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Moon Alert

There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Pisces.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

You’re going to bust your buns getting organized in the next few weeks. This will even encompass issues in your personal life including your health. Yes, you want it all! “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better.”

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

It’s play city for you for the next few weeks! Accept all invitations to party and extend a few yourself. Enjoy social outings, sports events, fun activities with kids as well as making new, saucy romantic connections. (Be still my beating heart.)

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

For the next four weeks, your attention will turn to home, family and your private life. Many of you will tackle home repairs, renovations and redecorating projects. Naturally, you might want to entertain and show off your achievements!

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Your daily pace will accelerate in the next few weeks because you have places to go, things to do and people to see! This is an excellent window of time to learn something new. Expect short trips and increased conversations with siblings, relatives and neighbors.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

Your focus on money, earnings, cash flow as well as your possessions will be very strong in the next few weeks. You might look for a new job? You might look for ways to make money on the side? You might sort through your possessions and get better organized. Possibly, you’re planning a big purchase?

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Holy Cannoli! For the next few weeks, it’s all about you because the sun, your ruler Mercury, Venus and Mars are all in your sign. Yes, the world will feel this Virgo Attack! Meanwhile, you will be energized, proactive and dazzling. (Can I have your autograph?)

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Your personal year is ending; however, your new year will not yet begin until your birthday arrives. Therefore, the next four weeks are the perfect opportunity for you to define some goals for your new year ahead. Goals help to keep you focused and on track. Ideas?

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Your popularity rating will soar in the next four weeks because four planets will be sitting in your House of Friendships. This will increase your desire to interact with friends and groups. It will also attract people to you, especially younger people and some who are creative and artistic.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Ole! For the next four weeks, the sun will be at the top of your chart casting you in a flattering spotlight. This means bosses, parents and VIPs are impressed with you. They will listen to you. Meanwhile, your ambition is aroused, and Venus might attract a romance with someone important.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

You dearly want to blow town in the next four weeks — no question. Do whatever you can to travel or get a change of scenery, even if it’s just is a quick weekend getaway. You want adventure and stimulation! You also want to learn something, which is why you might sign up for a course.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Financial matters, inheritances, taxes, debt and the wealth of your partner are your focus for the next few weeks. (Ka-ching!) No matter what happens, you will come out smelling like a rose because money and gifts will come your way. Sweet!

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Four planets are sitting opposite your sign now, and the sun is going to stay there for four weeks. This will heighten your focus on partnerships and close friendships. It’s also an opportunity to learn about how you relate to others.

If Your Birthday Is Today

Actor Scott Caan (1976) shares your birthday. You’re an idea person who loves to talk. You are generous, creative, warm-hearted and sincere. People are attracted to you because you are a fascinating conversationalist. This year is your last year of a nine-year cycle, which means it’s the perfect time to wrap up business that you’ve been involved with for the last nine years. Time to lighten your load.

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Two men were killed and another was wounded in a shooting Sunday morning on the Eisenhower Expressway.

The men were traveling west on I-290 about 2:30 a.m. when someone fired shots in the direction of their vehicle, causing the driver to crash near Kostner Avenue , Illinois State Police said.

The driver, a 29-year-old man, was suffered gunshot wounds and was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, state police said. He hasn’t been identified.

Kenneth Owens, 30– who was sitting in the back seat — suffered fatal injuries caused by the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene, state police said.

The front-seat passenger, also 30, was transported to an area hospital with non life-threatening injuries caused by the crash, according to state police.

All westbound lanes at Kostner Avenue were closed until 8:45 a.m.

Illinois State Police are investigating.

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A body was recovered from Lake Michigan Sunday morning in Rogers Park in the North Side.

Firefighters responded to a call or a person in distress who had fallen in the water about 7:45 a.m. near the 1000 block of West Pratt Avenue, according to a Chicago Fire Department spokesperson.

After nearly an hour of searching, firefighters pulled out the body of a man in his 30s, fire officials said.

He hasn’t been identified.

No other details were immediately available.

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Fans dance and cheer as Waka Flocka Flame performs on day three of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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Deeply Rooted Dance Theater likes to tell stories, and what story is bigger or better known than the Exodus, the biblical saga of the escape of the Israelites from their Egyptian captors, complete with the parting of the Red Sea?

A contemporary reinterpretation of that ancient tale is at the heart of “Goshen,” an in-development dance-theater work created by Donald Lawrence, a Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter and gospel artist based in Chicago.

Deeply Rooted and 17 onstage singers will present a free preview — a 45-minute version of what is ultimately expected to be a 90-minute work — on Aug. 25 at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

The presentation is titled “A Deeply Rooted Evening for Chicago’s Healing: GOSHEN (preview),” a nod to the show’s timing a few months after the coronavirus shutdown as arts organizations begin returning to live performances.

“It’s about persevering and making it through difficult times and healing, so we wanted to do it as a gift to Chicago,” Kevin Iega Jeff said of “Goshen.” He is Deeply Rooted’s co-founder and creative/executive director and director of this project.

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, which melds ballet, modern and African-based techniques, performs a scene from “Goshen.”Ken Carl

Lawrence conceived “Goshen” around 2016 as a recording for his gospel choir, the Tri-City Singers (from three cities in the Carolinas), as a way to mark its 25th anniversary, but he thought of the project from the start as the nucleus for a dance-theater piece.

The album, which was released in February 2019, received a Grammy nomination in the gospel category, and its hit single, “Deliver Me. This Is My Exodus”, was named Billboard’s most played gospel song of that year.

Goshen is named in the Bible as the place in Egypt where Joseph, a cast-out Israelite who rose to become second only to the pharaoh, invited his fellow countrymen to live following a severe famine. Much later, the Israelite descendants were enslaved, ultimately leading to the Exodus.

“Goshen was considered God’s protected place,” Lawrence said, “but if you want to use more spiritual-psychological wisdom, it’s like this place of peace and safety no matter what is happening around you, and it’s all inward.”

While gospel is the base of Lawrence’s musical language, other styles appear as well. He studied musical theater at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and has coached En Vogue, a superstar R&B and pop vocal group.

“When you hear my music,” he said, “it shows you the places I’ve lived musically, whether it’s urban music and R&B, whether it’s gospel, whether it’s musical theater or jazz or swing. I just kind of throw it all into a bowl and see what art happens.”

After the album’s debut, Lawrence began working on transforming “Goshen” into a dance-theater work and reached out to Deeply Rooted, a company that melds multiple dance styles, including ballet, modern (Lester Horton and Martha Graham) and African-based techniques.

Grammy Award winner Donald Lawrence’s piece “Goshen” will be previewed Wednesday night at the Pritzker Pavilion by Deeply Rooted Dance Theater.Provided

The project made sense for the African American company, said Nicole Clarke-Springer, who is in her second season as artistic director, in part because of the central place of gospel music in the Black tradition. “It’s really integral to who we are and how we communicate and have communicated throughout history,” she said.

In preparation for a workshop production of “Goshen” in December 2019 (the upcoming performance marking Deeply Rooted’s 25th anniversary is a repeat of that presentation with a few tweaks), five choreographers teamed to create the dance, each taking different sections. In addition to Jeff and Clarke-Singer, they were Gary Abbott, Deeply Rooted’s co-founder and associate director; Joshua L. Ishmon, rehearsal director and longtime dancer, and guest choreographer Tshediso Kabulu from South Africa.

“We have a wide variety of styles that are incorporated in this that flow and mesh,” said Clarke-Springer. “We all have a common thread as choreographers — an understanding of the music, the story and what needs to have happen inside each movement.”

Certainly dance for dance’s sake can be effective, Ishmon said, but allowing audiences to invest in a storyline makes for a more profound experience. “I think we do it well,” he said. “Even in an abstract work like ‘Goshen,’ the journey you go through visually and sonically, it still resonates with people strongly.”

Deeply Rooted’s 10 company dancers and two apprentices will join 12 choral singers from The NuXperience, who will be integrated into the movement. Also appearing will be gospel singer Le’Andria Johnson and lead singers from the Tri-City Singers.

The full-length version of “Goshen” was supposed to be presented in May 2020 under the auspices of Broadway in Chicago, but it was canceled because of the coronavirus shutdown. With the help of this second preview performance, Lawrence and his collaborators hope to get the project back on track.

“It’s a beautiful journey of a show to dance in, to watch, to hear,” Ishmon said. “It appeals to all your senses.”

Kyle MacMillan is a local freelance writer.

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A body was recovered from Lake Michigan Sunday morning near Promontory Point.

Firefighters responded to a call or a person in distress who had fallen in the water about 7 a.m. near the 5400 block of South Shore Drive, according to a Chicago Fire Department spokesperson.

After nearly an hour of searching, firefighters pulled out the body of a man in his 30s, fire officials said.

He hasn’t been identified.

No other details were immediately available.

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Half-speed is no way for the White Sox to be operating, but that’s what we saw from them Sunday in an ugly 9-0 loss to the Rays that left them five games behind the defending American League champs in the race for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

It wasn’t just Eloy Jimenez in left field, either, though he was a primary culprit. He came in extra slowly on a first-inning blooper by Ji-man Choi and played what probably should’ve been a single into a double. In the second inning, Jimenez jogged toward a lazy fly off the bat of Francisco Mejia that would’ve been a fairly routine play for most, but instead landed foul.

How much did it matter in what became a rubber-match blowout? Maybe not a lot. Same could be said of first baseman Jose Abreu hanging back on a three-hopper in the third and letting it skip off the bag for an infield hit. Or of Luis Robert going back to second base in slow motion on an infield liner in the eighth and being doubled off the bag.

The little things always seem to matter to the Rays, though, which must be how they unfailingly add up to more than the sum of their parts.

Jimenez might be under orders not to get himself hurt (again) out there, but there’s a line between careful and careless and — Sunday, anyway — the Sox were on the wrong side of it. Will that change? Hey, it’s only late August.

Here’s what’s happening:

MON 23

White Sox at Blue Jays (6:07 p.m., NBCSCH)

The only second-half road series the Sox have taken was at Wrigley Field, where “Ws” are practically free. Let’s see if Lance Lynn can keep his belt on long enough in the opener of a four-game set to outduel impressive Jays rookie Alek Manoah.

Jaguars at Saints (7 p.m., ESPN)

No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence going against old-enough-to-be-his-daddy Drew Brees would’ve been terrific preseason theater. Instead, Jameis Winston steps under the spotlight needing a strong performance to beat out Taysom Hill as Saints QB1.

TUE 24

Sky at Dream (6 p.m., ESPN3, The U)

If we’ve learned anything about the Sky this season, it’s that they can’t function without Candace Parker. But with her? We’re still trying to get a handle on that one.

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (10 p.m., HBO)

Segments include an examination of a recent explosion in the sports-card industry, which has seen a run on seven-figure sales involving eight of the top single-card sales ever. Alas, it’s probably still too soon to unload those 2021 Frank Schwindel babies.

WED 25

Rockies at Cubs (1:20 p.m., Marquee)

How bad has it gotten at Wrigley? So bad, fans actually miss watching the Cubs scratch out one measly run against the Rockies in the 2018 NL wild-card game.

Dodgers at Padres (9 p.m., ESPN)

The Padres have lost some shine, but they’re still in the wild-card hunt and can heave a wrench into Walker Buehler’s NL Cy Young plans here.

THU 26

White Sox at Blue Jays (2:07 p.m., NBCSCH)

It’s getaway day to wrap a seven-game trip and a four-game series in Toronto, one of those days that can test a team’s concentration. Are the Sox as locked in as they ought to be?

FRI 27

Cubs at White Sox (7:10 p.m., Marquee, NBCSCH)

Are the Sox as locked in as they ought to … oh, wait, never mind. We can worry about that again next time they’re facing a major-league opponent.

Sky at Storm (9 p.m., NBA TV, The U)

The Sky won the teams’ last meeting in overtime — with Seattle superstars Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird resting. It’s a whole different ballgame this time.

SAT 28

Nebraska at Illinois (noon, Fox-32)

Lovie Smith joined a long list of coaches who couldn’t get it done in Champaign. Maybe Bret Bielema can? All eyes — nation-wide, baby — are on Game No. 1 of the entire college football season.

Bears at Titans (6 p.m., Fox-32)

Preseason finales are a lot more relaxing to watch when your team looks even vaguely prepared for the start of the regular season. Any chance Week 1 can be pushed back a skosh?

SUN 29

Cubs at White Sox (1:10 p.m., Marquee)

Look, we don’t mean to make so many wisecracks at the Cubs’ expense. They’ve been doing the best they can since making their September call-ups.

Little League World Series final (2 p.m., Ch. 7)

With no international teams in this year’s field, it’s hotdog vs. apple pie for all the glory. One hopes pizza parties — forget those lame orange slices — await both the champions and the runners-up.

Dolphins at Bengals (3 p.m., Ch. 2)

A head-to-head matchup of QBs Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow might not move the needle that much in NFL circles, but college football fans are loving it. Winner gets an early leg up in the SEC West.

Browns at Falcons (7 p.m., Ch. 5)

Here it is, folks — the last game of the NFL preseason. It might be tempting to shut off the TV when Atlanta takes a 28-3 lead, but you should know better.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Sunday the U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others from the Kabul airport accelerated this weekend, although it remains vulnerable to threats posed by the Islamic State extremist group.

One week after the Taliban completed its takeover of Afghanistan by capturing Kabul, Biden said discussions are underway among military officials about potentially extending the airlift beyond Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline. “Our hope is we will not have to extend, but there are discussions,” he said, suggesting the possibility that the Taliban will be consulted.

Since Aug. 14, one day before the Taliban entered Kabul, the airlift has evacuated 28,000 people, Biden said. He did not elaborate, but that number appeared to include not just U.S. military flights but also charter and non-U.S. military flights.

Speaking at the White House, Biden said 11,000 people had been airlifted from Kabul in a 36-hour period this weekend, but he did not provide details. The number appeared to include flights by charter and non-U.S. military aircraft as well as the U.S. Air Force C-17 and C-130 transport planes that have been flying daily from the capital. Tens of thousands of people remain to join the airlift, which has been slowed by security issues and U.S. bureaucracy hurdles.

Biden asserted, without a full explanation, that U.S. forces have managed to improve access to the airport for Americans and others seeking to get on flights. He suggested that the perimeter had been extended, widening a “safe zone.”

“What I’m not going to do is talk about the technical changes we’re making to make sure we maintain as much security as we can,” he said. “We have constantly, how can I say, increased rational access to the airport, where more folks can get there, more safely. It is still a dangerous operation but I don’t want to go into the detail of how we’re doing that.”

Later Biden added: “We discussed a lot with the Taliban. They’ve been cooperative in extending some of the perimeter.”

He said groups of Americans in Kabul are being moved more efficiently and safely to the airport, but he did not provide details.

“Any American who wants to get home, will get home,” he asserted.

Earlier Sunday, administration officials said the U.S. military is considering “creative ways” to get Americans and others into the Kabul airport for evacuation from Afghanistan amid “acute” security threats, and the Pentagon on Sunday ordered six U.S. commercial airlines to help move evacuees from temporary sites outside of Afghanistan.

Addressing a criticism cited by many Republicans, Biden said no Afghan evacuees are being flown directly to the United States from Afghanistan without prior screening. He said they are being screened in third countries.

Biden and his top aides have repeatedly cited their concern that extremist groups in Afghanistan will attempt to exploit the chaos around the Kabul airport.

“The threat is real, it is acute, it is persistent and something we’re focused with every tool in our arsenal,” said Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that 3,900 people had been airlifted out of Kabul on U.S. military flights over the past 24 hours. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public, said those people were flown on a total of 23 flights — 14 by C-17 transports and nine aboard C-130 cargo planes.

That represents an increase from 1,600 flown out aboard U.S. military planes in the previous 24 hours, but remains far below the 5,000 to 9,000 that the military says it has the capacity to airlift daily. Sullivan also said about 3,900 people were airlifted on non-U.S. military flights over the past 24 hours.

The Biden administration has given no firm estimate of the number of Americans seeking to leave Afghanistan. Some have put the total between 10,000 and 15.000. Sullivan on Sunday put it at “several thousand.”

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Austin said that as Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline for ending the evacuation operation approaches, he will recommend whether to give it more time. Tens of thousands of Americans and others have yet to be flown out of the country.

Austin’s interview with ABC aired Sunday but was taped Saturday. In a notice Sunday, the State Department urged people seeking to leave Afghanistan as part of an organized private evacuation effort not come to the Kabul airport “until you have received specific instructions” to do so from the U.S. Embassy’s flight organizer. The notice said that others, including American citizens, who have received specific instructions from the embassy to make their way to the airport should do so.

Austin said the airlift would continue for as long as possible.

“We’re gonna try our very best to get everybody, every American citizen who wants to get out, out,” Austin said in the interview. “And we’ve got — we continue to look at different ways to — in creative ways — to reach out and contact American citizens and help them get into the airfield.”

The British military said Sunday another seven people had been killed in the unceasing crush of crowds outside the airport.

Republicans in Congress stepped up their criticism of Biden’s response. “If the Taliban is saying that Americans can travel safely to the airport, then there is no better way to make sure they get safely to the airport than to use our military to escort them,” GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, an Army veteran, said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Ryan Crocker, who served as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan under Presidents George W, Bush and Barack Obama, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that Biden’s management of the withdrawal was “catastrophic” and had unleashed a “global crisis.”

A central problem in the evacuation operation is processing evacuees once they reach other countries in the region and in Europe. Those temporary waystations, including in Qatar, Bahrain and Germany, are sometimes reaching capacity, although new sites are being made available, including in Spain.

In an attempt to alleviate that, and to free up military aircraft for missions from Kabul, the Pentagon on Sunday activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. The Defense Department said 18 aircraft from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, Omni Air, Hawaiian Airlines and United Airlines will be directed to ferry evacuees from interim waystations. The airlines will not fly into Afghanistan. The six participating airlines have agreed to assist for a little less than two weeks, which roughly coincides with the currently planned duration of the airlift, which is to end Aug. 31.

The civil airline reserve system was last activated in 2003 for the Iraq War. The commercial airliners will retain their civilian status but the military’s Air Mobility Command will control the flights.

___

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Lolita C. Baldor, Ellen Knickmeyer, Hope Yen and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

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