The 2021 Chicago Marathon expects to register 35,000 runners for the race Oct. 10. | Sun-Times file
The in-person Chicago Marathon was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bank of America Chicago Marathon organizers are drawing up multiple plans for some 35,000 runners to hit city streets this fall after canceling the 2020 event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 marathon was canceled for only the second time in the 43-year history of the race, with runners getting the news three months ahead of the scheduled race date in October. Organizers held a “virtual” marathon, with competitors running their own 26.2-mile routes.
Organizers plan to register 35,000 runners, down from the usual 40,000.
The announcement Thursday comes at what would be the start of an 18-week training schedule for marathon athletes in the run-up to the race Oct. 10. Runners who registered for the 2020 marathon are able to transfer their registration to compete in this year’s event, or in the 2022 or 2023 races.
“The (marathon) has long been one of our city’s most exciting events for runners and onlookers alike — making last year’s decision to cancel it all the more difficult,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. “Now, thanks to the progress we’ve made in our COVID-19 journey, we will be able to bring back this Chicago staple and welcome thousands of marathoners and fans back to our streets this fall.”
Race officials have not settled on final plans and protocols for the event. Organizers noted that public health guidance “continues to evolve” but runners should be prepared for COVID-19 safety measures that could include wearing a mask when not on the 26.2-mile course, providing proof of a negative COVID-19 test result or vaccination.
Chicago was not alone among the major marathons to cancel last year, with 2020 races shut down by COVID-19 in Boston, New York, London, Tokyo and Berlin.
Desmen Williams, 29, was charged with first-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon for the shooting that claimed the life of Jemel Murphy.
A 29-year-old man has been charged with murder in a deadly drive-by shooting that allegedly stemmed from a fight at a nearby Rogers Park restaurant.
Jemel Murphy, was standing with a friend outside the restaurant near Howard and Paulina streets on May 6 when Desmen Williams pulled up in a 2013 Jeep around 3:15 p.m., Cook County prosecutors said.
Williams and Murphy’s friend were captured on surveillance cameras arguing, prosecutors said Friday. At one point, Williams allegedly got punched in the face. That prompted Williams to go back to his car to retrieve a crowbar. But the fight had broken up, prosecutors said.
However, as Williams got back in his car to leave, he allegedly threatened his rivals, saying that “he would be back.”
A half hour later, Murphy and his friend were standing in the 1300 block of West Jonquil Terrace when surveillance cameras captured shots being fired from Williams’ Jeep as it drove by, prosecutors said.
Murphy’s friend identified Williams as the gunman and another witness identified Williams as one of the men involved in the fight at the restaurant, prosecutors said.
A Chicago police surveillance camera captured the license plate of Williams’ Jeep, which was registered to Williams and his mother, prosecutors said. Cellphone records also showed Williams’ phone was in the area at the time of the fight and at the time of the shooting, prosecutors said.
Officers who arrested Williams in West Rogers Park Monday found a bag that contained marijuana, blocks of Psilocybin — a hallucinogenic component of psychedelic mushrooms — and a Glock handgun inside Williams’ car, prosecutors said.
Williams, who has a FOID card but not a permit to carry a concealed weapon, was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon, prosecutors said. Test results are pending on whether that weapon used in the drive-by shooting.
“We don’t know who was driving [the Jeep],” and assistant public defender told Judge Charles Beach, noting that Williams was not seen inside the Jeep on the surveillance footage.
Williams, who works for a carpentry and landscaping business, is married and a “very involved” father of four children, the defense attorney added.
Imagine this, your parents are visiting from out of town. You had a fancy dinner last night and just want a quiet night at home. However…your mom wants BBQ, dad wants burgers, husband is craving tacos, and you just want food. Quick. Instead of ordering from a bunch of different restaurants and forking over insane delivery fees, you remember a unique multi-restaurant concept, Kitchen United MIX, that just opened in the West Loop. Everyone is happy and you’re crowned a food queen.
What is Kitchen United MIX?
Think of it as a “ghost kitchen” where you can order food from a variety of restaurants on the same delivery or pickup order. Which means mom can order Smokey Bones, husband can get his taco fix from Trejo’s Tacos, and dad can get The Burger Experience. All ordered and ready at the same time.
This smart concept first launched in California and soon expanded to Texas, Arizona, and Chicago. The West Loop location is a second for Chicago, located in the former Wells St. Market at 205 West Wacker Street. The space itself is massive and features ten kitchens, a main order and pickup area, and plenty of seating if you’d rather eat onsite.
Chief Business Officer, Atul Sood, agrees Chicago has been a great market, stating, “We opened in River North in April 2019 and we’ve really loved being in this city. We couldn’t turn down the opportunity to open a second location with more great restaurants in a new neighborhood.”
After three years, only one of Sky GM/coach James Wade’s first-round draft picks is still with the team. | Daniel Kucin Jr./AP
In three years worth of draft picks, Wade has kept one of his original first-round selections, Ruthy Hebard who he took with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft.
Less than two months after Sky coach and general manager James Wade drafted Shyla Heal with the eighth overall pick in this year’s WNBA draft, she was traded to and immediately waived by the Dallas Wings.
On draft night, Wade raved about Heal’s ceiling. After scouting her, Wade thought her professional experience in Australia combined with her style of play, which he said was similar to Courtney Vandersloot’s, made her a great fit for the Sky’s system.
After four games and just 31 WNBA minutes, Heal was gone.
In three years worth of draft picks, Wade has kept one of his original first-round selections, Ruthy Hebard whom he took with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft.
In his first draft at the helm of the Chicago Sky organization in 2019, Wade selected Katie Lou Samuelson with the fourth overall pick, passing on eventual Rookie of the Year Napheesa Collier and runner-up Arike Ogunbowale. Similar to his expectation for Heal to develop behind Vandersloot, Wade said toward the end of the 2019 season he was looking for Samuelson to be a solution to an impending problem in Allie Quigley’s eventual retirement.
Less than a year later, Samuelson was gone as was a 2021 first-round draft pick in a trade to the Wings for forward Azurá Stevens.
Stevens’ full potential remains to be seen. During the 2020 WNBA season, she left the Bubble early after suffering a season-ending injury to her left knee. She started in all 13 games she appeared in for the Sky, averaging career highs in points (11.5 per game) and rebounds (5.9 per game) while shooting 50% from the field.
She started this season on a minutes restriction. In five games she’s averaged 7.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 19.8 minutes. Her minutes off the bench have been critical with Candace Parker out due to an ankle injury she suffered after the Sky’s season opener.
Still, Hebard is Wade’s only draft pick that’s had an impact with this team.
“We’ve been a playoff team every year,” Wade said. “You have to look at the sum of everything. I don’t think you can just go by we traded our draft picks early. That remains to be seen.”
Wade’s decision to trade Heal for Dana Evans in order to make room to sign experienced guard Lexie Brown to a rest-of-season contract on June 13 makes sense. In her 31 minutes, Heal looked outmatched. With Brown on the court against the Phoenix Mercury, the Sky had their lowest number of turnovers all season.
Still, the trade is a response to a problem drafting Heal didn’t solve. The Sky need a backup point guard for Vandersloot.
Wade is one of five people in the WNBA who play the dual role of general manager and coach.
The Sky have a severely limited front office staff with three basketball operations positions outside of Wade’s assistant coaching staff. The reigning WNBA champion Seattle Storm in comparison have 12 basketball operations staff members outside of their coaching staff. The Washington Mystics have nine.
Strength and conditioning coach Ann Crosby, who also serves as the director of basketball operations, has long been described as someone who does it all. The team doesn’t have a director of player development or an assistant general manager.
Is this staff conducive for building a WNBA championship-caliber team is a question that remains to be answered.
“You make the team that you want to coach,” Wade said. “I took the job because I wanted the job. Sometimes decisions have to be made that are tough decisions. At the same time, you’re the only one who has a gage on your team.”
Your cash is no good here, mostly, and men mask up in the restrooms. But the old ballgame is back.
The man sitting across from us on the ‘L’ Wednesday wore an official Cubs pinstripe jersey, open, with shorts; the uniform of easily half the passengers on the 12 noon Skokie Swift to Howard. Beside him, a girl, 4, had made a different fashion choice: a pink tutu paired with a raccoon mask.
The man met my eye.
“So nice everything’s fun again,” he said. Usually I’m the one making uninvited public overtures, addressing strangers, commenting on whatever is going on like a Greek chorus.
I agreed. After 14 months away, at least, it felt great just being on a train. The fact we were heading to a Cubs game was icing on the cake.
Regular readers know baseball is not ordinarily my idea of fun. But my younger son had said, “We should go to a Cubs game.” A suggestion I promptly ignored, as the savvy parent will do when optional activities involving the expenditure of of time, effort and money are proposed by children. But he said it a second time, cannily attaching a specific. “We should go to the Cubs game Wednesday; they play the Padres.”
My immediate unfiltered thought demonstrates how truly out of the swim I am, baseball-wise.
“That’s an expansion team.” I thought, pouting. Meaning, “not quite worth seeing.” The Padres started playing in 1969. Since then, they’ve won more pennants than the Cubs over the same period (two). They have the second-best record in the National League now.
The last Cubs game I attended was July 4, 2016, for the reason I normally go: a pal gave me tickets. This time I bought four good upper-deck seats for $45.92 apiece from a season ticket holder friend. I knew it wouldn’t involve him handing over four pasteboard ducats in an envelope. But I didn’t expect to have to download an app (MLB Ballpark) and fiddle with it for an hour. Eventually, utterly bolloxed and certain no relaxation at the ballpark could possibly counterbalance the frustration of doing this, I thrust my phone at my older son who, I kid you not, glanced at it, swiped it once with his thumb and handed it back, the tickets having magically appeared. “You need to refresh,” he said. Tell me about it.
Credit where due: Wrigley looks nice. The ballpark shone from the outside. There was no seedy older gent at the entrance selling scorecards, like I expected. When asked, one of the friendly ushers, stationed every 10 feet, smilingly pointed me toward a stand selling $30 stocking caps. Most people in line were buying $1 scorecards, jamming their credit cards into a reader, a process that takes longer than simply handing over a dollar bill. Did you know that Wrigley has gone cashless this year? It has, in theory. After three guys ahead of me went through the credit card calisthenics, the guy behind the counter asked me, “Do you have a dollar?” I did, and handed it over.
“It’ll be our secret,” I said, feeling rebellious.
We got to our seats, upper deck, section 312L. I looked around and — if this surprises you, imagine what it did to me — choked up. Tears in my ears, face sort of crumpling, for a moment anyway. I’m not sure why. It was just so … beautiful. I was so happy to be here.
Neil Steinberg/Sun-TimesEven at a socially-distanced capacity capped at 60%, Wrigley Field looked well-populated Wednesday. A Bud Light is $10.
I probably should mention the Cubs played a game. As if to make up for the masks and cashlessness and antiseptic homogenized crowd screened just to hang around outside Wrigley, the game itself was noticeably slapdash. The Padres played like an amateur team of comic klutzes, balls popping out of their grasps, a pop fly plunking down a yard from a bewildered player scanning the sky, a pair of outfielders slamming into each other in what ended up as a double play. (“Good luck scoring that,” said the guy down the row I consulted to figure out what the heck just happened.) Only thing missing was the jeering calliope music that usually goes along with antics like this.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Cubs hit a triple, then a single, then a home run, and then a double. The homer, by Javier Baez, was a wonder to behold, a marvelous parenthesis set on its side from home plate into the left field bleachers. The Cubs won 6 to 1. I was hoarse the next day.
The awards bestowed since December honor a wide range of work by individual journalists, the newspaper’s editorial board and the entire staff.
Since December, Chicago Sun-Times journalism has received a host of national, state and regional honors. The awards recognize a wide range of work by 27 individual Sun-Times journalists, the newspaper’s editorial board and the entire staff.
They include:
National Association of Black Journalists
In December 2020, one staff member received recognition for her lifetime achievement, and six Sun-Times staffers received honors for three powerful stories:
Mary Mitchell | Enshrined in the NABJ Hall of Fame, recognizing the work she’s done over the span of her career.
Mary Mitchell | NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards, first place for best feature for her July 26, 2019, report “A century of progress but still an invisible divide,” in which she wrote about how much — and how little — has changed in Chicago since the city’s 1919 race riots.
Carlos Ballesteros, Tom Schuba, Jon Seidel and Rachel Hinton | NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards, first place in the category “news-single story” for “Rev. Leon Finney Jr.’s free fall,” published Sept. 8, 2019, an examination of the precarious finances of a clout-heavy minister with decades of government contracts.
Manny Ramos | NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards, first place for business reporting for “Why tearing down Englewood to save it hasn’t worked,” by Manny Ramos, published Aug. 25, 2019, investigating systemic housing redevelopment failures in the South Side neighborhood.
National Headliner Awards
Nader Issa |National Headliner Awards,second place, education beat reporting, recognized for his reporting on the Chicago Public Schools. Three of his stories were honored for best education beat reporting in 2020:
In May 2021, Sun-Times journalists were recognized with 10 first-place honors in the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors Awards for work published in 2020. Awards included breaking news coverage, best website, video storytelling, enterprise reporting, sports columns and editorial writing.
The Sun-Times also swept the statewide competition’s three top honors — for general excellence (for the best showing overall in all categories), a best-in-show “sweepstakes” honor selected from among the winners in all categories and “news innovator of the year.”
One staff member also received a lifetime achievement recognition.
The Sun-Times staff also swept 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in two categories — sports columns and editorial writing — and was recognized with 1st and 2nd place awards for video storytelling and enterprise reporting.
The top honors
Mary Mitchell | Lincoln League of Journalists induction, a lifetime achievement honor “bestowed on professionals whose careers have greatly advanced the cause of newspaper journalism in Illinois.”
Sun-Times staff | General excellence, first place, recognized for the best overall showing among big-circulation newspapers in the competition.
Frank Main and Andy Grimm | Editorial / writing sweepstakes winner, recognized for the investigative series “Long delays for justice.”
Paul Saltzman and Alice Bazerghi |“News innovator of the year,” recognized for a yearlong daily reader outreach that used a daily newsletter and social media to solicit readers on their experiences during the coronavirus pandemic and their views on issues related to the pandemic. This effort produced dozens of stories (including multiple page 1 stories) and a curated stream of the findings.
Other IAPME Awards first-place honors
Sun-Times staff | Best website, recognized for chicago.suntimes.com, the Chicago Sun-Times’ main web portal.
In May 2021, Maureen O’Donnell received the Studs Terkel Community Media Awards for her obituaries that provide an insightful look into the lives of ordinary people in and around Chicago. The honor spotlights journalists “whose work is driven by service and connection to their communities.”
Maureen O’Donnell | Studs Terkel Community Media Awards, recognized for a selection of obituaries.
Illinois Press Association Editorial Excellence Contest
In May, Sun-Times journalists were recognized with 22 first-place awards in the Illinois Press Association’s editorial excellence contest for work published in 2020 — as well as an award in the IPA’s advertising contest for the best newspaper promotion for “Lost and found: rescuing the Sun-Times photo archive,”a video report by Brian Ernst,Ashlee Rezin Garcia and Brian Rich.
The winning entries included top honors for: editorial writing, sports coverage, news reporting, government beat coverage, business reporting, obituary writing, feature writing, columns, photography, design, graphics, video journalism, best website, best coverage of taxes, investigative reporting and agricultural coverage.
Neil Steinberg, Ashlee Rezin Garcia | News reporting-single story, recognized for “Our worst day,” an inside look at a hospital during the coronavirus epidemic.
Frank Main and Andy Grimm | News reporting-series, recognized for the investigative series “Long delays for justice.”
Tom Schuba | Government beat reporting, recognized for a series of stories documenting failures by the state of Illinois to meet social justice and diversity goals in legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.
Tim Novak and Lauren FitzPatrick | Business and economic reporting, recognized for a series of investigative reports documenting failures by the Cook County Land Bank Authority.
Rachel Hinton, Ashlee Rezin Garcia and Brian Rich | feature writing-personality profile, recognized for “Resettlement, reunification and romance,” the richly reported story — in print and video — of a refugee couple finally together in the United States after nearly four years apart.
Mary Mitchell | original columns, for a selection of three columns.
Tyler Lariviere | feature photo, for “My kind of town,” a photo shot June 4, 2020, of Chicago police officers using a CTA bus and themselves to block Black Lives Matter marchers heading toward police headquarters after George Floyd’s death.
Akiko Spencer | informational graphic, for a Sports Saturday graphic headlined “10 more men of steal.”
Akiko Spencer’s winning graphic.
Eric White | single-page design, for a front-page design highlighting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Eric White’s winning design.
Sun-Times staff | newspaper design, recognizing outstanding design throughout the newspaper based on two complete editions.
Darel Jevens | headline writing, for selection of five headlines.
Sun-Times sports staff | sports section, recognizing outstanding work based on two sample sports sections.
Sun-Times sports staff | special section, recognizing “Visionaries,” a 2020 baseball preview section.
Ben Pope | sports feature, for “Last fan standing,” for a story, told through the eyes of fans who were there, of the last pro sports game in Chicago before the coronavirus pandemic shut things down.
Tom Schuba | agriculture reporting, for “ ‘Epic failure’ on legal weed licensing in Illinois” series.
Rachel Hinton, Ashlee Rezin Garcia, Brian Rich and Brian Ernst | video journalism, recognized for “Resettlement, reunification and romance,” the richly reported story — in print and video — of a refugee couple finally together in the United States after nearly four years apart.
Sun-Times staff | Best website, recognized for chicago.suntimes.com, the Chicago Sun-Times’ main web portal.
Tim Novak and Lauren FitzPatrick | best coverage of taxation, Maurice Scott Award, recognized for a series of investigative reports documenting failures by the Cook County Land Bank Authority.
Frank Main and Andy Grimm | investigative / enterprise reporting, Knight Chair Award, recognized for the investigative series “Long delays for justice.”
Peter Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism
In May, Sun-Times journalists were recognized with 12 top honors in the Peter Lisagor AwardsforExemplary Journalism, sponsored by the Chicago Headline Club, an affiliate of the Society of Professional Journalists, for work published in 2020.
The winning entries included “bests” for politics and government reporting, columns, editorial writing, business reporting, sports writing, design and breaking news coverage.
Altogether, 14 individual Sun-Times staffers — as well as the Sun-Times staff for the year-in-review special section, best news website, best email newsletter and general excellence in online journalism — won top honors.
Sun-Times winners
• Frank Main and Andy Grimm | Politics and government reporting, recognized for the investigative series “Long delays for justice.”
• Ben Pope | Sports story, recognized for “Last fan standing,” looking at the last pro sports event in Chicago before the coronavirus pandemic shut things down.
• Ashlee Rezin Garcia | News photo, recognized for “Burning rage,” capturing a police car set on fire during protests following the killing of George Floyd.
• Eric White | Best design (among all newspapers regardless of circulation), recognized for three examples of page 1 design.
• Sun-Times staff | Best special news section (among all newspapers regardless of circulation), recognized for “2020: The year in review.”
• Sun-Times staff | News website, recognized for chicago.suntimes.com, the Chicago Sun-Times’ main web portal.
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady throws a pass against the Bears on Oct. 8. | Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
With his Buccaneers winning the Super Bowl, quarterback Tom Brady can joke about his Soldier Field gaffe.
With his Buccaneers winning the Super Bowl, quarterback Tom Brady can joke about his Soldier Field gaffe. In a video posted to his Tik-Tok account, Brady detailed what was going through his head — or what wasn’t — when he mistakenly lost track of downs.
Bears cornerback DeAndre Houston-Carson broke up a fourth-down pass from Brady with 33 seconds left in the Bears’ 20-19 win Oct. 8. Brady held up four fingers, as if to say he thought the Bucs still had fourth down coming up. After the game, he demurred when asked if he lost count; coach Bruce Arians said he didn’t.
On Tik-Tok, though, Brady said he thought it was third down.
“You guys remember this one?” he said with the clip playing in the background. “Fourth quarter, last chance in Chicago. I thought it was the second-to-last chance in Chicago, but apparently not. I don’t think I’ve ever been as confused as I am in this moment right here. Look at that face.”
Brady then held up four fingers again — and smacked himself in the face.
Celebrated ChicagoBears player Gale Sayers, born May 30, 1943, joins Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., for the Rainbow Commission for Fairness in Athletics, a sports summit on racism and sexism, at Operation Push on July, 29, 1993. The Bears drafted Sayers, a fan favorite, in 1964. | Photo by Tom Cruze/Chicago Sun-Times.
During the 1964 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears had three first-round draft picks. Gale Sayers, born this week, became their first pick and signed with the team.
As published in the Chicago Daily News, sister publication of the Chicago Sun-Times:
In 1964, the Chicago Bears needed a big win in the NFL draft. A boring 3-7 season left many fans feeling dejected, yet impossibly hopeful about what the upcoming draft might bring because the Bears had three first-round picks and some excellent prospects to choose from.
Before the draft, the Chicago Daily News asked readers to vote for who they thought the Bears should pick first, and the paper published the results in the Nov. 19, 1964 edition. While Illinois linebacker Dick Butkus reigned as everyone’s top pick, the second favorite was none other than running back Gale Sayers.
Sayers, who was born May 30, 1943, may not have played on the famed 1985 Super Bowl-winning team, but he holds a special place in the hearts of Bears fans. He would become the youngest player ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and his memoir recounting his friendship with teammate Brian Piccolo, who died of cancer in 1970, inspired the hit made-for-TV movie, “Brian’s Song.”
Fans in 1964 may have picked Butkus first, but they also recognized that what the Bears really needed was a breakaway runner more than a linebacker. Sayers suffered an injury earlier in the year, “but he’s well now. He’s a fine offensive player and he’ll go early, too,” defensive coach George Allen told Bears reporter Bob Smith.
When the paper published the team’s draft picks on Nov. 30, the Bears chose Sayers first — but so did the American Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs. Butkus may have been the fan favorite, but he ended up being the Bears’ third choice. On Dec. 2, Sayers made his decision.
“The setting is a rented hotel room,” Smith wrote. “Newsmen are gathered to record that Sayers has signed with the Bears instead of with Kansas City of the rival American Football League.”
Linda Sayers accompanied her husband alongside Bears coach George Halas and scout Buddy Young, who delivered Sayers to the Bears.
“I knew Gale from scouting him for the Colts,” Young said. “The NFL says, ‘Young, talk to Sayers … keep him active … keep him in a position where he has a choice.’ You’d be surprised how many kids never had a choice … how many the other league pressures into signing before the draft.”
To Smith, Sayers appeared “friendly and courteous and maybe a hair ill-at-ease with all the fanfare.”
The newly signed player told him, “My wife and I decided Monday night that it would be the Bears. I’ve always had a great admiration for the team and for coach Halas. I wanted to be a running back and that’s where the Bears plan to use me.”
When asked what Sayers would make and if he signed a no-cut contract, Halas danced around the reply, giving Smith what he called a “newsless answer.”
“The Bears are reluctant to give no-cut contracts,” Halas said. “When we sign a player, we don’t like to announce the term of years involved or the amount.”
Smith speculated that Sayers probably cost the Bears about $20,000 a year “for a certain number of years” along with a signing bonus between $7,000 and $10,000.
PLEASE NOTE: Events may be postponed or simply canceled. Please call ahead to make sure they are still scheduled to take place. 1 ART Toward Common Cause Timed to the 40th anniversary of the MacArthur Foundation’s Fellows Program — popularly known as the “genius” grants — this sweeping, multi-site exhibition organized by the University of … Read moreRead More
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