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Three women were shot and wounded while passing through Fernwood on the Far South Side Saturday.

The three victims, 21, 23 and 24, were traveling westbound around 12:50 a.m. in the 200 block of West 105th Street when someone started shooting at their vehicle, police said.

The 21-year-old woman was shot once in her buttocks, the 23-year-old in her ankles and the 24-year-old in her leg, police said.

One of the women drove the three to Roseland Hospital where their conditions were stabilized, police said.

No one was in custody.

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SAITAMA, Japan — Nothing about the summer was easy for the U.S. men’s basketball team, and neither was the gold-medal game.

The Americans expected nothing less.

And in the end, their Olympic reign continues.

Kevin Durant scored 29 points and joined Carmelo Anthony as the only three-time men’s gold medalists in Olympic history and the U.S. held off France 87-82 on Saturday to win the title at the Tokyo Games — ending a summer that started with sputters but closed with celebration.

Durant sealed it with two free throws with 8.8 seconds left, making the outcome academic. The lead was five, France’s final possession was irrelevant, and it was over. The U.S. players gathered for a hug at midcourt, Durant, Bam Adebayo and Draymond Green wrapped themselves in American flags, and the journey was complete.

Jayson Tatum finished with 19 points, Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday each scored 11 for the U.S.

Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert each scored 16 for France, which now has four silver medals — all coming after gold-medal-game losses to the U.S. Guerschon Yabusele scored 13, Nando de Colo had 12 and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 11 for France.

Frank Ntilikina’s 3-pointer got France within 73-70 with 5:42 left, but the U.S. had a quick answer — a 9-2 run that restored a 10-point lead on Tatum’s 3-pointer.

From there, it was just a matter of finishing the job. The summer started with two exhibition losses, the Olympics started with a loss to France, and none of that seemed to matter much at the end.

The mission was accomplished: Gold, again — the 16th time in 19 Olympic tries for the U.S.

For some, it adds to family legacies. Jrue Holiday now is an Olympic gold medalist, just like his wife Lauren was twice with the U.S. women’s national soccer team. JaVale McGee now has Olympic gold, just like his mother Pamela won with the U.S. women in basketball at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

For Milwaukee Bucks teammates Holiday and Khris Middleton, it’s admission into a rare club: Before now, only Scottie Pippen (who did it twice), Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving had won an NBA title and Olympic gold in the same year.

And for U.S. coach Gregg Popovich, it completes an Olympic journey that started a half-century ago. He was playing for the United States Air Force Academy, tried unsuccessfully to make the 1972 U.S. Olympic team– “the powers that be actually selected Doug Collins instead of me, it’s hard to believe,” Popovich joked earlier this summer — then accepted the task of replacing Mike Krzyzewski as the U.S. coach for this Olympic cycle.

“Being part of the Olympics has been a dream,” Popovich said.

The U.S. missed its first eight 3-point tries before Durant got one to drop with 2:04 left in the opening quarter, starting what became a 21-8 run by the Americans on the way to a 39-26 lead midway through the second quarter.

France responded, closing the half on a 13-5 spurt and getting within 44-39 at the break, then within two early in the third quarter.

And after the U.S. briefly led by 14, Nicolas Batum — who saved his team with a last-second block to close out a win over Slovenia in the semifinals — beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer that cut the U.S. lead to 71-63 entering the fourth.

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A man was fatally shot while riding in a vehicle Friday in Humboldt Park on the West Side.

Around 9:10 p.m., the victim, 38, was a passenger in a vehicle traveling westbound in the 3400 block of West Division Street when someone opened fire from another vehicle, Chicago Police said.

The man was struck once in the face, police said.

He was taken to Humboldt Park Health Hospital by the driver of the vehicle where he was pronounced dead, police said. He has not been identified.

No one was in custody.

On July 25, about a half-mile away, a man was killed in a drive-by shooting.

The 35-year-old man was hit multiple times about 5:50 p.m. in the 800 block of North Homan Avenue, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified him as Ronnie Wade, a resident of the Tri-Taylor neighborhood.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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Chicago Sky forward Candace Parker, the two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player, has been named grand marshal of the 92nd Annual Bud Billiken Parade and Festival, organizers announced Friday.

This year’s parade is next Saturday, Aug. 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Chicago native, who recently made history as the first woman and WNBA player to grace the cover of an NBA 2K video game, will lead the parade as it returns this year. Last year, due to COVID-19, it was canceled for the first time in its history.

“Candace is seen as hometown hero to many of our city’s youth, and to have her lead the parade this year is just the burst of energy and excitement our students need as they prepare for their first full year back in classrooms since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Myiti Sengstacke-Rice, president and CEO of the Chicago Defender Charities and Bud Billiken Parade Chair.

Provided

In her 14th season, Parker is the Sky’s second-leading scorer — despite sitting out eight games with a high ankle sprain early in the season. Without their star, the Sky entered a seven-game skid that was immediately reversed upon her return, with a franchise-record seven-game winning streak.

The team now is 10-10 at the Olympic break — 9-3 with her on the floor.

Joining Parker for the festivities will be other local and national celebrities and dignitaries. Honorary grand marshals include the cast of VH1’s Chicago Black Ink Crew; author/media personality Bevy Smith; and Jeremy Joyce, creator of Black People Eats.

McKinley Nelson, founder of Project Swish Chicago, is honorary health ambassador, and award-winning gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds has been named honorary hometown hero.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., is the honorary parade dignitary, with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also expected to participate when the parade kicks off at 45th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Parker will lead the procession south on King Drive, through Washington Park, ending at Garfield Boulevard and 55th Street. That’s where the festival, featuring vendors, food, entertainment — and coronavirus vaccine stations — will be held.

Due to COVID-19, masks are required to attend the enclosed festival, and attendees will have to register in advance — either to verify they have been vaccinated, or to receive the vaccine on-site.

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One person was killed and another critically wounded in a shooting Friday evening in Park Manor on the South Side.

A man, 27, and another male, whose age was unknown, were near the front of a home in the 6900 block of South Vernon Avenue just before 5 p.m., when two people approached and opened fire, Chicago police said.

The 27-year-old was struck in the head and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said. He has not yet been identified.

The other male suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was taken to the same hospital in critical condition, police said.

There was no one in custody.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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Jan. 8, 1967

Robert Sylvester Kelly is born in Chicago.

January 1992

R. Kelly releases his debut album, “Born Into the ’90s,” with the group Public Announcement.

Aug. 31, 1994

Kelly marries his 15-year-old protege, Aaliyah Haughton, who is identified as Jane Doe # 1 in Kelly’s federal indictment in New York. It alleges that, around the time of the marriage, Kelly had someone pay a bribe in exchange for a fake ID for Haughton.

February 1998

Kelly wins three Grammys for his hit from the “Space Jam” soundtrack, “I Believe I Can Fly.”

May-October 1999

This is when Kelly is accused of illegal conduct with Jane Doe #2, who met Kelly when she was 16 after a member of his entourage approached her at a fast-food restaurant. Prosecutors say Kelly filmed their sexual intercourse multiple times, creating child pornography.

Dec. 21, 2000

The Chicago Sun-Times publishes the first in a series of articles about Kelly written by Jim DeRogatis and Abdon M. Pallasch. The pair reported in their first article that, “Chicago singer and songwriter R. Kelly used his position of fame and influence as a pop superstar to meet girls as young as 15 and have sex with them, according to court records and interviews.”

Aug. 25, 2001

Aaliyah Haughton dies in a plane crash.

Feb. 1, 2002

The Chicago Sun-Times anonymously receives a copy of a videotape that appears to depict sex acts between Kelly and a girl who is believed to be 14 years old. The newspaper turns the video over to police.

Feb. 8, 2002

The Chicago Sun-Times reports on the videotape it received one week earlier. The report appears the same day Kelly performs at the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

June 5, 2002

A Cook County grand jury indicts Kelly on 21 counts of child pornography based on the video received by the Sun-Times earlier in 2002.

2003-2004

This is when Kelly allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted a woman identified in the federal indictment in New York as Jane Doe #3. The conduct would have occurred while Kelly was free on bond while awaiting trial in Cook County.

Prosecutors say Jane Doe #3 met Kelly at a mall outside of Illinois while she was working as a radio station intern in her early 20s. Kelly allegedly invited the woman to travel to Chicago for an interview. Once in town, she was directed to a room in a recording studio.

She was told to sign a nondisclosure agreement, not to talk to anyone and to keep her head down, prosecutors say. She spent three days in the locked room without sustenance, according to the feds. Then, when a member of Kelly’s entourage gave her food and drink, she became tired and dizzy.

Prosecutors say she woke up with Kelly in the room “in circumstances that made clear he had sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious.”

May 20, 2008

Testimony begins in Kelly’s trial on child pornography charges in Cook County, and defense lawyers insist Kelly is not the man who appeared on the tape that depicts sex acts involving an underage girl.

June 4, 2008

Chicago Sun-Times pop music critic Jim DeRogatis takes the stand during Kelly’s trial and invokes the First and Fifth amendments as he declines to testify about the videotape at the center of the case, which he received anonymously in 2002.

June 13, 2008

A Cook County jury acquits Kelly in his child pornography case after the alleged victim on the central video refuses to testify.

May 2009

This is when Kelly allegedly began a months-long sexual relationship with the victim known as Jane Doe #4, who was 16 at the time. Kelly allegedly made photos and videos of Jane Doe #4 engaging in sexual intercourse with Kelly and others.

He also allegedly led her to believe that she or members of her family would suffer serious harm if she did not perform sex acts on him and others. Kelly allegedly engaged in physical and psychological abuse when she disobeyed him by slapping and choking her, and isolating her in rooms for days at a time with no food.

Prosecutors say Jane Doe #4 appeared in the Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly,” and her circumstances are similar to those of Jerhonda Pace, who was featured prominently in the show.

2015

Kelly allegedly had sex in April, May, September and October of 2015 with Jane Doe #5, while she was under the age of 18. Jane Doe #5 has been publicly identified as Azriel Clary, Kelly’s former girlfriend.

May 18, 2017

Kelly allegedly has unprotected sex with the woman known as Jane Doe #6, failing to tell her he had herpes. The feds say Jane Doe #6 appeared in the Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly,” and her circumstances are similar to those of Faith Rodgers, who appeared in the show and filed a lawsuit against Kelly.

Feb. 2, 2018

Kelly allegedly again has unprotected sex with Jane Doe #6 without telling her he had herpes.

Jan. 3, 2019

“Surviving R. Kelly,” a documentary series, premieres on Lifetime.

Feb. 22, 2019

Cook County prosecutors again file charges against Kelly, this time accusing him of 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse that took place between 1998 and 2010.

July 11, 2019

Federal prosecutors reveal indictments against Kelly in Chicago and Brooklyn; authorities arrest the singer while he is walking his dog outside Trump Tower in Chicago.

July 16, 2019

Federal prosecutors tell a judge in Chicago the alleged victim in Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial is cooperating with the government. “She has now gone on record,” a prosecutor says.

2020

Attempts to put Kelly on trial are repeatedly thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Judges in Chicago and Brooklyn also reject multiple requests by Kelly to be released from jail, where he is attacked by a fellow inmate.

June 9, 2021

Kelly tells the judge presiding over his case in New York he wants to move forward without his Chicago-based attorneys, Steve Greenberg and Mike Leonard. He opts to be represented instead by Thomas Farinella of New York and Nicole Blank Becker of Michigan.

June 22, 2021

After a nearly two-year stay in Chicago’s downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center, Kelly is moved to a detention center in Brooklyn to await trial.

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The trial of R&B superstar R. Kelly is set to begin Aug. 9 in Brooklyn’s federal court. Here are some key concepts and phrases likely to come up during the trial:

Batson motion: This could come up during jury selection. Potential jurors may not be dismissed from the jury pool simply because of their race, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. When a party in a case makes a Batson motion — an allegation that race was the reason for a juror’s dismissal — the other side must offer a race-neutral explanation.

Beyond a reasonable doubt: Prosecutors must prove R. Kelly guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to secure a conviction. While there is no precise definition, it is the highest standard of proof in any case.

Enterprise: In a racketeering case, the enterprise is the larger venture furthered by the crimes committed by its members. In the R. Kelly case, prosecutors allege Kelly and his managers, bodyguards, drivers, personal assistants, runners and other members of Kelly’s entourage formed an enterprise. Its alleged purpose was to promote R. Kelly’s music and brand, and to recruit women and girls for illegal sexual activity and to produce child pornography.

For cause challenge: One of two ways a potential juror could be dismissed from the R. Kelly jury pool is for cause. If a potential juror is dismissed for cause, that person has demonstrated an unwillingness or inability to be fair and impartial.

Judgment of acquittal: After prosecutors rest their case, defense attorneys may ask the judge for a judgment of acquittal — meaning no reasonable jury could convict based on the evidence presented. Such judgments are commonly sought, but rarely granted.

Mann Act: Prosecutors allege R. Kelly violated the Mann Act, a federal law that makes it a crime to transport anyone across state lines for prostitution or illegal sexual activity.

Peremptory challenge: One of two ways a potential juror could be dismissed from the R. Kelly jury pool is through a peremptory challenge. Typically, each side has a limited number of peremptory challenges that may be used for any reason as long as they are not used to discriminate against a juror based on race, gender, ethnicity or religion.

Racketeering: Congress passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act to target organized crime. It lets prosecutors tie together multiple crimes committed in furtherance of a larger racketeering enterprise. R. Kelly’s indictment alleges 14 racketeering activities, including bribery, kidnapping, forced labor, sexual exploitation of a child and violations of the Mann Act.

Sequestered: U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly has ruled that the jurors in R. Kelly’s case should remain anonymous and “partially sequestered” — or separated from the general public. Specifically, she granted a government request that U.S. Marshals escort jurors in and out of the courthouse every day, and that jurors be separated from the public during any breaks in the trial, including at lunch time.

Venire: The panel of potential jurors from which the R. Kelly jury will be selected.

Voir Dire: The process of questioning potential jurors and choosing the final jury.

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The White Sox rode a 14-game, nine-loss wave of snooze-alarm baseball into the series opener against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Even worse, starting pitcher Lance Lynn was 0 for his last 11 cracks at the Cubs. Hard to believe, isn’t it? As good as he has been over the years, Lynn was 0-4 with a 6.93 ERA against them — his worst numbers against any opponent — since beating them in September of 2013 in St. Louis.

That means he never beat the trio of Anthony Rizzo, Javy Baez and Kris Bryant. Nope, not even once.

And on top of all that, the eighth inning came around Friday and the fourth star player the Cubs traded before the deadline — reliever Craig Kimbrel, now with the South Siders — turned a 4-1 Sox lead into a sudden, shocking 4-4 tie.

What did it all signify? As lifelessly as the Sox are playing, and even though Lynn has been little more than a glorified batting-practice pitcher against the Cubs, and despite Kimbrel having his worst outing of the season, it signified this: The Sox had the Cubs right where they wanted them.

Final: Sox 8, Cubs 6.

And the Sox will have the Cubs right where they want them the rest of this weekend and again when the teams meet later this month at Guaranteed Rate Field. And probably every time after that for at least the next few years.

But that’s what happens when one team — even a struggling one — is in win-the-World Series mode and the other needs nametags just to hold conversations in the clubhouse.

No matter what is ailing the Sox, the North Siders have it much worse.

Are the Cubs, as currently constructed, the worst team in the big leagues? I’m not using “worst” loosely. OK, maybe a bit. The Orioles, Rangers, Pirates and Diamondbacks are all on track to lose 100-plus games. They’re embarrassments to themselves, their sport, their cities — nay, a nation — but how can any of them be any worse than the lineup the Cubs put out there Friday?

Sorry, they can’t be.

With catcher Willson Contreras getting some rest and right fielder Jason Heyward on the injured list, pitcher Kyle Hendricks was surrounded by a starting lineup that included such household no-names as Rafael Ortega, Matt Duffy, Frank Schwindel, Greg Deichmann, Andrew Romine, Robinson Chirinos and Sergio Alcantara.

I know what you’re thinking: You can’t spell “Schwindel” without the “win.” The man did blast a two-run homer into the seats to briefly keep the Cubs alive in the bottom of the 10th. Give him his props.

But still: Who?

When the Cubs were down to their last out, manager David Ross looked up and down his dugout bench and said the only sensible thing he could think of:

“Yo, 160-pound pitcher Zach Davies, grab a bat. You’re pinch-hitting!”

It’s that kind of reality now in Chicago baseball. There are ships passing in the night, and then there are the Sox and Cubs. One team an ocean liner steaming for the deep waters of playoff baseball. The other an unrecognizable bucket of bolts already run aground by an ownership family that wouldn’t find money for Yu Darvish and cashed in its 2016 World Series core but — oh, yeah — reportedly is full speed ahead with plans to build a two-story addition to Wrigley that would house a giant sports book.

Anyone who doesn’t think the Sox can encroach on the Cubs’ popularity in this town is missing something. By crying poor and pulling the plug on trying to win, the Cubs are playing their fans. Just because some might cynically (and correctly) point out that strategy worked for Cubs regimes past, it’s a whole new ballgame once fans have gotten a taste of a curse-busting title. A hotel? A two-story sportsbook? All the other Ricketts-led changes that are sucking the charm out of the ballpark grounds and neighborhood?

It’s a dangerous game.

The Sox can up the stakes by raising their next banner. Maybe even more than one of them. If and when they finally get to full strength this season, they just might go on the sort of tear that can’t be ignored by any sports fan in this town.

Meanwhile, the Cubs announced that Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White will be signed to an “honorary major league contract” before Sunday’s game. Isn’t that adorable? White, 87, played in the Cubs organization from 1959 to 1966, in case you didn’t know it.

My question: Why not put him in the lineup for real? It couldn’t hurt.

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They don’t all look the same, but every win counts the same in the standings. The White Sox beat the Cubs 8-6 on Friday in a game manager Tony La Russa described as a valuable lesson for how hard the last stretch of the season will be.

“We understand it’s going to be difficult to get to the finish line. It’s never easy,” La Russa said. “And if they ever needed reminding, just replay today’s game.”

The Sox had a comfortable 4-1 lead going into the eighth inning, and with Craig Kimbrel set to hold that lead for closer Liam Hendriks, the blueprint for a routine win was laid out.

Instead, Cubs shortstop Andrew Romine hit his first home run in four years, a three-run shot that tied the game. Kimbrel gave up his first earned runs since May 15 and allowed four hits in an appearance for the first time since May 2011.

The Sox went on to win, thanks to a four-run 10th inning sparked by Brian Goodwin’s two-run homer, but they still had to survive a scare when Frank Schwindel led off the bottom of the inning with a two-run shot that brought the Cubs within two runs.

“First six innings were just grinding, we missed a couple of chances to add, but the last three or four were just ridiculous,” La Russa said.

The lesson for La Russa’s team over the last two weeks has been that even the best teams go through slogs, and often in the midst of those even the wins don’t come easy.

And looking forward, heroics by players from every part of the roster are necessary. After Kimbrel’s rough eighth inning, Hendriks got four outs to get the Sox to extra innings. Then, for the second time in the last week, Goodwin connected for a decisive late-inning homer.

“When you look at the push toward the playoffs, you need a deep roster,” Lance Lynn said. “You need guys to be able to come through in the clutch who might not be in there every day.”

The Sox bats didn’t come to life until they got to the Cubs bullpen. Starter Kyle Hendricks held them to two runs in the fourth inning. The rest of their scoring came against relievers Trevor Megill, Kyle Ryan, and Manny Rodriguez.

“It’s no secret, if you see our offensive stats we’re not having a good year,” Jose Abreu said. “This has been a really tough season for us as a team, especially in the offensive part.”

Things should improve on that front now that Eloy Jimenez is back in the lineup and Luis Robert is on schedule to come back after this weekend.

Without them, the Sox rank near the bottom of the league in home runs, and they’re eleventh in baseball in slugging percentage, at .411. It’s not all bad, however. Despite feeling like they’ve struggled as a group, the Sox offense has a seventh-ranked .248 batting average, and they have scored the eighth-highest number of runs, and Friday’s offensive outburst should push them even higher in both.

“Having everybody healthy and playing at the same time should be a very good thing for us,” Abreu said. “Something that should carry us to the finish line.”

These experiences might be helpful in getting through the season’s final eight weeks, but Hendriks is cautious about drawing parallels from Friday’s game to what October is going to be like.

“I mean it’s very hard to comprehend and put a connection between postseason baseball and anything else,” Hendriks said. “Purely based on the fact it’s where the possibility of going home is a factor. That’s one of the biggest drivers that I’ve found in a lot of guys, you almost put too much pressure on yourself. Once you’re relaxed and get into the mold, that’s where you’re able to do those things in the postseason.”

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When Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently announced that state employees who work in congregate facilities would have to be vaccinated by Oct. 4, the largest state employee union, AFSCME, released a statement chiding the governor.

“We strongly oppose any effort to define them as part of the problem,” the powerful union claimed on behalf of those workers.

But Pritzker also said that about 80% of new COVID-19 cases in those congregate facilities “have been due to infection among employees.”

“Our most vulnerable residents, such as veterans who can’t live on their own, and adults living with developmental disabilities have no choice but to live amongst these workers,” Pritzker said. “It’s a breach of safety, it’s fundamentally wrong and, in Illinois, it’s going to stop.”

Aside from the danger posed to residents or inmates, outbreaks can also result in potentially exposed unvaccinated workers getting very sick or worse; or being sent home for several days to make sure they haven’t contracted the virus. Most every state facility is under-staffed, so outbreaks have the potential to crush the system, particularly with the highly virulent delta variant spreading like wildfire.

By far, the least vaccinated state agency is the Illinois Department of Corrections, which is infamous for being chronically under-staffed for decades.

Of IDOC’s 34 facilities, only seven had a staff vaccination rate above 50% by late July, which is still too low.

Two IDOC facilities had staff vaccination rates in the single digits: an abysmal 7% at Lawrence Correctional Center and 9% at Vienna Correctional Center. Vandalia CC was not much better at a mere 10%. Pontiac CC was at 14%, Robinson CC was at 18% and Graham CC and its reception and classification center were at 21%, as was Shawnee CC. Six prisons had staff vax percentage rates in the 20s, ten were in the 30s, five were in the 40s, three were in the 50s and just four were in the 60s.

Taken as a whole, 44% of IDOC staff were fully vaccinated at that point in time. Just 45% of the state’s Development Center staff at the Department of Human Services are vaccinated. At the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, 64% of veterans’ home employees are vaccinated, but just 50% at the Anna Home are vaxed and 58% are vaxed at the Manteno facility.

By comparison, as of Aug. 5, 61% of all Illinois adults were fully vaccinated.

“The government has resorted to ‘vaccine shaming’ its public safety employees rather than convincing them that getting an immunization is the best course of action,” said Terry Trueblood, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Illinois Secretary of State Lodge 95, after Secretary of State Jesse White announced that employees must either be vaccinated or tested every two weeks.

But, according to the state, about 70% of prison inmates who are in or who have moved through the system have been fully vaccinated. Eight-two percent of all patients and residents in Department of Human Services facilities are vaccinated. Between 96 and 100 percent of Department of Veterans’ Affairs home residents are vaccinated, depending on the facility. And 62% of young people currently in the Department of Juvenile Justice system have been vaccinated.

It’s time the state stopped waiting on front-line workers to come to their senses while drawing a government paycheck. Too many of AFSCME’s members are not part of the solution, they’re “part of the problem.”

And the FOP can complain about “vaccine shaming” all it wants, but logic and reasoning haven’t worked nearly enough. Not even money has worked. The state rolled out a special cash-and-prizes lottery program just for workers in those four agencies to try to increase vaccination rates. On-site clinics were set up to make it more convenient for employees to get their shots. The union also admirably tried to help convince its members to vax up. The carrots didn’t work. The stick is what’s left.

Pritzker gave the workers two months to comply, likely because he wants to talk details with union leaders at the bargaining table. But AFSCME would do well to remember what the late AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said just last month when explaining why the AFL-CIO supports vaccine mandates: “You have to know what’s around you.”

AFSCME and other unions face a choice between preserving the life and health of their members or standing up for the imagined “rights” of those who would knowingly spread a fatal or debilitating disease to those around them. Something has got to change.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

Send letters to [email protected].

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