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Every time we’re ready to go all in, they push us out.

“The Guilty” features a star-power performance by Jake Gyllenhaal, crisp and economic direction from Antoine Fuqua (who previously teamed up with Gyllenhaal on the underrated boxing flick “The Southpaw”) and has first-class source material, as it’s a remake of the 2018 Danish gem of the same name. Alas, something gets lost in the translation, and what should be an engrossing, claustrophobic thriller keeps on throwing us for a loop and has us asking questions about logic when we should be so immersed in the story we don’t care about the plot holes.

Save for one brief sequence, the 85-minute run of “The Guilty” takes place within the LAPD Emergency Service Division, where Gyllenhaal’s Joe Baker is working the late shift against a backdrop of TV monitors displaying the chaos enveloping the Los Angeles area as wildfires rage out of control. We eventually learn Joe, a police detective, is off the streets because he’s facing charges about deadly serious misconduct — and the court hearing is tomorrow, and doesn’t it seem odd the Department would have Joe working such a stressful post, especially on the eve of such a huge day in his life? That’s the first indication “The Guilty” is going to bend reality to suit the story, but not the last.

With Fuqua’s cameras following Joe around in a docudrama style, with a myriad of closeups of Joe’s face, his eyes, his mouth, as he navigates through an endless tsunami of emergency calls, it’s apparent Joe is under a great deal of stress — on the job and in his personal life, as he’s been estranged from his wife for six months and he misses his daughter, which leads to Joe making such stupid decisions as calling the house at 2 a.m. and asking his wife if he can speak to their child. No, Joe. She’s asleep. Jeez. Besides, you’re not supposed to be on your personal phone, you’re supposed to be manning those incoming 911 calls.

On one such call, Joe ascertains that a young woman named Emily (voiced by Riley Keough) has been abducted by her ex-husband Henry (Peter Sarsgaard), leaving their 6-year-old daughter and infant son home alone. (We never see any of the characters who appear via phone conversations.) With Joe continually looking at a photo of his own daughter so we don’t miss the symbolic heaviness of this situation, he embarks on a frantic mission to determine Emily’s whereabouts and also contact Emily’s daughter to assure her everything will be all right.

Along the way, Joe snaps at his co-workers, gets into heated arguments with a California Highway Patrol dispatcher (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), asks his old friend Sgt. Bill Miller (Ethan Hawke) to break the law on his behalf, and is so obviously on the verge of his own meltdown that it feels like someone should be calling 911 to report HIM.

“The Guilty” wants to make a statement about a man who’s trying to save himself through saving others, but the message is delivered with all the subtlety of a frantic 911 call.

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A man was shot to death early Thursday in Austin on the West Side.

The 22-year-old was sitting in a vehicle about 12:30 a.m. in the 800 block of North Mayfield Avenue when a person approached and opened fire, Chicago police said.

His fiends drove him to West Suburban Hospital with gunshot wounds in the head and buttocks, police said. He was pronounced dead shortly after.

His name hasn’t been released.

Area Four detectives are investigating.

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Welcome to our highlights of events and entertainment in Chicago at our city’s best museums and galleries. Bookmark this page and check back for updates on the latest activities.

‘Romanticism to Ruin: Two Lost Works by Sullivan & Wright’

Photo by unknown photographer, Richard Nickel at the Garrick Theatre in midst of an interview with unidentified journalist, c. 1960.Ryerson & Burnham Libraries, Art Institute of Chicago

When: Sept. 24-Dec. 18

Where: Wrightwood 659, 659 W. Wrightwood

What: This two-part exhibit explores long-gone architectural masterpieces: Louis H. Sullivan’s Garrick Theatre in Chicago and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Building in Buffalo, New York. Included are 3D models and digital re-creations of the original edifices; salvaged architectural ornaments and artifacts; original furniture; historical documentation of the design, construction and demise of the buildings and archival photographs taken by noted preservationist Richard Nickel. Tickets: $15, available online only.

More information: For updated information regarding the gallery’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit wrightwood659.org.

‘Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You.’

Barbara Kruger. Untitled (Truth), 2013. Digital image courtesy of the artist

When: Sept. 19-Jan. 24

Where: Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan

What: The Art Institute presents a major solo exhibition devoted to the work of Barbara Kruger, a conceptual artist known for combining images and type that raise questions about our relationship to consumerism, society and more. The exhibit includes early work and rarely seen paste-ups of the early 1980s, which reveal her process, to her digital productions of the last two decades. Admission: $14-$25. (Also Art on the Mart is projecting a selection of Kruger’s work on the facade of the Merchandise Mart through Nov. 25.)

More information: For updated information regarding the museum’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit artic.edu.

‘Chicago Avant-Garde’

Dancer Katherine DunhamSun-Times file

When: To Dec. 30

Where: Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton

What: This interesting new exhibit puts the spotlight on five women whose lives and careers embodied a uniquely Chicago style of avant-garde creativity in 1930s-1950s: artist Gertrude Abercrombie, poet Gwendolyn Brooks, dancers Katherine Dunham and Ruth Page and curator Katharine Kuh. “All five women challenged social constraints — based on their gender, their race, or both — to subvert convention and find beauty and freedom in their art,” says curator Liesl Olson. The exhibit includes paintings, photographs, posters, dance costumes and rare video footage. Admission is free.

More information: For updated information regarding the museum’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit newberry.org.

The Neon and Light Museum

When: Through Oct. 31

Where: 325 W. Huron

What: This pop-up features an immersive exhibition of nearly 70 neon and light-based sculptures. Among the highlights are John Bannon’s 14-foot-tall neon sculpture “Breathe,” Monika Wulfer’s installation “Circle’s Edge” and an iconic neon self-portrait by John Lennon. Other artists include feminist neon artist Zoelle Nagib, pop sign artist Jason Pickleman, projected light specialist Gary Justis, abstract artist sculptor Michael Young and more. Tickets: $40+, reservations required.

More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit neonandlightmuseum.com.

‘Frida Kahlo: Timeless’

(C) 2020 Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

When: Through Oct. 15

Where: https://theccma.org/ticket-information

What: Though it closed Sept. 12, the not-too-miss art exhibit of the summer can still be seen on a virtual tour. Dolores Olmedo’s collection of paintings and works on paper by Kahlo were on view at the newly expanded Cleve Carney Museum of Art in Glen Ellyn. Curator Justin Witte and executive director Diana Martinez offer commentary during the virtual tour. Also featured are a multimedia timeline that offered a framework of Kahlo’s life, more than 100 photographs, a Kahlo-inspired garden and a family-friendly children’s area featuring a replica of Kahlo’s Casa Azul in Coyoacan, Mexico. Tickets: $18.

‘Dias de Muertos: A Time to Grieve & Remember’

George Rodriguez, “Mictlantecuhtli Offering,” 2020, ceramic installation, is featured in the exhibit “Dias de Muertos: A Time to Grieve & Remember.”Courtesy of the artist

When: Sept. 10-Dec. 12

Where: 1852 W. 19th

What: This year’s Day of the Dead exhibition at the National Museum of Mexican Art pays tribute to and remembers the many individuals from Mexico and the U.S. who have died from COVID-19. An annual time-honored tradition in Mexico, the Day of the Dead offers a way to join together to grieve and celebrate the lives of loved ones. The exhibit is a way to contemplate this moment via artworks and installations by artists from both sides of the border. Among those creating installations are Sandra Cisneros, Hector Duarte, Alejandro Garcia Nelo, Enrique Garcia and the Yollacalli Arts Center. These colorful displays sit alongside artwork by a long list of Mexican and Mexican American artists. Admission is free.

More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org.

‘American Epidemic: Guns in the United States’

“Untitled (Death by Gun),” by Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1990)Provided

When: Sept. 10-Feb. 20

Where: 600 S. Michigan

What: The Museum of Contemporary Photography presents an exhibit that brings together work by nine artists who examine the past three decades of gun culture in the United States. Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Carolyn Drake, Zora J Murff, Stephen Foster, Renee Stout, Hank Willis Thomas, Kambui Olujimi, Nancy Floyd and Andres Gonzalez use photography to approach the topic from a wide range of perspectives. “We hope this exhibition lays bare the persistent epidemic of gun violence in this country,” said Karen Irvine, MoCP chief curator and deputy director. “These artists point us towards nuanced ways of reckoning with this tragic — and uniquely American — plight.” Admission is free.

More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit mocp.org.

Future Fossils: SUM

A “Future Fossils: SUM” piece by Lan TuazonCourtesy of the artist

When: Sept. 7-Nov. 13

Where: 5020 S. Cornell

What: This is the final sculpture installation in Lan Tuazon’s decade-long trilogy of work that visualizes the lifespan of our material goods. The Chicago artist calls her process “documentary sculpture.” Common packaged goods, tchotchkes and household items are accumulated, dissected and layered to give an accounting of the unseen byproduct of consumption. Tuazon offers visitors an encounter with a future house — one constructed solely with recovered materials — built to scale and exhibited from inside the two-story gallery at the Hyde Park Art Center. Admission is free.

More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit hydeparkart.org.

‘Bani Abidi: The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared’

Bani Abidi’s watercolor “The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared.”Courtesy of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art

When: Sept. 4-June 5

Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago

What: Two decades of the work of multidisciplinary Pakistani artist Bani Abidi are brought together for this exhibition. Informed by her upbringing in Karachi and experiences in cities including Chicago, where she studied at the School of the Art Institute, Abidi, a master storyteller, uses video, photography, sound and installation to uncover the influence of cultural and political power struggles on everyday life. Admission: $15.

More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit mcachicago.org.

‘Chicago Works: Caroline Kent’

The Museum of Contemporary Art presents “Chicago Works: Caroline Kent,” the first solo museum exhibition of work by the multidisciplinary Chicago-based artist. Nathan Keay, (C) MCA Chicago

When: To April 3

Where: 220 E. Chicago

What: The Museum of Contemporary Art presents the first solo museum exhibition of work by the multidisciplinary Chicago-based artist. In this site-specific installation, Kent explores the abbreviated forms of communication that develop in intimate relationships such as those between sisters. Inspired by the experience of communicating with her own twin, she transfers her visual language to painting, sculpture and installation. Admission: $15.

More information: mcachicago.org

‘Origins’

Paul Nicklen, “Face to Face,” Svalbard, Norway, 2008.Courtesy the artist

When: Aug. 27-Oct. 2

Where: Hilton/Asmus Contemporary, Morgan Arts Complex, 3622 S. Morgan

What: The work of National Geographic photographers, filmmakers and marine biologists Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier are featured in this new exhibit. Nicklen, one of the world’s prominent nature photographers, has spent the last 20 years documenting the beauty and the plight of our planet. Mittermeier, whose work documents the conservation movement, is globally recognized as an influential wildlife writer and conservationist. Admission is free.

More information: Hilton-asmus.com

‘The Art of Banksy’

Banksy’s “Flower Thrower”The Art of Banksy

When: To Oct. 31

Where: 360 N. State

What: The identity of the artist known as Banksy has for years been the art world’s most intriguing mystery. But while we don’t know the man, we do know the art. The English-based street artist has created some of the most iconic images of the past few decades. A new exhibit brings more than 80 of these original works to Chicago. World-famous pieces from private collections including “Flower Thrower,” “Rude Copper” and “Girl with Balloon” will sit alongside other works rarely seen by the general public. As the artist-provocateur Banksy says: “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Tickets: $40, $30 for 16 and younger.

More information: banksyexhibit.com

‘Helmut Jahn: Life + Architecture’

“Helmut Jahn – Life + Architecture”Chicago Architecture Center

When: To Oct. 31

Where: 111 E. Wacker

What: Chicago Architecture Center presents a new exhibit honoring the late Chicago architect, which highlights his designs ranging from signature early projects like the Michigan City Public Library (1977) and the James R. Thompson Center (1985) to the Sony Center in Berlin (2000) and the Pritzker Military Archives Center, currently under construction in Somers, Wisconsin. Photography, models and sketches illuminate each project and explore the collaborative design and engineering process, while personal imagery, video and recollections by those who knew and worked with Jahn underscore his flair for the dramatic and zest for life. Admission is $15.

More information: architecture.org

‘Van Gogh for All’

“Van Gogh for All”Lou Bank

When: To Sept. 26

Where: 333 N. Michigan Ave.

What: The immersive art experience that debuted in Chicago in 2019 returns for a limited run. The exhibit allows attendees to step into many of the artist’s works and learn about them in a whole new way. Fly through the Starry Night or step behind the shutters of his iconic Yellow House and walk through a re-creation of his studio. Open seven days a week 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Tickets: $20, $10 for 12 and under.

More information:vangoghforall.org

‘Mimi Cherono Ng’ok: Closer to the Earth, Closer to My Own Body’

“Untitled” by Mimi Cherono Ng’ok(C) Mimi Cherono Ng’ok

When: To Feb. 7

Where: Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan

What: This new exhibit features the work of a photographer who travels extensively across the tropical climates on a mission to understand how natural environments, botanical cultures and human subjects coexist and evolve together. In this solo exhibit, she presents photographs and a film in which she tracked flowers and floral imagery across varied contexts and a range of hidden associations. Admission: $14-$22.

More information: artic.edu

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

When: Ongoing

Where: 2430 N. Cannon Dr.

What: The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, where children of all ages can connect to nature and science, reopened July 8. Exhibits include “Without a Trace,” selections of photographs by Zbigniew Bzdak; “Patterns in Nature: A Bridge between Art and the Natural World,” mixed media work by artist Katherine Lampert; “Judy Istock Butterfly Haven,” “Birds of Chicago” and many more. Admission: $6-$9, children under 3 free.

More information: naturemuseum.org

‘Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40’

Toba Khedoori’s “Untitled” at the Smart Museum of Art.Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner and Regen Projects, Los Angeles (C) Toba Khedoori.

“Toward Common Cause — Art, Social Change and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40” is a multi-museum venture organized by the Smart Museum of Art that explores the current sociopolitical moment, challenging questions of inclusion, exclusion, ownership and rights of access. In its gallery, the Smart Museum features works by Mark Bradford, Mel Chin, Nicole Eisenman, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jeffrey Gibson, Toba Khedoori, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Julie Mehretu, Fazal Sheikh and Xu Bing. From July 15-Dec. 19 at Smart Museum, University of Chicago, 5550 S. Greenwood. Admission is free. Visit smartmuseum.uchciago.edu; for a list of participating museums visit towardcommoncause.org.

Stony Island Arts Bank’s contribution is “Towards Common Cause.” The group show features work by Carrie Mae Weems, Kerry James Marshall, Gary Hill, Whitfield Lovell, Trevor Paglen, Deborah Willis, Dawoud Bey, Fred Wilson and Nicole Eisenman. From July 18-Dec. 19 at Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island. Admission is free. Visit rebuild-foundation.org.
The reopened DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Pl., participates with an exhibit of “Presenting Negro Scenes Drawn Upon My Passage through the South and Reconfigured for the Benefit of Enlightened Audiences Wherever Such May Be Found, By Myself, Missus K.E.B Walker, Colored,” a signature black silhouette installation from the artist Kara Walker. Admission: $3-$10 (Sundays free), children under 5 free. Visit: dusablemuseum.org.

Hyde Park Art Center

Mel Chin’s Fundred Dollar Bill ProjectProvided/Courtesy of the artist

When: July 25-Oct. 24

Where: 5020 S. Cornell

What: Mel Chin’s Fundred Dollar Bill Project as well as works by LaToya Ruby Frazier and Fazal Sheikh are on display at the Hyde Park museum as part of “Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40.” Chin’s 13-year-project, here titled “Chicago Fundred Initiative: A Bill for IL,” invites people to create their own “Fundred,” a form of currency that affirms the right of each maker to equal protection against lead contamination; Frazier’s film “Flint is Family” uses her photographs and voiceover by Flint, Michigan, resident Shea Cobb to understand the Flint water crisis; Sheikh’s landscape photography examines the connection between desertification, colonialism, and the displacement of Bedouin communities from ancestral lands in Israel’s Negev desert. Admission is free.

More information: hydeparkart.org

Weinberg/Newton Gallery

“My Friends are Picking Flowers,” by Salvador Gomez JiminezWendy Ewald Collection

When: Sept. 24-Dec. 18

Where: 688 N. Milwaukee

What: As part of the Smart Museum’s ongoing initiative “Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40,” the gallery presents work by Wendy Ewald and Amalia Mesa-Bains, whose projects focus on Latinx migration in Chicago. Ewald’s exhibit includes photographs and writings from a workshop where young students expressed their dreams and concerns about contemporary migration as well as photographs and a film made in Chiapas, Mexico, in 1991. Mesa-Bains offers an installation that is a personal and historical meditation on migration through the lens of her own family. Admission is free.

More information: For updated information regarding the gallery’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit weinbergnewtongallery.com.

‘Chicago: Where Comics Come to Life (1880-1960)’

A 1954 “Brenda Starr” panel at the Chicago Cultural Center exhibit.DCASE

When: To Oct. 3

Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph

What: This exhibit looks at Chicago’s significant role in the development of the early comic strip. Curated by artist-author Chris Ware and the City of Chicago’s cultural historian emeritus, Tim Samuelson, it focuses on comics in popular publishing, African American cartoonists, the first women cartoonists, the first daily comic strip and more. Admission is free. (The exhibit is a historical companion to “Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now,” the survey of contemporary Chicago comics at the Museum of Contemporary Art.)

Visit: chicagoculturalcenter.org

National Museum of Mexican Art

“We the People” by Chaz BojorquezNational Museum of Mexican Art Permanent Collection, gift of Chaz and Christina Bojorquez

When: Ongoing

Where: National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th street

What: After being closed for 15 months, the museum has reopened with a handful of exhibits. “Spotlight on Chaz Bojorquez and Enrique Alferez” features the museum’s newest acquisition, “We the People,” a painting by Bojorquez, and Alferez’s iconic bronze sculpture “La Soldadera.” Plus “Adlateres and the Unexpected Journey: Works by Carmen Chami” features paintings inspired by Mexican Baroque painting and figurative style. Admission is free.

More information: nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org

‘Toward Common Cause’

“Mother and Child,” Njideka Akunyili Crosby (2016). Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro and David Zwirner.(C) Njideka Akunyili Crosby

When: To Nov. 21

Where: National Public Housing Museum, 625 N. Kingsbury, and at the Minnie Riperton Apartments, 4250 S. Princeton

What: The National Public Housing Museum partners with the Chicago Housing Authority to display artwork by MacArthur Fellow Njideka Akunyili Crosby as part of “Toward Common Cause,” a multi-site exhibition organized by the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the MacArthur Fellows Program. Crosby uses acrylic, colored pencil and photo collages to create her distinctive portraits of African American life. “I almost want people to feel like the door is open and they’re walking by a scene into someone else’s life,” she says, “because that really is what I’m doing… mining my life to tell a story that is global but really wanting people to feel like they’re getting a glimpse into my world.” Crosby’s artwork installation is displayed on 70-foot banners on the sides of two buildings.

More information: nphm.org

‘Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin & the Art of War’

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill MauldinCopyright the Pritzker Military Museum & Library

When: Through spring 2022

Where: 104 S. Michigan

What: Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin, who studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and was a cartoonist for the Chicago Sun-Times, is the subject of a retrospective at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. “Drawn to Combat” covers Mauldin’s career as a wartime cartoonist focusing on soldiers’ experiences and as a political cartoonist. The exhibit draws from more than 5,000 cartoons and objects donated to the museum by the Mauldin family. Tickets: $8, $10, children under 12 free.

More information: pritzkermilitary.org

‘Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now’

Nick Drnaso’s painting for the cover of his graphic novel “Sabrina” in “Chicago Comics.”Provided

When: To Oct. 3

Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago

What: A new exhibit celebrates Chicago’s pivotal role as a national and innovative center for comics and cartooning. With a focus on rediscovering the work of women and BIPOC comic artists, this major exhibition presents the last 60 years of the city’s artful cartooning history, showing how comic art is a democratic medium that allows artists to speak directly to people in relatable ways. Over 40 cartoonists are featured including Lynda Barry, Lilli Carre, Daniel Clowes, Nick Drnaso, Edie Fake, Emil Ferris, Nicole Hollander, Charles Johnson, Kerry James Marshall and Chris Ware. On display are comics, graphic novels, zines, original drawings, dioramas, commissioned films, installations, rare ephemera and books. Admission: $8, $15.

More information: mcachicago.org

‘Vivian Maier: In Color’

Vivian Maier, “Three Highland Park firemen,” Highland Park, August 1964, inkjet print. Gift of Jeffrey Goldstein/(C) The Estate of Vivian Maier

When: To May 8, 2023

Where: Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark

What: Much has been heralded about street photographer Vivian Maier’s black-and-white photographs in exhibits, books and films. Now this multimedia exhibit features 65 color images made during her time as a suburban Chicago nanny from the 1950s to 1970s, many of which have never been seen before. Maier, who died in 2009, was a bit of a character and always had a Roloflex camera around her neck as she walked the streets snapping images of women, children, the old, the poor, the abstract. While her motives remain elusive, her photographs continue to speak volumes. Tickets: $17, $19.

More information: chicagohistory.org

Polish Museum of America

The Paderewki Collection at Polish Museum of America.Courtesy Polish Museum of America

When: Ongoing

Where: 984 N. Milwaukee

What: The museum, since 1935 a repository for a wide variety of materials pertaining to Poland and the Polish-American community, has reopened after being shuttered for more than a year. Among the many permanent exhibits are “Polish Chicago 1850-1939,” “Folk Art Collection” and “The Paderewski Collection,” which documents the life of Polish pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Tickets: $6-$10.

More information: polishmuseumofamerica.org

The Hartwell Memorial Window

The Hartwell Memorial Window bears a design attributed to Agnes F. Northrop of Tiffany Studios.The Art Institute of Chicago

When: Permanent

Where: Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan

What: A magnificent stained glass window made by Tiffany Studios in 1917 is now on permanent display at the Art Institute. The Hartwell Memorial Window, attributed to Agnes F. Northrop, Tiffany’s leading landscape window designer, was originally commissioned for a church as the gift of Mary L. Hartwell in memory of her husband Frederick W. Hartwell. It consists of 48 different panels, and is a scenic view of Mount Chocorua, a peak in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. The window, located near the museum’s entrance, is one of the most ambitious landscape window projects produced by Tiffany. Museum admission: $14-$25.

More information: artic.edu

McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum

Gears that open the bridge.Friends of the Chicago River

When: Ongoing

Where: 99 Chicago Riverwalk

What: This five-story museum celebrates the Chicago River and its world-famous movable bridges. Visitors explore a historic bridgehouse, watch the massive gears of a moving bridge and learn about the history of the Chicago River. Plus from the top floor, there’s a 360-degree view of the city and river. Find the museum at 99 Chicago Riverwalk. Admission: $5, $6; children 5 and under free.

More information: bridgehousemuseum.org

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A week after the Park District inspector general resigned, officials announced a former federal prosecutor takeover of a probe of allegations of sexual harassment among lifeguards at city pools and beaches.

Valarie Hays, a partner at law firm Arnold Porter, will lead the sexual harassment investigation, Park Board President Avis LaVelle announced in a statement Wednesday. Inspector General Elaine Little resigned last week, and Deputy Inspector General Nathan Kipp, one of two IG staffers who had been working on the lifeguard inquiry, was suspended and then fired after going public with his concerns that high-ranking Park District employees were attempting to “whitewash” the investigation of the sexual harassment complaint and an alleged coverup.

“We are committed to a thorough investigation of what has been done and to hold accountable those responsible for wrongdoing,” Lavelle said in a statement. “However, we also see this as an opportunity to make changes for the better. Our goal is to protect our park staff and patrons and heighten overall awareness of appropriate workplace behavior even in settings where playfulness is a primary component of what we do each day.”

LaVelle also announced the hiring of attorney Alison Perona, who from 2012 to 2015 served as the Park District’s first inspector general, to again serve as IG on an interim basis while the district searches for a permanent replacement for Little.

Hays was a federal prosecutor in Chicago and now is a partner at Arnold Porter, where she leads the law firm’s white collar criminal defense and corporate investigations practice. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx also is investigating the allegations.

Asked about the investigation at an unrelated press event Wednesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she was “disappointed” that Park District officials didn’t make her aware of the allegations sooner.

An IG report released by Little detailed sexual misconduct and an alleged sexual assault by three former Park District lifeguards. That investigation was launched after Supt. Mike Kelly went to the IG’s office with a complaint that had been forwarded to him by Lightfoot’s office. Kelly had received a similar complaint six weeks earlier, in February 2020, and assigned two deputies to investigate rather than going to the IG with the allegations, as Park District policy dictated.

The 11-page email Kelly had received detailed a booze-filled “rookie initiation” for lifeguards at Oak Street Beach in the summer of 2019, and a long-running pattern of lewd comments and sexual harassment among lifeguards. The subsequent IG’s report included incidents involving six female lifeguards, including an attempted rape, dating back as far as 2016.

The report included misconduct including lifeguards drinking on duty, and a seasonal lifeguard that allegedly groped his female colleagues at pools in Portage Park and Jefferson Park in a pair of incidents two years apart. Another male lifeguard allegedly attempted to rape a female colleague in his car after giving her a ride home from work. The same male lifeguard was allegedly visibly intoxicated while on duty during the 2018 Chicago Air & Water show.

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Welcome to our roundup of movie screenings and events in Chicago. Bookmark this page and check back for updates on shows and activities.

‘The First Degree’

Frank Mayo and Sylvia Breamer in “The First Degree.”Universal Pictures

When: 7 p.m. Sept. 29

Where: Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State

What: The Chicago Film Archives, in partnership with the Gene Siskel Film Center, presents the premiere of this 1923 silent film, a previously lost melodrama discovered in the CFA’s Charles Krosse Collection in the summer of 2020. Frank Mayo stars as Sam Purdy, a banker-turned-politician-turned-sheep farmer who is repeatedly blackmailed by his jealous half-brother Will (Philo McCullough) because of their mutual affection for Mary (Sylvia Breamer). The film’s musical accompaniment is an original score performed live by Quasar Wut-Wut; film historian Tom Gunning introduces the film. Tickets: $20.

More information: For updated information regarding the Siskel Center’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit siskelfilmcenter.org.

Facets

Deragh Campbell in “Anne at 13,000 Ft.”The Cinema Guild

When: Ongoing

Where: 1517 W. Fullerton

What: Facets returns to indoor screenings with the Chicago premiere of Canadian director Kazik Radwanski’s “Anne at 13,000 Ft.” (Sept. 17-26, $12). Deragh Campbell stars as a young woman struggling to preserve her identity as her seemingly grounded life gives way to increased anxiety and recklessness. During the extended down time, the Facets team has also been busy creating and polishing a series of new initiatives ranging from a program to help Chicago filmmakers premiere their films and a late-night series featuring screen gems and more to an enhanced Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (Nov. 5-14) and a new in-house cafe and studio space for workshops and receptions.

More information: For updated information regarding Facets’ COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit facets.org.

Queer documentary festival

“Dykes, Camera, Action!”Provided

When: Sept. 19-27

Where: Online

What: PrideArts hosts a trio of documentary films about different aspects of queer life in America. “Dykes, Camera, Action!” is a history of Lesbian cinema from the women who made it happen, “P.S. Burn This Letter, Please” profiles drag queens from the 1950s when public cross dressing was illegal and “Proper Pronouns” looks at some of the transgender Americans serving as ordained Church ministers. Tickets: $12.

More information: pridearts.com

Marlene Dietrich

Jean Arthur (from left), John Lund and Marlene Dietrich in “A Foreign Affair.”Paramount Pictures

When: Sept. 5-Oct. 3

Where: 3733 N. Southport

What: The Music Box Theatre honors the great German American actress Marlene Dietrich with a matinee series featuring her work with directors Fritz Lang (“Rancho Notorious”), George Marshall (“Destry Rides Again”), Billy Wilder (“A Foreign Affair”) and longtime collaborator Josef von Sternberg (“Morocco” and “Shanghai Express”). Tickets: $9.

More information: For vaccination and/or mask policy information, visit musicboxtheatre.com.

Garden Movies

Music Box Theatre’s Garden Movies features films screened in the theatre’s expanded courtyard under the stars.Music Box Theatre

When: All summer long

Where: 3733 N. Southport

What: The Music Box Theatre is screening films in its expanded courtyard under the stars. Tickets: $9.

More information: musicboxtheatre.com

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Just a block or so from Simeon Career Academy, two students gave out a yell as they released star-shaped balloons into the Tuesday evening sky in memory of a friend who had just been killed there.

As they held their small vigil and talked to reporters, another Simeon student was shot about six miles away in Hyde Park. He would die the next day.

Both were 15. Jamari Williams, shot near the school in Chatham, was on the junior varsity football team and had lost his father to gun violence within the last year.

Kentrell McNeal was shot as he sat in a car with a 14-year-old boy, who was also wounded. McNeal was known for his sense of humor and was an active member of the nonprofit youth group Good Kids Mad City.

“It just felt like a dark vibe,” a freshman said Wednesday about losing two classmates to gun violence so close together. “After something bad like that happened, it’s just a dark day today.”

Chicago police work the scene where two teens were shot in the 5200 block of South Lake Park Ave. in the Hyde Park neighborhood, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

The deaths bring to at least 19 the number of children 15 and younger who have been shot and killed this year in Chicago. That’s nearly double what it was at the beginning of summer, when children in the city were already dying at a much higher rate than last year.

Among the youngest victims this year was 4-year-old Mychal Moultry Jr. He was visiting with family from Alabama on Sept. 6 when gunfire tore through the front window, striking him in the head and killing him.

Weeks earlier, Serenity Broughton, 7, was killed and her 6-year-old sister wounded in a shooting Aug. 15 as their mother placed them into the backseat of a car in Belmont Central. That case is still unsolved.

The total number of children shot in Chicago this year is even more stark: at least 148 children 15 years of age and younger, according to Sun-Times data. Fourteen of the wounded were under 6 years old.

Last year at this time 119 kids had been shot, 24% fewer than now. The pace of children being shot far outpaces the overall 10% rise in shootings this year.

“Some of us haven’t even hit 18 yet and we have to lose so many people,” Aie’rianna Williams, a senior at Simeon, said Tuesday at the scene of the shooting outside her school.

Another student, a freshman, said she was shocked that two students her age were killed — and barely a month into the school year.

“It was just very heavy, it was like gloomy,” said Layla Rodgers. “You could tell that someone at the school was no longer there.

“I felt sad because they’re just freshmen and they didn’t even get to finish high school, get the experience,” she said. “It was just taken away.”

This is the unfortunate reality of Chicago, and some teens have accepted it, said Ronnie Mosley, a member of Simeon’s local school council.

“That’s the sad part about it, and that’s why we really have to step up as the caretakers and those that are responsible for creating the best and brightest future in Chicago, and changing the environment, providing the resources,” Mosley said.

Members of Chicago’s Board of Education were silent about the shootings during its regular meeting Wednesday. A spokesperson would not even confirm that the two boys were from Simeon.

“CPS extends its condolences to the family and friends impacted by this loss,” the district said in a statement.

‘Nowhere safe anymore’

Tamar Manasseh, founder of Mothers Against Senseless Killings, worries that young people are afraid for their lives now more than ever.

“There’s nowhere safe anymore,” she said. “It’s too many guns and too much misery, and this is what you’re going to get.

“They are afraid of getting shot at that red light; they are afraid of getting shot at a gas station; they’re afraid of being shot on the expressway,” she continued. “That’s what they’re afraid of — COVID is not their main concern, and the city needs to treat it like that.”

Both boys had been struggling with the violence around them, friends said.

Jamari Williams hoped he would succeed enough in football to get him and his mother out of their neighborhood. He also rapped and released at least one video on YouTube.

The Rev. Donovan Price, a community activist, said Williams didn’t hang out with the wrong crowd and had a good support system around him.

Kentrell McNeal was a member of Good Kids Mad City in Englewood on the South Side. The group describes itself as developing “young leaders to advocate for resources that will allow them to create sustainable, livable community conditions.”

“Lately I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Kentrell,” the group’s executive director, Carlil Pittman, said on Twitter. “This is why it’s so important to have creative spaces and outlets for young people to be able to go to, because there’s nothing on the streets of Chicago for them already.”

Manasseh agreed there are too many guns on the street and not enough mental health facilities, especially for children who are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder or survivor’s guilt after they lose loved ones to violence.

She pleaded with city officials to be more creative.

“We’re not paying attention to what’s going on. We’re paying attention to the pandemic but not the epidemic, and the epidemic is getting worse,” Manasseh said. “We care about those COVID numbers going down and we care about stopping the surge and we care about getting people vaccinated but … you got to care about the people who are being shot.

“If you don’t address the mental health issue that’s getting these kids, I mean, you’re killing them, you’re part of the problem.”

Mosley applauded Simeon for the support it provided students Wednesday, though he said more needs to be done by the community to ensure students feel safe on and off school property.

“Again, just making sure that we are doing all that we can to make sure that the future is different than the past,” Mosley said. “That’s gonna take the mayor, really taking a look at communities and helping to meet the needs.”

Contributing: Mohammad Samra

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We have struggled, in our own minds, to square the circle of our strong support for union rights with our nation’s need to take bold measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.

We would prefer that public and private employers negotiate with organized labor the rules of vaccine mandates. But if push comes to shove, what matters most is getting those life-saving vaccines into workers’ arms.

Now a small group of state workers and Gov. J.B. Pritzker have demonstrated how to square that circle in a sensible way. They’ve reached an agreement that addresses the practical concerns of union members when it comes to mandated vaccines, such as the need for paid time off should a worker have to be quarantined, without giving an inch to false political narratives about the dangers of the vaccines or violations of personal freedoms.

We urge every employer and union to take note and follow suit.

About 260 supervisory workers in state-run residential facilities, represented by the Laborers International Union of North America-Illinois State Employees Association, Local 2002, have agreed to a deal in which they will get extra “COVID time” if quarantined, as well as an additional personal day. And if the vaccine is not available during an employee’s regularly scheduled shift, he or she is to receive regular pay for the time taken to receive the vaccine.

That’s the carrot. Now here’s the stick:

The workers must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 18 unless they obtain a medical or religious exemption — honest exemptions, we would hope. If they are not vaccinated by then, they will face disciplinary measures and could be fired.

We see no better approach. The first priority of organized labor, if they care about the health of their members and ending the pandemic, should be to find union-friendly ways to make vaccine mandates work.

Send letters to [email protected].

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot is determined to improve Soldier Field to convince the Bears to remain in Chicago, but her hands may be tied by the constraints of a lakefront seating bowl already towering over historic colonnades at a stadium that’s also a war memorial.

The team has put in a bid for the Arlington International Racecourse property in Arlington Heights, where a new stadium could be built. In Chicago, meanwhile, two architects who worked on Soldier Field’s $660 million renovation — bankrolled by bonds that won’t be fully repaid until 2032 — said only modest expansion is possible at the 61,500-seat stadium, the NFL’s smallest.

About 5,000 seats could be added in the least desirable and least expensive areas — the north and south end zones. But expanding sideline seating would be pretty much out of the question, given the outcry that would surely follow, they said.

“A lot of things are possible. But what do you have to do to expand the seating? Do you have to tear down half of it? Do you have to remove the old colonnades, for instance? Chicago would not stand for damaging or changing the historic architecture. It’s a monument to the soldiers of World War I,” said venerable Chicago architect Dirk Lohan, who worked with Boston’s Ben Wood on the much-ridiculed renovation.

To add more desirable and expensive seats on the east and west sides of Soldier Field, Lohan said, “You would have to have supporting structure outside the colonnades. Meaning in the parks. And on Lake Shore Drive. That side is severely restricted because of the road.”

A structural engineer familiar with the stadium noted that the 2003 renovation created the current Soldier Field by essentially pouring a new seating layout into the horseshoe-shaped boundary of the original structure, completed in 1924.

Any improvement that further changes that could bring opposition from preservationists and those who fear a loss of the field’s storied history, the engineer said.

The inside of Soldier Field at the start of the renovation in 2002 shows the high proportion of end zone seats. The Bears wanted more expensive seats on the sidelines, and they got them. Sun-Times file

Although that renovation cost Soldier Field its designation as a National Historic Landmark, the work improved the stadium for the fans and the Bears, the engineer said. It reduced the seating capacity because the team demanded it.

“The Bears wanted a higher proportion of good seats. They got great sightlines,” he said. “The old stadium was designed for track and field and it had horrible sightlines for football.”

The colonnades, repaired and made more accessible during the renovation, limit expansion to the east and west, he said.

“I don’t see how you can add a whole lot of seats. … The easiest places to add them are in the end zones, and those aren’t the best seats,” said the engineer, who declined to be quoted by name because of client relationships.

Raising a roof would be a challenge

A retractable dome would be needed to achieve Lightfoot’s goal of turning Soldier Field into a year-round revenue-generator. But that, too, would be costly and risk further desecrating the historic structure.

Lohan acknowledged “anything is possible for money,” but it won’t “come easy.” Soldier Field is simply “not laid out to receive a roof.”

“It’s already a mixture of two buildings. The old classical building with colonnades. And then, we have a modern seating shell surrounding the playing field. If you put a roof on it, you would have three different structures,” Lohan said.

Chicago architect Adrian Smith submitted his own plan to renovate Soldier Field before then-Bears President Michael McCaskey chose Wood to quarterback the stadium renovation in partnership with Lohan.

“We presented a plan to preserve the architecture of Soldier Field and cover the seating and the field with a movable roof. It could be covered when games were played in bad weather … and let sun in during times when they were growing grass. The whole issue was grass. That’s why they wanted an open field. That was a requirement of McCaskey,” Smith said.

“Our scheme had a roof that slid over to … the extra amount of space at Soldier Field on the north side. … We had the roof going over there and we called those tennis courts. When the roof was open, you had covered tennis courts. When the roof was closed, you had open tennis courts. … But it never really caught hold. [Then-Mayor Richard M.] Daley liked it. But McCaskey never really grabbed onto it. He didn’t say” why, Smith added.

It would be difficult, if not impossible, to resurrect that plan, Smith said, adding: “The structure has been put in place to hang those large cantilevers for the TV screen that’s in that area now. You just couldn’t do it.”

Soldier Field’s renovation built a new seating bowl inside the old exterior, but it also leaves the upper grandstand on the west side of the stadium towering over the original, iconic colonnade. Some said it looked like a spaceship landing inside the stadium.AFP/Getty Images

A Rosemont-style entertainment district outside Soldier Field could achieve Lightfoot’s dream of keeping fans in the area long after the game and even become a year-round attraction.

But that would run into lakefront protection issues similar to those that killed the museum Star Wars mogul George Lucas wanted to build south of Soldier Field.

“It would be wonderful to walk 100 feet in any direction and have a place where you can sit down and have a hamburger or an outdoor garden event. But we just can’t build along the lakefront like that,” said a source familiar with the issues.

“Some of that could require some heavy lifting legally to get through. How do we do this without getting sued and without triggering Friends of the Parks and all the folks that, any time you want to do something in parks, they say, ‘Wait a second’? … The city or state would have to help with various approvals to avoid litigation. Otherwise, it would be tied up in court forever.”

Without a retractable roof and a large number of more expensive seats, the revenue-generating possibilities would largely be confined to filling “dead areas” of stadium concourses and adding suites, sponsorships and advertising.

Five years ago, the door to what was expected to be a dramatic influx in stadium advertising was opened by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s now-scrapped plan to give Lucas 17 acres south of the stadium for the filmmaker’s museum.

That would have cost the Bears a parking lot, so they bargained for a host of marketing and advertising opportunities that could have gone a long way toward financing stadium upgrades.

They included selling sponsorships to several areas, including the gates, northeast mezzanine, southeast lawn and the ticket office and will-call building.

In addition, the Bears won the right to install 30 “interactive digital displays” in the concourse and other areas.

The team’s amended lease also included the right to sell “entitlement and/or sponsorship rights” to any improvements or enhancements contemplated in a study by Populous, a Kansas City-based stadium architect. That study ultimately identified $300 million in “potential capital improvements,” ranging from concourse, field and drainage improvements to adding bunker suites and 5,000 seats to bolster Emanuel’s long-shot bid to host a Super Bowl.

At the time, bunker suites had become popular in the NFL, not because they offer a great view of the game — they don’t — but for their intimate look at the game and players.

Sources said none of the big improvements identified in the Populous study ever happened. There was no money to pay for major changes. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority never came up with any additional money.

Neither Populous nor Bears officials would comment for this story.

One structural engineer said adding any meaningful number of seats to Soldier Field is possible only in the end zones, but those seats usually sell for less, and therefore don’t bring in as much revenue.Associated Press

Sell the name?

In 2001, under pressure from then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, the Bears agreed to permanently forfeit their right to sell corporate naming rights to Soldier Field, which could have been worth $300 million or more. Veterans groups and their political champion — former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn — had spent months pleading with Daley to stop the “commercial desecration” of a stadium re-dedicated in 1925 to the men and women who served in the armed forces.

As a result, Soldier Field remains one of only a handful of NFL stadiums without a corporation’s name attached.

It’s not known whether Lightfoot would ever be willing to revisit that issue, if that’s what it takes to keep the team in Chicago and prevent the Bears from exercising their option in Arlington Heights.

But the source familiar with stadium negotiations described a naming rights deal as the “only way you get any meaningful money” into Soldier Field.

“If it could be called the Nike Soldier Field or the Google Soldier Field, that would be the only thing that both parties could really share in and get some needed revenue to do some improvements. You could really give that thing an infusion of cash to spruce that place up,” the source said.

“Bring it up to modern standards. Build out some of the unused space in the dead areas in the interior. Make that place state of the art. Give it that added kick in the pants. Sox Park is wonderful. All the interior spaces are maximized. There’s a lot of wasted interior space at Soldier Field. You could really program all of that with shops, restaurants, bars.”

One of the newest NFL’s newest venues, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, shattered all records with a reported cost of $5.5 billion. The home of the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers has a translucent roof but open sides, allowing airflow.

A new stadium in Arlington Heights surely would cost $1 billion or more, but the development and financial possibilities for the Bears would be endless. Contrast that to the financial and operational girdle they wear at Soldier Field, and the move to the suburbs must be viewed as a very real possibility.

“It’s really tough to be an NFL franchise and not own your own stadium. They don’t have a lot of say in the other programming. Now, they’re competing with the Fire,” said a source familiar with the negotiations, referring to the soccer team that also plays at Soldier Field.

“There are concerts. The city needs to program the hell out of that thing. That building gets a lot of wear and tear,” the source added. At Soldier Field, “they are the marquee tenant and they are treated as such. However, they are only the marquee tenant for 10 days a year.”

Soldier Field, which opened in 1924, is not just a stadium. It’s a war memorial, dedicated to those who served in World War I. Associated Press

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Just a block or so from Simeon Career Academy, two students gave out a yell as they released star-shaped balloons into the evening sky in memory of a friend who had just been killed there.

As they held their small vigil and talked to reporters, another Simeon student was shot about six miles away in Hyde Park. He would die the next day.

Both were 15. Jamari Williams, shot near the school in Chatham, was on the junior varsity football team and had lost his father to gun violence within the last year.

Kentrell McNeal was shot as he sat in a car with a 14-year-old boy, who was also wounded. McNeal was known for his sense of humor and was an active member of the nonprofit youth group Good Kids Mad City.

“It just felt like a dark vibe,” a freshman said Wednesday about losing two classmates to gun violence so close together. “After something bad like that happened, it’s just a dark day today.”

Chicago police work the scene where two teens were shot in the 5200 block of South Lake Park Ave. in the Hyde Park neighborhood, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

The deaths bring to at least 19 the number of children 15 and younger who have been shot and killed this year in Chicago. That’s nearly double what it was at the beginning of summer, when children in the city were already dying at a much higher rate than last year.

Among the youngest victims this year was 4-year-old Mychal Moultry Jr. He was visiting with family from Alabama Sept. 6 when gunfire tore through the front window, striking him in the head and killing him.

Weeks earlier, Serenity Broughton, 7, was killed and her 6-year-old sister wounded in a shooting Aug. 15 as their mother placed them into the backseat of a car in Belmont Central. That case is still unsolved.

The total number of children shot in Chicago this year is even more stark: at least 148 children 15 years of age and younger, according to Sun-Times data. Fourteen of the wounded were under 6 years old.

Last year at this time 119 kids had been shot, 24% fewer than now. The pace of children being shot far outpaces the overall 10% rise in shootings this year.

“Some of us haven’t even hit 18 yet and we have to lose so many people,” Aie’rianna Williams, a senior at Simeon, said Tuesday at the scene of the shooting outside her school.

Another student, a freshman, said she was shocked that two students her age were killed — and barely a month into the school year.

“It was just very heavy, it was like gloomy,” said Layla Rodgers. “You could tell that someone at the school was no longer there.

“I felt sad because they’re just freshman and they didn’t even get to finish high school, get the experience,” she said. “It was just taken away.”

Members of Chicago’s Board of Education were silent about the shootings during its regular meeting Wednesday. A spokesperson would not even confirm that the two boys were from Simeon.

“CPS extends its condolences to the family and friends impacted by this loss,” the district said in a statement.

‘Nowhere safe anymore’

Tamar Manasseh, founder of Mothers Against Senseless Killings, worries that young people are afraid for their lives now more than ever.

“There’s nowhere safe anymore,” she said. “It’s too many guns and too much misery and this is what you’re going to get.

“They are afraid of getting shot at that red light, they are afraid of getting shot at a gas station, they’re afraid of being shot on the expressway,” she continued. “That’s what they’re afraid of — COVID is not their main concern. And the city needs to treat it like that.”

Both boys had been struggling with the violence around them, friends said.

Jamari Williams hoped he would succeed enough in football to get him and his mother out of their neighborhood. He also rapped and released at least one video on YouTube.

The Rev. Donovan Price, a community activist, said Williams didn’t hang out with the wrong crowd and had a good support system around him.

Kentrell McNeal was a member of Good Kids Mad City in Englewood on the South Side. The group describes itself as developing “young leaders to advocate for resources that will allow them to create sustainable, livable community conditions.”

“Lately I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Kentrell,” the group’s executive director Carlil Pittman said on Twitter. “This is why it’s so important to have creative spaces and outlets for young people to be able to go to, because there’s nothing on the streets of Chicago for them already.”

Manasseh agreed there are too many guns on the street and not enough mental health facilities, especially for children who are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder or survivor’s guilt after they lose loved ones to violence.

She pleaded with city officials to be more creative.

“We’re not paying attention to what’s going on. We’re paying attention to the pandemic, but not the epidemic and the epidemic is getting worse,” Manasseh said. “We care about those COVID numbers going down and we care about stopping the surge and we care about getting people vaccinated but … you got to care about the people who are being shot.

“If you don’t address the mental health issue that’s getting these kids, I mean you’re killing them, you’re part of the problem.”

Contributing: Mohammad Samra

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DETROIT — It happened here in the spring and again in the summer, and — talk about an inauspicious beginning — the first day of fall looked like it might be a wet, wild and woolly replay.

Flooded freeways.

Kind of makes it hard to get where you’re trying to go.

A warning came from a friendly local at Comerica Park, where the White Sox went nowhere fast in a pair of losses to the Tigers before Wednesday’s series finale was postponed due to heavy rain that showed no signs of quitting.

“Stay off those freeways,” he advised.

And he had visuals for added emphasis, photos that show what can happen when local rivers overflow their banks and “ponding” sets in on these roads. The kind of photos that can make even an intrepid newspaperman skittish as he pilots his rental car from the ballpark to a hotel or, say, to Cleveland for a Thursday doubleheader.

Think: dozens of vehicles suddenly swimming in place — treading water, if you will — at an underpass.

Kind of like the Sox, when you stop and consider it.

The Sox have had more than their share of injuries, no doubt a major contributor to their second-half stall. A tip of the cap to them for building such an insurmountable division lead that they’ve been able to coast — all but certain the playoffs awaited them — since mid-summer. We mustn’t take their success for granted given this is the first time in franchise history the Sox will be in back-to-back postseasons.

But enough with the pleasantries. They really don’t jibe with the deep gloom of a baseball rainout, not to mention with tortured metaphors of automotive distress.

On only one occasion during the second half have these Sox won consecutive series; it happened at home late last month against the woebegone Cubs and Pirates. The Sox are 31-31 since the break, third-best in a bad division behind the Tigers (34-27) and Royals (33-30). After last year’s 60-game regular season, it doesn’t seem like a small sample size.

The Sox — their magic number down to two — surely can scrounge up a “W” somewhere over five games against the second-place Indians. A Cleveland clincher might even be a tad poetic. But with only 11 games to go before the start of the playoffs, it’s hard to find much inspiration in the way the Sox have been playing. Before they take on the Astros or anyone else in October, wouldn’t it behoove them to swim out of this months-long malaise?

“As long as we compete, we’ll be ready,” manager Tony La Russa said. “The thing is, you never take that for granted. We have 11 games left, so [11] chances to practice that competitive edge.”

The edge might have been present already if the Sox had faced an active threat in the standings at any point since July.

La Russa has managed 14 playoff teams before this one, and several of them were able to roll toward October unthreatened. But the run made by his last team, the 2011 Cardinals, sticks with him. The eventual World Series winners had both feet on the gas pedal throughout a long, wild stretch drive, finishing 16-5 to eke out 90 wins and claim the wild-card spot by a single game. Even his first championship team, the 1989 A’s — a 99-win team — had to sprint to the tape with the Royals on their heels.

“If we compete, the numbers will take care of themselves,” he said. “Then your confidence is moving into the postseason and the goal [becomes] to be the best you can be, respect your opponent and see who plays the best.”

The 2005 Sox were only two games above .500 in the second half heading into the final 10 games of the regular season. They went 8-2, winning their last five in Detroit and Cleveland, then tore through the postseason with a record of 11-1 — a stunning display of peak performance.

It’s tempting to look back on that bunch of world beaters — an outstanding team some Sox fans idealize as an all-time-great one — and think: Of course they turned it on. They had competitive juice pumping through their veins. They were special.

But heading into their last 10 games, an ESPN heading referred to them as “reeling.” An AP story that ran in papers around the country on Sept. 23, 2005 began: “Their once commanding lead is almost gone, and the Chicago White Sox are showing no signs of shaking a late-season collapse.”

So? So, you just never know what’s coming.

With these Sox, too.

“We’ve been treading water for a while,” La Russa said.

It’s kind of making it hard to get where they’re trying to go.

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