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Apple TV+ docuseries makes the case that ‘Imagine,’ ‘What’s Going On,’ ‘Ohio’ and other anthems reflected and, in some cases, influenced young America.

Any list of the greatest protest and social commentary songs would have to include the following:

• “Imagine” by John Lennon
• “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
• “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron
• “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye
• “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who

All released in 1971 — the same year that yielded the albums “All Day Music” by War, “Madman Across the Water” by Elton John, “Roots” by Curtis Mayfield, “Surf’s Up” by the Beach Boys, “Sticky Fingers” by the Rolling Stones, “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” by Sly and the Family Stone, “Tapestry” by Carole King, “Who’s Next” by the Who, “Blue” by Joni Mitchell and Led Zeppelin IV — so yes, there’s enough music and more than history in the making to justify Apple TV+ devoting eight episodes of approximately 45 minutes each to the documentary series “1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything.” This is the definitive visual history of one of the most tumultuous years in American history — and arguably the greatest year ever for rock, pop and soul.

From the opening scenes of police officers dragging detainees through the streets, construction workers and anti-war protesters clashing in New York City and the burning of the ROTC building on the campus of Kent State, the filmmaking team (whose credits include “Amy” and “Exit Through the Gift Shop”) make it clear “1971” is going to be as much about the tenor of the times as the music that reflected and, in some cases, influenced young America.

“There was a huge divide in America, because of Vietnam,” says Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, who was a student at Kent State University at the time of the still-shocking, almost incomprehensible killing of four students and the wounding of nine others at the hands of National Guardsmen who fired into the unarmed crowds in the spring of 1970. “Shocked? Yeah!” says Hynde. “These kids were lying on the ground, bleeding to death.”

Cue the spine-chilling opening notes and lyrics of “Ohio,” the brilliant anthem by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: “Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming, we’re finally on our own, this summer I hear the drumming, four dead in Ohio …”

AP File

We often see the lyrics of songs superimposed onto still photos and archival footage of the time, e.g, when we hear how Marvin Gaye was inspired to write “What’s Going On?” by his brother being sent to Vietnam, we see footage of caskets arriving in America as families weep, and see the lyrics: Mother mother, there’s too many of you crying, brother brother brother, there’s far too many of you dying. It’s a powerful technique, merging the music with the movements.

“1971” is also filled with audio recordings of comments from the prominent artists of the day, and incredible behind-the-scenes footage of John Lennon working out the arrangement for “Imagine,” George Harrison and Bob Dylan rehearsing “If Not For You” prior to the Concert for Bangladesh, as well as deep dives into the careers of Sly & the Family Stone and the Who, among many others — and recordings of Richard Nixon plotting with Henry Kissinger in the White House, a reminder of the pure evil of Charles Manson (the Manson trial was in 1971) and Vietnam, always Vietnam. In 1971, we often heard the best of America (and Great Britain) on the radio and saw the worst of it in the pro-war politics of the time.

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For William Crawl, 71st Street served as an anchor and safe haven in a life fraught by mental illness. But he was killed there Wednesday night when he was caught in the middle of a gun fight.

As a teenager, William Crawl hung out with his buddies at the pizza parlors along the buzzing retail corridor on 71st Street in South Shore.

Years later, homeless and struggling with mental illness, he returned to the street.

“He’s been out there, like a mailbox, for years. Doesn’t matter if there’s snow or cold. He didn’t bother anybody, wouldn’t hurt a fly,” said Lincoln Brown, a barber and one of several shopkeepers who said they regularly offered Crawl a place to warm up, a bite to eat, and odd jobs to make sure he had a few dollars in his pocket.

Anthony Vazquez, Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

On Wednesday evening, Crawl, 49, was standing outside a convenience store that he counted on every morning for free coffee when he found himself caught in the middle of a gun fight.

Seeking refuge, Crawl ran inside the store but apparently didn’t realize the shooter outside was exchanging gunfire with people inside the store. He was fatally shot in the back of the head. A 16-year-old boy involved in the gunfight was also shot and killed.

Anthony Vazquez, Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

News of Crawl’s death spread fast and hit hard.

“We’re a Christian barbershop, so I try not to curse in here. But it’s a damn shame,” said Brown, who works across the street from where Brown was killed. “Some people live a lifestyle where that comes with it. He wasn’t that. He was a good person.

“I wish they’d stop this senseless killing,” Brown added as he cut a man’s hair with electric clippers. “They’re driving good people out of the city. We can’t take it no more. We’re getting tired of it.”

Crawl didn’t always live on the street.

One of four siblings, Crawl grew up just blocks from where he was killed, the son of a police officer and a nurse, according to his brother, Anthony Crawl, 53.

He graduated from South Shore High School, where he played basketball, and spent a semester at Chicago State University.

“He loved dressing up, he loved cars, he loved jewelry, he loved all those things anyone else would love, and he loved to work. He had a few jobs,” Anthony Crawl said.

He also had five kids and a wife.

“But mental illness kicked in and he found his own way of dealing with it, and we had to find our own way of dealing with that,” said Anthony Crawl, who lives on the South Side and works as a prep cook at a suburban restaurant.

“We tried to get him into the hospital and get him the help he needed, but you can’t make someone do what they don’t want to do,” he said.

His family tried to keep tabs, and sometimes Crawl would find his way to one of their homes to shower, eat and sleep.

“He was a kind person, he was a loving person and he helped people whichever way he could,” Anthony Crawl said.

“He helped older ladies carry their bags, he’d help them home. People, they trusted him, although he was mentally ill, they trusted him. That’s why he gained so much support and no one judged him because mental illness can happen to anyone,” he said.

“Our parents are still alive and we’re focused on paying attention to them and keeping them together,” he said.

Crawl had been in and out of the lives of his own kids. Anthony Crawl said he could not imagine the pain they, too, are going through.

There will also be a void on 71st Street.

“It’s going to be different around here without Will. He didn’t deserve that,” said an employee at a chicken and fish shop steps from where Crawl was killed.

Anthony Vazquez, Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Maged Salem, who owns the convenience store where Crawl died, and gave him coffee and donuts every morning, along with a few bucks for cleaning garbage from the adjacent parking lot.

“It’s sad,” he said.

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The 16-year-old was in the 13200 block of South Langley Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him in the abdomen and groin area, Chicago police said.

A 16-year-old boy was shot Thursday on the Far South Side.

About 5:12 p.m., he was in the 13200 block of South Langley Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him in the abdomen and groin area, Chicago police said.

The teen was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition, police said.

No arrests have been reported.

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Maradona, who led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup, died of a heart attack Nov. 25 at a rented residence outside Buenos Aires following brain surgery two weeks earlier. He was 60.

BUENOS AIRES — Seven health professionals who tended to Diego Maradona in the days before his death have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Maradona, who led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup, died of a heart attack Nov. 25 at a rented residence outside Buenos Aires following brain surgery two weeks earlier. He was 60.

A medical board’s report given to prosecutors this month concluded that Maradona was in agony for more than 12 hours, did not receive adequate treatment and could still be alive if he had been properly hospitalized.

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, the two leaders of Maradona’s medical team, and five other health professionals with involuntary manslaughter.

A doctor, a psychologist, two nurses and a nurse coordinator were the others.

The medical panel’s report said “the patient’s signs of risk of life were ignored,” adding that Maradona “showed unequivocal signs of a prolonged agony period” of at least 12 hours.

The care that Maradona received at the rented house, the report said, “did not fulfill the minimum requirements” for a patient with his medical history, and that he would have survived with “adequate hospitalization.”

Maradona had suffered a series of medical problems, some due to excesses of drugs and alcohol. He was reportedly near death in 2000 and 2004.

Julio Rivas, a lawyer for Luque, said earlier this month that medical forensics of the report were flawed and “biased … with no scientific foundation.”

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President Joe Biden and his supporters say that by shifting the U.S. military and diplomatic focus from the region’s bogged-down conflicts, he’s bringing an overdue end to failed policies that often only prolonged strife, and that the stepped-back U.S. engagement already is encouraging countries to resolve disputes on their own. But fighting has flared recently in some of the areas affected by Biden’s pivot.

Surges in violence and scenes of civilian suffering are testing President Joe Biden’s resolve to wrench America’s foreign policy focus and troops away from the hotspots of the Middle East and Afghanistan, and giving ammunition to Biden’s political rivals at home.

Biden and his supporters say that by shifting the U.S. military and diplomatic focus from the region’s bogged-down conflicts, he’s bringing an overdue end to failed policies that often only prolonged strife, and that the stepped-back U.S. engagement already is encouraging countries to resolve disputes on their own. But fighting has flared recently in some of the areas affected by Biden’s pivot.

The Israel-Gaza war has exploded just as Biden has tried to step back, creating scenes of crushed bodies and flattened homes and a growing rift in Biden’s own party about whether he should do more. Israel and Hamas announced a cease-fire Thursday in airstrikes and rocket attacks that have killed at least 230 Palestinians and 12 in Israel. The end came a day after Biden greatly increased public pressure on Israel, calling for “significant de-escalation” within hours.

Fears of a Taliban takeover and renewed civil war are building ahead of Biden’s troop withdrawal in Afghanistan. And outside desert cities under siege in Yemen, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are pressing an offensive as Biden ends U.S. military support for a 6-year Saudi-led war there.

“This is the fruit of the policy of U.S. President Joe Biden,” Yemeni journalist Walid al Rajhi tweeted this month after shelling from Iran-allied Houthi rebels on the walled city of Taiz. He was echoing a claim that fighters in a besieged Yemeni government stronghold, Marib, also are making to visiting news crews: that Biden’s military withdrawal and overtures to the rebels have only emboldened the Iranian-allied Houthis to press for decisive battlefield victories.

How resolutely Biden carries out the pivot, and what happens in the hotspots after will shape his foreign policy legacy.

Biden seems to be gambling that even if violence flares in the Middle East and Afghanistan as the U.S. shifts primary focus away, that’s a price worth paying to extract the U.S. from regional conflicts as greater challenges emerge elsewhere.

Blame already is in no short supply. “Americans’ decisions hurt us, and we hope that the Americans will go back on their decision,” Lt. Gen. Sagheer bin Aziz, chief of staff of the Yemen army, said in one such battlefield interview, with CNN.

Republicans say the same. Biden’s moves have “only encouraged Houthi aggression, a lesson the administration should remember with the Iranian regime,” Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas tweeted.

And as fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups surged to its highest level since 2014, heartland Democratic lawmakers this week joined progressives in pushing Biden to wade back into intensive U.S. diplomacy. “Too many people have already died. More will unnecessarily perish if America does not act with the immediacy this violence demands,” Rep. David Price, a North Carolina Democrat, told Biden in a letter signed by 138 others.

Biden calls it essential for the United States to pull back from its efforts to police Middle East conflicts and turn to dealing with long-term priorities. That includes competition with China and climate change.

“No one wants to say that we should be in Afghanistan forever, but they insist now is not the right moment to leave,” Biden said last month in setting a Sept. 11 deadline for U.S. military withdrawal.

“‘Not now’ — that’s how we got here,” Biden said of the 20-year U.S. deployment in Afghanistan that has left the Taliban still undefeated and the Afghan government still vulnerable.

For the administration and its supporters, the answer is pulling out of stalemated, costly wars, and managing Middle East diplomatic efforts so that foreign policy efforts don’t rack up air miles in years of fruitless shuttle diplomacy in peace processes that combatants often don’t want.

When it comes to Yemen’s war, for example, “At some point you have to accept what the facts on the ground are telling you,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat who met with Gulf and U.S. officials in a tour of the region this month. “The United States was involved for six to seven years, and Yemen during that period of time moved further and further away from peace.”

Since 9/11, “all we have done through fighting war after war in the region is to make our country less safe,” Murphy said. “So yeah, it may take some adjustment if the United States decides to remember how it protected its interests prior to 2001. But I think that would ultimately accrue to the benefit of our security interests.”

The Biden administration points to intensive efforts by its diplomats for Yemen peace talks despite the end of military support. On Thursday the U.S. imposed sanctions on two Houthi leaders in the offensive on Marib.

Murphy argues U.S. efforts to ease confrontation with Iran already are promoting conciliation attempts on the ground. That includes Saudi Arabia this year reaching out to top rival Iran and to fellow Arab grudge partner Qatar, after President Donald Trump gleefully backed Saudi Arabia in intense confrontation with both.

Even before Biden came to power and sought to calm tensions, Arab rulers, including the United Arab Emirates’, had realized that teaming up in Trump’s maximum-pressure campaign on Iran had only spurred it and its allies to double down on attacks, said Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group’s Iran project director and a former U.N. official who was active in the 2015 Iran nuclear talks.

“I do think that the United States is not looking at the region as a priority anymore,” said Marwan Muasher, a former foreign minister of Jordan, long deeply involved in efforts for a broad Israeli-Palestinian accord. But some smart U.S. engagement will be crucial, he said.

“The Biden administration should not do more on the peace process” between Israel and the Palestinians, Muasher said. “It just should do things differently.”

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President Joe Biden credited the Egyptian government with playing a crucial role in brokering the cease-fire and said he and top White House aides were intensely involved in an “hour by hour” effort to stop the bloodletting.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday hailed the impending cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, saying he sees a “genuine opportunity” toward the larger goal of building a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Biden credited the Egyptian government with playing a crucial role in brokering the cease-fire and said he and top White House aides were intensely involved in an “hour by hour” effort to stop the bloodletting.

“I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy,” Biden said. “My administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy toward that.”

The president spoke soon after Israel and Hamas announced a cease-fire would go into effect at 2 a.m. Friday, ending an 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a halt. The fighting killed at least 227 in Gaza and 12 in Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel accepted the Egyptian proposal after a late-night meeting of his Security Cabinet. Hamas quickly followed suit and said it would honor the deal.

The cease-fire was announced one day after Biden told Netanyahu in a telephone call that he expected “significant de-escalation” of the fighting by day’s end, according to the White House. But the prime minister came right back with a public declaration that he was “determined to continue” the Gaza operation “until its objective is achieved.”

Hours before the cease-fire agreement was reached, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Israelis had “achieved significant military objectives” in their strikes intended to degrade Hamas military capabilities and reiterated that Biden expected the Israelis to start “winding down” their operations.

“We believe the Israelis have achieved significant military objectives that they laid out to achieve in relation to protecting their people and to responding to the thousands of rocket attacks from Hamas,” Psaki said.

Biden, who studiously avoided extensive public comment about the Israeli military strikes through the 11-day conflict, was facing mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to speak out against the Israelis as the death toll climbed in Gaza and tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced by the aerial bombardment.

Throughout the crisis, Biden, in carefully-worded statements and brief exchanges with reporters, underscored Israel’s right to defend itself. But as the death toll and suffering of innocent bystanders in Gaza spread, the position was becoming more difficult to sustain with his Democratic caucus and the international community.

On Tuesday, while in Michigan to visit a Ford facility, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib confronted Biden on the Detroit airport tarmac and called on him to speak out forcefully against the Israeli strikes. Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York introduced resolutions to block the sale of $735 million in military weaponry to Israel that’s already been approved by the Biden administration.

As the outside calls for Biden to speak more forcefully grew, Biden and top aides privately made the case to Israeli officials that time wasn’t on their side in the court of public opinion.

Administration officials pointed to Hezbollah’s stature rising in the region after their 34-day war with Israel in 2006 to make the case for limiting the time of the military action. Israeli officials pushed back that a slightly prolonged campaign to degrade Hamas’ military capabilities was necessary and in their interest, according a person familiar with the talks who was not authorized to discuss them publicly.

Hamas had sought to portray their rocket barrages as a defense of Jerusalem. Israeli officials made the case to the White House that Hamas’ message lost resonance as mob violence against Arabs in mixed Israeli cities, including Lod, was tamped down.

Biden, in his remarks Thursday, reiterated that United States continues to “fully support Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks” by Hamas and other Gaza-based militants.

Biden, who spoke to Netanyahu six times in the last 11 days, said the prime minister credited the Iron Dome missile defense system with limiting the death toll inside Israel. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells. Biden said he assured Netanyahu that his administration would work to quickly restock the missile defense system.

Biden also offered condolences for Palestinian lives lost during the conflict and vowed humanitarian aid would quickly flow through the Palestinian Authority, which is in control of the West Bank but not Gaza.

“We will do this in full partnership with the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas … and in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal,” Biden said.

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“He wanted to give other children an outlet to forget their struggles in life,” Verndell Smith’s sister said.

Verndell Smith’s motto was, “Stop shooting and start dancing.”

It’s why he opened the Ultimate Threat Dance Organization, to get kids off the streets.

“He wanted to give other children an outlet to forget their struggles in life,” his sister LaToya Smith said. “People came in the door not knowing how to dance. And they left, as we’d say, ‘the coldest in Chicago.’ ”

Late Wednesday morning, Smith was walking near his studio in Park Manor when the driver of a silver SUV pulled into the parking lot and opened fire in the 7400 block of South King Drive, hitting Smith in the leg, arm, forehead and torso.

Paramedics took Smith to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Detectives were reviewing surveillance video, but no one had been arrested by Thursday afternoon.

The shooter’s motive was unclear.

Provided photo

Although partially deaf, Smith “found his voice” through dancing, LaToya Smith said.

“My brother was a giver,” she said, not only instilling a passion for dancing but helping his students any way he could.

Sheila Neal’s 15-year-old son has danced at Smith’s studio for three years. “That man was a sweetheart. He cared about those kids beyond recognition,” she said.

Neal said her son doesn’t have a father figure around and Smith “took him under his wing” and helped him think positively.

When her son went to practice but was too sick to dance, “Verndell texted me he was all right and he got him an Uber home,” she said. Her son ended up in the ER with a migraine, and Smith texted her all night to check in on him.

Smith once wrote a lighthearted song about his disability, “Speak up, I can’t hear you,” Neal said. “You always had to look in his face for him to hear you. He made jokes out of it.”

Smith dreamed of leading the Bud Billiken Parade, Neal said. “That was his dream. ‘One year I’m gonna be the Bud,’ that’s all he said.”

Verndell was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and moved at age 6 to Chicago. He was influenced by R&B and the dance moves of Usher, Chris Brown, B2K and Michael Jackson, according to his Bud Billiken Parade biography.

Verndell’s dance company performed in competitions across the country, including the Apollo Theater in New York.

“He’s definitely a dance legend and he should never be forgotten,” said Devoureaux Wolf, who has a dance platform on the West Side and sometimes collaborated with Smith.

“He opened up a way to let these boys and girls be comfortable. Some of them needed a way to express themselves and Verndell would get that out of them,” he said.

Smith, who had a 10-year-old son, considered his studio a safe space. His sister recalled the time he learned two boys were carrying guns in his place. “He grabbed them and asked why they were doing it. They said it was protection for school. And he said he’d take them to school until it calmed down,” she said.

Days later, someone called police and reported that the boys were carrying guns at the studio, LaToya Smith said. Officers entered the studio and Verndell stood between them and the boys until the officers’ supervisor arrived.

When the situation calmed down, police searched the boys and found no guns, she said. Later the police invited the dance group to perform at one of its functions.

LaToya Smith hopes her brother is remembered for his determination and for his dreams.

“He had a disability, the fact he couldn’t hear, and he continued to push through,” she said. “I want people to go after your dreams. He wanted to be a rapper, and at age 31, he started to rap again. It’s never too late.”

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At least 230 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health officials, while 12 people in Israel have died.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel and Hamas announced a cease-fire Thursday, ending a bruising 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel accepted the Egyptian proposal after a late-night meeting of his Security Cabinet. Hamas quickly followed suit and said it would honor the deal.

Egypt’s state-run MENA news agency said the truce would take effect at 2 a.m., roughly three hours after the announcement.

In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said the Security Cabinet unanimously approved the proposal after recommendations from the military chief of staff and other top defense officials. The statement boasted of “significant achievements in the operation, some of which are unprecedented” and included a veiled threat against Hamas.

“The political leaders emphasized that the reality on the ground will determine the future of the campaign,” the statement said.

Taher Nounou, a Hamas official, confirmed the deal. “The Palestinian resistance will commit itself to this deal as long as the occupation is committed,” he said.

The agreement would close the heaviest round of fighting between the bitter enemies since a 50-day war in 2014, and once again there was no clear winner. Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hamas but was unable to prevent the rocket fire that has disrupted life for millions of Israelis for more than a decade.

The fighting began May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint site that is known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.

Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes during the operation, targeting what it said was Hamas’ military infrastructure, including a vast tunnel network. Hamas and other militant groups embedded in residential areas fired over 4,000 rockets at Israeli cities, with hundreds falling short and most of the rest intercepted.

At least 230 Palestinians were killed, including 65 children and 39 women, with 1,710 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into fighters and civilians.

Hamas and the militant group Islamic Jihad said at least 20 of their fighters were killed, while Israel said the number was at least 130. Some 58,000 Palestinians have fled their homes, many of them seeking shelter in crowded U.N. schools at a time of a raging coronavirus outbreak.

Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl and a soldier, were also killed.

Since the fighting began, Gaza’s infrastructure, already weakened by a 14-year blockade, has rapidly deteriorated.

Medical supplies, water and fuel for electricity are running low in the territory, on which Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas seized power in 2007.

Israel considers Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks its destruction, to be a terrorist group and Hamas’ government is not internationally recognized.

Israeli bombing has damaged over 50 schools across the territory, according to advocacy group Save the Children, completely destroying at least six. While repairs are done, education will be disrupted for nearly 42,000 children.

Israeli attacks have also damaged at least 18 hospitals and clinics and destroyed one health facility, the World Health Organization said. Nearly half of all essential drugs have run out.

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The panel praised changes the developer made based on two years of engagement with community groups.

City planners Thursday endorsed a developer’s multiyear plan to build on Near North Side property owned by Moody Bible Institute, praising the overall design and the collaborative process with community groups that produced it.

The proposal by JDL Development, with an estimated value of $1.3 billion, calls for up to 2,680 residential units and 30,000 square feet of commercial space. It also would provide 2.5 acres of publicly accessible parks, a widely praised feature that JDL enlarged after community meetings.

“This is one of the most optimistic developments I have seen in my time here,” said the city’s planning commissioner, Maurice Cox. Highlighting design changes the developer made to integrate the buildings with the dense neighborhood around it, Cox said, “It’s reassuring to see someone work successfully with the city grid that they’ve been handed.”

The Chicago Plan Commission, which includes Cox, unanimously endorsed the project. The vote by the panel that includes mayoral appointees sends the matter to the full City Council for a final zoning decision.

During a long meeting, the commission backed several other developments, including affordable housing in Englewood and a 47-story residential tower in the West Loop.

The proposal for the Moody Bible Institute sites calls for a mix of housing types on about 8 acres. The rough boundaries are the CTA’s Brown Line, Oak, Chestnut and Wells streets, although the two tallest buildings in JDL’s plan would be just north of Oak on what’s now Moody’s soccer field. They would come in the project’s final phase.

JDL CEO James Letchinger said he hopes to start on the site’s southeast end late this year. New construction and the renovation of four existing buildings will take years and be subject to market cycles, but Letchinger said he is confident about Chicago’s rebound from the pandemic and the Near North Side’s continued residential appeal.

The tallest buildings would be at 300 and 310 W. Oak St. and would rise 65 and 57 stories, respectively, on what’s now Moody’s soccer field.

“We’re still incredibly invested in Chicago, and we’re not going anywhere,” Letchinger said. His firm is completing the One Chicago development of two high-rises on Chicago Avenue across from Holy Name Cathedral.

The Moody Bible project goes under the name North Union, a term Letchinger used for his aim to enliven blocks between River North, the Gold Coast and the former Cabrini-Green public housing site. Moody Bible has decided the area is excess property and has agreed to sell to Letchinger, but it continues its Christian education at its main campus, 820 N. La Salle St.

A separate part of the same zoning proposal would apply to Moody’s continuing campus and would allow 1,372 units of future housing on the property, but there are no current plans for that.

Letchinger said that at full buildout, the mostly tax-exempt property could generate $20 million a year in property taxes. The development requires no help from tax increment financing, and Letchinger has agreed to an affordable housing requirement that exceeds city ordinance.

He would build 236 units with rent limitations to meet affordability requirements. In addition, he’s promised another 118 affordable units either on- or off-site, although he said the number could change if the city wants a higher proportion of three-bedroom units.

Ald. Walter Burnett Jr’s 27^th Ward includes most of the development. He said it has “100% support” from him and from leading community groups. Burnett also said he hopes the project will spur interest from the CTA in adding an L stop at Division Street.

The design is the result of “a robust process, an expansive process that included a lot of voices,” said Teresa Cordova, an urban planning professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and chair of the Plan Commission.

Letchinger said his firm, working with Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, worked through a two-year schedule of meetings with the city and local groups. “I have never had a community meeting that didn’t result in an improved product,” he said.

The design keeps curb cuts off Wells Street. The proposed architecture mostly calls for buildings that are tapered on higher floors.

In other action, the plan commission supported:

—New housing at 6100 S. Halsted St., a 56-unit complex of apartments at mostly income-restricted rents by Keith B. Key Enterprises.

—A 47-story tower at 640 W. Washington Blvd. by Crescent Heights. It would include 413 units and a base that includes commercial space and parking.

—A seven-story office building at 817 W. Lake St. proposed by Frank Callero and Steven Zaleski.

—A conversion to residential use of two large buildings in the historic Central Manufacturing District at 2139 and 2159 W. Pershing Road. Code RE Partners and Hispanic Housing Development Corp. plan 159 housing units, mostly at income-restricted rents, and commercial space. The plan passed on an unusual split vote at the commission, 7-4, as members discussed the impact of pollution from a nearby asphalt plant.

Brian Ernst/Sun-Times file

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Twins reliever Tyler Duffey received a three-game suspension and undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing a pitch behind Yermín Mercedes.

Twins reliever Tyler Duffey received a three-game suspension and undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing a pitch behind White Sox designated hitter Yermín Mercedes during the seventh inning of Tuesday’s game at Target Field.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine as a result of Duffey’s actions. Baldelli is serving his suspension in the second game of a doubleheader today against the Angels in Anaheim.

Duffey’s suspension was set to begin today but he will appeal.

The pitch was an apparent act of retaliation for Mercedes swinging on 3-0 and hitting a homer in the ninth inning of a 16-4 Sox victory the night before. Sox manager Tony La Russa apologized to Baldelli, saying it was sportsmanlike for Mercedes — who was given a take sign — to swing.

“We got that feeling from across the dugout that Tony and some people in the dugout were not pleased with what was going on,” Baldelli said before the Twins’ 5-4 victory during which Duffey was ejected. “And the message did get to me, and again, I appreciate that message. I’ll tell you this — there’s one thing acknowledging it, and that’s appreciated, but it doesn’t quell all of the emotions from all the guys in the clubhouse, in and of itself. That’s just the case of it, that’s how things go in this game.”

After Mercedes was thrown at, La Russa didn’t take issue talking about it after the game.

“That’s the umpire’s opinion. It wasn’t obvious to me,” La Russa said. “The guy threw a sinker. It didn’t look good. So, I wasn’t that suspicious. I’m suspicious if somebody throws at somebody’s head. I don’t have a problem with how the Twins handled that.”

Michael Hill, Major League Baseball’s Senior Vice President for On-Field Operations, made the announcement.

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