What’s New

The lifeguard stand at North Avenue Beach along the Lake Michigan shore in Chicago. | Getty

The supervisor, based at Humboldt Park, was suspended and then resigned. It’s the most explosive development yet in the ongoing investigation of sexual harassment and abuse among lifeguards at Chicago’s pools and beaches.

An adult male supervisor in the Chicago Park District’s Beaches and Pools Division has abruptly resigned after being accused of an “inappropriate relationship” with an underage female employee who once worked as a seasonal lifeguard, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The ouster of the supervisor at Humboldt Park is the most explosive development yet in the burgeoning investigation of sexual harassment and abuse among lifeguards at Chicago’s pools and beaches that has raised questions about an alleged cover-up in Supt. Mike Kelly’s administration.

On Wednesday, the Park Board called a special meeting for 10 a.m. Friday with a single agenda item: “closed session.” The sudden scheduling — for a “presentation from the board’s outside counsel” — has fueled speculation that Kelly’s days as superintendent may be numbered.

Park district spokeswoman Michele Lemons confirmed the new allegations about illicit contact between an adult natatorium instructor and the underage lifeguard only after being confronted by the Sun-Times.

The allegations first came to the district’s attention on Aug. 26. The matter was forwarded to the park district’s inspector general “for review and investigation” — something Kelly had failed to do when the first allegations of sexual abuse and harassment of lifeguards was brought to his attention earlier this year.

But Lemons said at that point, “the matter did not rise to the level of OIG involvement” based on “details provided by the initial third-party complainant.” A second investigation by the Department of Human Resources was hampered after the alleged victim “refuted being subjected to any misconduct.”

Then, however, on Sept. 10, the park district received a written statement from a third-party complainant “verifying claims that included screenshots of text messages.” Those text messages allegedly included “reports of inappropriate communications and choking done in a sexual manner,” Lemons said. The email did not give further explanation of the text messages.

Lemons said in an email that the instructor was placed on emergency suspension Sept. 13 “while the District took the necessary steps to initiate termination,” but he resigned on Monday before that process had concluded.

Because the alleged victim is a minor, Lemons said the park district also took the unusual step of contacting the Department of Children and Family Services. According the Lemons, DCFS said “the information provided did not warrant an investigation” by the state child welfare agency.

Earlier Wednesday, Lemons had told the Sun-Times that the park district was “pleased to learn the Chicago Police Department has made an arrest in an alleged case of misconduct of a former employee accused of having an inappropriate relationship with an underage former seasonal employee.”

But after a CPD spokesman said he couldn’t find a record of an arrest involving a parks supervisor and underage employee, Lemons apologized for her error.

“The District received erroneous information,” she wrote. “On behalf of the Chicago Park District, please accept my apology for the misinformation regarding the arrest of the accused former employee.”

Valarie Hays is a former federal prosecutor who was hired by the park district board to take over the investigation into allegations of sexual harassment among lifeguards at city pools and beaches.

While the IG’s office is focused on “any new complaints that come in,” her investigation centers on what happened in the past.

“There were these two complaints that have been reported from early 2020 and a number of subjects have been identified through that. I’m focused on that piece,” she said.

Hays refused to say whether Kelly has been or will be interviewed as part of an investigation she hopes to complete “as quickly as possible.”

She was pressed on whether she was investigating the allegation by Nathan Kipp, who was fired from his post as deputy inspector general. Kipp alleged a high-level cover-up that may have originated with Kelly and included Park Board President Avis LaVelle.

“My investigation, irrespective of Mr. Kipp, is focused also on management’s response to the complaints. … Anything that falls into the category of response to complaints. Cover-up is your word. But you could say that a cover-up falls within an investigation of how the complaints were responded to,” Hays said.

“By management, that includes the board of directors and Park District management.”

LaVelle did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did Kelly, who has resisted calls to resign.

The Sun-Times reported in August that in February 2020, an Oak Street Beach lifeguard sent 11 pages of explosive allegations to Kelly about lifeguards’ conduct during the summer of 2019.

She said she’d been pushed into a wall, called sexually degrading and profane names by fellow lifeguards and abandoned for hours at her post for refusing to take part in their drinking parties and on-the-job drug use.

Kelly has been under fire for giving his top managers first crack at investigating those complaints instead of referring those allegations immediately to the inspector general.

That’s what he promised the young woman he would do in an email applauding the lifeguard for her “courage” in coming forward.

Though required by park district rules, Kelly, who worked for several years in the 2000s as a park district attorney, did not contact the inspector general until a second lifeguard’s more graphic complaint of more serious allegations was forwarded to him by Lightfoot’s office.

He has acknowledged second thoughts about how he handled the first woman’s complaint but has denied he was involved in a cover-up.

Lightfoot has said she will await the outcome of both investigations before deciding whether or not to retain or oust Kelly, 50, who’s paid $230,000 a year.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), the mayor’s hand-picked chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee, and Ethics Committee Chairman Michele Smith (43rd) were outraged by the explosive new allegations. They demanded that Lightfoot fire Kelly.

“Every member of any organization that works with minors and vulnerable populations should be carefully and expertly trained to spot grooming and all other predatory behaviors,” the City Council members wrote in an email to the Sun-Times.

The Park District’s claims of a “‘zero-tolerance’ policy for harassment and abuse” are “patently false, given the increasing number of complaints becoming public at long last,” the email said.

“We reiterate the call for Mike Kelly’s resignation and that of all Park Officials who have failed these victims.”

Kipp, the now-former deputy inspector general who was leading the lifeguard investigation, has called his ouster a “concerted effort” to prevent him from “continuing to investigate criminal activity and employee misconduct that seemingly pervade” the Beaches & Pools Unit.

The investigation was further complicated last month when park district IG Elaine Little, ex-wife of State Rep. Curtis Tarver (D-Chicago) was forced out after a controversy came to light regarding an affair she had with a co-worker at a previous job.

Little resigned hours after a WBEZ investigation showed that while overseeing investigations at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, she had an extramarital affair and a child out of wedlock with a colleague. That triggered a conflict of interest probe that was cut short when she resigned in 2018.

Little’s ouster as the internal parks watchdog came less than a month after she abruptly fired Kipp.

State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has opened her own investigation into the allegations of sexual harassment and abuse at the Park District. She has urged victims to call a hotline at her office — 312-603-1944 — just as she did, successfully, in building her case against now-convicted R&B singer R. Kelly.

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Alyha Khalil, 17, holds up her art piece that will be displayed at The Loft, located at Steppenwolf Theatre’s Arts and Education Center on Halsted. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

The Loft Teen Arts Project commissioned seven finalists’ pieces, allocating between $1,500 and $2,500 to five individual artists and two groups.

Most of Alyha Khalil’s oil paintings take her a month or even longer to complete.

But in July, after hearing about the Loft Teen Art Project at Steppenwolf Theatre and after a week of painting marathons, six hours at a time, Khalil’s piece was complete.

“I’ve always wanted my art up in a gallery of some sort, whether that’s the Art Institute or… something as small as a school art show,” said Khalil, 17, of Irving Park. “Just seeing my art up is really encouraging and inspires me a lot to continue creating.”

A senior at Senn High School in Edgewater, Khalil was the youngest artist of the five individuals and two groups selected as finalists for the Loft Teen Arts Project. More than 150 young artists in the Chicago area applied, said Rae Taylor, manager of education partnerships at Steppenwolf.

Each finalist received between $1,500 and $2,500 to produce a piece inspired by the theme “The Future I See: Creating for Community.” The result: four paintings, two of which use mixed media, two photography projects and a textile made by twin sisters as they sent the fabric back and forth from their colleges: Duke University and Northwestern University.

The seven finalist pieces will be displayed for a year in the Loft, which encompasses the entire fourth floor of the theater’s new Arts and Education Center. The Loft is intended to be a “teen gallery,” a multidisciplinary touchpoint between theater and visual art, said Megan Shuchman, Steppenwolf’s director of education.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Steppenwolf Theatre’s new Arts and Education Center is located at 1650 North Halsted Street, adjacent to the iconic Chicago theater company’s main venue.

Steppenwolf began its $73 million expansion project in March of 2019. The center, which will also contain a 400-seat Round Theater wine bar, opens to the public next month. The theater company hopes to make the Loft Teen Arts Project an annual event, Taylor said.

The fourth-floor Loft is outfitted with floor-to-ceiling windows, bright orange elevator doors, an outdoor terrace, a maker studio and more. But when teens and young adults come up to the Loft, Taylor said she wants them to feel the space is there specifically for them.

“Oftentimes, young folks get invited into places that are too precious to be touched because they look this nice,” Taylor said. “That’s never really the answer, particularly when you want to get them deeply engaged or to just have them feeling like they have agency and ownership… over the space.”

Khalil’s painting displays a grayscale portrait of Angela Davis, along with one of the activist’s famous quotes: “We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.” Flowers emerge from the painting, glued on where Davis’ hair would be, “to represent that Black hair is beautiful,” Khalil said.

Sketches of Davis already began filling a canvas when Khalil learned about the teen arts project, but hearing the project’s theme of “The Future I See: Creating for Community” only solidified her decision to submit that painting.

“The first thing that caught my eye was ‘community,’ ” Khalil said. “A lot of my work explores Black identities and their place in our communities… It was like, it only makes sense to make this piece.”

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Rae Taylor (left) manager of Education Partnerships at Steppenwolf Theatre, and artist Alyha Khalil, discuss where and how student art pieces should be displayed at The Loft.

Even back in kindergarten, Khalil said she remembers constantly drawing stick-figure portraits of her family and friends. She strayed away from painting, though, feeling like she wasn’t good at using acrylic paints. It wasn’t until her freshman year of high school that Khalil experimented with oil paintings, which allowed her to bring to life the realism portraits she dreamt up in her mind, Khalil said. Nine oil paintings make up her completed work thus far, along with photography and other side art projects.

Khalil ended up using the same piece she applied with as the one that will hang in the Loft for the next year, but the other finalists made new pieces, commissioned through the project. Each artist received a “Steppen-buddy” to help them craft a budget for art supplies and create a timeline for completing their projects, Taylor said.

As a finalist, Khalil had the opportunity to be a student curator for the project, helping organize and maintain the gallery, determining where each piece should be displayed. Being a curator is what Khalil aspires to be, she said, something she plans to pursue, attending an art school after graduating high school this spring. Her dream would be to attend the School of the Art Institute, Khalil said.

“It’s really inspiring, just to see my art, seeing the process from this to what my future pieces would look like,” Khalil said. “This is barely the start.”

Other finalists include:

Elizabeth Cervantes (age 18) from Mount Greenwood with an oil painting project
Liz Olivarez Lyles (age 21) from Lake View with a mixed media project
Kaleia Maxey (age 17) from Beverly with a photography/collage project
Stevia Ndoe (age 18) from West Ridge/North Park with a photography project
Tia and Tyra Smith (age 20) from Chatham with a textile project
BUILD, a violence prevention and youth development organization based on the West side of Chicago, with a group artwork, medium TBA

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A second person has been charged in the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl on June 2, 2021, in Back of the Yards. Sources say the shooting was linked to an ongoing conflict between two gangs.

Michael Aguirre, 26, was arrested on the West Side and charged with murder in the June 2 slaying of Savanah Quintero.

A man accused of providing the gun that killed a 14-year-old girl in Back of the Yards allegedly confronted a fellow gang member weeks later, called him a snitch and shot him nine times.

Michael Aguirre, 26, was arrested Monday on the West Side on a murder charge for the June 2 slaying of Savanah Quintero. He’s also charged with attempted murder in the wounding a witness of the shooting.

Edgar Martinez, 17, has already been charged as the gunman in the killing of Quintero.

Martinez, Aguirre and another person had confronted the girl and her boyfriend as they walked their dog to a corner store at 48th and Wood streets. The three allegedly yelled gang slogans and asked about their affiliations.

As the couple left the store, the trio continued to harass them from across the street, prosecutors said.

After the girl said her mother belonged to a rival gang, Aguirre took a handgun from his fanny pack and handed it to Martinez, who fired twice at the couple, striking the 14-year-old girl in the head, prosecutors said. She died three days later.

Surveillance video shows the shooting as well as Aguirre passing the gun and later fleeing in a Chevy Tahoe, prosecutors said.

Aguirre sold the Tahoe two months later and, during the sale, tried to sell a semiautomatic handgun but the buyer declined to purchase it, prosecutors said.

On Aug. 29, Aguirre confronted a witness of the shooting, who was also a fellow gang member, as the man was leaving work in Roseland on the Far South Side, prosecutors said. Aguirre accused the man of “snitching” but the man denied it and said he was leaving to catch a bus back home.

Aguirre continued to follow the man and confronted him again in the man’s neighborhood, prosecutors said. The man went down a side street but turned around and saw Aguirre pointing a gun at him, prosecutors said.

Aguirre opened fire and struck the man nine times, three times in his back, prosecutors said. The man spent a month in a hospital recovering from his wounds.

Aguirre has three children, a fiancee and has worked as a truck mechanic for the last two years, his attorney said.

Quintero’s murder was believed to be linked to an ongoing conflict between a long-entrenched gang and one that is relatively new to the area, the Sun-Times has reported.

At the time of the shootings, Aguirre was on bond for a pending drug delivery case in Will County.

Judge Charles Beach denied Aguirre bail.

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Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields (1) has a 53.9 passer rating this season — completing 25-of-52 passes for 347 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in four games. | David Banks/AP Photos

After an awkward dance with Andy Dalton, Matt Nagy made an emotionally difficult call — for him, anyway — to change partners and make Fields the Bears’ full-time starter. “This is Justin’s time.”

The Bears haven’t gotten the quarterback right very often since the end of the Sid Luckman era. On Wednesday, coach Matt Nagy did the next best thing: he gave them a better chance to get it right. Maybe the best chance.

After an awkward dance with veteran Andy Dalton, Nagy rather soberly announced that he is switching partners. Rookie Justin Fields, anointed the Bears’ quarterback of the future when the Bears traded up to take him with the 11th overall pick of the 2021 draft, has been elevated to No. 1 on the depth chart four games into his NFL career and will be the starter — presumably from here on out, beginning with Sunday’s game against the Raiders in Las Vegas.

A week after the Bears took a giant step toward building their own stadium in Arlington Heights, Nagy made a similar potentially seismic move on the field. But like a state-of-the-art stadium, a quarterback of Justin Fields’ ability is new territory for Halas Hall and there likely will be several hurdles to clear before a franchise quarterback becomes a reality.

But for a team that has languished in the immense shadow of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers up in Green Bay for the last 30 years, just getting to this point is monumental.

“I’ve always said from the beginning to everybody in here — to our players, our coaches, to y’all when y’all ask [about Fields starting] is that we’ll know when he’s done everything to show us that he’s ready for this opportunity,” Nagy said. “This is Justin’s time.”

In typical Bears fashion, they followed a difficult path to get here — with Fields unexpectedly becoming available after the Bears had signed Dalton in free agency in March.

The Bears original plan was to let Fields serve a a year of apprenticeship behind Dalton. When the regular season began, Nagy switched gears a bit and used Fields intermittently in short-yardage or red zone situations.

Fields played five snaps against the Rams in the opener — scoring on a three-yard run — and two snaps against the Bengals before the plan was altered yet again when Dalton suffered a bone bruise in his knee in that Week 2 game.

Fields finished that game — a 20-17 victory — and started against the Browns in Week 3. That seemed to be the opening Nagy needed to install Fields as the permanent starter. But after Fields was sacked nine times and the Bears gained just 47 yards in a dreadful 26-6 loss, Nagy said Dalton still was No. 1 on the depth chart and would start when he was healthy.

Even after Fields was much better in a 24-14 victory over the Lions — completing pass plays of 64, 32, 28 and 27 yards that led to three touchdowns — Nagy insisted Monday that Dalton would be the starter when he was healthy.

Two days later, it was a much different story. Nagy said Fields is the No. 1 quarterback and did not open the door for Dalton — who practiced in full Wednesday and will be the back-up against the Raiders — to regain the job other than by injury. Nagy can always change his mind again, but it appears he is committed to developing Fields even through poor performances.

“This is Justin’s time,” Nagy said. “We’re so confident in where he’s at and just continuing [to] let him grow. [We] understand that it’s not going to be perfect. Justin knows that. We all understand. There’s going to be some times where [bad] things happen. But we’ve got to continue to stay positive.”

It will be interesting to see how that plays out if the Bears lose games while Fields develops. Both Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace were under fire after the Bears went 8-8 last season. If the Bears finish under .500, Nagy would have one winning season in four years; Pace just one winning season in seven years as GM.

It’s possible, perhaps even likely, that both Pace and Nagy would survive a non-playoff season if Fields is progressing at the finish. But there’s no guarantee.

That’s the unanswered question at Halas Hall — what do chairman George McCaskey and president Ted Phillips consider success after acknowledging fan discontent, their own frustration and the unpopularity of retaining Nagy and Pace after last season?

Nagy wasn’t concerned about the risk of losing games with a developing quarterback.

“I’m worried about doing what’s best for the Bears,” Nagy said. “And that’s the only thing that matters.”

While it was a day of celebration for Bears fans who have wanted Fields’ developmental clock started the moment he was drafted, it was bittersweet for Nagy. He feels for Dalton, who was promised the starting job when he signed with the Bears and now is on the bench after four games.

“What would your response be?” Nagy responded to a reporter who asked what Dalton’s response was. “It’s hard. It’s hard because I can’t state enough how much Andy has put into this organization, this team, his commitment. I just appreciate the way he’s handled everything. He’s as special as they get.”

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A general view of Guaranteed Rate Field during the observation of the singing of the national anthem before the game between the Chicago White Sox and the Texas Rangers at Guaranteed Rate Field on August 24, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. | Quinn Harris, Getty

The feds say Bruce Lee made $868,369 by selling 34,876 fraudulently obtained tickets during the 2016 through 2019 baseball seasons. The tickets had a market value of between $1 million and $1.2 million, authorities said.

A federal jury swiftly convicted a man Wednesday who swindled the White Sox out of roughly $1 million with the help of two ticket sellers who worked for the South Siders.

A January 2020 indictment charged Bruce Lee with wire fraud, and jurors found Lee guilty on all counts Wednesday, returning their verdict after about two hours of deliberation at the end of a four-day trial.

Lee now faces sentencing Jan. 10. Also convicted in the scheme were ticket sellers James Costello and William O’Neil, who pleaded guilty last year and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

The feds alleged that Lee made $868,369 by selling 34,876 fraudulently obtained tickets during the 2016 through 2019 baseball seasons. The tickets had a market value of between $1 million and $1.2 million, authorities said.

But Lee’s attorney, Nishay Sanan, insisted at the start of the trial that Lee believed he legitimately paid for those tickets, which he sold on StubHub, and any crime against the Sox took place in the ticket booth.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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A construction crane collapsed in Edgewater Beach Oct. 6, 2021. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Trains were initially stopped at the Bryn Mawr station about 3:30 p.m. because of an “obstruction,” the CTA said in an alert.

Purple and Red Line service was disrupted Wednesday afternoon in Edgewater Beach on the North Side after a large construction crane collapse.

The crane toppled over in the 1100 block of West Bryn Mawr Avenue, knocking down power lines and prompting the partial evacuation of a nearby building, according to Chicago fire officials.

It was not immediately clear if anyone had been injured.

Chicago Fire Department
A construction crane collapsed in Edgewater Beach Oct. 6, 2021.

Red and Purple Line trains were running but not stopping at the Bryn Mawr station, the CTA said in an alert.

This is a developing story. Check back for details.

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“I just know that we have a lot of talent,” the Bulls’ Lonzo Ball said. “There’s only one basketball out there and we understand that and it’s all about getting the best shot.” | Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

It was only one preseason game, but what a game it was, as the new-look Bulls had a very Lakers “Showtime” feel, and Ball was a big reason why.

Lonzo Ball’s passing repertoire runs deep.

The alley-oop, the no-look, the skip pass to an open teammate deep in the corner, pocket pass, the jump-pass … the point guard has it all. And really has since back in days as a standout at Chino Hills High School in California.

So when Ball talks about putting “a show on for [the fans] every time,” like he mentioned after Tuesday night’s blowout win over Cleveland in the preseason opener for the Bulls, it’s OK to start thinking, “Would ‘Showtime’ really play in the Midwest?”

If what Ball and his teammates did to the Cavaliers is any indication? That’s a big hell yes.

Bulls basketball has not only been a bad product since the 2017 rebuild attempt, but it’s been an energy drain, far too often painful to watch.

A sin for any team with a two-time Slam Dunk Champion like Zach LaVine on it.

And while LaVine was capable of getting 40 points on any given night, it was 40 points he mostly had to earn on his own. Impressive, but not always effortless.

It was just one preseason game, but LaVine looked effortless on his way to 25 points in 24 minutes, and Ball was a big reason why.

“I think it’s huge,” Donovan said of Ball’s presence in the backcourt alongside LaVine. “I also think it’s something Zach is getting comfortable with because I think Zach has been so used to having the ball in his hands and generating sometimes a lot of shots for himself. But now he’s in a position where shots are being generated for him.”

Better believe it’s contagious.

Ball had five assists and Alex Caruso had 10.

The common denominator? They both have a Lakers background where the fabled “Showtime” style of basketball was born and raised.

They both also seem determined to prove that “Showtime” travels. Palm trees and movie stars replaced by snow drifts and parkas.

“When you’ve got a point guard of that magnitude with that IQ that’s as unselfish as [Ball] is, he makes the game easier and it makes it fun … and it becomes contagious,” veteran DeMar DeRozan said. “You saw the way we moved the ball. It’s been like that all through training camp, and we expect it to keep getting better.

“What’s even better about it is [Ball] has the greatest, most humbling demeanor toward him too.”

That explains why he was so laid back after the lesson in basketball he and the Bulls taught the Cavs.

“Just from the first two weeks that we’ve been together, I’ve kind of seen this coming,” Ball said of what was displayed. “I just know that we have a lot of talent. There’s only one basketball out there and we understand that and it’s all about getting the best shot. I think everybody gets that one through 15.”

So what does that mean big picture for this current Bulls roster?

Well, for Coby White it means when he is healthy enough to return he can put his starting dreams in a backpack and tuck them away nicely, because the front office has now seen the difference between being born to play point guard and being taught to play point guard.

For LaVine it means a chance to continue scoring at a high clip, but doing so with less effort with a guy like Ball to facilitate and put LaVine into better scoring positions. Less energy used on offense, more saved for defense. A win-win.

“We’re playing free basketball right now, getting up and down the floor,” LaVine said. “But for me to play off the ball, get cuts, get easy shots, get easy spot-ups, it’s something I haven’t had for awhile.

“I’m excited for that.”

LaVine’s not alone.

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A lifeguard stand at North Avenue Beach. | Scott Olson/Getty

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be cloudy with a high near 72 degrees. Tonight, there will be a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a low around 64 and a 60% chance of precipitation. Showers and thunderstorms are possible tomorrow, with a high near 72 and an 80% chance of precipitation — rainfall amounts are between a quarter and half of an inch are possible.

Top story

Park District supervisor arrested; accused of sexual relationship with underage lifeguard

An adult male supervisor in the Chicago Park District’s Beaches and Pools Division has abruptly resigned after being arrested and accused of carrying on a romantic relationship with an underage female lifeguard, the Sun-Times has learned.

The recent arrest of the supervisor at Humboldt Park is the most explosive development yet in the burgeoning investigation of sexual harassment and abuse among lifeguards at Chicago’s pools and beaches that has implicated parks Supt. Mike Kelly in an alleged cover-up.

Park district spokeswoman Michele Lemons confirmed the latest developments only after being confronted by the Sun-Times.

“The Chicago Park District is pleased to learn the Chicago Police Department has made an arrest in an alleged case of misconduct of a former employee accused of having an inappropriate relationship with an underage former seasonal employee,” Lemons wrote in an email to the Sun-Times.

The ongoing investigation and subsequent arrest underscore the park district’s commitment to “providing its employees with a safe work environment” and its “zero tolerance for professional misconduct, harassment or abuse,” Lemons said. She said 40 employees have been disciplined so far.

Fran Spielman and Lauren FitzPatrick have more on the latest development in the Park District scandal here.

More news you need

A Villa Park man was arrested Monday after robbing a bank with fireworks duct-taped around his waist and texting his wife a photo of him holding cash, the FBI said. After ditching his car and walking home, he stepped outside for a smoke and was promptly arrested FBI agents, who’d been watching his place for hours.

A second person has been charged with chasing down and fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl in Back of the Yards over the summer. The 26-year-old man was arrested Monday on the West Side and charged with murder in the June 2 slaying of Savanah Quintero, police said.

Chicago Public Schools students who are exposed to COVID-19 at school will face a less stringent quarantine procedure moving forward, officials announced yesterday. The change is an effort to ease the early disruptions caused by thousands of children being sent home every week.

A Chicago-area woman convicted of assisting her boyfriend in her mother’s murder and stuffing the body in a suitcase in Bali in 2014 is being released early from a 10-year sentence, the Associated Press reported today. Heather Mack was 18 when she was arrested a day after the body of her mother was discovered in the trunk of a taxi parked near the St. Regis Bali Resort.

A former Northwestern University professor accused of brutally stabbing his boyfriend to death denied he committed the 2017 murder yesterday. Wyndham Lathem said the deadly attack on Trenton Cornell-Duranleau was solely carried out by another man — Andrew Warren — during a meth-fueled threesome gone awry.

City Council members got some welcomed news yesterday: Chicago’s chronic shortage of those black, 96-gallon garbage bins provided by the city will finally be addressed. The city’s new Streets and Sanitation Commissioner said the department is getting almost $1 million to provide more carts to homes and businesses.

A bright one

Young artists’ work to be featured at Steppenwolf Theater’s Loft

Most of Alyah Khalil’s oil paintings take her a month or even longer to complete.

But in July, after hearing about the Loft Teen Art Project at Steppenwolf Theater and after a week of six-hour-long days of painting, Khalil’s piece was complete.

“I’ve always wanted my art up in a gallery of some sort, whether that’s the Art Institute or… something as small as a school art show,” said Khalil, 17, of Irving Park. “Just seeing my art up is really encouraging and inspires me a lot to continue creating.”

A senior at Senn High School in Edgewater, Khalil was the youngest artist of the five individuals and two groups selected as finalists for the Loft Teen Arts Project. More than 150 young artists in the Chicago area applied, said Rae Taylor, manager of education partnerships at Steppenwolf.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Alyha Khalil, 17, holds up her work that will be displayed at The Loft, located at Steppenwolf’s Arts and Education Center, yesterday.

Each finalist received between $1,500 and $2,500 to produce a piece inspired by the theme “The Future I See: Creating for Community.”

The result: four paintings, two of which use mixed media; two photography projects; and a textile made by twin sisters as they sent the fabric back and forth from their colleges — Duke University and Northwestern University.

The seven finalist pieces will be displayed for a year in the Loft, which encompasses the entire fourth floor of the theater’s new Arts and Education Center.

Clare Proctor has more on the theater’s program here.

From the press box

The Bears officially named Justin Fields their starting quarterback going forward, ending any speculation about Andy Dalton taking back the job.
The Sky take on the Sun in Game 4 of their WNBA playoff series tonight (7 p.m. CT). Annie Costabile looks at the series’ X-factor: Azura Stevens, whose versatility has been critical for the Sky.

Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer today laid out his plans for the offseason with reporters.
Bulls forward Patrick Williams hopes he’ll be ready for the regular season.
When the White Sox start their playoff run tomorrow, Steve Greenberg will be remembering that the team went all-in to get to this moment.

Your daily question ?

What did you do during the more than five hours Facebook and its apps (Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.) were down on Monday?

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday we asked you: In honor of World Teachers’ Day today, think of a teacher who had a positive impact on your life — what would you tell them if you could talk to them today? Here’s what some of you said…

“If I could talk to my first-grade teacher, Ms. Fields (Farren Elementary), I would thank her for ‘seeing’ me. I wish I could tell her in person. I don’t even know what was her first name. But I loved her and I believe she loved me.” — Camilla Rhyne

“I would thank Mr. James Stedt. He was a special education teacher I had at Homewood Flossmoor High School. He was not only a great teacher but he was a great father figure who understand working with students with disabilities and being patient with them.” — Steve Price

“Mollie Landfear, thank you so much for all your care, guidance and encouragement. It has been 30 years since I was in your class, but you left a beautiful handprint on my heart and also so many other Larkin High School students.” — Renee Jorgensen Sweeney

“I already have just recently thanked him — turns out he is a published author. Back in the day, I was in a very dark place and he reached out, without judgment, trying to help. He did not ask many questions but just allowed me to sit in on his classes, in times of need. I did not accept his help at that time and my darkness stayed with me for a very long time, and at times, still here. But I never forgot about his kind gesture. It seems even the smallest and quietest gestures can make a difference.” — Kevin Fitz

“Thanks, Mr. Gonring for making me feel like what I had to contribute was important.” — Amy Jo

“I transferred schools in the fourth grade because of boundary changes. I was the only one of my friends affected. I was a shy child. My fourth-grade teacher helped me overcome this shyness by making me the emcee of the holiday assembly. This boosted my confidence and to this date, I have no issues speaking in front of large crowds. I am forever grateful.” — Rhonda Rowe-Skolnik

“Ms. Martin, my kindergarten teacher at Lorraine Hansberry/Daniel Webster Elementary School on the West Side of Chicago. She inspired me to begin writing. I would tell her, ‘thank you.’ I was writing full stories in kindergarten, and I still love the power of my pen. Not only that, my son and I have an editing business. My love for writing fell on his heart. Thank you, again, Ms. Martin.” — Tayatta S. Cummings

“Loretta Brunious, thank you for everything! Thank you for caring and thank you for your sacrifice of time, self and even your resources. I have never forgotten your kindness and will always be grateful to you. Because of you, I’ve been able to continue to progress even when life wasn’t so good. It has been 40+ years, and I’ve never forgotten how you let us know we were worth it. We were your ‘girls’ and after all these years, we still are.” — Gail Rice

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