinois Gaming Board’s decision today and remain committed to building a world-class entertainment destination in Waukegan.”

A federal mediation on the Potawatomi lawsuit is scheduled for Nov. 30. The Gaming Board next meets Dec. 8.

Victor Hilitski/For the Sun-Times
Illinois Gaming Board administrator Marcus Fruchter speaks at an August 2019 meeting.

Pritzker’s gambling expansion authorized six new casinos, but only one has opened since he signed the law in June of 2019. The Hard Rock Casino Rockford took its first bets at a temporary site last week.

Tax revenue from the expansion is earmarked for the governor’s $45 billion capital infrastructure improvement plan.

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