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It was hard to say which was a better sight, Carlos Rodon up and dealing again or Cesar Hernandez, Luis Robert and Jose Abreu giving the All-Star left-hander a comfortable lead with an early home run blitz.

The Sox’ offensive attack, sketchy at best and missing in action at worst for most of a seven-game road trip against the Rays and Blue Jays, packed a punch with four home runs on the last day Thursday, helping the Sox defeat the Jays 10-7 to claim a four-game series split and a 3-4 trip, which, all things considered, could have been worse.

With Rodon pitching five innings in his first start in 19 days, the trip finished happily as the Sox head into what figures to be a fun-filled weekend in the city series against the Cubs. It would have been better if not for a five-run Jays blitz against right-hander Michael Kopech in the sixth inning, but Ryan Tepera, Garrett Crochet and Craig Kimbrel blanked the Jays’ tough lineup in the last three innings. Kimbrel earned his first save in a White Sox uniform.

With the Pirates following the Cubs in a two-game series that takes them into September, the Sox start the home stretch to an almost-guaranteed October against softer teams than they faced in their just completed run against the Yankees, Athletics, Rays and Jays. The Sox (74-55) went 7-7 against that foursome of postseason contenders.

“People have to beat us, we’re going to be a team to beat,” shortstop Tim Anderson said.

The Sox own a nine-game lead in the AL Central but will need Rodon in October, and to see him looking fresh after an 18-day break for his fatigued shoulder was reassuring.

“He was outstanding, in the form he’s been all year,” manager Tony La Russa said. “It was very encouraging. Can’t wait to get him back out there.”

Hernandez, 2-for-15 in his previous four games, started things offensively with a homer against left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu in the second and made three standout plays at second base. Robert and Abreu homered in the third, Leury Garcia doubled in two runs in the fourth and Anderson scored Garcia with a single in the fifth.

Catcher Seby Zavala doubled in a run in the sixth and Anderson knocked him in with a single to make it 9-2, and this one had the look of a laugher.

“They pitched a heckuva game last night, so I think it was mandatory that we wanted to go out and whup em,” Anderson said. “And you see how we jumped out on them. It was mandatory to get a win.”

But Kopech got tagged despite being ahead in the count and touching 101 mph when he left some sliders up in the zone, including one to Marcus Semien who homered for the second time.

“He threw a couple good ones and made some mistakes but I thought he had one of his best fastballs of the season,” La Russa said. “The ball was just jumping. He got ahead of hitters but he just hung a couple and hitters hit them. He probably could have lived with his fastball but he got too much of the plate with his slider.”

Rodon, meanwhile, improved to 10-5 with a 2.43 ERA, following Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito with another good start in the series.

“There were some limits as far as pitch count,” said Rodon, who threw 67 pitches, 46 for strikes and got nine swings and misses.

“I was shooting for six [innings] and I got through five. I felt pretty good today. There were some pitches I’d like to come back, but they make it hard, they put the ball in the play.”

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Chicago Police Supt. David Brown has called for the firing of four officers who were involved in an incident in which one of them allegedly choked a handcuffed detainee in the back of a squad car.

That officer, Louis Garcia, already faces a criminal charge of official misconduct for his alleged role in the May 31, 2019, attack. Then last month, Brown formally moved to fire him and the three other cops implicated in the incident.

The Chicago Police Board will now rule on whether to terminate the officers in the coming months. A status hearing is set for Sept. 2.

Garcia, an 18-year department veteran, was on patrol with another officer in the 8900 block of South Commercial Avenue when they saw a 42-year-old man standing in the street and blocking traffic, according to a Jan. 13 statement from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which also investigated the incident.

During an ensuing struggle, Garcia allegedly choked the man in the back of a police vehicle while he was handcuffed, COPA said. Garcia was ultimately charged criminally in January.

During his initial court hearing, prosecutors said the struggle was sparked in part when the arrested man lobbed a racial slur at Garcia. “Who the f— are you talking to? I’m a what lover?” prosecutors quoted Garcia as saying.

After Garcia placed his hands over the man’s neck for more than 10 seconds, Garcia’s partner intervened to remove the officer’s hands, prosecutors said. While en route to a police station, the man allegedly tried to bite the two cops, prompting Garcia to hit him in the face with his elbow.

Some of the incident was captured by Garcia’s partner’s body-worn camera, prosecutors said. And while the detainee never filed a report with COPA, the police department’s Force Review Unit later notified the agency.

Garcia is now also accused of breaking a list of departmental rules, including violating a law or ordinance, disobeying an order or directive and engaging in any unjustified verbal or physical altercation. Garcia has two previous sustained complaints in his background for excessive force and conducting an illegal search, according to the Invisible Institute.

The other patrolman, Manuel Giron, is charged with searching the detainee without justification, failing to record the entire incident on his body-worn camera and failing to report Garcia’s alleged use of excessive and unnecessary force, among other things.

Sgt. Kevin Rake and Lt. Charles Daly both stand accused of failing to report the use of excessive force and failing to either adequately review it, complete a required report or both.

Garcia’s attorney, James McKay, insisted his client is innocent of the charges and claimed the superintendent’s move to fire him and his colleagues will have a damaging effect on the department’s already low morale. In addition, McKay noted that the man who was arrested later pleaded guilty to resisting or obstructing an officer and was sentenced to two days in Cook County Jail.

Attorneys for the other three cops didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden vowed Thursday to complete the evacuation of American citizens and others from Afghanistan despite a deadly suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport. He also promised to avenge the deaths, declaring to the extremists responsible: “We will hunt you down and make you pay.”

Speaking with emotion from the White House, Biden said the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate was to blame for the attacks that killed 12 American service members and many more Afghan civilians. He said there was no evidence they colluded with the Taliban, who now control the country.

“We have some reason to believe we know who they are,” he said of the bombers and gunmen involved. “Not certain.”

As many as 1,000 Americans and many more Afghans are still struggling to get out of Kabul.

Biden was briefed on the attacks, which also killed dozens of Afghans and came 12 days into the rushed evacuation and five days before its scheduled completion. Some Republicans argued to extend the evacuation beyond next Tuesday’s deadline.

The U.S. general overseeing the evacuation, Gen. Frank McKenzie, said after the attacks, “If we can find who is associated with this, we will go after them.” He said it would be a mistake for the United States to call an early end to the evacuation, despite the risks.

The administration has been widely blamed for a chaotic and deadly evacuation that began in earnest only after the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban’s takeover of the country. More than 100,000 people have been evacuated so far.

Thursday’s attacks were sure to intensify political pressure from all sides on Biden, who already was under heavy criticism for not beginning the pullout earlier. He had announced in April that he was ending the U.S. war and would have all forces out by September.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California called for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to bring the chamber back into session to consider legislation that would prohibit the U.S. withdrawal until all Americans are out. That’s highly unlikely, and Pelosi’s office dismissed such suggestions as “empty stunts.”

At the Pentagon, Gen McKenzie said the military believes the attacks on the airport’s perimeter were carried out by fighters affiliated with the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan arm. He said more attempted attacks were expected.

After the suicide bomber’s attack at the airport’s Abbey Gate, a number of ISIS gunmen opened fire on civilians and military forces, he said. There also was an attack at or near the Baron Hotel near that gate, he said.

The attacks won’t drive the U.S. out earlier than scheduled, he said.

“Let me be clear, while we are saddened by the loss of life, both U.S. and Afghan, we are continuing to execute the mission,” he said. He said there were about 5,000 evacuees on the airfield Thursday awaiting flights. He said the Taliban have been “useful to work with” and are not suspected in the attacks.

“We thought this would happen sooner or later,” McKenzie said, adding that U.S. military commanders were working with Taliban commanders to prevent further attacks.

McKenzie said that in addition to the 12 U.S. service members killed in the attacks, at least 15 were injured.

As details of the attacks emerged, the White House rescheduled Biden’s first in-person meeting with Israel’s new prime minister and canceled a video conference with governors about Afghan refugees arriving in the United States.

Biden had pledged to get out of Afghanistan every American who wished to leave. As of Thursday, the State Department estimated there were as many as 1,000 Americans in Afghanistan who may want help getting out.

Biden on Thursday had been scheduled to host Israeli leader Naftali Bennett, who is on his first visit to the United States since taking office. The meeting was rescheduled for Friday. Biden canceled plans to meet virtually with a bipartisan group of governors who have said they want to help resettle Afghan refugees.

A number of U.S. allies said they were ending their evacuation efforts in Kabul, at least in part to give the U.S. the time it needs to wrap up its evacuation operations before getting more than 5,000 U.S. troops out by Tuesday.

Despite intense pressure to extend the Tuesday deadline, Biden has repeatedly cited the threat of terrorist attacks against civilians and U.S. service members as a reason to keep to his plan.

The explosions detonated as the U.S. worked to get remaining Americans out of the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that as many as 1,500 Americans may be awaiting evacuation.

Asked during an interview with ABC News about reports the evacuation could end on Friday, Ross Wilson, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, declined to comment. He spoke shortly before the deadly attacks.

Wilson said “there are safe ways to get to” the airport for those Americans who still want to leave. He added that “there undoubtedly will be” some at-risk Afghans who will not get out before Biden’s deadline.

The airlift continued Thursday despite warnings of vehicle-borne bomb threats near the airport. The White House said 13,400 people had been evacuated in the 24 hours that ended early Thursday morning Washington time. Those included 5,100 people aboard U.S. military planes and 8,300 on coalition and partner aircraft. That was a substantial drop from the 19,000 airlifted by all means the day before.

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Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and James LaPorta in Boca Raton, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the police union are needlessly at loggerheads now over her announcement earlier this week that all city employees must be vaccinated for COVD-19 by Oct. 15.

Lightfoot says that would include police officers, and Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara — as usual — reached into the nut bag to find the words to express his displeasure.

“We’re in America, G-ddamn it. We don’t want to be forced to do anything. Period. This ain’t Nazi f—ing Germany, [where they say], ‘Step into the f—ing showers. The pills won’t hurt you.’ What the f–k?” Catanzara told the Sun-Times Fran Spielman.

We flat-out believe Chicago cops and other city workers should be vaccinated to protect themselves and the public — who often have no choice but to interact with them.

As we wrote last month, every government and business should require the vaccine. But instead of fully negotiating a pathway toward required vaccinations (and an announcement), Lightfoot again threw down the gauntlet and issued an edict with a deadline.

Now, not only does the FOP have its back up over the mandatory vaccination issue, so do the three other unions representing police sergeants, lieutenants and captains.

The mayor has to find a better way to get this done.

Education and negotiation first

To bolster her decision, Lightfoot cites new vaccine-or-test rules for Cook County and New York City municipal workers. But the issue is fraught when it comes to vaccinating cops. The Big Apple’s largest police union is now threatening to sue over the mandate.

Rank-and-file NYPD members oppose mandatory vaccination even though 20% of its 35,000 members were struck with the virus during the first wave. Since the start of the pandemic, 60 New York police officers have died of COVID-19, including three this month.

About 47% of the NYPD is vaccinated compared with around 30% of Chicago police officers.

You’d think numbers like that would have police running in formation to get the jab. That it hasn’t is proof that it’ll take education and negotiations to bring officers into the fold.

“So if they’re going to make this a fireable offense or a mandate in order to maintain employment, that’s gonna have to be negotiated by them,” Lt. Michael Stiscak, president of Chicago Police Lieutenants Union, told ABC7 Chicago. “It just cannot be enacted by them.”

Don’t ‘be punitive’

The odd thing: City Hall has been in talks with its unions for the past few weeks about the mandatory vaccine issue. Lightfoot could have waited until those talks were concluded and agreements were reached. As it is now, she’s ringing the dinner bell before the menu has been decided.

With the COVID-19 Delta variant gaining a foothold, we can see why Lightfoot wants to move quickly to get police and city workers vaccinated. But her current tactic threatens to slow things down rather than speed them up.

Send letters to [email protected].

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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.

‘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

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

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 reopens with its contribution to “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.

‘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

‘Becoming Jane: The Evolution of Jane Goodall’

Hugo van Lawick/National Geographic

When: To Sept. 6

Where: Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr.

What: Generations have been inspired by the work of primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall, who has not only shown the urgent need to protect chimpanzees but also redefined species conservation to include the needs of local people and the environments. A new exhibit follows her journey from a curious young child in England to a passionate scientist studying chimpanzees in Africa. Included in the exhibit are a re-creation of her field research tent, a hologramlike projection of Goodall sharing her fieldwork memories, augmented reality activities and a projection of Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park. Tickets: $18-$32.

More information: fieldmuseum.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

‘Frida Kahlo: Timeless’

When: Through Sept. 6

Where: Cleve Carney Museum of Art in the McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell, Glen Ellyn

What: Here’s the not-too-miss art exhibit of the summer. Dolores Olmedo (1908-2002), a Mexican musician, businesswoman and friend of artists Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera, amassed an impressive list of works by both artists that reside in Mexico City’s Museo Dolores Olmedo. Her collection of paintings and works on paper by Kahlo have now traveled to the newly expanded Cleve Carney Museum of Art. The long-awaited exhibit, delayed a year because of the pandemic, features an array of oil paintings and works on paper, pivotal pieces created by the artist. Also featured are a multimedia timeline that offers 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: $23, $40.

More information: theccma.org/frida-kahlo/

Museum of Contemporary Photography

An-My Le’s “Migrant Workers Harvesting Asparagus, Mendota, California,” part of “Much Unseen Is Also Here.”Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery

When: Through Aug. 29

Where: 600 S. Michigan at Columbia College Chicago

What: The museum is presenting two new exhibits. “Much Unseen Is Also Here: An-My Le and Shahzia Sikander” features the work of two Asian-American artists who explore their relationship to America. In the tradition of American road photography, Le’s photographs confront the political rhetoric of the moment and tackle current events; Sikander uses sculpture, drawings and animation to examine the intersection of power, gender, empire and self. “Martine Gutierrez” features work from Gutierrez’s independent art publication, “Indigenous Woman”, a magazine exploring how deeply sexism, colorism, racism, transphobia and other biases are embedded and ubiquitous in popular culture and fashion photography. Admission is free.

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

This afternoon will be mostly sunny with a high near 88 degrees and scattered showers and thunderstorms. Tonight is expected to be mostly cloudy with a low around 74 and a 40% chance of thunderstorms. Tomorrow will be partly sunny with a high near 90, heat index values as high as 98 and a 40% chance of thunderstorms.

Top story

Chicago Park District deputy inspector general says he’s been fired

The Chicago Park District’s deputy inspector general said he’s been fired in what he calls a “concerted effort” to prevent him from “continuing to investigate criminal activity and employee misconduct that seemingly pervade” the district’s Beaches & Pools Unit.

Nathan Kipp was summarily fired one week after being placed on “indefinite emergency unpaid suspension” in what he called an illegal attempt to “whitewash” an investigation into sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexual abuse among the district’s lifeguards.

The firing came without warning — and without the hearing required by Park District human resources policies. He also was not interviewed by his boss, Park District Inspector General Elaine Little, ignoring what he calls best practice for any inspector general investigation, especially one that culminates in employee termination.

Little’s termination letter to Kipp was dated Aug. 19, which Kipp says is “not a coincidence.” That’s the same date that he went public, taking the unusual step of blasting out his concerns about the motive behind his “emergency suspension” and the chilling effect it would have on the ongoing investigation into “dozens of complaints of sexual assault, sexual harassment and physical abuse” of lifeguards.

Until he was escorted out of Park District headquarters last week, Kipp had led the internal investigation of lifeguards at Chicago’s pools and lakefront beaches that has implicated Park District Supt. Mike Kelly in an alleged cover-up.

One of two investigators assigned to the probe, Kipp had spent a year as acting inspector general. He was a candidate for the job that went to Little, ex-wife of state Rep. Curtis Tarver (D-Chicago).

Today, Kipp renewed his call for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to “intervene and assume all control” over the inspector general’s investigation.

Lauren FitzPatrick and Fran Spielman have more on the turmoil within the district here.

More news you need

Gov. Pritzker today reimplemented a statewide indoor mask mandate and also announced a vaccine mandate for all K-12 and higher education employees. Both are attempts to curtail a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” the governor said.

Two men were killed and another was injured in a shooting at the Kankakee County Courthouse this morning, according to authorities. Two people were arrested after the attack at the south side entrance of the courthouse near the detention center, police said.

Mayor Lightfoot and local Jewish groups slammed FOP President John Catanzara after he made comments comparing the mayor’s vaccine mandate for city employees to the Holocaust. The American Jewish Committee called Catanzara’s comments “an insult … to the memory of the millions of lives lost during one of the darkest periods in human history.”

City planners signed off today on development that would bring to downtown four new high-rises, including a two-tower proposal at 525 S. Wabash Avenue. Business reporter David Roeder has more on the four projects, which represent a combined $700 million investment.

For the third time since March, the federal government is planning to clear loan debt for thousands of students who attended ITT Technical Institute. With campuses in Arlington Heights, Oak Brook, Orland Park and Springfield, the for-profit chain closed in 2016 after a series of sanctions by the Obama administration.

The annual Ebertfest film festival slated for next month in Champaign has been postponed to 2022 due to the surge in COVID-19 across the state. The announcement was made via YouTube by festival founder/organizer Chaz Ebert, the widow of former Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert.

“Check, Please!” the popular WTTW-Channel 11 series, has ended its 20-year run. The series was known for providing a platform for thousands of Chicagoans who critiqued the city’s restaurants.

A bright one

800 murals and mosaics cataloged, many more to go

Murals and mosaics are seemingly everywhere in the Chicago area thanks to a public art explosion over the last few years that’s transformed exteriors of businesses, viaducts, retaining walls, garages, train stations, schools, apartment buildings, and even some houses and high-rises into canvasses of color and meaning.

For the last two years, we’ve embarked on a project to capture, catalog and celebrate public art in the city and suburbs as part of our “Murals & Mosaics” series.

The project has taken us all across the city to meet the prolific creators of this ubiquitous art form.

As part of the project, we created an interactive map with a selection of murals and mosaics in the region — a map that we regularly add to as our coverage continues to grow.

Each point on the map is clickable, with a photo, description and sometimes a link to a story about the mural. You can zoom in to focus on a particular neighborhood or suburb.

Exploring the map, you’ll find the stories behind public art that memorializes icons like Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton, depicts neighborhood history like one Back of the Yards work, touts culture and heritage like one Aztec god-featuring piece in Pilsen, and much more.

With our recent feature on a local artist’s mural in Humboldt Park last week, we reached our 800th addition to the “Mural & Mosaics” map, a milestone we’re looking forward to building off, as the city offers no shortage of art to cover.

You can also purchase a magazine we’ve made the features photographs and coverage of some of our favorite pieces in the city and suburbs.

Find all of our murals and mosaics coverage here.

From the press box

Your daily question ?

It’s National Dog Day, so we want to know, how did you meet your furry friend?

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

Yesterday we asked you: What do most non-Chicagoans get wrong about our city? Here’s what some of you said…

“The South Side is a giant ghetto with nothing but rampant crime and poverty. I’ve been a truck driver for almost 30 years and you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve had to correct this notion over the years.” — Allen McLaurin

“They think “Windy City” is because of the wind off the lake, but instead it’s because of the politics.” — Matt Gorecki

“That Chicago doesn’t have the best travel system. You can take any form of transportation at any time. Now you may not want to, but transportation is always available.” — Lynn Nelson-Betts

“I think a lot of people who are not from or have never lived in Chicago believe that the city is too dangerous to visit. In reality, it’s one of the most beautiful and friendly cities I’ve ever lived in. Most Chicagoans are Midwest-practical despite living in a city, and are usually all too happy to help tourists and out-of-towners find their way around. Also, I think Chicago is still a bright light for labor organizing, which is struggling throughout much of the Midwest.” — Korinda Walls

“That everyone’s a Cubs fan and nobody puts ketchup on hot dogs.” — Kathy Celer

“That Chicago isn’t a city of neighborhoods. Many neighborhoods feel like friendly small towns (block parties, garden clubs, farmers markets, street fairs, garage sales, etc.), full of nice, helpful people.” — Julia Maish

“They often do not realize that Chicago is a city that has always been multi-ethnic and was — and still is — a final destination of immigrants from all over the world.” — Dave Ritz

“I hate hearing how “deep dish” is the official pizza of Chicago, when all of us know it’s the local pizza joints with that have that great pub-style square cut — the real stuff.” — Dennis Kollpainter

“I don’t know if most non-Chicagoans realize how gorgeous and accessible our lakefront is. It’s almost better than oceanfront beaches, the water is fresh and clean.” — Laura O’Donnell

“That we actually say Chi-town when we’re talking about Chicago.” — Vinny Sinnott

“That downtown is the only fun place in the city.” — Karina Garcia Carrizal

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

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Growing up as a White Sox fan in Downers Grove, Martin O’Donnell loved listening to “Hawk” Harrelson call games on TV. Like most Sox fans, O’Donnell enjoyed Harrelson’s homerish style.

As the radio analyst for Illini football, O’Donnell doesn’t try to emulate Harrelson. But perhaps Hawk’s influence is deep in O’Donnell’s subconscious because he’s unabashed about his allegiance.

“I’m not naive enough to say that I want Illinois football to be successful more than the coaching staff and the players,” O’Donnell said. “But I think I’m next in line after the families.”

O’Donnell will begin his seventh season alongside play-by-play voice Brian Barnhart on Saturday, when the Illini host Nebraska in the first game of the college football season (12:20 p.m., Fox-32, 890-AM). O’Donnell was the starting left guard for the Illini in 2007, when they beat No. 1 Ohio State, went to the Rose Bowl (lost to USC) and finished 9-4.

O’Donnell, 36, lives with his wife and three kids just outside of Champaign in Savoy, and he said there’s a buzz around town with coach Bret Bielema taking the reins and a national spotlight on the university.

“The Illinois fan base has really been reinvigorated with the hiring of Bret Bielema,” O’Donnell said. “He’s done everything right. Hired a fantastic staff. They’ve had success on the recruiting trail. I’m expecting a good crowd here Saturday. Now, you gotta perform on the field.”

That has been a problem for the Illini, who have finished above .500 seven times in the last 30 seasons, the most recent in 2011. O’Donnell thinks a plan is in place to at least give the program more consistent success.

“What Illinois football needs to do is to form an identity and be consistent with it,” he said. “When you decide what our identity is gonna be as a football program, it allows you to instill that identity within the players that are on your roster, and when you’re able to identify what your plan is for every position that you’re trying to recruit, you can exploit inefficiencies within the recruiting marketplace.”

O’Donnell said Bielema is the right man for the job, given his success at Wisconsin (68-24 from 2006 to ’12) and his Illinois and Big Ten roots. Bielema grew up in Prophetstown and played at Iowa. The Illini are banking on that familiarity with the terrain paying off on the recruiting trail.

“Chicago is a challenging recruiting environment, you have all these competing priorities,” O’Donnell said. “But outside of the Chicagoland area, especially south of I-80, you can’t lose those recruiting battles. Those are communities that are very pro-Illini, and what was troubling for me over the past five, 10 years is you got kids from Springfield going to the SEC.

“I think Bret and his staff have done a really nice job, and I know they’ll be consistent because he’s got a plan and they’re being methodical.”

O’Donnell’s outgoing nature and success with the Illini paved his way to the radio booth. He was a four-year starter and earned first-team All-America honors as a senior in 2007. That made him a popular interview request and put him among the team representatives at Big Ten media days.

He didn’t enter the NFL Draft because injuries had taken their toll. While figuring out what to do next, O’Donnell was approached by longtime Illini show host Steve Kelly, who asked if he would be interested in co-hosting a postgame call-in show.

A regular listener of The Score back home, O’Donnell was interested in sports radio. The call-in show amounted to his only training for the analyst job, though he filled in for former analyst and Illini quarterback Kurt Kittner on one game and enjoyed it.

When Kittner decided to step away before the 2015 season, O’Donnell expressed his interest in taking over.

“I’m sure they talked to a variety of people,” he said. “But I was able to bamboozle them into giving it to me.”

O’Donnell put a lot of effort into film study as a player, and he continues to in preparation for games. He strives to be concise and impactful with his words, skills he learned on the call-in show. He has a great rapport with Barnhart and wears his emotions on his sleeve, making for an entertaining broadcast.

Still, he sometimes marvels at others, such as Bears radio analyst Tom Thayer.

“He does an unbelievable job. He and [play-by-play voice] Jeff Joniak are the best in the business,” O’Donnell said. “I always try to listen to the Bears games as much as I can. If you just listen to the amount of information and analysis that Tom Thayer can get into like 15 seconds, it’s great.”

O’Donnell is plenty busy off the air. He’s an executive vice president at Busey Bank, a board member for the United Way of Champaign, a part of the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation and a committee member at Carle Foundation Hospital.

“I’m lucky. My wife [Emily] is nice enough to indulge me in this little side gig,” O’Donnell said. “Obviously, I’ve been on a quest to be the No. 1 Illinois homer in the world.”

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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.

‘Noir Across the Atlantic’

“Le Cercle Rouge” Provided

When: Aug. 27-Sept. 2

Where: Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport

What: Fans of film noir will want to check out a mini-fest of five dark, stylized European-made films all newly restored. In Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Cercle Rouge,” Alain Delon’s just-out-of-jail criminal and Yves Montand’s alcoholic cop plan a jewel heist. Backed by a Miles Davis score, Louis Malle’s “Elevator to the Gallows” stars Jeanne Moreau as a woman who along with her lover plans to kill her husband. Alec Guinness stars in Alexander Mackendrick’s “The Ladykillers,” Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles play a game of cat and mouse in Carol Reed’s “The Third Man,” and two aging criminals Jean Gabin and Rene Dary attempt to retire in Jacques Becker’s “Touchez Pas Au Grishi.” Tickets: $11.

More information: musicbox.com

‘Without Getting Killed or Caught’

A scene from the documentary “Without Getting Killed or Caught” featuring Townes Van Zandt, Susanna Clark and Guy Clark.Photo by Al Clayton

When: Aug. 27-29

Where: Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State

What: Tamara Saviano and Paul Whitfield’s documentary is the story of Guy Clark, the dean of Texas songwriters, who over a more than 40-year career wrote poetic, indelible songs (“L.A. Freeway,” “Desperados Waiting for a Train”) that painted indelible portraits of the people, places and experiences that shaped him. The film revolves around the close relationship of Clark, his wife Susanna and his best friend and fellow songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Tickets: $12.

More information: siskelfilmcenter.org

‘Unapologetic’

Janae Bonsu in “Unapologetic.”Kartemquin Films/The Film Collaborative

When: Aug. 20-Sept. 2

Where: Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State

What: Chicago director Ashley O’Shay’s documentary follows the story of Janae Bonsu and Bella Bahhs, whose upbringing and experiences shape their activism and views on Black liberation. The film provides an inside look into the ongoing movement work that transformed Chicago, from the police killing of Rekia Boyd to the election of Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Tickets: $12.

More information: siskelfilmcenter.org

‘Movies in the Parks’

When: To Sept. 14

Where: In parks throughout Chicago

What: The Chicago Park District’s series returns with films ranging from Hollywood classics to retro childhood favorites and family-friendly offerings from recent years. Admission is free.

More information: For a complete list of films and parks, visit chicagoparkdistrict.com/movies.

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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Regarding the national news media’s freakout over President Joe Biden’s role in the Taliban’s seizure of Afghanistan, we haven’t seen such passionate unanimity among the Washington commentariat since they went all-in on invading Iraq back in 2003.

They sold the war like an action-adventure film. The New York Times and Washington Post were particularly gung-ho. Even NPR covered the push into Baghdad like the world’s largest Boy Scout Jamboree. CNN presented the U.S. “shock and awe” bombing campaign like a July 4th fireworks show.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan got put on the back burner. Despite our NATO allies — Britain, France, Germany and the Dutch sent troops — that’s basically where it stayed for 20 long years.

In my experience, the more Washington pundits agree, the more they’re apt to be wrong. For most, it’s a TV show. Dramatic shots of panicky Afghan youth trying to climb aboard departing USAF transport planes drives the coverage. File footage of Wolf Blitzer and Lester Holt wearing soldier costumes in Afghanistan only makes them look foolish.

As for all the retired generals and think-tank commandos, how about we wait to see how the Pentagon’s massive evacuation from the Kabul airport goes before making a judgment?

So I have more questions than answers.

First, can anybody imagine Trump overseeing the orderly evacuation of thousands of Afghan Muslims into the U.S.?

To ask the question is to answer it.

As Max Boot points out, “As recently as April 18, Trump said: ‘Getting out of Afghanistan is a wonderful and positive thing to do. I planned to withdraw on May 1, and we should keep as close to that schedule as possible.”‘ And on June 26, Trump asked, “Twenty-one years is enough, don’t we think?”

Yeah, most people do.

So should President Biden have stuck to something pretty close to the timetable Mike Pompeo negotiated, or not?

It was either that or double down on a war he, too, vowed to end. Whatever they may say, no European leaders are about to send troops; their citizens wouldn’t let them.

Also, it wasn’t Biden who ramrodded the release of 5,000 Taliban fighters last October. It was Trump and Pompeo.

Biden made a tough, you might say a ruthless, decision to cut our losses and get out.

But shouldn’t he have anticipated the sudden surrender of Afghanistan’s papier-mache government? Maybe so, although hardly anybody else did. That State Department cable that The Wall Street Journal reported on concerned the period after, not before, U.S. troops departed. That is, after Aug. 31.

That’s not how critics played it, but it’s a fact.

But shouldn’t Biden have evacuated U.S. personnel and Afghan dependents before the military pulled out?

Not unless he wanted to bring the Afghan government down even sooner. The first day of any evacuation would have been the last day that government existed. The terrible scenes of last week would have happened sooner. As the president has said, it’s on him either way.

So could the United States ever have turned Afghanistan into a democratic country?

Almost certainly not.

Way back in 1976, I observed to my wife that Russians invading Afghanistan would end up “sorry they ever heard of that place.” My skepticism was based on three things: Rudyard Kipling’s accounts of the British experience there; my own experience in neighboring Iran; and a knowledgeable friend’s explanation that Afghanistan isn’t a nation, but rather eight or 10 tribal regions more or less permanently in conflict with all the others.

Hardly anybody there thinks all men are created equal, nor believes in one man, one vote. Pretending that a Kabul government could govern the territory as Paris governs France was a delusion. So of course the imaginary nation’s make-believe army fell apart. Former Marine Captain Lucas Kunce, a Democratic Senate candidate who did two tours there, wrote this in The Kansas City Star:

“The truth is that the Afghan National Security Forces was a jobs program for Afghans, propped up by U.S. taxpayer dollars … populated by nonmilitary people or ‘paper’ forces (that didn’t really exist) and a bevy of elites grabbing what they could when they could.”

A boondoggle and a folly.

If Biden can get the U.S. out without a catastrophic slaughter, he’ll have done all right.

Send letters to [email protected].

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