3 shot and wounded within 4 hours on West Side FridayMohammad Samraon July 16, 2021 at 9:25 pm

Three men were wounded in shootings within four hours Friday on the West Side.

In the latest shooting, a man was seriously wounded in the Lawndale neighborhood.

The man, 20, was standing on the sidewalk in the 3600 Block of West Douglas Avenue when the shooter stepped out of a light-colored vehicle and fired around 1:30 p.m., Chicago Police said. The man was shot several times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.

About 20 minutes earlier, a man was shot in West Garfield Park. The 29-year-old was standing in the 3900 Block of West Gladys when he was shot in the thigh and taken to Mount Sinai in good condition, police said.

Around 9:30 a.m., a man was shot and wounded in Lawndale, about a block from the Douglas shooting. The man was walking in an alley in the 1300 block of South Homan Avenue when gunfire rang out from a dark-colored SUV, police said. The man was grazed in the leg and shoulder, but refused medical attention.

Police reported no arrests in any of the shootings.

Both shootings in Lawndale occurred in the 10th police district, which has seen more shootings and murders so far in 2021 than during the same period last year. Shootings are up 16% while murders are up 3%, according to police statistics.

However, gun violence in the 11th district, which covers West Garfield Park, has declined slightly over last year. Shootings are down 4% while murders are down 15%, according to police.

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

3 shot and wounded within 4 hours on West Side FridayMohammad Samraon July 16, 2021 at 9:25 pm Read More »

‘He was our eye’: Reuters photographer killed in AfghanistanAssociated Presson July 16, 2021 at 9:15 pm

LONDON — A Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer for the Reuters news service was killed Friday as he chronicled fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban near a strategic border crossing amid the continuing withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops.

Danish Siddiqui, 38, had been embedded with Afghan special forces for the past few days and was killed as the commando unit battled for control of the Spin Boldak crossing on the border between southern Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Siddiqui was part of a team that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for their coverage of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar. More recently, he had captured searing images of India’s struggle against COVID-19 and protests against new farming laws.

Farhat Basir Khan, a professor of mass communications at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, lauded his former student’s sense of empathy and his determination to go after difficult and complex stories.

“He was our eye. He gave voice and agency to thousands whose suffering might have been lost,” Khan said in a statement. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, his were worth millions.”

Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were killed as the special forces unit fought to retake the main market area in Spin Boldak, Reuters reported, citing the army.

The Taliban have turned over Siddiqui’s body to the International Committee of the Red Cross, Indian authorities said.

Reuters said it was seeking more information about how Siddiqui was killed, describing him as a “devoted husband and father, and a much-loved colleague.”

“It is so devastating for me to imagine that I won’t be talking to Danish anymore,” said Ahmad Masood, Asia Editor for Reuters Pictures. “A kind-hearted human being. … He was the best of the best, as a person and a professional. His work speaks volumes of his bravery and his passion in photojournalism. He cared.”

Deputy State Department spokeperson Jalina Porter expressed U.S. condolences, saying Siddiqui was “celebrated for his work often in the world’s most urgent and challenging news stories and for creating striking images that conveyed a wealth of emotion and the human face behind the headlines.”

“Siddiqui’s death is a tremendous loss, not only for Reuters and for his media colleagues but also for the rest of the world,” she said.

The fighting around Spin Boldak comes as the U.S. and NATO forces complete the final phase of their withdrawal from Afghanistan, opening the door for the Taliban to take control of large swaths of territory. District after district has fallen to the Taliban and the insurgents have in past weeks seized several key border crossings, putting more pressure on the Afghan government and cutting off strategic trade routes.

A native of New Delhi, Siddiqui was a self-taught photographer who had been a defense correspondent for one of India’s leading television networks before he decided to change careers.

Siddiqui said he became frustrated because television news focused only on the big stories, not the small features from the interior of India that he wanted to explore, according to a 2018 interview with Forbes India. He left his well-paid TV job in 2010 to become an intern at Reuters.

A montage of his best work compiled by Reuters includes photos of traditional Indian wrestlers covered in mud, Hindu priests praying in a cave above the River Ganges and a man covered in lint feeding cotton into aging machinery by hand.

“While I enjoy covering news stories – from business to politics to sports – what I enjoy most is capturing the human face of a breaking story,” he wrote in a profile on the Reuters website. “I really like covering issues that affect people as the result of different kind of conflicts.”

Siddiqui and his colleagues were honored with 2018 Pulitzer Prize for what the judges called “shocking photographs that exposed the world to the violence Rohingya refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar.”

One of his prize-winning images shows an exhausted woman crumpled on the sand, while in the background men behind her unload the boat that carried them to safety in Bangladesh.

Capturing the images was difficult, as the photographers had to walk barefoot for up to four hours through rice fields to reach the border area, Siddiqui told Forbes.

“It’s an emotional thing too,” he said. “I am the father of a two-year-old and to see kids drowning is terrible. But, as a journalist, you’ve got to do your job. I’m happy I was able to … balance profession and emotion and know when to drop my camera to save kids left in water by fishermen.”

Siddiqui covered the conflict Iraq, earthquakes in Nepal and demonstrations in Hong Kong. But in recent months he turned his lens on the COVID-19 pandemic in India, offering searing images of those who suffered and died without adequate medical care and oxygen.

“I shoot for the common man who wants to see and feel a story from a place where he can’t be present himself,” he wrote.

Included among the social media tributes to Siddiqui was one of his posts from the Pulitzer Prize ceremony in New York. It showed a closeup of the name tag that identified him as the “2018 Pulitzer Prize Winner Feature Photography.”

“For Sarah and Yunus,” he wrote above the image, remembering his children as he received the prestigious award.

___

Gannon reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Kabul, Afghanistan, Matthew Lee in Washington, and Krutika Pathi and Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.

‘He was our eye’: Reuters photographer killed in AfghanistanAssociated Presson July 16, 2021 at 9:15 pm Read More »

Two, including teen who worked for violence prevention group, charged with murder for alleged attack during carjacking attemptMatthew Hendricksonon July 16, 2021 at 9:00 pm

When 73-year-old Keith Cooper had his car key snatched away from his hand by two teenagers while he ran errands in Hyde Park, he repeatedly asked for it back.

He got hit instead, Cook County prosecutors said Friday. The Marine veteran ended up dying after he was accosted by Frank Harris, 18, and 17-year-old Dushawn Williams Wednesday afternoon in the 5300 block of South Kimbark Avenue.

The senior citizen survived wars, “but didn’t manage to survive his encounter” with Harris and Williams, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy told Judge Charles Beach.

Harris, who was involved with the violence prevention youth group Good Kids Mad City in the recent past, allegedly was the the one who punched Cooper once in the head while trying to run off with the older man’s Hyundai SUV that was in the parking lot of a shopping center.

When Harris and Williams were not able to get inside the vehicle, they allegedly ran off.

Cooper, meanwhile, collapsed to the ground two minutes later.

An off-duty paramedic started chest compressions on Cooper before Chicago police and firefighters arrived and took Cooper to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office has not yet ruled on the cause and manner of Cooper’s death.

Harris and Williams were arrested about a half-mile away after they were spotted changing out of their clothing in a synagogue parking lot, Murphy said.

While in custody, Harris allegedly admitted to taking part in the carjacking attempt, but denied hitting Cooper. Surveillance cameras, however, captured the attack and two people in the shopping center’s parking lot identified Harris as the man who struck Cooper, Murphy said.

Beach told Harris Friday that it was “painful” to see a young man with “his whole life in front of him” in his courtroom.

But the judge also noted that Harris was on probation for another carjacking when he attacked Cooper. Harris, who was a juvenile during the carjacking several months before, used a replica handgun in that incident, Murphy told Beach.

“I do believe you are a threat to the community,” Beach told Harris before ordering him held without bail for first-degree murder.

Harris, who was going to be a high school senior in the fall, had been enrolled in a Chicago Public Schools summer program and had a paid position with Good Kids Mad City, an assistant public defender said.

Harris had received a stipend from the organization when he helped to distribute food and care packages to the community during the early months of the pandemic last year, according to Kofi Ademola, an adult advisor for Good Kids Mad City.

Before that, Harris had also been involved in helping run a basketball program for youth, Ademola, 40, said Friday.

Unfortunately, members of the organization had not seen Harris in about a year, Ademola said.

“It’s so disheartening,” Ademola said. “We lost Mr. Cooper, who should still be here to be with his family, and we lost another young person to the criminal legal system.

“Until we address the real root causes of violence … this isn’t going to end.”

A vigil was scheduled at the crime scene Friday evening to honor Cooper who served in the Marines and did two tours in Vietnam, according his family. Cooper loved jazz, Star Trek, reading and horror movies, his loved ones added.

Harris is expected back in court Aug. 4.

Williams, who also has been charged with murder as an adult, is expected to appear at a bond hearing Saturday.

Two, including teen who worked for violence prevention group, charged with murder for alleged attack during carjacking attemptMatthew Hendricksonon July 16, 2021 at 9:00 pm Read More »

Support Youth Entrepreneurs at #YBKDay Marketplaces on July 17on July 16, 2021 at 9:21 pm

Go 2 Mommy

Support Youth Entrepreneurs at #YBKDay Marketplaces on July 17

Support Youth Entrepreneurs at #YBKDay Marketplaces on July 17on July 16, 2021 at 9:21 pm Read More »

Henchpeople is a satisfying amuse-bouche for the return of live theaterKerry Reidon July 16, 2021 at 6:30 pm

I went to a play a few days ago. In the Before Times, that would have been like saying “I took a shower.” (I’m still showering regularly. Don’t get it twisted.) Prior to the shutdown last March, like most theater writers, I spent at least three to four nights a week at shows. Then it went down to “zero.” (Have you heard about this thing called “bingeing a TV series?” It’s wild!)

Just to simply sit in the dark with other people watching other people pretend to be other people had a little bit of magic to it after 18 months of impersonating Miss Havisham in pajamas. I thought about Trudy, the unhoused tour guide for the space aliens in Lily Tomlin’s 1980s solo show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (written by Tomlin’s spouse, Jane Wagner). She takes the aliens to the theater, but they get goose bumps from watching the audience, because they think that’s the real show.

Henchpeople, the new comedy by Ross Compton at Rogers Park’s Theatre Above the Law, may not leave you with intergalactic goose bumps. But if you’re looking for an endearing and goofy way to let you dip your toes back into the storefront scene (the company’s Jarvis Square venue is one of the smallest in the city), it might fill the bill. (Just be prepared to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination at the box office and wear a mask, per the house rules.)

There’s certainly a whiff of contemporary relevance to a story about a small pod of people trapped in a tiny space, getting on each other’s nerves and wondering when the world is finally going to change for the better. In Compton’s play (directed by TATL artistic director Tony Lawry), the title characters are a semi-clueless duo in thrall to a Villain, bent on destroying a nameless city from a bunker hideout. (Charlotte Lastra and David Hartley’s set is filled with low-budget retro switches, lights, and panels, giving a delightful Ed Wood-esque effect to the physical environment.)

Oona (Stephanie Stockstill) is a wannabe Mini-Me to Julia Rowley’s preening Villain, while Jarlath (Travis Shanahan) is a tech nerd. Both have their own reasons for hating the mayor of the town and joining up with the Villain. As is so often the case, the revolutionary becomes the gaslighting tormentor, taunting Oona and Jarlath for their shortcomings and reminding them of their place in the pecking order. “I’M the Voice of the Commoner. I’ll speak for both of us. Understand?” But when the shit is about to hit the fan, the Villain is happy to remain an armchair activist. (Not that I can think of anyone in recent history who stayed behind in a secure location while urging their disciples on to violent insurrection. Heavens no!)

Rowley also plays the Heavy (a rogue general at the head of the rebel army) and the Hero, a smarmy caped crusader (their cape festooned with logos for local businesses such as the R Public House) in cahoots with the status quo. Since all three characters seem like aspects of the same narcissistic persona, the casting makes sense. (On opening night, some of the dialogue in the video feed was hard to catch, even in the small space, but generally Compton’s sound design and Stina Taylor’s lighting work well at suggesting subterranean depths.)

By contrast, Oona and Jarlath are sincere, if befuddled. When Oona tries to impersonate the suddenly-deceased Villain for an address to the rebel troops, it’s like watching Good Janet try to mimic Bad Janet in The Good Place. (I mentioned bingeing TV shows, right?) It’s obvious that, while she’s operating from a place of genuine pain brought on by a childhood of neglect, she’s still got the empathy chip the solipsistic Villain/Heavy/Hero triumvirate lacks.

Lawry’s staging lets the cast show off some admirable physical comedy chops, and Compton’s script has several epigrammatic nuggets of wisdom, including the so-true-it-hurts line “There’s nothing more dangerous than a rich person with hurt feelings.” Stockstill and Shanahan win us over as Oona and Jarlath figure out that the real path to freedom and release from the past comes from learning to trust themselves and each other, not grandiose authority figures whose solution is to burn it all down, consequences be damned.

And I have to say that hearing the sounds of other people around me laughing at silly sight gags and well-timed double takes was tonic for the soul. As the aliens tell Tomlin’s Trudy (inspired by her attempts to explain the appeal of Andy Warhol), “The play was soup. The audience, art.” Henchpeople isn’t a full-meal kind of play, but it’s a nifty amuse-bouche as the banquet of live performance gears up in theatrical kitchens across the city. v

Henchpeople is a satisfying amuse-bouche for the return of live theaterKerry Reidon July 16, 2021 at 6:30 pm Read More »

Afternoon Edition: July 16, 2021Matt Mooreon July 16, 2021 at 8:00 pm

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

Afternoon Edition

Chicago’s most important news of the day, delivered every weekday afternoon. Plus, a bonus issue on Saturdays that dives into the city’s storied history.

This afternoon will be cloudy with a chance of showers and a high around 74 degrees. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low around 65. Tomorrow will be partly sunny with a high near 77 and Sunday will be mostly sunny with a high near 82.

Top story

‘Big mystery box’ revealed South Side man’s long-secret World War II near-death odyssey

As the B-17 bomber lumbered toward the west coast of France, Jim Wilschke crouched in the plane’s plexiglass nose, preparing to drop a 5,000-pound payload on a pen of Nazi U-boats — including one that would become a star attraction at the Museum of Science and Industry.

The Flying Fortress was at the rear of the U.S. air squadron. It was a precarious position to be in even in the best of times because it made it an easy target for German fighter planes.

Then, one of the aircraft’s four engines died. The plane began to lag behind.

Like jackals pouncing on a wounded antelope, the Germans swooped in. Machine-gun fire and cannon shells tore through the fuselage, the plane filled with smoke, and soon the bailout alarm sounded.

Wilschke, a native South Sider, grabbed his parachute. He squeezed through an escape hatch. And he jumped.

The story of what happened during the next six months — of Wilschke’s and another American airman’s life on the run in Nazi-occupied France — was one that almost no one heard. These were Wilschke’s secrets, tucked away in a “big mystery box” and rarely spoken of, maybe for the same reason it took him nearly 40 years to board another plane.

Now, that long-secret story has been turned into a book, “Bud’s Jacket,” written by his niece Barbara Wojcik, originally from Hinsdale and now living in Minnesota.

Stefano Esposito has more on Wilschke’s life and the journey to tell his story here.

More news you need

Housing advocates are pushing to preserve two-flat buildings, which they say provide affordable apartments and generate wealth for homeowners in Black and Latino neighborhoods. Their initiative comes as residents are still reeling from the pandemic and weeks away from the eviction moratorium’s end.
City Council today again put off a showdown vote on a civilian oversight board, this time until Tuesday. It’s been 26 months since Mayor Lightfoot promised to empower a board to fire the police superintendent and have the final say on police spending and policy.
An off-duty Chicago Police officer who struck and killed a 9-year-old boy on a bike in West Rogers Park Wednesday has been issued a citation. Police said that the investigation is still ongoing.
Two teenagers have been charged with killing a 73-year-old Marine veteran during an attempted carjacking in Hyde Park on Wednesday. The man was out running errands when the teens punched him in the head in an attempt to steal his SUV.
The Chicago Police Board voted yesterday to fire Officer Jamie Jawor for brazenly pursuing an off-duty cop before he was involved in a high-speed crash that left him and another driver dead in 2017. She and her partner were pursuing Clark because his vehicle matched the description of another vehicle linked to an earlier carjacking.
A summer edition of the Chicago Auto Show kicked off yesterday and will run until Monday at McCormick Place’s West Building. This year features an outdoor space for test driving, vehicle demonstrations and a street festival.
A team of about 10 students is taking on NASA’s Vascular Tissue Challenge to create heart tissue that will help find solutions to the weakening of the heart muscle during space travel. Their findings could also help people with heart conditions on Earth, including organ transplants and stem cell regeneration of the heart.

A bright one

Brookfield Zoo welcomes — finally — three baby wallabies

Brookfield Zoo is finally getting around to announcing the arrival of three of its newest residents — one of which was born eight months ago.

That’s because Wallaby mothers don’t proudly display their newborn infants — called joeys — which come into the world at about the size of a bumble bee.

“We always have to end up sort of estimating the actual day of birth because we don’t see it. They come out weighing about a gram, climb their way up into the pouch and attach onto one of the teats, and then stay in that pouch as they continue to grow and develop for several months after that before we ever really see them,” said Michael Adkesson, Brookfield’s vice president of clinical medicine.

The three joeys were, based on estimates, born between late October 2020 and early December, staff say.

Maggie Chardell, a lead animal care specialist for the Chicago Zoological Society, feeds Whitney, a Bennett’s wallaby born at Brookfield Zoo on November 12, 2020.

Like their close relative, the larger kangaroo, wallabies are marsupials native to Australia and hop from place to place. The joeys each currently weigh about 2 1/2 pounds. They can weigh up to 60 pounds and reach a height of about 3 feet when fully grown, Adkesson said.

In the wild, wallabies inhabit coastal regions, woodlands and grasslands in Australia. The population is not currently endangered, according to zoo staff. But they are sometimes killed as an “agricultural pest” or hunted for their meat.

Brookfield’s wallabies — the zoo has a total of 29 — can be found in the Australia section and in the Wild Encounters area.

— Stefano Esposito

From the press box

Your daily question ?

What’s the best song about Chicago? Tell us why.

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: What do you think of the latest push by Democrats in the U.S. Senate to legalize cannabis nationwide? Here’s what some of you said…

“The real question is why it took so long.” — Jamie Gump

“The prohibition on marijuana should have ended long ago. It’s time to end the farce.” — Dale Johnson

“Might as well. People gonna use it anyway. A drunk stooge can still get liquored up and go to work the next day. It’s no different.” — Dave Bowers

“Possibly the only smart thing they’ve suggested in the last several years.” — Mitch Abrams

“No. Too many already drive while smoking pot. Their reaction times are causing issues on the road, not to mention the stench coming from their cars.” — Helen Rogers

“Won’t happen. The police and prison guard unions need easy targets. They don’t want to deal with violent criminals when they can pick on potheads.” — Christo Stefan

“Focus on more important things please.” — April Weller

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

Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.

Afternoon Edition: July 16, 2021Matt Mooreon July 16, 2021 at 8:00 pm Read More »

Bobby Roundtree, former Illinois football star, dies at age 23Satchel Priceon July 16, 2021 at 8:20 pm

Bobby Roundtree, the former Illinois defensive end whose football dreams came to an end when he was paralyzed in a diving accident two years ago, died Friday in the Tampa Bay area. He was 23.

The Illinois football program announced Roundtree’s death Friday afternoon.

Roundtree, a star on the Fighting Illini defense for two seasons, had his life changed May 18, 2019, when he suffered a severe spinal injury in a diving accident near his home in Largo, Florida.

The once fearsome pass rusher soon pivoted his attention from football to new goals, including walking again and trying to inspire others. He spoke with the Sun-Times’ Steve Greenberg for a November 2020 feature in which he opened up about his loneliness, frustrations, desire to inspire and his ultimate goal: independence:

“Just living comfortably,” Roundtree said. “Just being able to wake up and get myself dressed, not need help to use the restroom, to brush my own teeth,” he says. “I would like to be able to feed myself. To just get out and be working, doing stuff I don’t need no assistance for.”

Roundtree joined the Illinois football team in 2017 after growing up in western Florida. He made an immediate impact as a freshman with 50 tackles and four sacks in 12 games, then emerged as one of the Big Ten’s best defensive players with 67 tackles and 13.5 sacks as a sophomore.

Bobby Roundtree, former Illinois football star, dies at age 23Satchel Priceon July 16, 2021 at 8:20 pm Read More »

Chicago Cubs Rumors: Extensions for current core not ruled outJordan Campbellon July 16, 2021 at 8:00 pm

Jul 10, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs shortstop Javier Baez (9) bats against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs are in the beginning stages of overturning their roster and tearing down the core of the roster that was together when the team won the World Series against the Cleveland Indians in 2016.

With Cubs’ President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer confirming a couple of weeks ago that the team would be sellers at the Major League Baseball trade deadline on July 30, speculation has run rampant that the team will be trading the likes of Craig Kimbrel, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo.

The opening salvo for Hoyer in his selling mindset was on Thursday when the Cubs dealt veteran left fielder Joc Pederson to the Atlanta Braves for a left-handed power-hitting first baseman Bryce Ball. Ball, at the very least, is still two years away from being considered to be Major League ready. Despite that timeline, there has been premature speculation that Ball could serve as a replacement for Rizzo on the Major League roster.

Rizzo, however, may not be going anywhere. According to MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman, the Cubs are hoping to reach a long-term extension agreement with both Rizzo and Baez before any trade is considered.

The Chicago Cubs seem to want extensions for certain players before trading them.

while Kris Bryant, Craig Kimbrel and other Cubs are on the block, there are signs the Cubs will try to lock up Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo before talking trades for them @MLBNetwork

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 16, 2021

Everything that Hoyer had said since acknowledging that the Cubs will be sellers at the Major League Baseball trade deadline is that the Cubs will not be fully rebuilding. Instead, Hoyer sees this as an opportunity for the Cubs to reset their contending window while still fielding a competitive team.

If the Chicago Cubs re-sign Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez, it is an indicator that the team is looking to retool as opposed to rebuild. That is why there is a vast difference from the position that the Cubs are in now compared to when Hoyer, along with Theo Epstein, first took control of the team’s front office in 2012.

The 2012 Cubs had no cornerstones on their roster in which they could build a contending team. That is not the case now as the Cubs have several players on their Major League roster that can be a part of the next core.

If were speaking from a pure baseball perspective, Baez and Bryant should be the pair that the Cubs want to extend instead of Baez and Rizzo. Rizzo is on the wrong side of 30 and his recurring back issues will continue to diminish his power for the rest of his career. Having said that, the Cubs wanting to extend Baez and Rizzo is indeed an indicator that they plan on contending again soon.

Under that scenario, the path to the Cubs contending again is pretty clear. The blueprint would be what the New York Yankees accomplished in 2016. The Yankees finished the 2016 season with a record of 84-78 and in fourth place in the American League East Division.

During the 2016 season, the Yankees retooled by dealing closer Aroldis Chapman, reliever Andrew Miller, and outfielder Carlos Beltran at the deadline. That off-season, the Yankees then returned to spending and won 91 games in 2017.

Chicago Cubs Rumors: Extensions for current core not ruled outJordan Campbellon July 16, 2021 at 8:00 pm Read More »

Law Department paralegal collected $14,250 in jobless benefits during pandemic — while working for the city, IG saysFran Spielmanon July 16, 2021 at 7:47 pm

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Illinois Department of Employment Security has been inundated with 3.7 million unemployment claims.

One of them came from a paralegal for the Chicago Law Department who fraudulently collected $14,250 while “actively employed” by the city in a scheme that dragged on for “at least six months.”

Retiring Inspector General Joe Ferguson exposed the fraud in his quarterly report released Friday.

“The paralegal made false material representations in an application and subsequent electronic certifications of their employment to the Illinois Department of Employment Security for unemployment insurance benefits when, in fact, they were employed full time by the city,” the report stated.

“The state paid the paralegal a total of $14,250 from May 31, 2020, to November 28, 2020, and the paralegal admitted to accepting benefits into 2021.”

The Law Department moved to fire the paralegal, following Ferguson’s recommendation. But the paralegal resigned less than a week after the pre-disciplinary hearing.

The quarterly report also described yet another rip-off — totaling $12,285 — involving a customer service representative for Clarity Partners, an agency hired by City Hall to staff the city’s Utility Billing and Customer Service Contact Center.

Customers or their banks “inadvertently mailed water bill payments to different city departments” and the mail was re-routed to the billing center where the contract employee worked and was sometimes responsible for collecting and sorting mail.

“The contract employee stole some of the mail containing customers’ checks and fraudulently deposited the checks into their bank account,” the report stated.

“In less than a month, the contract employee deposited 63 checks into their bank account totaling $12,285.”

Clarity Partners fired the employee. The case was referred to the Law Department to seek cost recovery and to the state’s attorney’s office for prosecution.

In yet another case, a pipe yard foreman-turned-safety specialist for the Department of Water Management was accused of filling out four material requisition forms, falsely claiming that underlings had requested and received five “diamond saw blades” valued at $4,000.

None of the underlings requested or received the equipment. When supervisors reviewed the forms, the foreman falsely claimed that the diamond saw blades had been requested by a district superintendent. The accused employee has since been fired and placed on the do-not-hire list.

A Chicago Police Department sergeant assigned to the Marine Unit was accused of accepting a $1,000 payment from a professional diver in exchange for gaining access to the Chicago Harbor Lock to use CPD personnel and equipment to recover a lost boat propeller for the diver’s client.

The professional diver and the sergeant were described as friends who had worked together as captains on private sailing vessels for the same client, the inspector general said.

“Since private individuals are not permitted access to dive in the Chicago Harbor Lock, the sergeant used [his or her] official position to obtain authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages and controls the lock chamber.

“The sergeant’s purported reason for accessing the lock chamber was to conduct a training exercise for the Marine Unit divers. On the day of the propeller recovery, the sergeant assembled a dive team consisting of three DPD Marine officers. The sergeant also equipped a CPD marine vessel with a specialized sector scan sonar to aid in locating the missing propeller.”

Ferguson recommended firing both the sergeant and a marine officer accused of filling out a fraudulent report claiming the team was in the lock chamber to conduct a “Homeland Security dive” to survey the lock chamber floor.”

The marine officer resigned before being fired. Discharge proceedings for the sergeant are still pending before the Police Board.

Law Department paralegal collected $14,250 in jobless benefits during pandemic — while working for the city, IG saysFran Spielmanon July 16, 2021 at 7:47 pm Read More »

Rescuers rush to help as Europe’s flood toll surpasses 125Associated Presson July 16, 2021 at 6:01 pm

BERLIN — Emergency workers in western Germany and Belgium rushed Friday to rescue hundreds of people threatened by historic floods, including residents of a town where the ground gave way beneath their homes, as the disaster claimed dozens more lives and search for the missing went on.

The death toll rose to more than 125, and hundreds of people were still unaccounted for.

Sixty-three people perished in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, including 12 residents of an assisted living facility for disabled people in the town of Sinzig who were surprised by a sudden rush of water from the nearby Ahr River, authorities said.

In neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia state, the number of dead stood at 43, but officials warned that it could increase.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was “stunned” by the devastation and pledged support to the families of those killed and to cities and towns facing significant damage.

“In the hour of need, our country stands together,” Steinmeier said in a statement. “It’s important that we show solidarity for those from whom the flood has taken everything.”

A harrowing rescue effort unfolded in the German town of Erftstadt, southwest of Cologne, where people were trapped when the ground gave way and their homes collapsed.

Fifty people were rescued from their houses, county administrator Frank Rock told German broadcaster n-tv. Aerial photos showed what appeared to be a massive landslide at a gravel pit on the town’s edge.

“One has to assume that under the circumstances some people didn’t manage to escape,” Rock said.

Authorities cautioned that the large number of missing could stem from duplicated reports and difficulties reaching people because of closed roads and disrupted phone service.

After Germany, where the death toll stood at 106, Belgium was the hardest hit. The country had confirmed the deaths of 20 people, with another 20 still missing, Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told the VRT network Friday.

Several dikes on the Meuse Rriver that runs from Belgium into the Netherlands were at risk of collapsing, Verlinden said. Authorities in the southern Dutch town of Venlo evacuated 200 hospital patients due to the river’s looming threat.

The flash floods followed days of heavy rainfall in Western Europe. Thousands of people remained homeless in Germany after their houses were destroyed or deemed to be at risk.

The governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, who hopes to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel as the nation’s leader after Germany’s election on Sept. 26, said the disaster had caused immense economic damage to the country’s most densely populated state.

“The floods have literally pulled the ground from beneath many people’s feet,” Gov. Armin Laschet said at a news conference. “They lost their houses, farms or businesses.”

Federal and state officials have pledged financial aid to the affect areas.

Malu Dreyer, the governor of Rhineland-Palatinate state, said the disaster showed the need to speed up efforts to curb global warming. She accused Laschet and Merkel’s center-right Union bloc of hindering efforts to achieve greater greenhouse gas reductions in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy and a major emitter of planet-warming gases.

“Climate change isn’t abstract anymore. We are experiencing it up close and painfully,” she told the Funke media group.

Steinmeier, the German president, repeated his calls for greater efforts to combat global warming.

“Only if we decisively take up the fight against climate change will we be able to limit the extreme weather conditions we are now experiencing,” he said.

Experts say such disasters could become more common in the future.

“Some parts of Western Europe … received up to two months of rainfall in the space of two days. What made it worse is that the soils were already saturated by previous rainfall,” World Meteorological Organization spokesperson Clare Nullis said.

While she said it was too soon to blame the floods and preceding heat wave on rising global temperatures, Nullis added: “Climate change is already increasing the frequency of extreme events. And many single events have been shown to be made worse by global warming.”

The German military had deployed over 850 troops to help with flood efforts, and the need for help is growing, Defense Ministry spokesman Arne Collatz said. He said the ministry had triggered a “military disaster alarm.”

Italy sent civil protection officials, firefighters and rescue dinghies to Belgium to help in the search for missing people.

In the southern Dutch province of Limburg, which also has been hit hard by flooding, troops piled sandbags to strengthen a 1.1-kilometer (0.7 mile) stretch of dike along the Maas River, and police helped evacuate low-lying neighborhoods.

Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the government was officially declaring flooded regions disaster areas, making businesses and residents eligible for compensation. Dutch King Willem-Alexander visited the region Thursday night and called the scenes “heartbreaking.”

Meanwhile, heavy rain in Switzerland caused several rivers and lakes to burst their banks. Public broadcaster SRF reported that a flash flood swept away cars, flooded basements and destroyed small bridges late Thursday in the northern villages of Schleitheim und Beggingen.

Erik Schulz, the mayor of the hard-hit German city of Hagen, 50 kilometers (31 miles) northeast of Cologne, said a wave of other regions and ordinary citizens offered to help.

“We have many, many citizens saying ‘I can offer a place to stay. Where can I go to help? … Where can I bring my shovel and bucket?'” he told n-tv. “The city is standing together, and you can feel that.”

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Associated Press writers Geir Moulson and Emily Schultheis in Berlin, Raf Casert in Brussels, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Angela Charlton in Paris and Mike Corder in The Hague and contributed to this report.

Rescuers rush to help as Europe’s flood toll surpasses 125Associated Presson July 16, 2021 at 6:01 pm Read More »

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