Windy City Smokeout 2021: It’s a wrapon July 15, 2021 at 8:51 pm

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Windy City Smokeout 2021: It’s a wrap

Windy City Smokeout 2021: It’s a wrapon July 15, 2021 at 8:51 pm Read More »

MLB upholds 10-game suspension for Mariners pitcher Hector SantiagoAssociated Presson July 15, 2021 at 7:47 pm

NEW YORK — The 10-game suspension for Seattle Mariners pitcher Hector Santiago for violating baseball’s sticky substance rules was upheld Thursday by MLB special adviser John McHale Jr.

Santiago will start serving the suspension Friday, when the Mariners open their post-All-Star break schedule at the Los Angeles Angels.

Santiago was suspended by Michael Hill, the former Marlins general manager who is Major League Baseball’s senior vice president for on-field operations, on June 30, two days after the 33-year-old left-hander became the first player suspended under MLB’s crackdown on unauthorized sticky substances. Santiago also was fined.

McHale heard the appeal on July 8 in Seattle.

Santiago is in his 10th major league season, his first with the Mariners.

His suspension is with pay. Santiago’s contract calls for a $700,000 salary while in the major leagues and $150,000 while in the minors.

Under a crackdown that started June 21, all pitchers are being checked by umpires during games for illicit grip aids and Santiago was examined as he exited in the fifth inning in a game against the White Sox.

Crew chief Tom Hallion said then that Santiago was ejected for “having a foreign substance that was sticky on the inside palm of his glove.” The pitcher said what the umpires found was a combination of rosin and sweat.

Santiago started this season at Triple-A and made his big league season debut with the Mariners on June 1. He is 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 12 games.

Seattle is not be allowed to fill Santiago’s spot on its 26-man roster roster during a suspension and will play a man short while a penalty is served.

MLB upholds 10-game suspension for Mariners pitcher Hector SantiagoAssociated Presson July 15, 2021 at 7:47 pm Read More »

Relax, Cook County is not spying on your dog as it poopsNeil Steinbergon July 15, 2021 at 6:17 pm

Look at this photo, sent by a reader.

“ATTENTION DOG OWNERS” the sign announces. “As part of a pilot program between Northwestern University and the Department of Public Health, this area has been selected for enhanced dog waste ordinance enforcement. DNA MATCHING AND DRONE SURVEILLANCE IN EFFECT.”

In bright magenta.

“Found this sign on my block (6500 N. Greenview),” the reader wrote.

What do you think?

Have Cook County and Northwestern joined forces to monitor dog poop via drone?

Like much disgorged by the Internet, the sign evokes the “No, that couldn’t be, could it?” reflex. You want to dismiss a thing as an obvious fraud. But there’s that little backdoor of doubt. Stranger things have happened.

First to Mr. Google. Slim pickings. A company in the Netherlands, Dogdrones, in 2017 said it would use drones, in conjunction with on-the-ground robots, to clear neighborhoods of dog poop. I sent emails to the two founders, not expecting a reply.

Queries to Cook County and Northwestern — a process we professional journalists call “finding out if something is true.” I recommend it heartily to those who attempt the same by holding up new information against their engrained prejudices to see how well they match.

Northwestern started the country’s first forensic crime lab, trying to solve the St. Valentine’s Day massacre. So this would be in their wheelhouse.

Alas, no.

“The University is unaware of any such study,” said Jon Yates, assistant vice president of communications.

The Cook County Department of Public Health pointed out something I ought to have known: it has jurisdiction over the enormous realm that is Cook County except Chicago, Skokie, Oak Park, Stickney and Evanston. They have their own health departments.

“One of the commissioners saw those signs around Northwestern,” said Tom McFeeley, the county health department’s communications manager. “It’s posted outside their jurisdiction. That’s why the dog poop story doesn’t add up.”

The only person who seemed to accept this at face value, naturally enough, is the alderman of the ward, Andre Vasquez (40th).

“It seems to be a County initiative,” Vasquez speculated to my reader.

Because something isn’t true, however, doesn’t mean it can’t lead us to truths.

“I get the idea of using DNA,” McFeeley said. “If a building has a lot of dogs, they collect dog stool samples and test the DNA.”

“Is that a thing?” I said, using vernacular I must have picked up from my boys.

“That’s actually a thing,” he replied. “It’s a $7 million company.”

He’s right. PooPrints, “The DNA Solution to Dog Waste.” A Tennessee company working with 5,000 residential properties. Apartment management swabs the inside of the cheeks of resident dogs. The company keeps a registry, and any, ah, uncollected material can be traced back to the guilty canine owner.

I did hear back from one of the founders of Dogdrones.

“Unfortunately our concept never got the chance to get past the first concepts,” said Marc Sandelowsky, writing from the city of Enschede, in the Netherlands. “After the initial announcement, that was more meant as a joke to get people thinking about the problem and the opportunities drones offer.”

I noticed the date of their 2017 press release. April 1. Ah.

A joke. That’s got to be it. Were it just one sign, I might have suspected a grumpy homeowner trying to intimidate dog walkers by ginning up this Orwellian threat. There being a number in the vicinity of a college campus points toward mid-summer prankishness, perhaps some EEE major grinding through his thesis project modeling three-phase grid-tied photovoltaic systems in the sub-basement of Tech, seeking comic relief in the sunlight world.

Not that the Dutch didn’t toy with the idea.

“We seriously considered developing the product for real as we got very much positive attention,” Sandelowsky wrote. “However, at the time the drone legislation in our country was very restrictive so we foresaw that it would take many years for the concept to be accepted for use. “

What a marvelous city: start out puzzling over a sign on a tree in Rogers Park, end up speculating about the future of Dutch drones.

“We are now seriously developing concepts like fire-fighter drones and drones to combat the invasive oak processionary caterpillar,” Sandelowsky wrote. “Maybe the time is also right for a concept to monitor and fight dog waste.”

Maybe so.

Relax, Cook County is not spying on your dog as it poopsNeil Steinbergon July 15, 2021 at 6:17 pm Read More »

Mayor shoots down departing inspector general, says aldermen should choose ward superintendentsFran Spielmanon July 15, 2021 at 6:11 pm

It looks like the City Council will not be deprived after all of a political power they cherish: hand-picking ward superintendents, who can make or break an alderman.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot made that clear Thursday, shooting down an explosive recommendation from retiring Inspector General Joe Ferguson.

After a two-year audit, Ferguson concluded the ward superintendent’s job title “does not meet the legal requirements for a Shakman-exempt designation and, therefore, should be subject to the standards and procedures, as well as political factor prohibitions, generally applicable under the city’s hiring plan.”

But Lightfoot said Thursday she has no intention of fighting that political battle. She’s not about to go near what she called, that “third rail.”

“Members of the City Council have to have the tools that they need to be able to address pending issue of immediate concern to their residents. And that includes quality of life issues, particularly around garbage and trash and vacant lots,” she said.

“Historically, that’s been done through a ward superintendent who’s connected into Streets and Sanitation and CDOT so that they can run point on those issues from the alderman. Having somebody who isn’t aligned with the alderman’s vision about what they need — doesn’t necessarily come from the community, doesn’t know what the community needs are — that doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Implied but not stated is that the mayor already has a strained relationship with the Council, having suffered her first legislative defeat over the issue of aldermanic prerogative. She’s not about to make things even worse in the weeks and months leading up to the city budget and an almost certain battle over how to spend $1.9 billion in federal relief funds.

Lightfoot said she “understands the concerns” Ferguson articulated about the Shakman decree that banned political hiring and firing; enforcing that decree fell to the inspector general after a federal judge released the city from court oversight and dismissed a federal hiring monitor.

The mayor also acknowledged there are “probably things that we can do to improve the system” of hiring ward superintendents — but, she added: “Taking away that tool from the aldermen given the localized needs that are there–that doesn’t make sense to me.”

Lightfoot’s decision to play good cop to Ferguson’s bad cop puts the mayor at odds with her own Department of Human Resources, but undoubtedly will be music to aldermen’s ears.

During virtual briefings on the audit this week with small groups of aldermen — briefings tailor-made to avoid violating the Open Meetings Act — Ferguson was faced with “universal opposition,” according to Education Committee Chairman Michael Scott Jr. (24th).

Some aldermen were so dead-set against the idea, they asked whether their local ward superintendent could be transferred out of the Department of Streets and Sanitation and onto the local alderman’s staff, Scott said.

The inspector general told them that would not be possible, since ward superintendents are empowered to write tickets, a function of city government.

“For somebody like me, who has so many vacant lots and businesses that may not be doing what they need to do, his ticket-writing function is like, imperative to me. I can’t get my lots cut that are not city-owned without writing a ticket to those folks,” Scott said.

Scott said he was not assuaged, either, by Ferguson’s claim that existing ward superintendents would be “grandfathered in” and that the new apolitical hiring rules would take effect, only after current ward supes retire.

“I’m OK right now because my ward superintendent is there and I know he’ll be there for a couple more years. I know he’s not set to retire. My angst is when he is not there any longer and then, getting someone not knowing my ward. Not knowing my constituents and the ins and outs of my ward,” he said.

“It would just be difficult and, I think, a really hard hill to climb as it relates to a learning curve.”

In a press release accompanying his audit, Ferguson recommended the Department of Human Resources “immediately remove” the ward superintendent’s job from the “exempt titles list” and conduct “all future hires … in accordance with the processes and procedures under the city’s hiring plan.”

That means minimum qualifications, a “competitive interview process” to identify the “best-qualified candidates” and prohibiting “political factors and considerations” from invading the selection process, he wrote.

“An improperly classified position can negatively affect training, productivity, and development not only within the role itself, but in public perception of political influence and bias,” Ferguson was quoted as saying.

“Shakman-exemption applies only to titles with the authority to make policies or involve duties with a certain threshold of political sensitivity. The ward superintendent title has neither.”

Mayor shoots down departing inspector general, says aldermen should choose ward superintendentsFran Spielmanon July 15, 2021 at 6:11 pm Read More »

Producer’s dream of a South Shore film studio gets city OKDavid Roederon July 15, 2021 at 6:22 pm

A proposal for a $60 million film studio in South Shore backed by TV producer Derek Dudley, whose credits include the Showtime series “The Chi,” got a thumbs-up Thursday from a city planning agency.

The Chicago Plan Commission unanimously backed zoning for the complex on 7 acres at 7731 S. South Chicago Ave. With investors that include James Reynolds Jr., chairman of Chicago-based Loop Capital Markets, Dudley said the project could anchor a South Side entertainment district that would include the nearby Avalon Regal Theater.

“I grew up on the South Side. This has been a dream of mine for several years,” Dudley told the plan commission. “I was fortunate to get into the entertainment business, which afforded me great opportunities” that include a chance for give back to the community, he said.

Dudley said the project would be “monumental in terms of being able to expand the film industry business and make Chicago the Hollywood of the Midwest.”

The project would take over an empty, triangular parcel near the Chicago Skyway. Years ago, it was the site of a Kmart.

Through his company, Regal Mile Ventures, Dudley hopes to start construction later this year. It passed an important hurdle with the plan commission vote and the project now heads to the City Council for approval.

“The community is totally excited about this project,” said Ald. Leslie Hairston (5^th), who brought it to several community meetings. City officials said the process led to several improvements in the plan, such as more trees and landscaping and the addition of a public plaza.

They said the complex could support around 300 production jobs when it’s in full use.

Zoning documents show Dudley has the support of an owner of the property, Kmart, now part of a spinoff from Sears Holdings. The city owns a portion of the land, and on Tuesday the Community Development Commission agreed to sell it to Regal Mile for $31,000.

New York Comic Con 2018 - Day 1 — Derek Dudley

Dudley, who works closely with the rapper and actor Common, hopes to profit from increasing demand for production space, driven by streaming services in search of original programming. In Chicago, film production is dominated by the Cinespace studios, which have been expanded and currently host Dudley’s “The Chi.”

A website for Dudley’s development cites Netflix, Disney and Amazon as having interest in doing more production work in Chicago.

The website also highlights a potential revival of the Avalon Regal, also recently called the New Regal, at 1641 E. 79^th St. With an auditorium of 2,250 seats, the theater has been little used for years. The 1927 building is a city landmark and in its heyday was a busy stage for African American performers.

Dudley could not be reached for details about that aspect of the plan.

Regal owner Jerald Gary said in 2019 that rapper Kanye West pledged $1 million to help reopen the theater. It’s not known if the contribution came through.

Producer’s dream of a South Shore film studio gets city OKDavid Roederon July 15, 2021 at 6:22 pm Read More »

Over 50 dead, dozens missing as severe floods strike EuropeAssociated Presson July 15, 2021 at 6:22 pm

BERLIN — More than 50 people have died and dozens were missing Thursday as heavy flooding in Germany and Belgium turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse.

Recent storms across parts of western Europe made rivers and reservoirs burst their banks, triggering flash floods overnight after the saturated soil couldn’t absorb any more water.

“I grieve for those who have lost their lives in this disaster,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Washington, expressing shock at the scope of the flooding. “We still don’t know the number. But it will be many.”

She pledged that everything would be done to find those still missing, adding: “‘Heavy rain and flooding’ doesn’t capture what happened.”

Authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia state said at least 30 people had died, while 19 deaths were reported in Rhineland-Palatinate state to the south. Belgian media reported eight deaths in that country.

Among the worst-hit German villages was Schuld, where several homes collapsed and dozens of people remained unaccounted for.

Rescue operations were hampered by blocked roads and phone and internet outages across the Eifel, a volcanic region of rolling hills and small valleys. Some villages were reduced to rubble as old brick and timber houses couldn’t withstand the sudden rush of water, often carrying trees and other debris as it gushed through narrow streets.

Karl-Heinz Grimm, who had come to help his parents in Schuld, said he had never seen the small Ahr River surge in such a deadly torrent.

“This night, it was like madness,” he said.

Dozens of people had to be rescued from the roofs of their houses with inflatable boats and helicopters. Hundreds of soldiers were deployed to assist in the rescue efforts.

“There are people dead, there are people missing, there are many who are still in danger,” the governor of Rhineland-Palatinate state, Malu Dreyer, told the regional parliament. “We have never seen such a disaster. It’s really devastating.”

The 52nd Civil Engineer squadron and several volunteers from the U.S. air base at Spangdahlem filled and distributed hundreds of sandbags to help protect homes and businesses in the area, the U.S. European Command said.

In Belgium, the Vesdre River spilled over its banks and sent water churning through the streets of Pepinster, near Liege, where a rescue operation by firefighters went wrong when a small boat capsized and three elderly people disappeared.

“Unfortunately, they were quickly engulfed,” said Mayor Philippe Godin. “I fear they are dead.”

In Verviers, the prosecutor’s office said several bodies had been found but could not confirm local media reports that four people were killed there.

Major highways were inundated in southern and eastern parts of the country, and the railway said all trains were halted.

In Liege, a city of 200,000, the Meuse River overflowed its banks Thursday and the mayor asked people living nearby to move to higher ground.

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to help, tweeting: “My thoughts are with the families of the victims of the devastating floods in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands and those who have lost their homes.”

The full extent of the damage was still unclear, with many villages cut off by floods and landslides that made roads impassable. Videos on social media showed cars floating down streets and houses partially collapsed.

Many of the dead were only discovered after floodwaters receded.

Authorities in the Rhine-Sieg county south of Cologne ordered the evacuation of several villages below the Steinbach reservoir amid fears a dam could break.

Two firefighters died in rescue operations in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state.

Gov. Armin Laschet paid tribute to them and pledged swift help for those affected.

“We don’t know the extent of the damage yet, but we won’t leave the communities, the people affected alone,” he said during a visit to the city of the flood-hit city of Hagen.

Laschet, a conservative who is running to succeed Merkel as chancellor in this fall’s election, said the unusually heavy storms and an earlier heat wave could be linked to climate change.

Political opponents have criticized Laschet, the son of a miner, for supporting the region’s coal industry and hampering the expansion of wind power during his tenure.

Stefan Rahmstorf, a professor of ocean physics at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said it was unclear whether the extreme rainfall seen in Germany was a direct result of planetary warming.

“But one can state that such events are becoming more frequent due to global warming,” he told The Associated Press, noting that warmer air can absorb more water vapor that eventually falls as rain.

“The increase in heavy rain and decrease in days with weak rain is now also clearly seen in observational data, especially in the mid-northern latitudes, which includes Germany,” Rahmstorf said.

The weakening of the summer circulation of the atmosphere, causing longer-lasting weather patterns such as heat waves or continuous rain, might also play a role, he added.

Rainfall eased later Thursday across Germany, although water levels on the Mosel and Rhine rivers were expected to continue rising.

In the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander and his wife, Queen Maxima, visited the hard-hit Dutch town of Valkenburg on Thursday evening to support residents and emergency services. Flooding turned the main street into a torrent of brown water, inundating homes and businesses.

The Dutch government sent about 70 troops to the southern province of Limburg late Wednesday to help with evacuations and filling sandbags. Authorities said they expect to evacuate homes near swollen rivers Friday as water from Germany and Belgium churns through the Netherlands.

In northeastern France, heavy rains flooded vegetable fields, many homes and a World War I museum in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon. Firefighters evacuated people from campgrounds around the town of Fresnes-en-Woevre, according to the local firefighter service. Bastille Day fireworks were canceled in some small towns.

The Aire River rose to its highest levels in 30 years in some areas, according to local newspaper L’Est Republicain.

The equivalent of two months of rain has fallen in some areas over two days, according to the French national weather service, with flood warnings issued for 10 regions. No injuries or deaths have been reported, but forecasters warned of mudslides and more rain on Friday.

—

Associated Press writers Raf Casert in Brussels, Angela Charlton in Paris and Mike Corder in The Hague contributed.

Over 50 dead, dozens missing as severe floods strike EuropeAssociated Presson July 15, 2021 at 6:22 pm Read More »

Off-duty Chicago cop strikes and kills 9-year-old boy riding bike in West Rogers ParkDavid Struetton July 15, 2021 at 6:45 pm

A pickup truck driven by an off-duty Chicago police officer struck and killed a 9-year-old boy riding a bicycle Wednesday evening in West Rogers Park.

The officer said he didn’t see Hershel Weinberger before hitting him around 8 p.m. in the 7300 block of North Sacramento Avenue, according to Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara Jr.

The officer was driving north and struck Hershel in a crosswalk, Chicago police said. Hershel, who lived nearby, was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston where he died, according to police.

The family told police he was heading home after playing at a friend’s house. The boy’s father rushed to the scene and held him until paramedics arrived, a family friend said.

The officer, 48, took a Breathalyzer test that was negative, according to Catanzara.

“It’s just a tragedy. And any person could be in his shoes. This just happens to be a Chicago police officer,” Catanzara told the Sun-Times. “Our hearts go out to the family. This officer is certainly never going to forget that. It’s sad all-around.”

Police said no citations or charges have been filed.

Hershel was a twin and had two other brothers. Baruch Hertz, a rabbi at Congregation B’nei Ruven, said Hershel “was a loved kid. He was a very nice boy, had a smile on his face at all times … It’s a huge shock for the community.”

Ruth Lee, a close friend of the Weinberger family, said the boy had a “sweet energy.”

“He was bright…kind looking, he had very vibrant blue eyes,” Lee, who taught Hershel in various subjects from music to religion, told the Sun-Times.

An online fundraiser for Hershel’s family had raised more than $87,000 by Thursday afternoon.

Off-duty Chicago cop strikes and kills 9-year-old boy riding bike in West Rogers ParkDavid Struetton July 15, 2021 at 6:45 pm Read More »

Over 40 dead, dozens missing as severe floods strike EuropeAssociated Presson July 15, 2021 at 5:11 pm

BERLIN — More than 40 people have died and dozens were missing Thursday in Germany and Belgium as heavy flooding turned streams and streets into raging torrents that swept away cars and caused houses to collapse.

Recent storms across parts of western Europe made rivers and reservoirs burst their banks, triggering flash floods overnight after the saturated soil couldn’t absorb any more water.

She pledged that everything would be done to find those still missing, adding: “‘Heavy rain and flooding’ doesn’t capture what happened.”

Police said 18 people died in Ahrweiler county, 15 in Euskirchen, three in Rheinbach and two in Cologne. Belgian media reported four deaths in that country.

Among the worst-hit German villages was Schuld, where several homes collapsed and dozens of people remained unaccounted for.

Karl-Heinz Grimm, who had come to help his parents in Schuld, said he had never seen the small Ahr River surge in such a deadly torrent.

“This night, it was like madness,” he said.

Dozens of people had to be rescued from the roofs of their houses with inflatable boats and helicopters. Germany deployed hundreds of soldiers to assist.

In Belgium, the Vesdre River spilled over its banks and sent water churning through the streets of Pepinster, near Liege.

“Several homes have collapsed,” Mayor Philippe Godin told RTBF network. It was unclear whether everyone had been able to escape unhurt.

Major highways were inundated in southern and eastern parts of the country, and the railway said all trains were halted.

In Liege, a city of 200,000, the Meuse River overflowed its banks Thursday and the mayor asked people living nearby to move to higher ground.

Many of the dead were only discovered after floodwaters receded.

Authorities in the Rhine-Sieg county south of Cologne ordered the evacuation of several villages below the Steinbachtal reservoir amid fears a dam could break.

Two firefighters died in rescue operations in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state.

Gov. Armin Laschet paid tribute to them and pledged swift help for those affected.

“We don’t know the extent of the damage yet, but we won’t leave the communities, the people affected alone,” he said during a visit to the flood-hit city of Hagen.

Laschet, a conservative who is running to succeed Merkel as chancellor in this fall’s election, said the unusually heavy storms and an earlier heat wave could be linked to climate change.

Political opponents have criticized Laschet, the son of a miner, for supporting the region’s coal industry and hampering the expansion of wind power during his tenure.

“The increase in heavy rain and decrease in days with weak rain is now also clearly seen in observational data, especially in the mid-northern latitudes, which includes Germany,” Rahmstorf said.

The weakening of the summer circulation of the atmosphere, causing longer-lasting weather patterns such as heat waves or continuous rain, might also play a role, he added.

Rainfall eased later Thursday across Germany, although water levels on the Mosel and Rhine rivers were expected to continue rising.

Authorities in the southern Dutch town of Valkenburg, near the German and Belgian borders, evacuated a care home and a hospice overnight amid flooding that turned the tourist town’s main street into a river, Dutch media reported.

The Dutch government sent about 70 troops to the southern province of Limburg late Wednesday to help with evacuations and filling sandbags.

A section of one of the country’s busiest highways was closed due to rising water and Dutch media showed a group of tourists being rescued from a hotel window with the help of an earth mover.

The Aire River rose to its highest levels in 30 years in some areas, according to local newspaper L’Est Republicain.

A train route to Luxembourg was disrupted, and firefighters evacuated dozens of people near the Luxembourg-German border and in the Marne region, according to broadcaster France Bleu.

—

Associated Press writers Raf Casert in Brussels, Angela Charlton in Paris and Mike Corder in The Hague contributed.

Over 40 dead, dozens missing as severe floods strike EuropeAssociated Presson July 15, 2021 at 5:11 pm Read More »

Lightfoot creates million-dollar fund to reward tips leading to seizure of illegal firearmsFran Spielmanon July 15, 2021 at 4:52 pm

Acknowledging that law-abiding Chicagoans are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being gunned down on the streets, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday announced a $1 million reward fund for information that leads to the seizure of illegal firearms.

The mayor described the reward fund as the first in a series of steps she plans to unveil over the next week to “think creatively” about ways to stop the unrelenting bloodbath on Chicago streets fueled by gang violence and street justice retaliations.

Lightfoot has long decried the pipeline of illegal guns pouring into Chicago from other states, including Indiana, and demanded that Congress pass, what she calls, “common sense gun laws” to cut off that pipeline.

But on Thursday, she took matters into her own hands.

“We need to think creatively about other tools. That’s why today I’m announcing a million-dollar reward fund … for information that leads to the seizure of illegal firearms. We’re setting up a structure for people to provide tips — anonymous, if you so desire — to point us to the presence of illegal firearms,” the mayor said before breaking ground on the Chicago Park District’s new headquarters campus in Brighton Park.

“If they are in a house, down the block, in a car, in a secret stash, we are calling on our residents to overcome your fears. To no longer be hesitant to report the presence of illegal firearms. This moment that we are in demands each of us to dig down deeper. To step up. … We need everyone’s help to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to address this horrible plague of illegal firearms. And my hope is that this million-dollar reward fund incentivizes people to step up, to speak out and to help us to reclaim our streets from the shooters and the violence.”

Although she claimed the Chicago Police Department was making progress, Lightfoot acknowledged that’s “cold comfort” to Chicagoans “living in daily fear” — so frightened, in fact, that they won’t even come out of their homes and enjoy a summer day or evening because they don’t want to become the next innocent victim of a gang shooting.

She said the bloodbath on Chicago streets is the first and last thing she thinks about and the worry that wakes her up in the middle of the night.

She further acknowledged “too many people are just plain scared” and until she gets the violence under control, “nothing else matters.” The “cloud of violence that hangs over our heads blocks out the sunshine” that Chicagoans should be feeling after enduring the hardships and sacrifices of the coronavirus pandemic, she said.

“The point is this: This crisis demands bold and creative action. It demands more of each of us. And as your mayor, it demands more of me. I willingly and unapologetically accept this challenge,” the mayor said.

“And I hope and certainly pray, with God’s grace, we will work through and lead ourselves to a better place to get through this challenge, just as we have led and gotten through COVID. And I will repeat, until our residents feel safe, nothing else matters. It has been and will remain my highest priority.”

After the groundbreaking, Lightfoot said the $1 million reward fund would come from the city’s corporate fund.

“I called the budget director and said, `OK, here’s what I need,’ ” the mayor said.

“It’s gonna run through the CPD tip line. We’ll get specific details out as to when it will be active. Yes, we will be giving out individual amounts. But we’re gonna work through those details and let you know.”

Lightfoot creates million-dollar fund to reward tips leading to seizure of illegal firearmsFran Spielmanon July 15, 2021 at 4:52 pm Read More »

Off-duty Chicago cop strikes and kills 9-year-old boy riding bike in West Rogers ParkDavid Struetton July 15, 2021 at 5:40 pm

A pick-up truck driven by an off-duty Chicago police officer struck and killed a 9-year-old boy riding a bicycle Wednesday evening in West Rogers Park.

The officer said he didn’t see Hershel Weinberger before hitting him around 8 p.m. on a sidewalk in the 7300 Block of North Sacramento, according to Chicago Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara Jr.

Hershel, who lived nearby, was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston where he died, according to Chicago police. The family told police he was heading home after playing at a friend’s house.

The officer, 48, took a Breathalyzer test that was negative, Catanzara said.

Police said no citations or charges have been filed.

Baruch Hertz, a rabbi at Congregation B’nei Ruven, said Hershel “was a loved kid. He was a very nice boy, had a smile on his face at all times … It’s a huge shock for the community.”

Ruth Lee, a close friend of the Weinberger family, said the boy had a “sweet energy.”

“He was bright…kind looking, he had very vibrant blue eyes,” Lee, who taught Hershel in various subjects from music to religion, told the Sun-Times.

Rabbi Hertz described the Weinberger family as “very charitable people who always have guests in their home.

Off-duty Chicago cop strikes and kills 9-year-old boy riding bike in West Rogers ParkDavid Struetton July 15, 2021 at 5:40 pm Read More »

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