If Chicago wants to keep a City Council with 50 members, it makes sense for the aldermen to appoint ward superintendents in their wards.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), plans to introduce an ordinance at Wednesday’s City Council meeting to make it clear the job of ward superintendent is a Shakman-exempt position, with hiring and firing controlled by the local alderman. The Shakman decree bans political considerations in city hiring and firing, except for some supervisory positions.
Earlier this month, Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson said under current law, ward superintendents are covered by the Shakman decree. But that concerned aldermen, who are used to having a say in who their ward superintendent is. They are acutely aware that aldermen who do a bad job of constituent services are most likely to lose elections. The unwritten rule is that if an alderman hates the ward superintendent, then that individual usually gets dumped.
Ward superintendents, who technically are part of the Streets and Sanitation Department, oversee plowing streets, repairing sidewalks, trimming trees and removing graffiti. Ward residents who call 3-1-1 without getting complaints resolved expect to get results from their alderman. Without any direct control over ward superintendents, aldermen fear they won’t be able to resolve constituents’ complaints.
The job of ward superintendent shouldn’t be a political plum, which is an argument for making the job a career position, not a political appointment.
But there is also a case to be made that as long as aldermen are expected to be the ultimate Ald. Fix-It, they should have the authority over the ward superintendent to ensure they can get the job done. The job is critical to the ward, and aldermen should have the ability to complain about superintendents who are not doing a good job.
A weekly overview of opinions, analysis and commentary on issues affecting Chicago, Illinois and our nation by outside contributors, Sun-Times readers and the CST Editorial Board.
“It’s a key policy position that, in many ways, can make or break an alderman’s reputation,” Hopkins said. “If you do a good job maintaining your ward and the streets are plowed, the trash is picked up, the trees are trimmed, the graffiti is removed, your voters will likely forgive you for a lot other things that you do that they might not agree with.”
One alderman, for example, told how after he was first elected, it took him six months to get rid of an ineffective ward superintendent. “We could never find this guy,” the alderman said, except for two occasions where the alderman found the superintendent asleep in his truck.
Strict criteria for the job
If aldermen do keep the unfettered ability to appoint ward superintendents, there should be a screening process to prevent abuses, such as when Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) picked her son to be ward superintendent, even though at first he didn’t have a driver’s license and couldn’t drive around the ward to look for problems that needed fixing.
Hopkins’ ordinance, for the first time, sets criteria for the job. The ordinance calls for at least five years of work experience in municipal refuse collection, street cleaning or snow removal operations. Three of those must have been years spent “in a supervisory role related to the responsibilities of the position” or “an equivalent of education, training and experience.” Candidates must also “possess a valid State of Illinois driver’s license.”
Chicago has 50 aldermen who are expected to act as more than just legislators. They’re supposed to make sure trash gets picked up and burnt-out street lights get fixed.
As long as aldermen are expected to pick up the phone and deal with their ward’s problems, they need the tools and authority to get the job done.
The many choices of summer lead this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.
ILLINOIS FROG SEASON
Illinois’ bullfrog (only) season runs through Oct. 15. A fishing license is required. “Bullfrogs may be taken by hook and line, gig, pitchfork, spear, bow and arrow, hand, or landing net.” Daily bag limits eight, possession limit 16.
LAKEFRONT PARKING
Chicago Park District’s parking passes for the fisherman’s parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors are on sale at Henry’s Sports and Bait in Bridgeport and Park Bait at Montrose Harbor.
Readers suggest SpotHero app downtown. Otherwise, here are some basics: Foster (free street parking or pay lot); Montrose (now a mix of metered and free street parking); Belmont (pay lots on north and south sides); Diversey (pay lot or street parking); DuSable Harbor (pay lot or fisherman’s lot); Northerly Island/Burnham Harbor (meters, pay lot or fisherman’s lot); 31st/Burnham (meter parking between McCormick Place and 31st Street Harbor); Oakwood/39th (meters); 63rd Street/Casino Pier (pay lot); Steelworkers Park (free street parking at east end of 87th); Cal Park (free parking).
AREA LAKES
The Forest Preserve District of Will County offers a taste of night fishing:
Midnight Madness: 7-11:59 p.m. Saturdays, July 24 and Aug. 21, at Monee Reservoir, Monee Township. Free, all ages.
Let the kids stay up late and bring the family to enjoy fishing under the stars at the Forest Preserve District’s Monee Reservoir. The parking lot is well lit, and the shoreline is accessible. Bring a flashlight and bug repellent. The concessions building will be open for sales; no boat or equipment rentals will be available. Registration is not required.
Joel Wilson found good crappie fishing at a forest preserve.Provided by Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson emailed the photo above and this:
Hi Dale –
Buddy of mine Joel Wilson caught some nice Crappie on a small spinnerblaid at a forest preserve pond. I believe the total count was 15.
Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed this and the photo below:
Hey Dale,
Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.
Area lakes-the cold front slowed the bass bite some. Fast moving baits were replaced by plastics. Pitch senkos on weedless hooks into open pockets along thick weeds. Watermelon has been the best color.
. . .
Here is the nature pic of the week courtesy of Hailey O’Malley. Hitching a ride.
TTYL
—
Ken “Husker” O’Malley
Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team
A natural hitchhiker.Hailey O’Malley
BRAIDWOOD LAKE
Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview.
CHAIN O’LAKES AREA
Art Frisell at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said white bass are probably the top bite, best on Fox, on small minnows or spikes; catfish are good, as always, on medium roaches or stinkbaits; walleye are fair, mostly around current areas or main lake points, leeches top bait or troll crankbaits shallow; bluegill are fair on small ice jigs, best on Spring.
NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.
NOTE 2: The Stratton Lock and Dam is open 8 a.m. to midnight through Sept. 30.
CHICAGO RIVER
Jeffrey Williams with his PB channel catfish.Provided
Jeffrey Williams messaged the photo above and this on Thursday:
new PB from the river
He’s also finding crappie.
I fished and watched others Friday and the bluegill were active.
DELAVAN LAKE, WISCONSIN
Dave Duwe emailed:
Delavan Lake 7/19/21 through 7/26/21
Fishing overall on Delavan remains very consistent. There are many anglers trying to test their talents on the wary fish.
Yellow Perch have been biting in front of Township Park in 12-14 ft of water. Locate yourself in front of the beach area for the best success. The best presentation has been using Thill slip bobbers tipped with a leaf worm or a hellgrammite. Most of the fish have been positioned a foot off bottom. The other method for using the leaf worms is fishing a split shot rig straight beneath the boat.
Northern Pike fishing has been up and down. Earlier in the week you could catch as many pike as you had suckers. It did slow as the week went on however. The best success has come off of medium suckers fished on a lindy rig. The tight schools have dispersed so it’s been kind of hit or miss as you troll down the weedline. The best location has been west of Willow Point in 20 ft of water.
Largemouth bass remain on the deep weedline. They can be caught on nightcrawlers fished on a split shot rig or drop shotting 4 inch finesse worms. They haven’t been schooled as heavy as they were in past years. The key is to keep your boat moving to find the active fish. In years past you could sit on a school for 4 hours and catch them non-stop but that isn’t the case this year yet. The best location is by the Island or by the Village Supper Club.
Walleyes have remained consistent. The best action has been coming after dark. However, I’ve been catching fish during the daylight too. I’ve been averaging a legal fish every other trip. My best success has come off of leeches or nightcrawlers. I’ve been using lindy rigs with an 1/8 oz sinker or a split shot rigged nightcrawler.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050
DOWNSTATE
POWERTON: Hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Sept. 30.
EMIQUON: Access permits and liability waivers are again required. They are available Tuesday to Saturday at Dickson Mounts Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Dicky’s Bait Shop in Montgomery reported slow, other than catfish. A 22-pound flathead caught by the North Aurora dam.
Pete Lamar emailed:
Hi Dale,
Only creek fishing on which to report this week. I didn’t fish the Fox, but it was low and clear (clear by Fox River standards anyway). It’s also pretty warm and there seems to be a lot of algae above the dams; that’s got to be making oxygen scarce. I did fish a couple of tributaries. They came up in last week’s rains, but were dropping fast (but still off color) when I fished them. Good numbers of fish around, but they were in a neutral mood. Some would eat; others would follow the fly and take a half-hearted bite at the tail; the rest wouldn’t show any interest at all. There is a lot of food-minnows, crayfish, frogs, tadpoles and grasshoppers-around, so that should influence our fly/lure/bait choices.
GENEVA LAKE, WISCONSIN
Arden Katz said night fishing is best on south side from Military Academy west with drop-shots in 16-20 feet, biggest largemouth 4 1/2 pound, also smallmouth and some rock bass.
Dave Duwe emailed:
Lake Geneva 7/19/21 through 7/26/21
Lake Geneva continues to be really good fishing but it also continues to be super busy with pleasure boats. Plan to fish early a.m. or late p.m. for a safer, more productive trip.
Lake trout continue to bite in the main lake basin. The best time to try for them is early a.m. as the sun in coming up. Look for the fish 90 ft down in about 110-118 ft of water. The best action has been on nickel/blue or nickel/green spoons. I’ve been placing the lures 40-50 ft behind the down rigger balls.
Walleye continue to bite decently at night. The best hours to try for them are 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. They tend to bite better when there is a slight chop on the water. Try #13 Rapalas in fire tiger or chrome and black for the most action. The best location has been by Yerkes Observatory or Trinkes.
Largemouth bass are on the deep weed points in 20-25 ft of water. Look for the fish by the 700 Club, the west side of the narrows or by Colemans Point. With the fish so deep, the best presentation is Carolina rigging green pumpkin lizards or drop shotting Yum Hoodini worms. Some of the fish last week were over 5 lbs. A lot of fish are still shallow so the early morning top water bite is still productive. You want to use chrome/blue or chrome/black chug bugs.
Rock bass fishing has been excellent in 12-15 ft of water. The fish are biting on split shot rigged nightcrawlers or small white hair jigs. The best location has been by the Military Academy or by Colemans Point.
Smallmouth bass fishing has been improving. They are on the deep weed points like the Military Academy or the 700 Club. They are aggressively hitting nightcrawlers fished on a lindy rig. You want to fish a 24 inch leader and the lightest sinker you can get away with. I’ve also been using a heavy lindy rig with a small perch and catching several really nice fish. Both northern pike and smallmouth bass have been biting on the small perch. I’ve been fishing them almost exclusively in greater than 20 ft of water.
Northern Pike action has been improving with the heat. Most of the action has been in 35-40 ft of water. The best location has been by Fontana Beach or the hump in Williams Bay. There aren’t the numbers as there were in recent years, so if you catch one in 15-20 minutes you are doing well. The good news is that the average size is quite a bit larger. Remember you need a 32 inch fish if you want a keeper.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050
GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN
Randy Poenitsch with a largemouth bass from Fox Lake, Wisconsin.Provided by Mike Norris
Guide Mike Norris texted the photo above and emailed this:
Fishing Report 7/19/2021
Mike Norris
Big Green Lake – Smallmouth bass are in their summer pattern, and I am catching them along weed lines in 14 to 18 feet of water. Swim baits, drop shot rigs and structure jigs with beaver tail plastics are all accounting for smallmouths up to 4 pounds. Water clarity remains good on Big Green and the bite should continue to be good with stable weather forecast for this week. Largemouth bass can be found in shallow weed pockets and under piers.
Fox Lake – Largemouth bass are right up to the shoreline throughout the lake. Try casting Senko’s right up to the shoreline rocks. Expect the bite to come on the initial drop. We are also finding bass along the edges of the rock piles to the west of Elmwood Island. Walleyes are active and anglers are trolling crankbaits and crawler harnesses along breaklines in 12 to 15 feet of water.
To book a guide trip reach out to me via my Facebook page at mike.norris.7773 or email me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com
Ken “Husker” O’Malley holds a smallmouth bass from Heidecke Lake.Provided
Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed the photo above and this:
Hey Dale,
Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.
. . .
Heidecke-water temps are 74-75 with a slight algae bloom. Smallmouth, while running on the small side, have been decent on chatterbaits, drop shotting, and pitching jigs with craw trailers. Start shallow along the rock dikes and gradually work deeper as the morning hours progress.
. . .
TTYL
—
Ken “Husker” O’Malley
Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team
Bob Johnson with a couple good smallmouth bass from Heidecke Lake.Provided
Bob Johnson emailed the photo above and this;
Hi Dale –
Heidecke did rebound as expected with weather change. Smallmouth once again were caught using 3/8 oz jig and black and blue crawfish tail. Also caught a few on black finesse worm on a shaky head. Had some hits on drop shot but couldn’t land any. Caught a (small) Crappie today too, rare for Heidecke lake.
The crappie isn’t rare, it’s the small part that is rare.
Open 6 a.m. (6:30 bank fishing) to sunset. Click here for the promising preview.
KANKAKEE RIVER
George Peters holds a good smallmouth bass from the Kankakee River.Provided
George Peters emailed the photo above and this:
Hi Dale, sorry about last weeks report. Overnight thunderstorms near Watseka pushed the water up again. Hopefully that’s it for an unusual July, Got this 18″ near shore, water clears near the banks first, G, Peters
Drum are going at Montrose Harbor.Provided by Jason Le
Jason Le texted the photo above and this on Monday:
On yesterday and today at Montrose harbor
When I commented that they seemed the right eater-sized, he replied;
4lbs is the biggest
I Don’t see any sizes bigger yet
But there are big ones is coming
Staff at Henry’s Sports and Bait said there are some trout around the lakefront; smallmouth are around to a lesser degree than during the spawn, but some being caught; pike are around, too, but less aggressive.
Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor said that it is quiet, except that drum are being caught, especially on the Montrose Horseshoe.
Capt. Bob Poteshman of Confusion Charters said fishing is mostly lake trout out of both Chicago and North Point; there are the occasional stelehead, occasional coho and a few kings; in 130-160 feet off Chicago and 160-260 out of North Point; so-so at North Point, better numbers off Chicago but it is a long ride; fish are on the bottom and suspended, spoons are more important lately, slow trolling is key.
Capt. Scott Wolfe emailed:
Hi Dale
Waukegan boat fishing was inconsistent and unpredictable this week. We had terrific trips, followed immediately by trips where it was tough to get a handful of bites. The fish seem scattered and all are deep. The shallowest fish we took all week was 71 down on a downrigger and most were below 100 feet. It seems you can take a boat about anywhere from 110 feet out as far as you can go and have about the same success.
On the positive side, fish are still there. Sometimes a week of NE winds will move all the fish out of the area, but that was not the case. There are fish to be taken, roughly 1/3 kings, 1/3 coho and 1/3 lake trout. We had kings up to 22# this week and most trips have had multiple kings. There are still coho too. They haven’t pushed back to the Platt River yet.
For tactics, downriggers below 100 feet, 300 and 450 copper lines and wire divers out over 150 feet took fish with metal Luhr-Jensen dodgers and big white, green and Aqua combinations from Smokin Fish and Jimmy Fly and Warrior spoons also in green and white patterns, like Two Face, Lance’s Twoface, Hey Babe, Colville Crusher, and Green Spoiler all worked.
No report from the harbor. I didn’t have time to fish it and got no reports. If anyone did anything from shore they were tight-lipped about it.
The topwater bite continues on the Menominee River and Prop baits are the bait of choice. We are also catching some smallmouth with poppers.
Water levels are dropping to normal water summer levels something we have not seen over the past 2 years. Some of the largest smallmouth were caught in non typical summer spots. The big fish are not feeding on crayfish and prefer baitfish. Find baitfish and you will find big smallmouth.
–More mild like Northwoods summer weather has prevailed with temp fluctuations not so severe as to throw patterns off. This being said, not everything has been “hunky dory”, but many species are reacting well to this summer pattern.
Largemouth Bass: Very Good – The Boys (and Girls) of Summer! Mornings through afternoons in thick cabbage beds. Work swim jigs, swim baits, pre-rigged plastic worms, and spinnerbaits mid-range through cabbage of 7-12′. Not so active? Go deeper with Ned rigs, Wacky worms, and jig and creature combos. Evenings are a great time for topwater action on buzz baits, frogs, Whopper Ploppers, and jitter bugs! Lots of action and size this week!
Smallmouth Bass: Very Good/Good – While some nice fish are being found shallow (hunting in 6-8′ cabbage) for numbers work off-shore humps of 16-24′ using drop-shot rigs, football jigs with plastic craws and Ned rigs.
Bluegill: Very Good/Good – Active with water temps in the 70’s. Work deep outside weed edges to find suspending gills 6-8′ down along 16-22′ coontail using small leeches and jigs with tiny plastics. Evenings using poppers on small “ants” or sponge spiders in the shallows.
Northern Pike: Very Good/Good – Better during the early A.M. using spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and 4″ swim baits over and through 6-9″ weeds.
Musky: Good – Topwater action good with evening and early mornings using loud tail baits (Whopper Ploppers and Top Raiders) followed up by more subtle top baits such as Creepers and Hawg Wobblers.
Yellow Perch: Good – Lots of perch activity in weeds on medium fatheads, leeches, and pieces of crawler. A few reports from anglers fishing deep sand grass on frozen soft shells.
Crappie: Fair – Scattered and hard to locate #’s. Small 1-2″ twister tails on 1/32 – 1/16 oz jigs worked through weed tops is best
Walleye: Fair/Poor – Following reports of other mayfly hatches last week, walleye understandably slow. A few nice fish here and there but mostly smaller fish in heavy weeds in the A.M. Small chubs on 1/2 crawlers best.
While walleye and crappie action still off, overall other species biting better this past week. For action and fun, summer bass can’t be beat!
Hi, Dale. I hope you’re doing well. Here’s what’s going on this week.
Fishing remains strong out of the local ponds & lakes, as well as Lake Michigan access points near East Chicago & Hammond & the Port of Saint Joseph. Trolling in waters of 125-175 FT using small spoons, spin doctors, & meat rigs.
Perch fishing is steady with some very nice size perch. Minnows & Beemoths are going like crazy.
The Walleye fishing on the rivers has picked back up.
Lots of Smallmouth & Catfish are also being caught.
ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN
Click here for the Wisconsin DNR’s report, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday.
SHABBONA LAKE
Staff at Boondocks reported some keeper walleye on Monday in the deep trees and the road bed; catfish are doing well; largemouth are also going around.
Concessions are all open. Site hours through Oct. 31 are 6 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN LAKEFRONT
Click here for the southern Lake Michigan reports from the Wisconsin DNR.
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said perch are slow, some in 40-50 feet off the Chalets or Warren Dunes; salmon/trout are fair 70-150 feet on north troll.
A man who was wounded in a shooting last week in West Garfield Park has died.
Andrew Hall, 46, was pronounced dead at 10:28 a.m. Sunday at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Hall was struck multiple times about 6:20 p.m. July 14 when someone fired shots at him in the 4000 block of West Jackson Boulevard, officials said.
An autopsy found he died of complications from his gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said. Hall lived in East Garfield Park.
Twenty-five major league pitchers were in double digits in saves entering play Tuesday. Twenty-four of them only wish they were having as great a season as Craig Kimbrel.
The Cubs closer ranked first among the 25 in WHIP (0.65), strikeouts per nine innings (15.5) and ERA (0.53; no one else was under 1.38) and was second in WAR (2.1 to 2.3) to the Brewers’ Josh Hader.
Why do we all keep talking about pending free agents Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Anthony Rizzo again? Kimbrel, an eight-time All-Star who’s only 33 and — the real key here — comes with a team option for 2022, is the Cubs player likely to fetch the biggest return in a pre-deadline trade.
With the Red Sox or the A’s?
With the Phillies or the Giants?
With someone else?
Let’s just go with a blanket “yes.”
“The rumors are there, especially being a reliever,” Kimbrel said at the All-Star gathering in Denver. “I’ve been part of a lot of rumors over the years that I’d be traded and all that kind of stuff. I’ve been traded when there weren’t any rumors. So you never know. Just got to be ready for it, show up every day and pitch for the team you’re pitching for.”
“Pitch for the team you’re pitching for”? That’s about as dispassionate-sounding as it gets. Might as well say, “It’s the name on the back of the jersey, not the front.”
But that’s no knock on Kimbrel, who has played for three teams — the Braves, Padres and Red Sox — that have moved on from him despite his elite ability and credentials. This is the man with the ninth-most saves (369) of all time, and it’s not unreasonable to see the top five within his reach by the end of next season. By all the numbers, he is on a Hall of Fame track.
He might as well already be retired, though, as seldom as the Cubs are using him. Who would’ve imagined as Kimbrel put a bow on a combined no-hitter June 24 against the Dodgers that he’d get into only four games — and only one in a save situation — over the next four weeks?
Clearly, the Cubs can lose without his help.
Kimbrel has to be gone.
“It is what it is,” he said. “My job stays the same. I just show up, get ready to pitch every single day and, hopefully, I get a chance to close it out or keep the game tied.
“It’s not my decision. … If a trade comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, let’s win a lot of ballgames and get to the playoffs.”
Playoffs? Are we talking about the same Cubs?
In Denver, I asked him directly: Would you rather stay with the Cubs or be dealt to a team with which you might win your second World Series ring?
“I don’t think the team that I’m on can’t win,” he said. “I think we can still win. We went on a bad roll, but I don’t think that we don’t have what it takes.”
I don’t think he really meant it.
It would take a lot of nerve to take the ninth inning away from this guy.Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
JUST SAYIN’
But, wait, Kimbrel to the White Sox?
The Sox need bullpen help, but this isn’t it. Unless you want to be the one to tell Liam Hendriks he’s got the eighth inning now.
o I can’t be the only one who watched Sox manager Tony La Russa hug Gavin Sheets after the rookie’s walk-off homer Monday and thought: That old sonofagun is going to make a few fans out there like him yet.
o Look, let’s just make an agreement: You don’t wake me to watch Wednesday’s 3:30 a.m. live Olympic telecast of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s match against Sweden, and I won’t wake you.
On tape at 7:30 a.m. or again at 5 p.m. is A-OK.
o With seven-footer Kofi Cockburn finally revealing his intention to return to Illinois, good luck finding an Illini fan who hasn’t moved the team right to top of the Big Ten list for next season.
Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan are going to be every bit as dangerous heading in, though. And the Illini have to prove they can function at a high level without engine Ayo Dosunmu — one of the hardest workers the league has seen in a long time — and with a rebuilt coaching staff. First-world problems, though.
o A college football player I know informed me Tuesday that he is now officially a “Barstool Athlete.” Just another part of the new name-image-and-likeness landscape in college sports. Digital-media company Barstool Sports is taking athletes in revenue and non-revenue sports — at all levels — by the thousands.
Did I mention this particular kid is a Division III freshman?
NIL advances: generally good. Barstool: generally hard to feel good about.
The national manhunt for the third suspect in April’s violent murder of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams came to an end Monday in Chicago, federal authorities have confirmed.
Devontay Anderson, 22, was arrested here “without incident,” according to FBI Special Agent Shelley Gryz. Anderson’s arrest came nearly three months after he was charged with Jaslyn’s first-degree murder, records show.
The FBI had offered a reward of as much as $25,000 for information leading to Anderson’s arrest and conviction. But Tuesday, authorities offered little detail about the circumstances surrounding his capture.
Neither the Chicago Police Department nor the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office would immediately comment on Anderson’s arrest, which was first disclosed in a court filing by a federal prosecutor.
The document asked the judge to dismiss the federal unlawful flight case. Finnegan granted the request a short time later.
Devontay AndersonFBI
Two other men, Demond Goudy and Marion Lewis, have also been charged in connection with Jaslyn’s death. Prosecutors have said Lewis was the getaway driver in the shooting but did not fire any of the shots. Both are being held without bail.
A six-page federal complaint filed in April against Anderson said authorities had potentially tracked him to Florida using GPS “ping notifications” from a Facebook account. It also described the aftermath of Jaslyn’s fatal April 18 shooting as discovered by police.
It said officers arrived at a McDonald’s in the 3200 block of West Roosevelt Road and found a 2003 Infiniti sedan “riddled with bullets” in the drive-thru lane. Jaslyn and her father, Jontae Adams, had been in the Infiniti about 4:20 p.m. when two gunmen got out of an Audi and fired into the Infiniti, authorities have said. Jaslyn was killed and her father was wounded.
The complaint also described surveillance video viewed by CPD. It said the Audi had three occupants when it pulled behind the Infiniti.
“Two adult males then exited the Audi,” the complaint said. “One male, later identified by CPD as Anderson, exited the rear passenger side of the Audi brandishing a Draco AK-47 pistol. The other male exited the Audi from the front passenger seat brandishing a Glock pistol. Both men opened fire on the Infiniti, firing dozens of rounds before re-entering the Audi and leaving the scene.”
The federal complaint says Chicago police identified Jaslyn’s father as a known gang member and began to scour social media accounts of rival gang members. It said they discovered an Instagram Live video which linked Anderson to the murder.
A separate public Facebook page connected to Anderson contained corroborating photos, the complaint said.
Three people were wounded Tuesday afternoon in a shooting in West Garfield Park on the West Side.
Around 2:10 p.m., they were near a sidewalk in the 3900 block of West Gladys Avenue when a vehicle approached and someone inside began shooting, Chicago police said.
A male was struck in the leg, while another was shot in the shoulder, police said. Both were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition.
A 26-year-old man was grazed in the calf but refused medical attention, officials said.
No one is in custody. Area Four detectives are investigating.
Less than 24 hours earlier, a man was shot a few blocks away in the 3500 block of West Fulton Street.
Around 4:10 p.m. Monday, the man, 22, was standing outside when someone in a light-colored vehicle opened fire and struck him in the neck, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai in critical condition.
A Cook County judge Tuesday handed down a 42-year prison sentence for the getaway driver who drove 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton’s killer away from the South Side park where she was shot more than eight years ago.
Kenneth Williams, now 28, was convicted in 2018 of the 15-year-old King College Prep student’s murder, but an appeal as well as the global coronavirus pandemic delayed his sentencing for nearly three years.
In her ruling, Judge Diana Kenworthy said Williams was more than just a getaway driver in the shooting.
“[Williams] was not taken by surprise,” judge said of the shooting. “They were looking for people to shoot.”
Hadiya Pendleton’s parents, Cleopatra Cowley (center) and Nathaniel Pendleton Sr. (left), walk with supporters Tuesday afternoon into the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Williams was behind the wheel of a white Nissan that sped away after gunman Micheail Ward fired multiple times into a crowd of Chicago students in January 2013, striking Pendleton and two others, less than a mile from President Barack Obama’s Kenwood home.
Pendleton, a majorette, had performed at at Obama’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., just two weeks earlier.
Ward and Williams were arrested on the day of Pendleton’s funeral.
During an interrogation by detectives, Ward initially admitted to being the shooter and said he had acted on Williams’ orders, though he later claimed he was innocent of the crime.
Ed “Edmar” Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
Wicker Park was known for having one of the highest concentrations of artists in the city. Lots of people who lived there in the ’90s, mostly musicians, had to move out due to high rent. But you still had a lot of independent art spaces, like the notorious Lubinski Furniture building, with four floors of artist-run space and a theater on top run by James Bond. You’d walk around and pick up various fliers people made at CopyMax on Milwaukee.
Liz Mason clerk at Quimby’s Bookstore
I started at Quimby’s in May of 2001. I got the job because I sold my zine here, and I always joke that I harassed the store until they hired me. I remember the bike shop, Rapid Transit, was across the street. They had that overhanging bike out front with a wheel that would spin. You round the corner on Milwaukee Avenue and you’d see the Double Door and Myopic Books.
Cecil Baldwin aspiring actor
I’d just graduated from Bradley University and had moved to Chicago to start working in the theater and got a job at the Daily Grind, which was this coffee shop at the corner of Milwaukee, Damen, and North in the Flat Iron Building. There was a drag queen artist who lived there. She was a doorman for one of the dance clubs around the corner on the weekends.
Justyna Frank cofounder of Rapid Transit Cycle Shop
Part of the gentrification was that Wicker Park gained a sort of celebrity status via various things, like [the 2000 movie] High Fidelity. But the change steamrolled everything. You can’t just destroy what was there without making some people sad, angry, and disenchanted. I remember when the homegrown coffee shops were starting to close and people were saying, “Oh, Starbucks is coming in. What’s next, the Gap?” That was kind of like the worst curse that you could imagine.
Local architect Suhail Butt was tasked with designing the interior of the house for the Chicago cast — or, as he puts it, “elevating the theater of what this could be.” Photography: (Cast) Courtesy Bunim-Murray Productions; (Bar) Suhail Design Studio
Nato Thompson artist
By that time, people figured Wicker Park was already gentrified, but it had a lot further to go. It was the early years of the battles against gentrification in U.S. cities, and I don’t mean to be silly, but it seemed like a battle you could win at the time.
Frank cofounder of Rapid Transit Cycle Shop
Until 2001, 2002, we were kicking hookers off our doorstep literally every Saturday morning, and we had people freebasing under our fire escape in the back of the building. So it wasn’t all warm and fuzzy.
Jose Lopez executive director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center
The gentrification in Wicker Park really began in the mid-1970s. The white artists moving into the community helped raise the rents. It used to be West Town, but that had a bad reputation — that was a “Puerto Rican community.” So then it starts to be called Wicker Park.
Thompson artist
You know how artists are always telling you neighborhoods are over when they’re really fun? Everyone’s like, “Wicker Park’s over.” But I was like, “OK, guys, but we’re always in Wicker Park, for the record.”
II. “They were looking for a safe bet”
After an exhaustive search in various parts of the city, the team at Bunim/Murray Productions, which produced The Real World for MTV, settled on a spot in Wicker Park that happened to be the former site of Urbus Orbis, the beloved coffeehouse that had closed four years earlier.
Kenny Hull Real World director
We had just completed Real World: New Orleans the season before, and because New Orleans is such an artistic community — interesting, gritty, and beautiful — the visuals were amazing. We wanted to keep that going, and we didn’t want to be in some skyscraper or in some brownstone in Lincoln Park. We found the sweet spot right at that intersection of North Avenue [and Winchester Avenue].
Peter Wilson Real World line producer
We had looked at probably 100 different locations. At one point, we looked at R. Kelly’s old house.
Jon Murray cocreator of The Real World and cofounder of Bunim/Murray Productions
The show had always featured the vitality and excitement of living in a city neighborhood. To some extent, The Real World helped create a desire for young people to live in cities, to get out of small towns, to go to a place where there was more diversity, where they could invent themselves and not feel the pressure of their parents. Wicker Park had all of that.
Anthony Dominici Real World producer
There are seven cast members in the show, and the city is the eighth cast member, right? It’s the landscape, it’s the backdrop that everything is set against.
Rich Moskal director of the Chicago Film Office
They wanted a Chicago look and feel. MTV wasn’t looking to be edgy. They may have said they were looking for something cool and hip, but ultimately, they were looking for a safe bet.
Edward McClelland (then known as Ted Kleine), writer for the Chicago Reader
There were fancy restaurants with valet parking just a step away from the Real World house. They weren’t going to do this in Humboldt Park in 2000, you know?
III. “I had to build something in two months that should have taken six”
Hull Real World director
The build-out is pretty extensive. You have an architect come on. We customize the entire interior. Our goal is to make it unique and different from the previous houses, but also on brand with MTV — what young people would want, kind of a dream house.
Suhail Butt interior designer and architect
The producers of the show had dinner at MOD [a celebrated restaurant in Wicker Park] and asked who designed that space. So they contacted me [about creating the Real World house]. Why wouldn’t I want to do it? I met the producers, who said they were meeting with another Chicago designer. The one they really wanted was Nate Berkus, before he became Oprah’s interior designer for the masses. I remember the last interview we had, he showed up in his Mercedes-Benz, I showed up in my old pickup truck.
Wilson Real World line producer
Suhail was an incredibly talented artist and designed an incredibly unusual space, filled with incredible artwork. The elevator that came up through the bathroom let you see through the aquarium. He had walls that not only curved but were slanted and translucent, so when the builders came, they were confounded.
Butt interior designer and architect
I ended up getting the job because I could build everything, source everything. I was local and down the street and had all these resources available. I wasn’t interested in designing an interior space, I was interested in designing for a television show, elevating the theater of what this could be. When I designed the bathrooms, the producers said, “Can you get two showerheads in there?” “Well, yeah, why?” You knew they were planning on these kids showing up in this new place, seeing a shower with two showerheads and there’s going to be sexual activity.
Wilson Real World line producer
The night before we started filming, Suhail had been up for like two nights straight working, and he was about to kill us. The chairs at the counter were a little too high, you couldn’t fit your leg underneath, so he had to reweld like 10 chairs. I felt horrible for him.
Left: Roughly 300 people protested outside the Real World house on July 21, 2001. Right: Activists created a phony MTV flier to draw people to a previous demonstration.Photography: Courtesy of Josh MacPhee
Butt interior designer and architect
I had to build something in two months that should have taken six months. The project was two floors, 2,000 square feet each — 5,000 square feet total if you count the control room. I had to have furniture, lighting, artwork. And they had no money. They just kept saying, “You’re going to be a big shot.” Wallpaper, furniture, art — I tapped everybody I knew who was edgy and looking to do something cool. I told people there’s no budget, but there’s an opportunity to be associated with Real World.
Wilson Real World line producer
We had that elevator we had to get a temporary permit for. We had a hot tub on the third floor that we had a temporary permit for. We had to get a blanket permit for filming, which was unusual. But the city conformed to our request.
Moskal director of the Chicago Film Office
In terms of a reality show shooting its entire season in Chicago, that was new for us. What we learned in a hurry was that any production, regardless of size, with cast and crew all living under one roof for an extended stay, raises issues that other productions don’t. Zoning codes, building permit concerns, and, what was particularly true in this case, what the community thinks of their new neighbors.
As the set was being built, producers started approaching local businesses to let them know they would be filming in the neighborhood and to ask for permission to shoot in their shops.
Hull Real World director
We’d go down and knock on the doors and explain what we’re doing with a big smile and a “Welcome to our world, we’re coming into yours.” We had a love-hate relationship for a while because people were cautious and wary of us.
Wilson Real World line producer
We said a little bit about what we were filming. We didn’t directly say “Real World,” but we weren’t entirely secretive, so they could probably put the pieces together. We got one or two noes, but for the most part people were pretty open to having the film crew in their business.
Baldwin aspiring actor
Our bosses at Daily Grind came to us and said, “Hey, you perhaps have noticed that they’re setting up. We are one of the few Wicker Park–Bucktown neighborhood businesses that have given them permission to film in our shop. So if you want a job here, here’s a piece of paper saying, yes, you agree to have your likeness presented on MTV.” And I was like, “Sure, why not?”
IV. “The cherry on top of how shitty the neighborhood was becoming”
As July 11 — the first day of primary filming — approached, the producers geared up for the logistics of a 24/7 show, with shifts of camera operators following the cast throughout the house and the city. But the Real World crew quickly realized this season would present new challenges.
Wilson Real World line producer
Before we bring the cast in the house, before the clock starts running, we do a rehearsal the night before. We do it with a stand-in cast. We work out the bugs, and we walk them through as if they’re being introduced to this location for the first time. After the dress rehearsal was completed, there was a murder in the neighborhood, and the bodies were dumped in front of the building. So that night, we couldn’t go out the front door, and it was all cordoned off. It was a crime scene for a day and a half or something.
Bill Savage writer and professor of English at Northwestern University
Do you remember how people found out [the filming] was going on? Two people were shot in the Burger King parking lot on Milwaukee and Wood, which is now a Walgreens. And the police who responded were doing private security for the Real World cast. People were like, “Wait, The Real World is filming here?”
The incident happened just after midnight on July 10. Two men were shot in a car outside that Burger King, which was three blocks from the Real World house. A third passenger drove them to the police officers who were blocking traffic for exterior filming. The two men later died.
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
Rents are going up, now The Real World is here. I remember there was a lot of discussion in the air about them filming here, because it was right down the street from [the Lumpen office]. MTV was still relevant. With this program amplifying the neighborhood, you created a moment of possible oversaturation. The Real World was pretty much the cherry on top of how shitty the neighborhood was becoming, when the entire place is commodified. And it’s when people were fed up. A few of us who were pissed off about it, we started the Free the Real World 7 committee. We’d hang out in a coffee shop, Earwax, Myopic, or Quimby’s, talk about what we were doing, write these ridiculous texts, hang fliers, and print full-page advertorials in the magazine.
Wilson Real World line producer
Mancow, the radio guy, he mobilized some of his fans to come down and protest MTV and our being there. They had attached a white-noise box to a parking meter right in front of the building. And the building was cordoned off after this murder scene investigation was going on, and we couldn’t get rid of the white-noise box because they wouldn’t let us in the area. It was an obnoxious little thing to deal with. You could beat it up as much as you wanted, that thing wouldn’t stop. We had it there for two nights, and then we cut the thing and threw it in the trash.
Erich “Mancow” Muller shock jock at Q101
I started hearing reports about what a rude group of entitled punks they were. The cast treated locals like garbage, like extras in their life stories. While they’re filming in bars, my listeners are being pushed off to the side. It pissed me off, so I said, “Screw ’em, let’s start messing with them.” We called it Fake World on the air, and I said, “Come on, guys, let’s fight back.” I think we started the ball rolling.
Theo Gantt III Real World cast member
I didn’t know a lot about Chicago. I remember hearing about Cabrini-Green from the movie Candyman growing up, right? So Wicker Park, I had no idea. That was an interesting first couple of nights after we moved in, because they didn’t really like us too much.
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
Stores were boycotting. They wouldn’t allow the Real World or Viacom [MTV’s parent company] team to come in and shoot. They’d say “No MTV” in windows on shops up and down Milwaukee.
Mason clerk at Quimby’s Bookstore
It was the mark of coolness whether you said yes or no to filming. Of course we [at Quimby’s] said no.
Mancow shock jock at Q101
MTV sent me some Real World swag, mugs and T-shirts and that kind of thing. I remember throwing them out on air.
During one demonstration, artist and activist Josh MacPhee threw red paint at the front door of the cast’s house. Much of it had been removed by the next day. Photography: (Door) Stephen J. Carrera/ap; (Paint) Courtesy of Josh MacPhee
V. “It was a beautiful chaos”
The filming attracted a coalition of artists and activists who took to the streets in a series of performance protests.
Josh MacPhee artist
Thirty years in, the development train wasn’t getting turned around. None of us had any illusions around that. But because of the public contentiousness around that struggle, there was all this mythic lore from the past, of young Puerto Rican kids jumping across rooftops and throwing bricks down on developers’ cars when they were showing buildings. There was a mythos around the resistance.
Thompson artist
The Department of Space and Land Reclamation [a weekend of anticapitalism protest stunts in Chicago that April] had been this poetic and political project. We were two years past the anti-WTO protests in Seattle. And that moment, called the alter-globalization movement, was very much where we were coming out of — that protest culture.
MacPhee artist
In France, a group of these activists influenced by anarchism and Marxism and art theory occupied a TV station during a reality TV show and became part of the show and used it as a platform to try and dismantle the imagery being projected. There was also a group from the UK trying to free the cast of Big Brother.
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
Making a protest a spectacle in its own right was part of the vibe at the time. There was lots of creativity, like the Tute Bianche in Italy, who would dress up in inflatable outfits and bounce off the police.
MacPhee artist
I remember at a DSLR meeting that someone came in and said their friend was DJ’ing an opening party for the show. And within a week, we rushed out a flier that said “Real World opening party July 14. We want you to be there.” It was printed on a color copier, which at the time looked slick and not homemade, even though it totally was. We added on that 10 people will get chosen to be extras on the show. The goal was to bring out as many people as possible, directly in front of the shooting location of the show, and create an embodied spectacle that would be far more compelling than what was being prepared for TV.
MTV producers commemorated the incident with a T-shirt they gave cast members when production wrapped. Photography: Theo Gantt III
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
It wasn’t like, “We’re protesting The Real World this week.” It was like, “Holy shit, we saw a flier, that’s hilarious.” Dozens of people walked up to the rear door of the Real World house with fliers asking to get in.
MacPhee artist
The first protest we staged [on July 14], we took over the entire block, and the police just left us alone. Maybe a couple people got arrested. People lit fireworks, these militant anarcho-punks from Pilsen came up, it was a bricolage of all these communities coming together. It was a beautiful chaos.
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
There’s a video of me on the first weekend issuing forth political demands: “Take the Blue Line home. Leave your equipment for us so we can make something real with it. We want to take over the means of production.”
Gantt Real World cast member
The biggest thing, man, was them throwing paint on the door. I was just like, “Why did you throw paint?” I would have got it if you tagged it or something. But it was just a random splatter of paint on the door.
MacPhee artist
I threw the paint on the door. The police had penned us in, as sort of a safety valve to let off steam, and a couple of us thought we should up the ante to see what would happen. Someone had brought this cabinet and put it in the middle of the street, and inside of it were a few gallons of paint. So I rushed to the house and threw it at the door. And then the bouncers — MTV security — started beating me up, and then 20 people jumped on them and pulled me out and dragged me away. I was pretty bruised up.
Thompson artist
There were a lot of people who came just for a party. Summer’s the time these things happen, you know what I mean? People are out of school. It’s like, “What are we going to do tonight? That Real World thing seems to be fun.” The first night was just a kind of experiment, and it worked. People enjoyed it. Everyone came away the first night feeling really like a victory had happened.
VI. “We didn’t choose to be in this place”
Scattered demonstrations continued to spring up in front of the cast’s house.
MacPhee artist
We only organized the first protest. Many of the other ones were self-organized. People just wanted to hang out.
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
I was there frequently with megaphones talking shit.
Wilson Real World line producer
They were writing graffiti on our door: “EMPTV,” like it’s a soulless corporate thing messing with our neighborhood.
Aneesa Ferreira Real World cast member
We had bricks thrown at us, people screaming at us the first week. Wow. Our neighbors really hate us.
Wilson Real World line producer
After that brick came through the window, we put chicken wire on the other windows on the ground floor, where the offices and film crew worked, because someone could have gotten hit pretty bad.
Ferreira Real World cast member
They would just shout shit for, like, forever. We’d be in the Jacuzzi. And then you’d just hear it. When are you guys going to stop? Don’t you have anything else to do? Anything?
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
A lot of people would bum-rush the cameras. They would scream at the actors, who were really pissy about it, really angry at the people making fun of them. They’d say we were just jealous, envious we weren’t on the show. It was pretty funny. It’s a shame we didn’t have social media at the time.
Ferreira Real World cast member
We didn’t choose to be in this place. We agreed to be on the show, but we didn’t ask for all of these other things that came with it. We had jobs, but they didn’t pay us a lot. I wish [the protesters] would’ve known. We were also kind of struggling.
Hull Real World director
We had a CPD officer with every crew that left the house. That was new. We didn’t have to do that in any other city before. It was a little more tense, but we couldn’t stop either.
Gantt Real World cast member
I actually never felt like any of the people out there really wanted to harm us, I really didn’t. Maybe that was me being naive, 19 years old, and just excited to be in a new city, but I never felt scared.
Ferreira Real World cast member
It didn’t alter my ability to get to know the neighborhood. I went out on my own all the time. I went across the street to the Local Grind every day. I went to Subterranean. I went to Red Dog. That’s where I met Veronica [her girlfriend during the season].
Dominici Real World producer
As a punk rock kid, I got the ethos of where they’re coming from. Like, “Hey, you’re messing up our neighborhood.” But wait, there’s a Starbucks a block from us. We can’t really be gentrifying a place with a Starbucks in 2001.
McClelland (then known as Ted Kleine), writer for the Chicago Reader
They seemed like a lot of college-educated people playing anarchist in the city. I think they just wanted what the people on MTV wanted: They wanted attention for themselves. It was almost like one faction of young gentrifiers accusing another faction of young gentrifiers of being more responsible.
VII. “A wonderfully stupid, brilliant thing to take on”
Protests hit a fever pitch on July 21 with a demonstration organized by a coalition of various groups. Some 300 clamoring protesters would spill across North Avenue to the front of the house.
Thompson artist
We started getting some news coverage in July, and that really encouraged a kind of energy. I think it became a flash point for people, seeing this as an entertaining but also on-camera way to demonstrate their irritation with what was happening in the neighborhood.
Mason clerk at Quimby’s Bookstore
I remember protesters had somehow blocked off traffic. It almost had the same spirit of Critical Mass, the bike ride thing that would happen on Fridays.
Thompson artist
I was writing with chalk on the ground, “What is real?” Simultaneously, the cast was just losing their minds constantly, occasionally opening the door and yelling something frantic. They kept feeding the beast, and everyone was laughing. But it was kind of going from fun to intense. There were plenty of people there when the cops showed up who were not backing down.
Mason clerk at Quimby’s Bookstore
I remember someone in the building, they must have been a cast member, standing at the window, clearly trying to shout something back. Of course, nobody could hear him. The window was closed, and who’s going to listen? Someone on the street — I thought this was hilarious — someone goes, “We’re going to be here every night!” Of course, they weren’t there every night. The hilarity of it was just, “Really? You’re going to keep this going?”
Thompson artist
We didn’t anticipate the cast having so little personality. They really played into it wonderfully. They were so confused and baffled and hurt, which made it all the more fun. Edmar was screaming, “We are here to deprogram you from your unreality! We have a safe house we will take you to” — or something to that effect.
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
At one point, we tried to “levitate” the building, like the Pentagon in ’67. We clasped hands and encircled the building. There were hundreds of people there.
Hull Real World director
They made a human chain around the house. I think they got tired of doing it.
Savage writer and professor of English at Northwestern University
I went down there with my bicycle. I’m not going to protest, I didn’t give a shit, but to check it out. The DJs with the speakers, the fist shakers, were all on North Avenue. I took the alley, parallel to North, and there’s nobody. The cast and crew that [the demonstrators] think they’re blockading in the building are going out the back doors. My instinct was, This was a display, not strategically thought out.
Thompson artist
I think the cops got the call to just shut it down. And then they leave it to this gang tactical unit. So they grabbed anybody doing anything interesting and arrested them. I was one of the first ones. I was just in shock. They had military-like dudes there. And that’s what kind of freaked me out. I got put in jail, which was fine. It was eight of us. And we were called the Real World 8. It was only overnight. But nothing like a night in jail with some friends to feel like you’re real radicals, you know?
Eric Oswald Chicago police officer (from arrest records of various protesters)
Arrestee knowingly and intentionally obstructed traffic flow after being given previous verbal commands to disperse, in addition to shouting phrases to show displeasure with the complainant’s television show, and doing such actions in such a manner as to alarm and disturb Mr. [Peter] Wilson, thereby breaching the peace.
Thompson artist
My friends all thought it was a waste of time. There was real work happening in neighborhoods, and this was a stupid thing to take on. No, it was a wonderfully stupid, brilliant thing to take on. And it became more clear that it was brilliant because the city’s reaction was so insane and overblown that we clearly touched a nerve.
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
[The demonstrations] definitely died down by the end of summer. It is weird: Who protests a TV show, right?
VIII. “I hope they don’t have a problem with me having to go to trial against MTV”
The arrested protesters — there were 17 in total — faced misdemeanor charges such as disorderly conduct and obstructing a police officer.
Melinda Power defense attorney at West Town Law Office
I’d heard about the show, but I never watched it. I didn’t pay too much attention until the people who got arrested contacted me.
Thompson artist
I had gotten a job as an assistant curator at Mass MoCA [Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art] right after the summer. And I had to fly back for my trial. I’m thinking, I hope they don’t have a problem with me having to go to trial against MTV.
Power defense attorney at West Town Law Office
They wanted to fight the case. Similar to a lot, but not all, protest cases, they weren’t going to face serious consequences, and didn’t have any substantial records. I figured the cases would get thrown out. To the extent there was a clever legal maneuver, it was to say we wanted to go to trial. I think the city simply didn’t want to go to trial. We went to court several times pretrial to talk to the city’s attorneys, and they basically were like, “We don’t want publicity here. Let’s get it over with.”
The charges were dismissed on May 29, 2002. Only one defendant, Ian Helmrich, who claimed the police threw him headfirst against a plexiglass display case and a door, saw his case go to trial. He was found not guilty. In July 2003, 10 of those who had been arrested collectively sued the City of Chicago, Viacom, and MTV, as well as producers Dominici and Wilson, claiming they had acted “both individually, jointly, and in conspiracy” to cause “false arrest, pretrial detention, and malicious prosecution.”
Power defense attorney at West Town Law Office
During the civil suit, my clients were kind of goofy, nice, easygoing, and they had conferences with this formal federal judge. Some of the defendants spoke from the heart about why they did what they did. Unfortunately, one guy said, “Oh, I didn’t have anything to do, so I just went down there.” But the judge actually thought it was pretty funny. And the truth is, in a weird way, that helped the judge see these are not bad people. He said, “Well, I think you guys should get this amount of money.” The case was settled, giving them $50,000 total to split. I think somehow Viacom and MTV conveyed to the city that they didn’t want to go ahead with the case. They thought it would create bad publicity.
Thompson artist
I think everybody at Bunim/Murray was like, “There’s nothing to gain here by continuing with this trial. Fifty thousand dollars to make this go away? No problem.”
IX. “All those people who were mad at us then, look at it now”
The show finished shooting in early November and began airing in January. It made no mention of the protests. The finale, which aired July 9, 2002, just shy of a year after filming started, drew an audience of 5.5 million, the most viewed installment of any season up to that point.
Murray cocreator of The Real World and cofounder of Bunim/Murray Productions
The protests were a local issue. If there had been someone in the cast who got caught up in it, then, yes, we would have shown it.
Hull Real World director
It wasn’t something that we wanted to put forward, honestly. It wasn’t what we were there to show. I think we didn’t want to come off like we were doing anything wrong. When 9/11 happened, we had a whole episode about that because it really affected their lives.
Gantt Real World cast member
They created a shirt for us all. I still have it in my closet. It’s a picture of our front door with the paint they threw.
Dominici Real World producer
The shirt said “We Had a Riot.”
Marszewski cofounder of the counterculture zine Lumpen
It’s kind of great that it happened in our neighborhood, that we were media-savvy enough to understand what it meant and were against this media colonization, corporatization, and surveillance of our lives.
Thompson artist
After 9/11, suddenly it was war on protest culture. It was like the ice age of the Patriot Act came swooping in. A really different mood swept through the country that really put a chill on the activist culture, and the fear of terrorism just ripped through the paradigm around the conversation of gentrification or neoliberalism and everything else.
Butt interior designer and architect
Ultimately, I don’t think I got anything out of it. The producers asked, “Are you interested in working in Las Vegas? That’s the next season.” “Fuck no, I’m not working with you guys anymore.” Funny enough, the lighting designer for the show was hired by Donald Trump for his new show, The Apprentice. He asked me to come to New York and talk to the producers, but I didn’t get the job, which was probably good in hindsight.
Ferreira Real World cast member
I had friends who lived in Chicago. So I went back to Wicker Park a couple years ago, and, I mean, that area is so different. They just built everything up around there. So all those people who were mad at us then, look at it now.
Moskal director of the Chicago Film Office
Whether The Real World did anything to enhance the reputation of Wicker Park, I doubt it. I never felt anything shot in Chicago was out to fully capture Chicago as it truly was. Like they were going to get the real Wicker Park? Man, I don’t even know if Wicker Park knows what the real Wicker Park is.
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A man wanted for months in connection with the fatal April shooting of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams has been arrested by the FBI, federal prosecutors disclosed today.
Devontay Anderson has been wanted since late April when he was charged with first-degree murder in Cook County Circuit Court, records show. Last month, the FBI announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Meanwhile, the feds separately charged Anderson with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. In a two-page document filed late this morning, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney M. David Habich disclosed the FBI arrested Anderson yesterday in Chicago.
No further details about Anderson’s arrest were contained in the document, which asked a judge to dismiss the federal unlawful flight charge against him. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx told the Sun-Times in an email, “We have no information to provide.”
A complaint filed earlier in the federal case described the Chicago police response to the April 18 shooting at a McDonald’s in the 3200 block of West Roosevelt Road. It said officers found a 2003 Infiniti sedan “riddled with bullets in the drive-thru lane of the restaurant.”
Jaslyn and her father, Jontae Adams, were in the Infiniti about 4:20 p.m. when two gunmen got out of an Audi and fired into the Infiniti, authorities have said. Jaslyn was killed and her father was wounded.
As a youth intervention specialist and football coach in Chicago Public Schools, Anthony Dotson has heard some hard-luck stories.
But he also can tell a few of his own.
Dotson, who became Chicago Academy’s head coach this spring after two seasons as an assistant, grew up in Bronzeville and played on Troy McAllister’s first team at Phillips as a senior.
He was good enough on the field to earn scholarship offers from Eastern Kentucky and Division II Truman State, but struggled off the field to take advantage of those opportunities.
Chicago Academy coach Anthony Dotson instructs QB Earnest Davis on how to pass to his receivers during football practice in Chicago, Thursday, July 15, 2021.Kevin Tanaka/For the Sun-Times
After bouncing between schools, Dotson earned a bachelor’s in sports management from Livingstone College in 2015.
Back in Chicago again, Dotson landed a job at a fitness club. But it didn’t work out and for two months in 2017, he said, he was homeless and sleeping in his car.
But finally, his luck turned when he was hired as a security officer in CPS. Five months later, he was promoted to youth intervention specialist. That means working with kids to make sure small problems don’t become big ones.
At Chicago Academy, Dotson intends to end the revolving door of coaches and to build a successful program.
“My everyday motivation,” he said, “is to be a better partner, father, son, friend, mentor and coach.”
What do you think about the Blue Origin launch and the second billionaire in just over a week blasting into space today?
Reply to this email (please include your first name and where you live) and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday, we asked you: How interested are you in this year’s Summer Olympics? Here’s what some of you said…
“Not much. I wish the best for them and hope they can stay safe and virus free, but my attention is elsewhere.” — Carmie Daugird Callobre
“Very interested! The athletes deserve our support.” — Mary L. Fleming
“They never should have opened this year. Too many sick people.” — Mable Banks Green
“I always look forward to watching the Olympics. I’m excited they brought back softball this year. I hope all the athletes stay healthy amid the coronavirus still spreading. They all have trained so hard to make it to the Olympics and wish them all the best!” — Carrie Taylor Carlson
“Zero interest. Haven’t enjoyed the Olympics since they went all professional. The amateurs were more fun to watch.” — Dee Sanders
“Very! However, it really won’t be the same as other Olympic Games. COVID has made this clear.” — Susie Rich Novak
“I really think it should be canceled for the health of the athletes’ families and everybody around them.” — Edgar Valencia
“Less than zero.” — Jo Ann Cornale Burns
“Interested. Feel bad for the athletes who trained so long and put their life on hold to try again. Also, I feel bad for Japan and the immense amount of money they are losing on these Olympics without spectators. Sad all the way around. Go U.S.A.” — Carol Wortel
“I’m more interested in what COVID is going to do there. It really concerns me.” — Flo Vitale Valley
“Interested it beats watching Maury or some Oprah show for two weeks.” — Vickie Scotti
Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
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