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Things to do in Chicago for music fansMary Houlihan – For the Sun-Timeson September 2, 2021 at 8:42 pm

Welcome to our highlights for concerts, festivals and live music in Chicago. From free shows at Millennium Park to large festivals like Ravinia and Lollapalooza, and intimate shows at small local venues, our guide has all the latest music entertainment. Bookmark this page and check back for updates on concerts and events.

Summerfest

Megan Thee Stallion (pictured at Lollapalooza in July) is a Summerfest headliner.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

WHAT: Long the cornerstone of Milwaukee’s festival season, Summerfest returns to the city’s lakefront with a lineup including headliners Luke Bryan, Chance the Rapper, Twenty One Pilots, the Jonas Brothers, Chris Stapleton, Zac Brown Band, Dave Chappelle, Megan Thee Stallion, Miley Cyrus, Guns N’ Roses and the Hella Mega Tour with Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer.

WHEN: Sept. 1-4, 8-11 and 15-18 in downtown Milwaukee.

TICKETS: For a complete schedule, ticket prices and updated information regarding the festival’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit summerfest.com.

Out of Space Concerts

Big Boi is set to perform Sept. 2 in Evanston.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

WHAT: The Out of Space summer concert series continues with a lineup of performances at Temperance Beer Company (2000 Dempster, Evanston): hip-hop great Big Boi with rapper Twista (Sept. 2), Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers and roots rocker JD McPherson (Sept. 3), singer-songwriter Neko Case with blues-soul artist Son Little (Sept. 4) and funk legend George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic with jazz-funk ensemble Liquid Soul (Sept. 5).

TICKETS: For tickets and updated information regarding the venue’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit evanstonspace.com.

Los Bukis

Los BukisLive Nation

WHAT: One of the summer’s hottest tours is coming to Soldier Field: the long-awaited reunion of the beloved Mexican band Los Bukis, including lead vocalist and composer Mark Antonio Solis. Headlined by the “the undisputed kings of Spanish-language romantic groups” (according to the Los Angeles Times), the concert is sure to be an ode to love with such classics as “Quiereme,” “Necesito Una Companera,” “Como Fui a Enamorarme De Ti,” “Tu Carcel” and “Acepto Mi Derrota.”

WHEN: 8 p.m. Sept. 4-5.

TICKETS: ($34+)

VISIT: ticketmaster.com. For updated information regarding the venue’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit soldierfield.net.

ARC Music Festival

WHAT: A new addition to the Chicago festival season, ARC Music Festival, brings a curated electronic/techno lineup and immersive experience to the birthplace of house music. Performers includes legendary Chicago artists including DJ Pierre, DJ Heather, Gene Farris and Derrick Carter as well as artists from around the globe such as Bob Moses, Eric Prydz, TSHA and Nichole Moudaber.

WHEN: From 2-8 p.m. Sept. 4-5

WHERE: Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph

TICKETS: $126-$154 (single day); $249 (2-day pass). For tickets and updated information regarding the event’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit arcmusicfestival.com.

Rockwell Blues & Jazz

WHAT: Inspired by the musical atmosphere of the old Maxwell Street, The Rockwell Blues & Jazz Street Stroll features two stages with performances by local artists including Dave Weld & the Imperial Flames, Michael Frank and Paul Kaye, Soul Message Band and Geof Bradfield, Lis Mandeville, Mike Wheeler Band and Donna Herula and Harlan Terson. The music culminates with the Delmark Records All Stars Band with special guests Jimmy Johnson, Jimmy Burns, Linsey Alexander, Willie Buck and Sharon Lewis. Delmark also hosts an art and photo exhibit, “Happy to Have the Blues,” and presents streaming concerts from its studio throughout the weekend.

WHEN: From noon-9 p.m. Sept. 4

WHERE: On Rockwell between Irving Park and Berteau.

TICKETS: Admission is free. For updated information regarding the event’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit www.chicago.gov.

North Coast Music Festival

Kaskade (pictured in 2020 in Anaheim, California) is scheduled to perform at the North Coast Music Festival.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

WHAT: North Coast Music Festival, the electronic, hip-hop and house extravaganza, returns Sept. 3-5. The long list of nearly 100 performers ensures nonstop music and includes headliners Kaskade, Louis the Child, Griz, Ganja White Night, Zeds Dead and Rezz.

WHEN: From 2-11 p.m. Sept. 3-5

WHERE: SeatGeek Stadium, 7000 S. Harlem, Bridgeview

TICKETS: $88 (single day), $248 (3-day pass). For tickets and updated information regarding the festival’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit northcoastfestival.com.

World Music Wednesday

Bomba con Buya Amy Young Photo

WHAT: The Old Town School of Folk Music’s weekly showcase of world music and dance, returns beginning Sept. 1 with Jazz a la Mexicana, a concert featuring traditional and folkloric Mexican music mixed with jazz. A celebration of Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center’s 50th anniversary follows on Sept. 8 with performances of Puerto Rican bomba music by Bomba con Buya and Mancha E’ Platano. The current roster of concerts runs through Dec. 1.

WHERE: Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln

Admission is free, a $10 suggested donation is appreciated. For updated information regarding the venue’s Covid 19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit oldtownschool.org.

House City Series

DJ TraxmanCourtesy Chicago Park District

What: The Departments of Cultural Affairs and Special Event’s tribute to house music continues with House City, a new series of free events popping up throughout the summer in the neighborhoods that helped create the house music genre over 35 years ago.

When/Where: vent dates and communities are July 23 in South Shore, July 31 on the Southeast Side, Aug. 14 in Humboldt Park, Aug. 28 in Englewood, Aug. 29 in Lakeview, Sept. 12 in South Shore and Sept.19 in Bronzeville. DJs playing include Traxman, Lori Branch, Deeon, Elbert Philips, Duane Powell and more.

Info: For locations and times, visit chicagohousemusicfestival.us

Chris Foreman Courtesy Origin Records

Chris Foreman at the Green Mill

What: The Green Mill has reopened and that means the return of Chris Foreman, a Friday night fixture at the popular jazz club. Foreman, a jazz organist blind since birth, is a master on the Hammond B3 and regarded as Chicago’s best. His playing is a blend of blues-gospel and jazz honed in his professional experience, which has included work with Hank Crawford, Albert Collins, Bernard Purdie, The Deep Blue Organ Trio and The Mighty Blue Kings.

When: 5-7:30 p.m. Fridays

Where: The Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway

Cost: No cover charge

Visit greenmilljazz.com

Ravinia Festival

What: The Ravinia Festival, the oldest outdoor music festival in the country, returns with reduced capacity. As usual, the lineup is a varied slate of music from classical to pop, jazz and rock. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra returns for a six-week run with conductor Marin Alsop leading seven concerts in her first season as Ravinia’s chief conductor. Also on the roster are: Garrick Ohlsson, Cynthia Erivo, Counting Crows, Kurt Elling, Brian McKnight, John Hiatt and the Jerry Douglas Band, The Roots, John Legend, Madeleine Peyroux, Midori, Joshua Bell, Pinchas Zukerman, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Joffrey Ballet.

When: July 1-Sept. 26

Where: Highland Park

Tickets: prices vary

Visit: ravinia.org.

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Things to do in Chicago for music fansMary Houlihan – For the Sun-Timeson September 2, 2021 at 8:42 pm Read More »

ABBA returning with new album, virtual stage showAssociated Presson September 2, 2021 at 7:49 pm

LONDON — ABBA is releasing its first new music in four decades, along with a concert performance that will see the “Dancing Queen” quartet going entirely digital.

The forthcoming album “Voyage,” to be released Nov. 5, is a follow-up to 1981’s “The Visitors,” which until now had been the swan song of the Swedish supergroup. And a virtual version of the band will begin a series of concerts in London on May 27, 2022.

“We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now we’ve decided it’s time to end it,” ABBA said in a statement Thursday. “They say it’s foolhardy to wait more than 40 years between albums, so we’ve recorded a follow-up to ‘The Visitors.'”

People attend the ABBA Voyage event earlier this month at Grona Lund, in Stockholm, Sweden.AP

The group has been creating the holographic live show, using motion capture and other techniques, with George Lucas’ special-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic.

They call it “the strangest and most spectacular concert you could ever dream of.”

“We’re going to be able to sit back in an audience and watch our digital selves perform our songs,” the group’s statement said. “Weird and wonderful!”

The planned show spurred the making of the album, which features the new songs “I Still Have Faith In You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down.” It began with sessions in 2018 and was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

This cover image released by Capitol shows “Voyage,” by ABBA, to be released Nov. 5.AP

The show will come 50 years after the founding of the group that consisted of two married couples for most of its existence, and whose name is an acronym of the first names of its members, Agnetha Faltskog, 71, Bjorn Ulvaeus, 76, Benny Andersson, 74, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 75.

Their music has remained ubiquitous in the decades since their breakup, in part because of the stage musical “Mamma Mia!” and the two films that followed it.

They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Last week the group launched a website with the title ” ABBA Voyage,” teasing the new album and stage show.

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ABBA returning with new album, virtual stage showAssociated Presson September 2, 2021 at 7:49 pm Read More »

Inspired by a divine frozen passing, Grand Seiko introduces the “Omiwatari” timepiece to the Elegance CollectionJulie Szamlewskion September 2, 2021 at 6:54 pm

Inspired by a divine frozen passing, Grand Seiko introduces the “Omiwatari” timepiece to the Elegance Collection

Founded over 60 years ago in Japan, Grand Seiko represents the pinnacle of watchmaking. Each watch is crafted by hand, using the highest quality in materials, techniques, and craftsmanship. Combining technical innovation with time-tested artistry and craftsmanship, Grand Seiko creates timepieces that harmoniously balance form and function. It requires the utmost levels of accuracy, legibility, durability, and beauty to bear the Grand Seiko name on the dial.

Every winter, something magical happens on the waters of Lake Suwa. When temperatures fall, and the lake freezes over — mysterious large cracks and ridges form across its surface, some over a foot tall. Legend calls this Omiwatari, or where the Shinto gods walk out over the ice. This legend has inspired the craftsmen and women of Grand Seiko at the nearby Shinshu Watch Studio to create a timepiece that invokes the beauty of this natural phenomenon — the SBGY007 “Omiwatari.”

The first thing viewers of the SBGY007 notice is its striking dial — ice blue in color and textured to mimic the undulations of the frozen lake.

Turning the watch over, viewers are treated to an exhibition caseback that showcases the expertly finished movement highlighted with tempered blue screws and its power reserve indicator.

Grand Seiko has revolutionized watchmaking with many innovations — including the Spring Drive movement, which offers a seamless seconds-hand motion and accuracy unlike any other mechanical watch. Every Grand Seiko watch reflects the Japanese spirituality of time inspired by nature.

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Inspired by a divine frozen passing, Grand Seiko introduces the “Omiwatari” timepiece to the Elegance CollectionJulie Szamlewskion September 2, 2021 at 6:54 pm Read More »

Bills won’t renew lease without new stadium dealJohn Wawrow | Associated Presson September 2, 2021 at 6:05 pm

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills won’t renew their lease with the state and county without a partially publicly funded agreement in place for a proposed new $1.4 billion stadium, leaving the team’s future uncertain beyond July 2023.

“No, we absolutely will not,” Pegula Sports and Entertainment senior vice president Ron Raccuia told Buffalo’s WBEN-Radio on Thursday.

In saying the topic of relocation has not been raised during discussions with government officials, Raccuia didn’t entirely rule out that possibility by using the word “yet” when asked if the Bills might begin looking elsewhere once the lease expires in about 23 months.

“We’re not even focused on that, yet,” said Raccuia, who is chief negotiator in talks for PSE, the parent company which owns the Bills.

“We’re just committed to getting everybody together as quickly as possible to get to a solution,” he added. “Talking about options and what happens if, that serves no purpose. It’s not where any of our focus or resources are being dedicated.”

During a wide-ranging interview, Raccuia otherwise confirmed the cost, size and location of the Bills proposing to build a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, across the street from their current facility, Highmark Stadium, which opened in 1973.

At issue is how much the project would cost taxpayers in what Raccuia called a public-private partnership that would potentially include NFL funding. The expectation is the public will be asked to fund more than 50% of the cost.

A message left with Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is from Buffalo, was not immediately returned. On Monday, her office released a statement to The AP, which read, “no one is more committed to keeping the Bills in Buffalo” than Hochul, and that details will be shared once negotiations are completed.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz was not available. He previously dismissed speculation of the Bills possibly relocating but issued a warning by saying taxpayers won’t be writing what he called “a blank check.”

The Bills have ruled out renovating Highmark as being cost-prohibitive as opposed to starting fresh.

The new stadium’s proposed capacity would be between 60,000 and 62,000 seats, which would make it one of the NFL’s smallest — and about 10,000 less than Highmark.

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Bills won’t renew lease without new stadium dealJohn Wawrow | Associated Presson September 2, 2021 at 6:05 pm Read More »

Vaccinated NBA players won’t need regular testsTim Reynolds | Associated Presson September 2, 2021 at 5:51 pm

Fully vaccinated NBA players and coaches are not expected to be subject to regular coronavirus testing this season, the league told its teams Thursday.

Exceptions to that policy will include situations such as a player or coach showing symptoms generally associated with the coronavirus or being exposed to an unvaccinated player who tests positive for COVID-19.

Those who are not fully vaccinated will need to be tested on all days involving practice or travel and likely will be tested twice on game days. They’ll also have to wear masks at team facilities and during travel.

And everyone, regardless of vaccination status, will be expected to submit to an antibody test before the season “to better identify individuals with a limited or waning immune response to vaccination,” the league said.

It is still unclear if players will need to be tested on off days, the league said.

Players, vaccinated or not, who return a positive or inconclusive test result again will be required to isolate immediately. It would likely be for 10 days if those test results are eventually confirmed as positive.

Teams will likely have to arrange seating in almost all situations — travel, meals, meetings, even locker-room setups — to ensure that players who are not fully vaccinated are not seated directly next to another player.

Earlier this week, the NBA told teams that in response to local regulations in New York and San Francisco teams, they would be required to be vaccinated unless exemptions for medical or religious reasons apply. The league also told teams that visiting teams would be exempt from those requirements in both cities but that the rules would apply to home teams, meaning the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors.

The league has already told teams that anyone working within 15 feet of players, coaches and referees this season must be fully vaccinated. NBA referees who work games will also be fully vaccinated this season.

Training camps begin on Sept. 28.

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Vaccinated NBA players won’t need regular testsTim Reynolds | Associated Presson September 2, 2021 at 5:51 pm Read More »

The party of violenceMona Charenon September 2, 2021 at 6:45 pm

A Republican running for Northampton County executive in Pennsylvania gave a heated address on Aug. 29 about mask mandates in schools.

Steve Lynch is tired, he said, of providing his school board arguments and data (he apparently thinks the data support letting kids go maskless), but the important thing about his rant is the threat of force: “Forget into these school boards with frigging data. … They don’t follow the law! You go in and you remove ’em. I’m going in there with 20 strong men.”

That’s the kind of language that Republicans are now employing. Lynch has not run for public office before, but he did attend the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., and has posted on social media that the violence that day was a false-flag operation meant to discredit Trump supporters.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina spoke last weekend at an event sponsored by the Macon County Republican Party. He delivered the kind of lies that have become routine among some Republicans. The election was stolen — and not just the presidential contest but also that won by Gov. Roy Cooper (who defeated his opponent by a quarter of a million votes). Cawthorn told the crowd that vaccines are harmful to children and urged them to “defend their children.”

A woman asked Cawthorn what he plans to do about the “535 Americans who have been captured from Jan. 6.” Cawthorn, who apparently has heard this before, thundered, “Political hostages!” When someone in the crowd asked, “When are you gonna call us back to Washington?” he replied, “We are actively working on that one.”

Insurrection talk is becoming Cawthorn’s specialty: “If our election systems continue to be rigged and continue to be stolen, then it’s going to lead to one place — and it’s bloodshed.”

Naturally, former President Donald Trump has endorsed him for “whatever he wants to do.”

In neighboring Tennessee, the Williamson County school board was disrupted by anti-mask parents. As doctors and nurses testified that masks would help limit the spread of COVID-19, people cursed and threatened them: “We will find you!” “We know who you are!”

In Georgia, a mobile vaccination site had to be shut down after anti-vaccine protesters showed up to threaten and harass health care workers. “Aside from feeling threatened themselves, staff realized no one would want to come to that location for a vaccination under those circumstances, so they packed up and left,” a spokeswoman for the state health department told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

A survey of the rest of the country yields yet more examples.

We are all old enough to remember a time when election workers were public-spirited citizens, usually elderly, who volunteered their time (or got very modest compensation) to sit for hours at polling sites scanning names from lists of voters and handing out little stickers. That America is gone, driven out by a radicalized Republican Party. A number of states with Republican majorities have passed laws that would impose criminal fines of up to $25,000 for “offenses” such as permitting a ballot drop box to be accessible before early voting hours or sending an unsolicited absentee ballot application to a voter.

But that’s not the worst of it. Election workers have been hounded and threatened. Bomb threats have been emailed to election sites. “You and your family will be killed very slowly,” read a text message sent to Tricia Raffensperger after her husband, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, declined to “find” enough votes to flip the state to Trump. As many as 1 in 3 election workers has reported feeling unsafe, and thousands are resigning.

When Rep. Liz Cheney made the principled decision to vote for Trump’s impeachment, she noted that one reason more Republicans might not have chosen to join her was that “there were members who told me that they were afraid for their own security — afraid, in some instances, for their lives.”

Republicans talk incessantly about other people’s violence. The rioters who burned buildings after George Floyd’s death. The criminals who make Chicago a murder capital. immigrants who supposedly terrorize their host nation (they don’t).

Criminal violence is a problem, but the kind of violence Republicans are now flirting with or sometimes outright endorsing is political — and therefore on a completely different plane of threat.

Kyle Rittenhouse, an ill-supervised teenager who decided to grab an AR-15 and shoot people at a Kenosha, Wisconsin, riot (killing two and wounding one) was lionized by the GOP. His mother got a standing ovation at a fundraiser in Waukesha. Ashli Babbitt has become a martyr. Allen West, former chair of the Texas GOP, speaks approvingly of secession. Former national security adviser and Trump confidant Michael Flynn suggests that we need a Myanmar-style coup.

Some 28% of Republicans respond affirmatively to the proposition that “because things have gotten so far off track” in the U.S., “true American patriots may have to resort to violence” to save the country.

Maybe that’s not so bad? Not even a third. Another poll framed it differently: “The traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.” Fifty-six percent of Republicans agreed.

They are playing with fire. Nothing less than democratic legitimacy is on the line. These menacing signals suggest that Jan. 6 may have been the overture, not the finale.

Mona Charen is policy editor of The Bulwark and host of the “Beg to Differ” podcast.

Send letters to [email protected].

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The party of violenceMona Charenon September 2, 2021 at 6:45 pm Read More »

Illinois hopes to continue roll against UTSATerry Towery | APon September 2, 2021 at 6:33 pm

CHAMPAIGN — New coach Bret Bielema took the first step last week toward restoring relevance to a tired Illinois football program by beating favored Nebraska in an early Big Ten conference matchup.

But questions linger in Champaign. Is Illinois as good as it looked in beating the Huskers with its backup quarterback? Is Nebraska really that bad?

Some of those questions may be answered Saturday night when an underrated and dangerous Texas-San Antonio opens its season at Illinois (1-0, 1-0 Big Ten).

In his first year as coach last year, Jeff Traylor led the Roadrunners to a respectable 7-5 record. UTSA had one of the best running attacks in college football, ranking No. 18 in the nation and gaining 216 yards per game on the ground.

Traylor understands his opponent and was full of praise for Bielema, who coached at Wisconsin before a stint at Arkansas.

“Illinois is a very coach Bielema-looking team,” Traylor said. “He’s won three Big Ten championships at Wisconsin and took Arkansas to three bowl games in a row. Watching that Nebraska game, you can tell he’s already made his presence felt at Illinois. They are a good football team.”

ROADRUNNERS RUN

UTSA is above all else a running team. The Roadrunners are led on the ground by running back Sincere McCormick, who carried 249 times for 1,467 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2020.

UTSA is known for holding onto the ball. The Roadrunners only averaged 0.9 turnovers per game in 2020, 12th in the nation.

If there is a weakness in the Roadrunners’ offense, it’s the passing game. Last year, UTSA threw for just 193.6 yards per game, which ranked No. 99 in the nation.

Senior Frank Harris is back at quarterback. While his team concentrates mostly on the running game, with Harris rushing for 528 yards last season, he can pass when he needs to. Harris had a 63.6% completion rate last year, when he threw for 1,630 yards.

ILLINOIS QB QUESTION

Illini starter Brandon Peters went down early in Saturday’s game against Nebraska with an injury to his left (non-throwing) shoulder. While Bielema wouldn’t completely rule him out for the UTSA game, he seemed to indicate that Rutgers transfer Artur Sitkowski, who shined against the Huskers, would be making his first start at Illinois.

In three seasons at Rutgers, Sitkowski threw eight touchdown passes and 20 interceptions. Last week, he was 12 of 15 passing for 124 yards, two touchdowns and no picks.

“Art’s a guy that was just impressive once he got here, so I wasn’t surprised at how he handled the moment,” Bielema said. “I didn’t know how he was going to play (against Nebraska), but I knew the handling of it wouldn’t be an issue. It’s just his demeanor. He’s so serious, but he also has a good light to him.”

Sitkowski took his coach’s praise in stride, but made it clear he’s already moved on.

“It’s just one game,” Sitkowski said. “We gotta look forward to UTSA. It’s a long season and we have a lot of things we have to do. That game’s behind us.”

ILLINOIS WIDEOUTS

Much of the buzz early this season has been about the newly configured Illinois receiver corps. Along with several starters returning, former QB Isaiah Williams was converted to receiver to take advantage of his speed and athleticism. The move paid off and Williams made six catches for 41 yards and a touchdown against Nebraska.

Also moving to wideout is speedy defensive back Marquez Beason, who had a summer hamstring injury. Beason began practicing with the team on Tuesday, but Bielema wouldn’t say if he can be ready on Saturday.

“He is making great strides,” Bielema said. “We’re hoping to get him back sooner rather than later.”

VETERAN TEAMS

Illinois has 41 seniors on its roster, including 21 super seniors who received an extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic. The super seniors represent the most in Power Five. Illinois’ 20 other seniors still have one year of eligibility remaining following this season — if they choose to use it — and are listed as juniors on the roster. Combined, Illinois and UTSA will field 77 seniors.

“They obviously mirror us, in that we are both veteran football teams. I don’t think I’ve seen that many seniors on the field before,” Bielema said.

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Illinois hopes to continue roll against UTSATerry Towery | APon September 2, 2021 at 6:33 pm Read More »

Father killed while shielding young daughter from gunfire on West Side, family says. ‘She’s devastated that she watched her father get killed.’David Struetton September 2, 2021 at 6:31 pm

Travell Miller’s last act before dying in an ambush on the West Side was shielding his 7-year-old daughter from gunfire and possibly saving her life, his family says.

“He was simply driving his daughter to school. He was talking to his mother [on the phone] as this guy runs up on the car,” Miller’s father Joseph Gilmore said Thursday.

“His mother hears her son say, ‘Dang man, what the f- – -.’ She hears commotion and then hears him say, ‘Mama, Mama, I’ve been shot,'” Gilmore said.

Miller, 33, had been stopped in traffic around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 3000 block of West Chicago Avenue when the gunman got out of another car, walked up and opened fire, police said. He was hit four times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The location of Miller’s wounds show he had bent over to protect his daughter, Gilmore said a doctor told him. “She’s traumatized. She’s devastated that she watched her father get killed.”

Police have released photos of the suspected attacker and the car he was driving, a silver two-door Grand Prix with no plates. “I pray that God serves them the same dish they gave my son,” Gilmore said.

Police released photos of a suspected attacker and the vehicle used in the Sept. 1 murder of Travell Miller.Chicago police

Gilmore said detectives were investigating if the shooting stemmed from road rage. His family says they have no other idea why Miller would have been targeted, saying he had no enemies and had just moved to the neighborhood five days earlier.

Travell Miller’s identical twin brother Lavell Miller said news of his brother’s death has left him feeling “hollow.”

“He wasn’t part of any gang life, criminal life. He wasn’t a troubled man, didn’t have any enemies. He was a brother, a father, a son. He was a partner,” Lavell Miller said.

The brothers “did everything together,” including moving to Miami, Florida to pursue careers in bartending, he said.

“I introduced him to bartending. But when we did it together, it was ten-times magnified,” Lavell Miller said. “I have a lot of family, but he was my twin brother. It’s a special bond and it’s a special thing.”

Travell Miller came up with the name “Bar-twin-ders” to market themselves as a bartending duo. “I thought that was the right amount of corny,” Lavell Miller said.

Although Lavell Miller had been in the bartending industry twice as long as his brother, he said his brother became more successful in less time. “He loved what he did. He was a doer.”

Travell Miller and his twin brother Lavell Miller.Provided

But COVID made the job impossible in Miami and they both moved back to Chicago, Miller said.

“We talked about picking up where we left off. It’s been a financial struggle because of the pandemic. We now finally saw a way to navigate some success through this,” he said. “We had plans. I was looking forward to us being a team for a very long time.”

Travell Miller grew up with his family in Maywood and was a star wrestler at Proviso East High School, his father said. He studied graphic design and loved video games.

“All he wanted to do was treat the world like the sandbox it is,” Lavell Miller said. “He wanted to be the guy who was paid to test video games.”

But Travell Miller’s passions adapted as he grew into adulthood and had his first daughter when he was in college. She was given to adopted parents in Minnesota, but he stayed close with her and saw her every year, his brother said.

“I just want people to know he was a good man. I don’t want him to be just another hashtag or photo on a T-shirt,” Lavell Miller said. “I want people to know he has a real legacy. And that was the most important thing to us — your life resume.”

“It sucks that bad things happen to good people. This is truly one of those situations.”

The family is accepting donations in an online fundraiser to pay for his funeral.

Police asked anyone with information on the murder to call detectives or submit a tip anonymously to cpdtip.com.

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Father killed while shielding young daughter from gunfire on West Side, family says. ‘She’s devastated that she watched her father get killed.’David Struetton September 2, 2021 at 6:31 pm Read More »

Xplore Ulysse NardinJulie Szamlewskion September 2, 2021 at 6:53 pm

Xplore Ulysse Nardin

Ulysse Nardin is a pioneering manufacturer inspired by the sea and delivering innovative timepieces to free spirits.

Founded by Mr. Ulysse Nardin in 1846 and a house of the international luxury group Kering since November 2014, Ulysse Nardin has written some of the most beautiful chapters in the history of fine watchmaking. The brand owes its reputation to its ties with the nautical world: Its on-board marine chronometers are among the most reliable ever designed and remain very popular with collectors all over the world. A pioneer in cutting-edge technologies and the use of innovative materials such as silicon, Ulysse Nardin is one of the few manufacturers with the in-house expertise necessary to produce its own high-precision components and movements. An exceptional level of horological excellence has earned it a spot in the exclusive circle of Swiss watchmaking: the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie. Ulysse Nardin is taking action in two main ways to help conserve the oceans: reducing marine plastic pollution and developing scientific knowledge in the conservation of sharks, the animals that are its emblem. Today, from Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, Ulysse Nardin continues its quest for watchmaking perfection around four pillars: Marine, Diver, Blast, and Freak. In 2021, Ulysse Nardin is celebrating its 175th anniversary and is offering fans of exploration a vertical odyssey, from the ocean depths to the upper atmosphere.

Blast 45mm

BLAST wears it “X” prominently and with pride. The “X” has become an underlying Blast wears it “X” prominently and with pride. The “X” has become an underlying theme progressing transversally throughout all Ulysse Nardin collections and has affirmed its presence in all four Blast  models. Its shape-within-shape-within-shape geometry is a visual delight: an X, framed in a rectangle, both inside a circle.

This atomic bomb of a watch is powered by the recently fashioned UN-172 movement and has a three-day power reserve. With an automatic tourbillon for the first time within the Ulysse Nardin Skeleton collection and a new tiny yet powerful platinum micro-rotor — visible only from the front of the watch at 12 o’clock — Blast was 18 months in the making, from conception to creation.

Freak X 43mm

The Skeleton X, a new manufacture movement, lays bare its audacious technology in an exquisite exhibition of fine watchmaking’s most challenging technique. Inner beauty revealed, not concealed: This open-worked wonder takes skeletonization to the X level. Bold and powerful, it is an X-ray interpretation of the future of watchmaking design, where we see everything, including the very architecture and functioning of time. If you’ve got it, flaunt it. The Skeleton X leaves nothing to the imagination.

Lady Diver 39mm

Limited to 300 pieces only. Dedicated to the art of diving with its free diver engraved on the case back, the watch is enriching the existing collection with both a new jewelry timepiece and a reliable instrument. This treasure of the oceans also features a domed sapphire glass, a rubberized concaved bezel and a screw-down security crown, for a new exquisite and fashionable style.

The brilliance of the diamond hour markers of the Diver Lady Great White limited edition recalls the sparkling surface of the sea.

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Xplore Ulysse NardinJulie Szamlewskion September 2, 2021 at 6:53 pm Read More »

More than 20 deaths after Ida remnants slam NortheastAssociated Presson September 2, 2021 at 5:40 pm

NEW YORK — A stunned U.S. East Coast woke up Thursday to a rising death toll, surging rivers and destruction after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, filling low-lying apartments with water and turning roads into car-swallowing canals.

In a region that had been warned about potentially deadly flash flooding but hadn’t braced for such a blow from the no-longer-hurricane, the storm killed at least 22 people from Maryland to New York on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Nine people died in New York City, police said, one of them in a car and eight in flooded basement apartments that often serve as relatively affordable homes for low-income people. Officials said at least eight died in New Jersey and three in Pennsylvania’s suburban Montgomery County; one was killed by a falling tree, one drowned in a car and another in a home. An on-duty state trooper in Connecticut was swept away in his cruiser and later taken to a hospital, state police and local authorities said.

In New York City, Deborah Torres said water rapidly filled her first-floor Queens apartment to her knees as her landlord frantically urged her neighbors below to get out, she said. But the water was rushing in so strongly that she surmised they weren’t able to open the door.

“I have no words,” she said. “How can something like this happen? And the worst is that there’s a family downstairs with a baby, and they couldn’t get out.”

The remnants of Ida lost most of the storm’s winds but kept its soggy core, then merged with a more traditional storm front and dropped an onslaught of rain on the Interstate 95 corridor, meteorologists said. The situation has followed hurricanes before, but experts said it was slightly exacerbated by climate change — warmer air holds more rain — and the urban setting, where expansive pavement prevents water from seeping into the ground.

The National Hurricane Center had warned since Tuesday of the potential for “significant and life-threatening flash flooding” and moderate and major river flooding in the mid-Atlantic region and New England.

Still, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the storm’s strength took them by surprise.

“We did not know that between 8:50 and 9:50 p.m. last night, that the heavens would literally open up and bring Niagara Falls level of water to the streets of New York,” said Hochul, a Democrat who became governor last week after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned.

De Blasio said he’d gotten a forecast Wednesday of 3 to 6 inches of rain over the course of the day. The city’s Central Park ended up getting 3.15 inches just in one hour of the deluge, surpassing the previous recorded high of 1.94 inches in one hour during Tropical Storm Henri on Aug. 21.

Water cascaded into subway tunnels, trapping at least 17 trains and forcing the cancelation of service throughout the night and early morning. Videos online showed riders standing on seats in cars filled with water. All riders were evacuated safely, officials said.

The FDR Drive in Manhattan and the Bronx River Parkway were under water during the storm. Garbage bobbed in the water rushing down streets. Some subway and rail service had resumed Thursday morning.

Among the other deaths reported in New York City, a 48-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man died after being found at separate residences, and a 43-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man both died after being found inside a home. Causes of death and identifications were pending.

The ferocious storm also spawned tornadoes, including one that ripped apart homes and toppled silos in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, south of Philadelphia.

Record flooding along the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania inundated homes and commercial buildings, swamped highways, submerged cars and disrupted rail service in the Philadelphia area. In a tweet, city officials predicted “historic flooding” on Thursday as river levels continue to rise. The riverside community of Manayunk remained largely under water.

The rain in the region ended by daybreak Thursday as rescuers searched for more stranded people and braced for potentially finding more bodies.

Heavy winds and drenching rains punched a hole in the roof of a U.S. Postal Service building in New Jersey. Rain rushed through a terminal at Newark International Airport Wednesday and threatened to overrun a dam in Pennsylvania. Meteorologists warned that rivers likely won’t crest for a few more days, raising the possibility of more widespread flooding.

Rescues took place all over New York City as its 8.8 million people saw much worse flooding than from Henri, which was followed by two weeks of wild and sometimes deadly weather across the nation. Wildfires are threatening Lake Tahoe, Tropical Storm Henri struck the Northeast and Ida struck Louisiana as the fifth-strongest storm to ever hit the U.S. mainland, leaving 1 million people without power, maybe for weeks.

Amtrak service was canceled between Philadelphia and Boston.

At least 220,000 customers were without power in the region at one point, with most of the outages in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Southern New England awoke Thursday to inundated roads, commuter delays and an ongoing flash flood warning. Some students at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut were forced to relocate from their dorms. In Plainville, Connecticut, authorities said they used boats to rescue 18 people from a flooded neighborhood.

A section of Route 24 in southeastern Massachusetts was shut down because of water on the highway. In Portsmouth, Rhode Island, a road crumbled under the onslaught of rain.

The National Weather Service said it was investigating a possible tornado touchdown on Cape Cod around 1 a.m. Thursday. Meteorologist Bill Simpson said reported damage including downed trees.

Parts of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where 2,200 people died after an infamous dam failure in 1889, were evacuated for a time Wednesday after water reached dangerous levels at a dam near the city. An official said later Wednesday that the water levels near the dam were receding.

In Frederick County, Maryland, first responders used a boat to rescue 10 children and a driver from a school bus caught in rising flood waters. The county’s school superintendent faced criticism for not dismissing students early. He apologized, saying the decision to remain open led to “stress and anxiety for many,” The Frederick News-Post reported.

The Atlantic hurricane season is far from over. Larry became a hurricane Thursday morning, forecast to rapidly intensify into a potentially catastrophic Category 4 storm by Sunday. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it’s moving west but remains far from any coast.

___

Mark Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. AP reporters Bobby Caina Calvan, Karen Matthews and Jennifer Peltz in New York City; Seth Borenstein in Washington; Michael Catalini and Shawn Marsh in Trenton, New Jersey; Ryan Kryska in Hoboken, New Jersey, Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

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More than 20 deaths after Ida remnants slam NortheastAssociated Presson September 2, 2021 at 5:40 pm Read More »