Connecticut Sun guard Natisha Hiedeman (2) commits the foul on Chicago Sky guard Allie Quigley as Brionna Jones (42) and Jasmine Thomas (5) help on defense in WNBA basketball action Sunday, June 27, 2021 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. | Sean D. Ellio/AP
Quigley and Copper scored 11 points apiece to lead the Sky, whose win streak ended at seven
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — DeWanna Bonner hit four three-pointers and finished with 23 points, Brionna Jones added 21 points and nine rebounds, and the Connecticut Sun cruised to a 74-58 win over the Sky on Sunday in a Commissioner’s Cup game, snapping the Sky’s seven-game win streak.
The Sun limited the Sky to their lowest scoring output of the season on 33.3% (23 of 69) shooting overall and 20.6% (5 of 24) from three-point range. Connecticut had nine steals and forced 18 turnovers.
‘‘Offensively, we didn’t score, we didn’t move the ball, we turned it over, and those are all kind of the recipe to get the result that we got,’’ Sky guard Allie Quigley said.
‘‘[The Sun are] kind of known for defense and being physical, and we just didn’t match it.’’
Courtney Vandersloot, Kahleah Copper and Quigley each made a three-pointer in an 11-0 run to close the second quarter and Vandersloot’s pull-up jumper to open the third trimmed the Sky’s deficit to 36-32. Bonner answered with a three, Jones hit two free throws and Bonner added another from behind the arc before Jones made a layup to cap a 10-0 run, and Connecticut led by double figures the rest of the way.
Quigley and Copper scored 11 points apiece to lead the Sky (9-8). Candace Parker added six points and four rebounds in 26 minutes.
The Sky had lost seven in a row before their win streak, which included 85-79 and 91-81 home wins over Connecticut on June 17 and June 19, respectively.
‘‘We didn’t execute schemes that we had in place,’’ Sky coach James Wade said. ‘‘We have to start off at a better rhythm. It’s three games in a row that we played against them that we thought we could get back in the game. The first two games we were able to, but this game, they didn’t allow us to, because they dictated the pace. We have to be more determined in who we are.’’
Jasmine Thomas had 18 points and three steals and Beatrice Mompremier grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds for Connecticut (10-5).
The Sun are the third team in the WNBA to reach double digits in wins this season, joining the league-leading Seattle Storm (12-3) and the Las Vegas Aces (10-4).
Connecticut improved to an Eastern Conference-leading 5-1 in the Commissioner’s Cup standings while the second-place Sky dropped to 6-3. Seattle leads the Western Conference at 5-0.
Each team plays 10 Commissioner’s Cup games, finishing on July 10, with the top team from each conference playing a championship game in August for the cup title and a prize totaling approximately $500,000.
Jenkins salutes the crowd at Wrigley Field. | AP Photos
‘Glory and Grief’ is about the pain and resilience of the Cubs’ best pitcher ever, whose post-baseball life has been marked by unimaginable loss.
“Glory and Grief: The Ferguson Jenkins Story,” an hour-long documentary produced by MLB Network that premieres Wednesday on Marquee, begins with anecdotes about the confidence the greatest pitcher in Cubs history routinely brought with him to the mound.
“Whenever he walks out there,” manager Leo Durocher says of a young ace in the process of reeling off six straight 20-win seasons on the North Side, “he believes he’s going to beat you.”
But the story of Jenkins is, as actor, Chicago native and narrator Andre Braugher puts it, about “inner strength as much as ability, resilience as much as talent.” It is searingly painful and deeply moving.
“The confidence in him was just inspiring,” said Raymond Jenkins, his adopted son. “It made me actually feel that no matter how we broke down, we could come back. And we did.”
Jenkins, 78, has known unimaginable tragedy. He lost wife Maryanne, Raymond’s mother, after a 1990 car crash when she was only 31. The couple’s 3-year-old daughter Samantha’s life was stolen in 1992 in what was ruled a murder-suicide. Much of his post-baseball life was “agonizing,” he says.
“You can struggle, or you can cope with what the world gives you,” says Jenkins, who also lost his wife of 24 years, Lydia, in 2018.
A wonderful career is revisited, too. Jenkins struck out Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew in his All-Star debut, won the Cy Young in 1971 and — back with the Cubs — notched his 3,000th strikeout in 1982. This time, though, baseball is overshadowed by heart.
Here’s what’s happening:
Photo by Harry How/Getty ImagesPaul is on the brink of his first Finals.
MON 28
Canadiens at Lightning, Game 1 (7 p.m., NBCSN, Peacock)
The Lightning are going for a rare repeat, but remember: Last year’s finals were in the Edmonton bubble. Hockey fans in Tampa are overdue to explode with emotion.
Clippers at Suns, Game 5 (8 p.m., ESPN)
No matter how the West finals might’ve played out with Kawhi Leonard on the court, 36-year-old Suns point guard Chris Paul deserves a title shot. Then again, that’s what everyone said about Charles Barkley in 1993 and you know how that turned out.
TUE 29
Euros: England vs. Germany (11 a.m., ESPN)
After today’s pair of knockouts — this huge matchup from London followed immediately by Sweden-Ukraine from Glasgow, Scotland — an endlessly entertaining tournament will be down to eight nations.
Mississippi State vs. Vanderbilt, Game 2 (6 p.m., ESPN2)
Is this the night the College World Series ends? If a deciding Game 3 is necessary, the Bulldogs and defending champion Commodores will go for all the marbles on Wednesday.
Bucks at Hawks, Game 4 (7:30 p.m., TNT)
Breakout star Trae Young is calling on Atlantans to bring their “A” games to State Farm Arena and basically act like they’ve never been there before. Which, of course, they pretty much haven’t.
WED 30
Cubs at Brewers (1:10 p.m., Marquee)
If the Cubs aren’t careful, they’ll be looking way up at the Brewers by the time they hop a plane to Cincinnati. Either way, it’ll be nice to get a break from trying to remember to say “American Family Field” instead of “Miller Park.”
“Glory and Grief: The Ferguson Jenkins Story” (5 p.m., Marquee)
Start time is approximate. Box-of-tissues time is inevitable.
Sky at Wings (7 p.m., CBSSN, The U)
The Sky lost last time out, snapping a seven-game winning streak that just so happened to follow a seven-game losing streak. Not to tell them how to do their jobs, but we recommend not backsliding into the abyss.
Photo by Michael Owens/Getty ImagesWill Bryant be an NL starter?
THU 1
Twins at White Sox (1:10 p.m., NBCSCH)
Win ’em while you can, because after this it’s time to hit the road again for a Sox team that collapsed in a 1-6 heap on its last trip.
USWNT vs. Mexico (6 p.m., FS1)
Just a friendly, but it’s always nice to see the best team in the world do its thing.
MLB All-Star Starters Reveal (8 p.m., ESPN)
Will everyone in the studio please stop talking about Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ronald Acuna Jr. (and any other Junior) for two seconds and let us know if Kris Bryant is starting at third base for the NL?
FRI 2
Cubs at Reds (6:10 p.m., Marquee)
Speaking of Bryant, Great American Ball Park has seen more of his extra-base hits, runs scored and RBI than any yard not named Wrigley.
Red Stars at Washington (6:30 p.m., Twitch)
The Red Stars are a forgotten eighth in the 10-team standings and are stuck on a paltry five goals scored over eight games played. Other than that, they’re in tip-top form.
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty ImagesMontreal, it’s been awhile.
Lightning at Canadiens, Game 3 (7 p.m., Ch. 5)
First Cup finals in Montreal in 28 years? Laissez le bon temps rouler, baby.
SAT 3
White Sox at Tigers (3:10 p.m., NBCSCH)
Gotta give some credit for a change to the Tigers, who’ve played above-.500 ball since starting a sad, humiliating, pathetic 9-24. Look, we said “some” credit.
While Chicago’s Mayor and the Crack City Council were watering their Jockeys over the renaming of Lake Shore Drive, one could not help to think of the Roman Emperor Nero, who legend has it, played the fiddle while Rome burned. Chicago is not burning but one could not help but think of OUR POLITICIANS’ PRIORITIES. Skyrocketing violence, including 54 mass shootings, 340 murders, and 1872 people shot this year alone, and not one City Council meeting to maybe discuss it. In keeping with removing statues from around Chicago’s parks and public places, some Alderman in the City Council decided that Lake Shore Drive should be renamed after its first settler, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable.
It took 12 meetings and about 3 million speeches and Lord knows how many hours before a compromise was finally settled on. We now will have record-size street signs that will read like a novel. In a month or so folks will be cruising down “JEAN BAPTISTE POINT du SABLE LAKE SHORE DRIVE. The Importance of Being Earnest indeed. NOTHING AGAINST OLD JEAN BAPTISTE, just wondering about the priorities of that Ship of Fools in the City Council and their sense of what’s important. It’s as if somebody decided we needed a circus act to distract from reality, and of course Mayor Lightfoot never one to pass up a chance at a good snarling verbal brawl was knee-deep into the shouting and vitriol that followed. But hey the Venerable Drive has a new name -PHEEEEWWWW- Below Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Circa 1770—
The polls that were taken in Chicago clearly showed that the majority of people living in the City were not in favor of the name change but hey who the hell are they to have a say in what the City Politicians do. In the end, it might have served its purpose. For days on end, it became the focus of the media, and mass shootings be damn, cover the circus and the clowns and ignore the ugly reality.
A hundred years from now nobody will blink an eye at the name JEAN BAPTISTE POINT du SABLE LAKE SHORE DRIVE. CHICAGO itself is proof of that. Can you imagine today a City or almost anything for that matter, being named after a “STRIPED SKUNK” OR A STINKING ONION?” Well, the name CHICAGO ITSELF happens to come from the Algonquin word SHIKAAKWA meaning striped skunk or smelly onion. Even our current crack City Council would not have the CHOPS TO SUGGEST THAT NAME. Yet here we are since 1833, 188 years later, named after a striped skunk and a smelly onion. YIKES.
I sincerely hope this doesn’t give the fiddlers in Chicago’s City Council any ideas, but you know what? I would not be a bit surprised. They are going to need another monster distraction very soon. The Chicago Gangs are just warming up for the summer. That Striped Skunk might just be what Chicago’s City Council needs, I can just hear the outrage”WHAT! WE NAMED AFTER A STRIPED SKUNK.” ANOTHER DIVERSION under the Big Top. Let’s see! how about “DODGE CITY”? At least it’s not a smelly Skunk and it seems to fit these days.******** FOLKS WHO GET IN OVER THEIR HEADS HAVE A TENDENCY TO DROWN.
Bob Angone is a Marine VETERAN and a retired Chicago Police Lieutenant. He worked his entire Career covering the streets of Chicago as a Tactical Officer, Tactical Sergeant, and Tactical Lieutenant. His last assignments were in special Functions, he was the C/O of the CPD Swat teams his last five years and was an HBT (Hostage Barricade Terrorist) Sergeant for 10 years.
Rescue personnel remove a body from the rubble after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, north of Miami Beach, last week. | Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty
Chicago high rises coupled with the city’s weather and history of corruption cause cracks in confidence.
Humans are by nature cautious. We are the descendants of those who fled at the snap of a twig, not those who shrugged and told themselves, “That can’t be a saber-toothed tiger coming; I’ll just keep eating these delicious berries …”
Even today, when we read stories of tragedy, the tendency is to try to distance ourselves from whatever bad thing is going on: that’s far away, happening to very different people under very different circumstances than our own.
“I have a bad feeling in my gut about this and those sort of buildings in Chicago,” wrote one reader who lived for years in a high rise on Sheridan Road. “Chicago has the additional worries of corruption of inspectors and building materials quality in addition to the weather concerns.”
That’s quite a charge, and I wouldn’t pass it along if I didn’t remember “Operation Crooked Code,” in 2008, when the feds probed bribery in Chicago’s buildings and zoning departments, coming up with a dozen convictions.
Immediately after the collapse, the Department of Buildings pointed out, “Chicago has one of the strictest building codes in the country.” Correct, if disingenuous. The issue isn’t whether those strict codes exist, but were they enforced when a building was constructed? Or did the inspector look the other way?
Be reassured. Despite its reputation for corruption, Chicago is not home to many notorious building failures, the way it has seen a number of historically horrible fires. We did have our previous City Hall/County Building complex settle six inches on a single day (due to shoddy materials used in its foundation), sever its gas lines and explode. But that was back in 1905.
The only relatively recent building failure that leaps to mind isn’t a collapse, but the Amoco Tower, which had no sooner opened in 1974 when the 82-story structure began to shed its skin of white Carrara marble. In its first dozen years, about a third of the 43,000 marble panels buckled outward. Panels also started to pop out and crash dramatically to the street below. The entire skin of the building, now Aon Center, had to be replaced at a cost approaching that of constructing the building itself.
What went wrong? The marble panels were half an inch too thin.
“There is no question about the reduced thickness of the panels being a major contributory cause of their failure,” Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori write in their 1992 book “Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail.”
As engineers puzzle over what could have caused the Surfside collapse — a 2018 report citing “major structural damage” offers a few likely suspects — I pulled down this handy volume to search for clues.
One intriguing section is titled “The Florida Pancake” and tells of a 25-story hotel and condominium complex where engineers studied the soil at the site and determined that piles had to be 30 feet deep to support the structure.
“The ordered piles were being driven driven into the ground at column locations when suddenly the operation had to be stopped,” the authors write, “because a pile had disappeared into the soil after the last drop of the pile driver’s weight! An inspection of the hole at that particular spot showed that he soil was Florida pancake, weakly supported by loose sand saturated with water.”
The coastal soil is so varied, they observed, that knowing the conditions of Point A is not a reliable guide to nearby Point B.
“Had it not been for the disappearing pile (and one might not have disappeared only a few feet away), a catastrophe might have ensued.”
A catastrophe such as the one that occurred in Florida last week. The 2018 report cites cracking and crumbling columns, beams and walls in the condo’s underground parking garage. The sort of warning too easy to ignore, until a building falls down. Gravity, time, water, wind are not trifling forces, and it might be good to remember that nature always wins, in the end. The only question is whether we are doing all we can to keep her at bay until then.
The Chicago Cubs have five players that are finalists to be an All-Star Game starter in 2021. We don’t know who is actually going to make the team but the fan vote simply determines the starters. Phase one was to narrow it down to three players at each position from each league and phase two […]
The story of Leo Hendrick Baekeland, the Belgian chemist who invented a more usable form of plastic, highlights “All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic.” | The L.H. Baekeland Project, LLC
In the breezy and informative 58-minute documentary “All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic,” we’re introduced to the man whose name should be as well-known as Edison or Westinghouse or Bell or Tesla or Ford: Leo Hendrik Baekeland.
“Ben. I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.” — Mr. McGuire, to Benjamin Braddock, in “The Graduate”
Take a look a moment to look around you. Chances are great you’ll see a number of items made of or at least containing the ubiquitous and useful and incredibly versatile and also problematic synthetic polymer known as plastic. From beverage bottles to food wrappers, from automobile parts to outdoor furniture, from produce bags to your computer keyboard, plastic is such a key ingredient of so many elements of everyday life it’s hard to imagine a world without plastic — and yet it’s been around for only a little more than century.
In the breezy and informative 58-minute documentary “All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic,” we’re introduced to the man whose name should be as well-known as Edison or Westinghouse or Bell or Tesla or Ford: Leo Hendrik Baekeland, the eccentric and brilliant Belgian chemist who invented Velox photographic paper in 1893 and then topped that breakthrough innovation in 1907 with his creation of Bakelite, the first nonflammable plastic that retained its shape after being heated. Plastic eventually became a key ingredient in electrical insulators, telephone casings, radios, kitchenware etc., etc., to the point where it was hard to imagine a world WITHOUT Baekeland’s invention.
“All Things Bakelite” draws upon interviews with descendants of Baekeland and experts in the field such as research chemists, along with instructive graphics, dramatic re-creations and excerpts from Baekeland’s extensive journals. (You gotta love it when a genius keeps a daily diary.) Unfortunately, the filmmakers also indulged in whimsical but not entirely effective devices, including a cheesy guy in a tuxedo running around Times Square asking people, “What is Bakelite?” (Spoiler alert: nobody knows), and some oddball musical numbers about plastic. With such a short running time in the first place, these gimmicky sidebars only serve to distract us from an inherently compelling story.
The L.H. Baekeland Project, LLC“Future Strange” is one of the distracting musical numbers in “All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic.”
The doc is most interesting when chronicling Baekeland’s story, laying out how he was able to succeed in creating a useful plastic while so many other esteemed scientists couldn’t get the formula quite right. And it’s cool to hear from designers and artists talking about the role of plastics in the streamlined, Art Deco movement. We also learn Baekeland was something of a recluse who loved his family but preferred to spend time alone with his work, and that he had to deal with copyright infringements and legal entanglements that took him away from his work. Baekeland did well for himself, but he was not a self-promoter and businessman on the level of a Thomas Edison or a George Westinghouse.
Of course, the durability of plastic is an immense double-edged sword. “All Things Bakelite” devotes only a relatively brief segment to the fact that plastic doesn’t decompose and is the source of worldwide pollution, toxicity and solid waste. “It’s probably a good thing that Leo Baekeland could not foresee the misuse of plastic today,” says Hugh Karraker, the great-grandson of Baekeland. “Bakelite is not biodegradable. It’ll be with us forever.”
Skid Row vocalist Johnny Solinger performs at the Music Midtown festival May 4, 2002 in Atlanta. | Getty Images
Solinger was the hard rock band’s longest-running vocalist (1999 to 2015), replacing Sebastian Bach, who left the group in 1996.
Former Skid Row singer Johnny Solinger has died a month after revealing he was suffering from liver failure. He was 55.
Solinger’s wife, actress Paula Marcenaro Solinger, confirmed the musician’s death. “He passed yesterday while I was holding his hand,” she told USA TODAY on Sunday morning.
“He went in peace,” Marcenaro wrote Saturday night on Facebook, two hours after telling fans, “I have made the decision to transition to comfort care. It is time to let him go … I wish I could have done more. I wish I could have saved him. I’m so sorry, Johnny Solinger. I’m so sorry.”
Skid Row shared the news Saturday night on social media, posting a photo of Solinger with his birth and death dates.
“We are saddened to hear the news of our brother Johnny Solinger. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and fans,” a statement on Skid Row’s verified Instagram account read. “Godspeed Singo. Say hello to Scrappy for us.”
The statement was signed “much love” from current members Rachel Bolan, ZP Theart, Snake Sabo, Rob Hammersmith and Scotti Hill.
Solinger was the hard rock band’s longest-running vocalist (1999 to 2015), replacing Sebastian Bach, who left the group in 1996. Solinger fronted the group when it opened for Kiss’ Farewell Tour in 2000 and embarked on a solo career after parting ways with the group. He sang on two of the group’s albums, 2003’s “Thickskin” and 2006’s “Revolutions Per Minute.”
Solinger shared his health struggles with fans last month on Facebook.
“It is with a heavy heart I must let everyone know what’s going on with me and my health,” he wrote on May 8. “I have been hospitalized for over the last month. I have been diagnosed with liver failure. And prognosis is not so good. As with most musicians I do not have health insurance and it’s very difficult to get proper care without it.
“I am currently under at least seven different medications and I need to have my abdomen drained off fluid that gets accumulated every couple of days,” he wrote. “I have lost a lot of strength and will require physical therapy as well.”
Solinger asked fans to “send me all the healing vibes you can” and donations to help with his medical bills. A GoFundMe page organized by his friend Brian Lawrence has raised $16,000 toward a $100,000 goal.
Bassist Tony Franklin (Whitesnake, Jimmy Page) remembered Solinger as “a sweet guy, a bundle of laughs, and some vocal pipes. Rest peacefully Johnny!”
“He was a big, bold flash of life. He will be dearly missed,” bassist Todd Kerns (Slash, The Age of Electric) wrote. “Keep the mic warm for me when I get up there so we can rock together once more.”
“Get yourself a piece of pie with Scrappy,” wrote Bolan, Skid Row’s bassist, on his own Instagram account.
Scrappy was Solinger’s late grandfather, World War II veteran Willard J. “Scrappy” Smith, who died in 2019 at age 103 in Russellville, Arkansas. Solinger’s company, Scrappy Smith LLC, was named for him, and Solinger released a solo EP of the same name in 2014.
Four people were shot, one fatally, June 27, 2021, outside a nightclub in west Suburban St. Charles. | Archivos Sun-Times
About 2 a.m., officers responded to Trilogy Nightclub, 2051 Lincoln Hwy., for calls of shots fired.
A person was killed, and three others were wounded in a shooting Sunday morning outside a nightclub in west suburban St. Charles, according to St. Charles police.
About 2 a.m., officers responded to Trilogy Nightclub, 2051 Lincoln Hwy., for calls of shots fired, police said. Two gunshot victims were found outside the club on the front sidewalk.
They were both rushed to Northwestern Medical Delnor Hospital in Geneva where one of them died, police said. The other person had their condition stabilized.
A third person was brought to the same hospital by a friend, and is in critical condition, police said. A fourth person was driven to Copley Memorial Hospital in Aurora, where they were treated and released.
Detectives continue to investigate the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to contact St. Charles police at 630-377-4435.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl June 2, 2021, in Back of the Yards. | Adobe Stock Photo
He is due in juvenile bond court Monday.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl June 2, in Back of the Yards on the South Side.
The boy, whose name has been withheld because he is a minor, has been charged with a felony count of first-degree murder, according to Chicago police.
Savanah Quintero and her boyfriend had just bought snacks from a store at the corner of 48th and Wood streets around 6 p.m. June 2, when they were confronted by three young gunmen, according to police and the alderman of the ward.
They asked if she was in a gang, and she said she wasn’t, at which point the three chased her halfway down the block and opened fire, according to Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), who said he got the details from police.
The gunmen jumped into an SUV and sped off. The girl was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, but she later died, police said.
The 17-year-old boy was arrested about 7:35 p.m. Saturday in the 3700 block of West 59th Street, after he was identified by police as the person who allegedly fired the fatal shots, police said.
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