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The new Sky phenom spent 13 years with the Sparks in L.A., but her superstardom had its roots in Naperville.

In high school, Candace Parker couldn’t wait for Christmas to be over because that meant it was time to play in the Dundee-Crown holiday tournament.

If you got to the gym early enough, you could watch it transition from a quiet high school on a tree-lined suburban street in Carpentersville to a sporting venue straight from a movie. Think of ‘‘Hoosiers.’’

Anyone who has been around the Chicago-area prep basketball scene knows the setting. It’s a winter night so cold it steals your breath. Fluffy snowflakes are sticking to your eyelashes. Your car is parked far away from the gym doors.

Once you get in — if you get in — you’re standing along the wall.

Too often, those settings were standard for boys games. But on those nights, during her four years as a Redhawk, those cars lined the street to watch young women suit up and ball out. Those fans packed the bleachers and stood for hours along the walls of basketball gyms on cold winter nights to get a glimpse of Parker, the teenage phenom.

“It’s really weird to see pictures from our freshman and sophomore year to junior and senior and see how our following increased,” Parker said.

Anne Ryan/AP

Parker created a buzz around women’s basketball that followed her from the snowy streets of the Chicago area, to the southern sun of Tennessee and the SEC, to the famed hills of Los Angeles and overseas.

As she returns to Chicago, Parker brings with her an excitement for Sky basketball that even Elena Delle Donne and Sylvia Fowles couldn’t establish. Not because they aren’t two of the greatest to play in the WNBA, but because they aren’t Parker, and this city wasn’t home.

Parker said she didn’t notice her impact on the game until she saw kids wearing her first signature shoe in China and others donning her jersey on courts she drove past in the States.

By then, she was well into her professional career in the WNBA, but most knew she’d change the game almost immediately. As an eighth-grader, she was pulling off hesitation moves followed by finger-roll layups on grown men at Edwards Health and Fitness Center.

Some say the way to separate a good player from a great one is to determine which ushered in change. By that measure, Parker is a great player.

From the moment she decided to commit herself to basketball over soccer (as her parents Larry and Sara describe it, her first love), her dad started working with her to be more than a big player stuck on the block.

Parker was over 6 feet tall as a freshman but had the ballhandling skills of a true point guard. Before it was expected for bigs to be developed beyond the paint, to control the possession, to knock down three-point shots, she was doing it.

Growing up, she idolized Allen Iverson and wanted to play like Tina Thompson and Cynthia Cooper. It was their versatility she admired.

Parker wasn’t trying to be different — she was trying not to be one-dimensional. Plus, the only way she was going to compete with her two older brothers, Anthony and Marcus, was if she learned how to handle the ball.

Nothing came easy in the Parker house. The family shared dinners every night, but those dinners came with a healthy dose of humorous teasing. Arriving after a bad game meant the family would go looking for that sibling’s jump shot in the cabinet before taking a seat at the table.

Marcus, on one occasion, took things as far as using a pseudonym to start a debate on a high school preps message board over whether his little sister was really worth the hype. Later he revealed this to his mom, who was shocked but not surprised.

As hard as the Parkers teased, they supported each other with even more ferocity.

Marcus was the first one back in the gym with Candace after she tore her ACL before her senior year at Naperville Central. Days after that late-night session that at one point left her on the floor with Marcus trying not to act worried, she returned to the court to play in the Dundee-Crown tournament.

It was the same tournament in which she made history by dunking as a 15-year-old sophomore.

“She called us from the house the next day and said, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s all these people at the door, and people keep calling,’ ” her mother, Sara, recalls. “She asked us ‘What is this about?’ and we said, ‘Well, Candace, it’s probably because you dunked. Nobody has done that before.’ ”

Drafted first overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft, Parker became the second player to dunk in a WNBA game her rookie season. Her teammate Lisa Leslie was the first.

She is the only player in the league’s history to win rookie of the year and MVP in the same season.

After her rookie year, Parker gave birth to her daughter, Lailaa, in May ahead of the 2009 season. She returned to the WNBA six weeks after delivery.

That following January, Parker traveled to Russia for her overseas commitments with Sara and her nearly 8-month-old daughter. Sara traveled to every game with Lailaa that season. At halftime, Parker would nurse her daughter. Sara said Parker had some of her best games on the least amount of sleep.

She’s a five-time All-Star, two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time league MVP, a WNBA champion, Finals MVP, WNBA defensive player of the year, EuroLeague champion and five-time Russian national league champion.

Making history is what Parker has done, but it’s not what she set out to do.

Before Parker got to Tennessee, late Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt and then-assistant Holly Warlick told her they expected that she’d be a power forward. At 6-5, with her passing skills, court vision, three-point shot and abilities to post up, Summitt and Warlick saw her potential to disrupt defenders and reinvent the position.

Parker adamantly told them she wanted to stay at the three. Worried about losing her as a recruit, they gave in, “ ‘OK, you’re a three,’ we told her,” Warlick said.

Parker ended up playing all five positions at Tennessee, which at that point was not being done by players with her height. It’s still hard to find now. Back then, the women’s game almost exclusively featured two post players inside. Summitt wanted Parker to face up, play away from the basket and shoot the three. She also wanted to use her inside.

Warlick said they finally convinced her to play the four and the five based on who was defending her. If she had another big on her, she’d take them out of the paint, face up and penetrate on them. Going up against a guard that could keep up with her handles, Parker would put her back to the basket and post up.

Wade Payne/AP

ESPN’s top 25 players for the 2021 WNBA season has Parker ranked fourth, behind Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm), A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces) and Delle Donne (Washington Mystics). They all have one thing in common: they play a lot like Parker.

It’s not just her style of play that sets Parker apart, it’s her understanding of the game as well. It’s like having another coach on the floor. During one game, Warlick remembers the coaches looking at each other contemplating if they should call a timeout when they heard the whistle blow and the ref say, “Timeout, Tennessee.”

Parker had called a timeout, and Warlick said it was a needed one.

She developed her advanced understanding of the game growing up in a house with coaches. Both of her parents played basketball, Larry at Iowa and Sara for Iowa’s intramural program. They both coached Parker’s AAU team as well.

The best education, Warlick said, came during some of Parker’s injuries when she was forced to sit and watch the game. Parker didn’t waste those moments just watching, she studied. Every time she came back, she was a better player.

It wouldn’t be fair to Parker to casually brush off the lows of injury as learning moments. They were tough, but Parker always has proven tougher.

In Tennessee’s 2008 Elite Eight game against Texas A&M, Parker dislocated her left shoulder twice and still scored 26 points. Ahead of the Final Four game against LSU, her shoulder dislocated again, this time in her sleep.

Marcus said for doctors to get Parker’s shoulder back in, they had to put her under anesthesia. She finished with a double-double scoring 13 points and pulling down 15 rebounds despite playing with one arm.

“You could see when they would pass her the ball if it was in a specific place, she would wince in pain,” Marcus said.

Parker helped Tennessee to its eighth NCAA women’s basketball title (and her second) one day later by beating Stanford 64-48. The following day, on April 9, Parker was selected by the Sparks. Sylvia Fowles, who helped lead LSU to the Final Four against Tennessee, was picked second by the Sky.

If you’re wondering about what could have been and the possibility of a Sky trade for the No. 1 pick that would have brought her home 13 years ago instead of three months ago, stop.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t want Chicago out of college,” Parker says now.

At 22, she was ready to be an adult and grow her game away from the comfort of childhood friends and family.

Parker needed Los Angeles and the WNBA, entering its 11th season when she was drafted, needed her there, too.

As a rookie on a team with Leslie in the LA market, the buzz that followed her from Tennessee was amplified. Teammates recall hearing about the rookie who would go No. 1 overall. Some described her as the Michael Jordan of the WNBA. DeLisha Milton-Jones called her a movement.

Reed Saxon/AP

Milton-Jones, who had requested a trade from the Sparks two years before, was playing for the Mystics in 2007 when she got a call from then-Sparks coach and former Lakers guard Michael Cooper. He told her there was a rookie sensation about to come in and he was putting the band back together.

That year, the Sparks went 20-14, finished third in the Western Conference and lost 2-1 in the best-of-three Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Silver Stars.

The final minute of Game 3 was a dagger to the heart. The Sparks led 72-69 until Becky Hammon tied the game on a three-pointer with a minute left. Hammon cemented the win with four free throws.

The Silver Stars were swept by the Detroit Shock in the Finals, and Parker is still upset about it to this day.

“One-thousand percent, I’m pissed,” Parker said. “I do think it was a good experience though. Should we have won? Yes. But there’s always those would of, could of, should ofs.”

Looking back, Parker can see that season gave her something that winning a championship her rookie season couldn’t. As a rookie, Parker thought she had all the time in the world to climb the mountain.

When the 2016 season rolled around, Parker understood the importance of capitalizing on the moment and exactly how hard it is to get to the WNBA Finals. The energy and passion was there for that Sparks team, but Parker knew it takes everything going right plus a little luck to become a champion.

Teammate Alana Beard describes their on-court relationship as intense because their expectations for each other were so high. In practice, games and in communicating with teammates, Beard always wanted Parker’s best.

Equally, Parker’s level of excellence allowed Beard to see and go beyond what she thought she was capable of. There was no settling when those two shared the court.

Parker and her teammates had the championship vision and the talent but they needed a little luck. Some would say it came in the form of a snub.

When Parker was left off of the 2016 USA Olympic team by UConn coach Geno Auriemma, the collective basketball world was shocked. More important to note though is the shock expressed by teammates and coaches across the league.

“I will never understand that,” Beard said.

It was the motivation she needed to lead the Sparks to the WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx. From 2011 to 2017, the Lynx won four championships and made six finals appearances.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said she gets exhausted just thinking about the battles her team shared with the Sparks. There was no love lost between the teams. Reeve described it as a healthy dislike, so much so that it affected free agency.

“No way in hell is a Spark going to come play for the Minnesota Lynx during that time and vice versa,” Reeve said.

When LA won it in 2016, it was like the younger sibling finally figuring out how to beat the older one. Beard’s buzzer-beater against the Lynx in Game 1 got the series started. Nneka Ogwumike’s putback with three seconds left plus Parker’s 28-point, 12-rebound Finals MVP performance in Game 5 on the Lynx’s court sealed it.

Basketball is a team sport, but when critics rank the greatest players of all time, whether or not they won a championship is one of the critical components that decides where a player lands on that list.

In the league’s historic 20th season Parker’s legacy as one of the greatest to ever play the game was solidified with the Sparks’ first title in 14 years.

Parker didn’t know for sure that she played her final game with the Sparks following the 2020 season when she was named Defensive Player of the Year.

Last season was a defining one off the court as well, where Parker has been equally as influential throughout her career. The league’s 144 players in the bubble led the sports landscape in the fight against systemic racism and police brutality by creating actionable change in communities across the country from Bradenton, Florida. Most notably might be their endorsement of Georgia Senator, Raphael Warnock who defeated incumbent and former Atlanta Dream owner, Kelly Loeffler in Georgia’s Senate runoff in January.

In 2020 Parker voiced the Sparks’ “Change Has No Offseason” social justice campaign. She wrote a letter for TIME for the 100 year anniversary of Women’s Suffrage, making the critical acknowledgment that it would be another 45 years until Black women were able to legally vote. Parker also joined forces with TNT colleague, Dwyane Wade, along with Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul in their Social Change Fund which launched last July.

“It’s not my equality. It’s not your equality. It’s our equality,” Parker shared on Instagram last August.

Entering free agency, Parker was contemplating the idea of leaving Los Angeles, but it was hard to grapple with. She has lived in LA almost as long as she lived in Naperville. Lailaa goes to school there. She said it always will be home.

Ultimately, she made the decision for herself, but it took some coaxing from the Sky.

When the Sky front office sat down and discussed free agency, their main objective was to sign Parker. At that point, Sky owner Michael Alter said it was a fantasy but knew better than to make any assumptions.

Sky coach and general manager James Wade flew to Atlanta from France to meet with Parker for dinner while she was in town working as an NBA analyst for TNT. It’s another role she plays that highlights her ability to change the WNBA. Every time she sits alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and others on that esteemed panel, she’s bringing more fans to the league.

James Wade described them as having a great talk. He told her what the Sky could offer her, and they discussed the championship potential the team had if she were to play alongside the veteran backcourt duo of Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley.

After leaving dinner their conversations remained fluid, but Wade knew he had to temper his expectations.

“With a player of her stature, you don’t know until you know,” Wade said.

One thing that was important to Parker was knowing players like Vandersloot and Quigley wanted her in Chicago. But it wasn’t just VanderQuigs who was eager to welcome Parker home. All the players on the Sky had dreams of what they could accomplish if Parker returned.

Budding star Diamond DeShields grew up aspiring to be like Parker. Azura Stevens made a doll of Parker for a middle-school project. Lexie Brown was in Tampa, Florida, to see Parker and Tennessee capture the NCAA title against Stanford in 2008.

When Parker signed a two-year contract with the Sky on Feb. 1, their idol became their teammate, and the dreams of what they could accomplish together became attainable goals.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

There’s no question about the Sky’s instant relevance in Chicago’s saturated sports landscape with Parker on the team. The only way teams remain relevant in this city is by winning championships.

Chicago sports fans don’t expect much. The Cubs went 108 years before winning their third World Series in 2016. The Bulls’ second threepeat was more than 23 years ago. The Bears’ lone Super Bowl championship came after the 1985 season. The Red Stars have yet to win an NWSL title in the league’s nine-year existence. The White Sox haven’t won since 2005, and the Blackhawks won their last Stanley Cup in 2015.

Fans in this city are loyal to titles and Parker has the potential to lead the Sky to their first in the organization’s history.

As far as Parker’s legacy goes, she said she’s not one to disrupt what still is being written. She is conscious of the fact she has more games behind her than ahead of her.

While she hasn’t made any indication of when she’ll hang it up, playing in Chicago 46 miles from the gym she made history in at 15 certainly has the potential for a storybook ending.

It’ll take everything going right, plus a little luck.

“When my career is all said and done, then we’ll be able to reflect on it,” Parker said. “While I’m still in it, I hope I continue to change the way the game is played.”

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A 2-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy were among those wounded, as well as two uniformed Chicago police officers.

At least six people were killed and 42 others were wounded over the weekend in Chicago as gun violence continues its sharp rise from last year. A 2-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy were among those shot, as well as two uniformed Chicago police officers.

The number of people shot was almost double what it was last weekend, when five people were killed and 21 others hurt in gun violence across the city. With 48 people shot, this weekend has the highest number of shooting victims so far this year, according to Sun-Times records.

As of Monday morning, at least 1,187 people had been shot in the city this year and there have been at least 214 homicides. That’s a sharp rise from last year, when 886 were shot over the same period and there were 187 homicides.

Girl shot while riding in of car

The 2-year-old was in the back seat when a car pulled up in the 2800 block of West 26th Street and someone inside started shooting about 6:55 p.m. Friday, Chicago police said.

She was hit in the leg and taken by the driver to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, according to police.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

13-year-old boy critically hurt

The boy was on the sidewalk about 7:55 a.m. Sunday in the 3700 block of South Wood Street when a car approached and someone inside opened fire, police said.

He was struck in the head and neck and taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said.

Chicago police officers shot

Two Chicago police officers were shot and the suspected gunman was wounded during an exchange of gunfire Sunday morning in Lawndale on the West Side.

The officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert about 7:20 a.m. in the 1400 block of South Lawndale Avenue and saw a 45-year-old man in an alley nearby, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said outside Mount Sinai Hospital, where the officers were treated and released.

When the officers approached, the person “immediately began firing a gun at the officers,” Brown said.

Sophie Sherry/Sun-Times

One officer was struck in the hand and the second in the leg and shoulder, above the vest, Brown said. Both were “stable, recovering and in good condition,” he added.

The suspected gunman was also shot in the “lower extremities,” according to Brown.

No charges had been announced by Monday morning.

Rapper Lil Reese, 2 other men shot

Rapper Lil Reese and two others were shot during a gunfight Saturday at a parking garage on a busy Near North Side block.

The men were “all shooting at each other” about 9:50 a.m. inside a parking garage in the first block of West Grand Avenue, according to police.

Two men, 27 and 28, were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said. The younger man was struck multiple times and was in critical condition, while the older man was grazed in the eye and was in fair condition.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

A police source said one of the wounded men was rapper Lil Reese, whose legal name is Tavares Taylor.

A third man, 20, was taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition with two gunshot wounds to his knee, police said.

Man killed in possible drive-by in Chicago Lawn

The 24-year-old man was shot by someone, possibly in a silver sedan, as he stood outside with a group of people about 12:40 a.m. in the 6300 block of South Campbell Avenue, police said. He was struck in the upper chest and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he died.

Fatal shooting in Woodlawn

A 21-year-old man was shot dead Saturday afternoon in Woodlawn on the South Side. About 2:45 p.m., he was in the 1300 block of East Marquette Road when someone opened fire, striking him multiple times, police said.

The man was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

5 shot, 2 fatally, at Gresham party

Early Saturday morning, two people were killed and three others wounded in a shooting at a party in Gresham on the South Side.

Several people were at a gathering in the 7800 block of South Loomis Boulevard when a gunman opened fire shortly after 3 a.m., according to police.

A 26-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

A 21-year-old was also struck in the head and taken to the same hospital, where he later died, police said.

A 25-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder and was also taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.

Another man, 23, suffered two gunshot wounds to the right arm and was transported to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition, police said. A fifth man, 21, was struck in the shoulder and listed in fair condition at the same hospital, according to police.

Man shot to death at gas station

A person was found shot to death about an hour later at a gas station in West Garfield Park.

He was found about 4:05 a.m. in the parking lot of a gas station in the 400 block of South Kostner Avenue with a gunshot wound to the chest, police said. He was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

1 killed, 1 critically hurt in Belmont Cragin

Friday night, a man was killed and another injured in a shooting in Belmont Cragin on the Northwest Side.

About 11:50 p.m., officers heard several shots fired and saw an 18-year-old man running with a rifle in the 6200 block of West Diversey Avenue, police said.

Officers placed him under arrest and noticed he had two gunshot wounds to the back and one to the arm, police said. He was transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition.

While searching the area, officers also found a 32-year-old man on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head, police said. He was taken to the same hospital where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

Last weekend, five people were killed and 21 others hurt in incidents of gun violence across Chicago.

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

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De La Salle, Fenwick, Waubonsie Valley, Marist, Conant, Prospect and Lincoln-Way West have made hires.

Gary DeCesare is returning to Chicago and the Catholic League.

The former head coach at St. Rita has been named the new head coach at De La Salle. Tom White retired as coach at De La Salle this spring after 26 years.

DeCesare departed St. Rita in 2019. He was at Miami’s Gulliver Prep this past season and has been coaching for more than three decades.

“For me personally it’s an exciting time,” said DeCesare of being named the head coach at De La Salle. “I feel pretty humbled, to be honest. Tom White built a great foundation at De La Salle. The Catholic League is one of the best Catholic leagues in the entire country. I’m really excited about the opportunity.”

DeCesare’s 10 years as coach at St. Rita included the program’s best-ever run of success and talent. With the likes of Charles Matthews, Vic Law and Dominique Matthews leading the way, DeCesare went 182-110 in his 10 years at St. Rita. His 2014-15 team was his best as the Mustangs finished 26-4 but lost to Simeon in the the sectional championship.

DeCesare’s long coaching résumé includes seven years as a college assistant coach and 17 years as a high school coach in his native Bronx as the head coach at St. Raymond. He won four city championships and two state championships while coaching the New York Catholic powerhouse.

“My roots started at a Christian Brothers school at St. Raymond in the Bronx and De La Salle is a Christian Brothers school, so that’s important to me,” said DeCesare. “I was raised in a Christian Brothers school and I will retire at one.”

DeCesare is one of several coaching changes and hires throughout the Chicago area this spring.

Fenwick

Following three seasons as head coach at Fenwick, Staunton Peck stepped down after going 56-24 overall and winning a share of the Catholic League Blue title this past season.

Tony Young takes over at Fenwick after spending the past four seasons leading the Marmion program.

Young, who coaches with the Illinois Wolves on the club basketball circuit, has a blend of college, AAU and high school basketball coaching experience.

In addition to his recent stint at Marmion, Young was a part of the late Rick Majerus’ staff at Saint Louis in 2013, where he was the director of basketball operations. He was the head coach at East St. Louis from 2012-15.

Young was 54-22 at East St. Louis and compiled a 26-73 record at Marmion.

Young played on the great Schaumburg team that won the 2001 state championship. He went on to play at Southern Illinois.

Conant

Conant turned to a familiar name in the Mid-Suburban League to replace Jim Maley, who stepped down after four years on the job.

Matt Walsh, a Conant graduate who spent five years as the head coach at Schaumburg from 2009-2014, takes over a program that finished a combined 9-33 over the past two seasons.

Walsh, who spent the 2020-21 season as Conant’s sophomore coach, won three MSL West championships and three regional titles during his time as coach at Schaumburg.

Waubonsie Valley

Jason Mead certainly leaves the Waubonsie Valley program in a better place than what he inherited in 2016.

Mead’s rebuilding project included going a combined 66-14 over the past three years. He stepped down after five years leading the Warriors.

Waubonsie Valley hired Andrew Schweitzer, who has been the sophomore coach for Mike Healy at Wheaton-Warrenville South.

Marist

Brian Hynes, a longtime assistant coach to Gene Nolan at Marist from 2007-2018, will get his shot at running the program.

Hynes, a 1986 Marist graduate, replaces coach Tim Trendel who went 31-40 in three seasons. Trendel has taken an assistant principal job at St. Patrick.

Prospect

After 14 years with John Camaradella running the program, the Knights stayed in-house and promoted assistant coach Brad Rathe to the top spot. Rathe is a veteran assistant coach who has been with Camardella for all 14 of his years.

Camardella, the winningest coach in school history, put together a 229-149 record while winning 10 MSL East titles and a pair of regional championships.

Lincoln-Way West

Tanner Mitchell, who has been an assistant coach at Lemont for coach Rick Runaas, was hired to replace Brian Flaherty.

Flaherty won two regional championships in nine seasons, including the magical run to Peoria in 2016 where the Warriors finished as state runner-up in Class 3A.

Still open: Several head coaching jobs remain open, including Bremen, Sandburg, Hinsdale South, Highland Park and Hoffman Estates are all still looking to fill their head coaching positions.

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Paprocki will make his debut as PA announcer at Wrigley Field on Monday when the Cubs face the Nationals.

Many fans dream of having their voices echo around historic Wrigley Field while reading the names of Cy Young Award winners, MVPs and future Hall of Famers. One lifelong Cubs fan is getting his shot to do just that.

There’s going to be a new booming baritone voice heard around Wrigleyville and it belongs to 21-year-old Jeremiah Paprocki. The Cubs have hired Paprocki to be their new public address announcer, making him the first African American to hold the position in team history and one of the youngest in MLB.

He’ll make his Wrigley Field debut on Monday when the Cubs take on the Nationals.

“Who’s ever heard of a 21-year-old PA announcer?” Paprocki told the Sun-Times. “That truly means the world that the Chicago Cubs, my hometown team, the team that I love, is taking a chance on me.

“To be able to sit in that chair behind the microphone at Wrigley Field of all places, it’s truly an honor. I’m looking forward to that opportunity.”

The journey for Paprocki started in Chicago as a young sports fan with his eye on playing, until one day at the United Center. As he heard the voice of legendary Bulls announcer Tommy Edwards read the starting lineups, the light went on that broadcasting and ultimately PA announcing would be in his future.

From there started what has been a meteoric rise as a PA announcer after graduating from CICS Northtown Academy on the city’s North Side. He later made his mark at UIC, where he has not only been one of the voices of the Flames, but also where he’s currently a first-semester senior.

But that hasn’t stopped him from reaching the seat he’s always wanted.

“It’s a long time coming for me, even though I’m 21,” he said. “It’s the opportunity that I’ve been waiting for that we finally reached. We just gotta keep showing them why I deserve to be behind that microphone.”

“We are excited to see how fans respond to Jeremiah as we feel his authentic, friendly voice perfectly suits the environment we aim to create at Wrigley Field,” Cubs vice president of marketing Lauren Fritts said. “We know Cubs fans value tradition, and with Jeremiah, we are thrilled to find both a longtime fan and a young professional who will thrive in this important role.”

Papracki’s Cubs roots didn’t start with him, but were passed down by his mom, who he says gets the credit for his love of baseball. His mom, Barbara, was even a Cubs parking attendant in the 1990s. Obviously, the news of her son’s new gig was well received.

“Man, she cried when she heard the news,” Paprocki said. “When the Cubs offered me the PA job, they were talking to me and I could hear her crying in the other room. It definitely means a lot for her to have been in that Cubs environment and now her son is the voice of Wrigley Field.”

These opportunities don’t come around often for young broadcasters, especially young Black broadcasters. While Paprocki always wants the work to speak for itself, he knows what his opportunity means for those who will come behind him.

“Being the first African American PA in Cubs history, it definitely means a lot,” he said. “I hope that it inspires other African-American boys and girls out there that are interested in broadcasting that opportunities are available to you if you keep going and to never stop and to never let anything discourage you from pursuing opportunities.”

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The festival will take place in September this year in Union Park after being canceled in 2020.

There will be a Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this year, but fans will need to wait till September to catch the bands.

A staple in Chicago each July for the past 14 years, except in 2020 when the festival was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pitchfork is scheduled to take place this year on Sept. 10-12 in Union Park in the West Loop, it was confirmed Monday morning.

The full lineup for the fest was also announced, and includes headliners Phoebe Bridgers (Friday), St. Vincent (Saturday) and Erykah Badu (Sunday).

Tickets are now on sale at pitchforkmusicfestival.com. Three-day passes are $195; single-day tickets are $90. Pitchfork PLUS upgrades bump the prices to $385 for a three-day pass, $185 for single-day.

News of Pitchfork comes on the heels of announcements for the return of two other major Chicago outdoor musical festivals: Riot Fest, Sept. 17-19 in Douglass Park, and the newly renamed Spring Awakening — now pushed to the fall and called Autumn Equinox — Oct. 2-3 in Addams/Medill Park. Confirmation of a 2021 Lollapalooza in Grant Park is reportedly coming later this week.

Festival organizers say the event will adhere to all state and local COVID-19 protocols, which currently call for attendees ages 12 and older to provide proof of a COVID vaccination or a negative PCR test within the 24 hours prior to each day of the festival. Masks will be required on all festival grounds, and only removed for eating or drinking. Should COVID-19 force the postponement of the 2021 festival, patrons can either hang on to tickets for rescheduled dates or request refunds.

Here’s the full lineup for Pitchfork 2021:

FRIDAY

• Phoebe Bridgers
• Big Thief
• Animal Collective
• The Fiery Furnaces
• Yaeji
• black midi
• Hop Along
• Kelly Lee Owens
• Ela Minus
• DEHD
• The Soft Pink Truth
• DJ Nate
• Dogleg
• Armand Hammer

SATURDAY

• St. Vincent
• Angel Olsen
• Kim Gordon
• Ty Segall & Freedom Band
• Waxahatchee
• Jay Electronica
• Jamila Woods
• Georgia Anne Muldrow
• Faye Webster
• Amaarae
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The shot clock is coming, recruiting is opening up and more.

Michael O’Brien and I have our takes. Anyone who has listened to our No Shot Clock podcast during the high school basketball season has heard our “Two Takes” segment.

We both give our opinion on a player, team, coach, story or topic as it relates to high school basketball.

Without the podcast in the off season, my takes start to pile up. So it’s time to unpack my bag of a dozen takes here.

1. The shot clock is coming. I don’t think there is any doubt about that. When that officially happens in Illinois remains to be seen.

But news last week from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) that each state association may adopt a shot clock beginning in the 2022-23 season sets the stage. The Illinois High School Association follows the rules of the NFHS.

So, yes, expect a major rule change to Illinois high school basketball in the near future, because there has already been a massive push locally in this state to add the shot clock.

Last summer the discussion of the shot clock was brought to the forefront by several prominent high school coaches throughout the state. They engaged in zoom calls and conducted a massive statewide survey among boys and girls high school coaches.

Nearly 900 coaches from across the state voted in the survey. Overall, 72 percent voted yes to adding a shot clock in Illinois, with a whopping three-fourths of boys coaches across the state in favor.

2. In a few short weeks the recruiting world opens back up. And that’s huge for everyone.

It will have been roughly 15 months since college coaches have watched a player in person or had a player and his family on campus for an official or unofficial visit. Think about that –– 15 months.

But beginning in June the recruiting will spike considerably for talented high school players. They will finally be able to get on campus for visits and, most importantly, be seen.

There will be two “live” weekends in the month of June. Finally. Followed by a still-to-be-determined July evaluation period for grassroots basketball.

But to get things started, the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout, the premier summer event in Illinois, is back. The weekend of June 18-20 at R-B will be the first time college coaches will have laid eyes on a player from Illinois since March 11, 2020.

3. College coaches still aren’t after high school players. So apologies to those still uncommitted and unsigned senior prospects in the Class of 2021.

Every college player has been granted another year of eligibility due to the pandemic. Thus, the transfer portal is still overflowing, and the draw to college-ready players is the optimum choice for a majority of college coaches.

Truth to be told, chances are you probably weren’t good enough for whatever scholarship level you think you should be playing at anyway. Sorry. But go ahead, continue to use the excuse you weren’t seen for a little while longer.

4. While I don’t want to suddenly turn this into a series of negative “takes,” don’t think for a minute that all of these changes aren’t going to have an impact on the current crop of juniors. The Class of 2022 will still feel the affect of the drastic, never-seen-before changes in college basketball.

The no-brainer Division I prospects in the state are still going to be recruited, still have their options among many scholarship offers. But as you work your way down the line of players in my City/Suburban Hoops Report rankings lists, there are going to be prospects who will feel the pinch. The need for the high school player at this moment has dwindled.

The extra year of eligibility, remember, extends to everyone who played college basketball last year –– from graduating seniors to the freshmen who, more or less, were redshirted while still playing in 2020-21.

Plus, the “Wild Wild West” transfer rule will still be in full effect. Players will have that one-time transfer card to play without having to sit out, so the portal will be full again.

The good news? In staying with current lingo, while we will never fully eradicate the new transfer rule and the implications from it, we will eventually reach a little “herd immunity” from it. When massive numbers of college players immediately put themselves in the transfer portal, starting with this current spring, well, their options past that are then limited. In essence, they’re stuck at their second home. That should slow the transfer pace down at least somewhat.

5. While it will be great and advantageous to have college coaches back out again and Illinois players being seen –– not every state across the country will be as proactive with the “live” opportunity as Illinois –– there remains one pitfall.

Sorry. Another negative take.

As of now the IHSA and IDPH are continuing the miles restriction due to Covid-19, limiting team travel to within 30 miles for the foreseeable future. As a result, several prospects will not have the chance to play in events like the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout and the following weekend at the Ridgewood Shootout.

This is really too bad as a player like Tuscola’s Jalen Quinn, one of the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top five prospects in the state in the Class of 2022, was scheduled to make an appearance at Riverside-Brookfield.

6. I’m going to make a prediction right now. Of all the Hoops Report’s highly-ranked players in the current junior class –– we’ll say among the top 10 –– it will be Quinn, the 6-3 point guard from Tuscola in central Illinois, who will pick up the most scholarship offers in July.

That’s partly because he hasn’t been seen at all and that he currently only has a handful or so of offers that he received last year. While the Missouri Valley Conference schools will continue to hope and pray he stays at their level –– Drake, Loyola and Southern Illinois have offered –– there is no doubt this talented guard is going to generate a whole lot of interest and double-digit offers as he plays this thing out.

Locally, the Valley schools are aware. But schools in conferences like the Mountain West Conference and Atlantic 10 are going to soon lay eyes on him, and there are still several high-major programs lurking around and in contact.

7. No already established player has helped himself more this spring in elevating his own recruiting to another level than Buffalo Grove’s Kam Craft.

The 6-5 guard was already a Division I prospect. There was no question he would be playing at that level. But he added April high-major offers from Iowa, Texas Tech, North Carolina State and South Carolina.

But now consider he’s done that with what was just mentioned above in the first take: No one has seen him play live, in person. Heck in many cases, have never seen him.

It’s not as if college coaches were flocking to Buffalo Grove to see him play when he was a sophomore. The club circuit was shut down last spring and summer. No coaches were allowed to be out during the shortened high school season or this spring. So no one has truly measured him up in person.

Yet Craft, through video, streaming and, specifically, word of mouth, has opened more doors for himself at the high-major level. There isn’t a player I have taken more calls on in recent weeks than Craft.

Have I been part of the Kam Craft hype? Sure. I raved about Craft in my scouting service reports to college coaches that subscribe, and there isn’t a payer I have taken more calls on from coaches than Craft.

Simply put, the sport –– at all levels –– craves shot-makers who can spread the floor. Craft makes shots.

8. Timothy Christian’s Ben Vander Wal should certainly have more going than he does at the Division I level.

While Craft has garnered a whole lot of worthwhile attention, Vander Wal should have as well with his play over the past two months. The 6-6 junior has one offer, courtesy of Division II Wisconsin-Parkside.

Now this is no disrespect to Parkside head coach Luke Reigel, one of the most respected coaches you will find at the Division II level who has had a whole bunch of success, but Vander Wal should have at the very least a short list of offers at this point.

I don’t care if coaches haven’t been out. If Kam Craft is able to generate high-major offers with no one watching, Vander Wal should be able to do the same, garnering at least some Division I offers up to this point.

Those offers will surely come. But it just goes to show how wild, crazy and different this recruiting cycle has been.

9. Glenbard West was already likely to be a preseason top five team next season. Now the Hilltoppers add another big piece to an already loaded team that went 16-1 in this past shortened season.

Bobby Durkin, a talented 6-5 junior, is moving to Glen Ellyn with his family after playing the past three years at Hinsdale South. Durkin has put together an outstanding spring while playing with Breakaway on the club basketball circuit. He’s a high-level shooter with size who put up some significant numbers as a junior.

Glenbard West boasts a high-major talent in 6-9 Braden Huff, the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s No. 3 ranked prospect in the Class of 2022, a Division I prospect in versatile 6-5 Cade Pierce, more size and physicality in 6-7 Ryan Renfro and a hard-nosed veteran guard in 6-3 Paxton Warden.

The addition of Durkin and his ability to space the floor with his shooting will only make the Huff and Pierce more dangerous.

10. As I piece together the lineup and matchups for next year’s When Sides Collide Shootout, which will be held in January at Benet Academy, I have to tell you it’s pretty nice to be talking about playing high-profile matchups from different conferences and geographical areas again.

11. While watching a lot of Meanstreets’ ultra-talented 17U team this spring, the high-major trio of Jalen Washington (Gary, Ind.), AJ Casey (Young) and Ty Rodgers (Grand Blanc, Mich.) have been so impressive in HOW they play.

All three are nationally-ranked; Rodgers is a top 75 talent in the country while Washington and Casey are among the top 30 players in the country. They all play along the frontline together for a loaded Meanstreets team.

Yet they all three play within themselves, go about their business in the right way, encourage each other, don’t demonstrate any bad body language or reactions when they are sharing or coming out of the game. The attitudes are exemplary for players who could be prima donnas.

These three are immensely talented in their own way. That’s obvious. But watching three high-profile players like this go about it the way they do is refreshing.

12. Anyone who pays attention to the college basketball coaching carousel, both with head coaches and even assistant coaches, knows how active and busy of a spring this has been –– locally and nationally.

So much for the pandemic’s impact on the finances of athletic programs, I guess.

“Financially strapped” and “long-lasting repercussions” and “It’s going to be quiet on the job market” is all we heard for a year in college basketball. That certainly isn’t the case at the high-major level, or even at the level just below.

Whether it’s buyouts, long-term contracts or the pool of money for assistant coaches and support staff, the amount of money being tossed around is eye-opening, particularly with that repeated financial storyline we’ve heard over the past 12 months.

You do have to love preaching “amateurism” in college while assistant coaches are now being offered $500,000 to $750,000 and $1 million in multi-year deals. We have suddenly soared past and even skipped a certain salary threshold in college basketball. It’s as if they’re making a sudden, all-out effort to try and close the gap between football coaching salaries in college.

Well, if the money is there …

But assistant coaches at the highest level are now pricing themselves out of head coaching job opportunities at the low-major and mid-major levels. Yes, it’s about opportunity, but are you going to be willing to take a significant financial hit? By that we mean anywhere from a $150,000 to $350,000 pay cut to take a low-major or mid-major head coaching job when often so many of those particular jobs are so difficult to win at?

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Tsarouchas, who played high school football at Taft and came back to coach there for 10 years — leading the program the past five years — resigned last week.

Some decisions are both easy and hard, as John Tsarouchas can attest.

Tsarouchas, who played high school football at Taft and came back to coach there for 10 years — leading the program the past five years — resigned on Tuesday.

He’s moving to Spanish Fort, Alabama, where he’ll teach English and coach offensive linemen at Foley High,

“In short, life happened,” Tsarouchas said Tuesday night. “I’ve been telling people a bunch of dominoes would have to fall for anything like this to be possible. They fell in a short period of time.”

In particular, Tsarouchas said, “I definitely have always prioritized family. My in-laws live in Alabama, we are going down there to be with family.”

But leaving Taft will be hard, especially after the Eagles have emerged as one of the Public League’s elite programs on Tsarouchas’ watch.

He led them to a conference title in the Chicago Big Shoulders and Class 8A playoff berth in 2016, an 8A playoff berth and the school’s first Public League football title in 46 years in 2018, and a third IHSA playoff bid in 2019.

The Eagles were 3-2 in the abbreviated pandemic season, giving Tsarouchas a 26-20 overall record.

“It’s been so fulfilling and rewarding to lead my alma mater,” Tsarouchas said. “Thankfully we’ve been growing and getting better. It’s been a joy.”

That said, he added, “I feel like I’m leaving with some unfinished business.”

The Eagles have been competitive with Simeon in 2019 and Phillips this spring, but couldn’t knock off the traditional CPS powers. And Taft is 0-7 all-time in state playoff games.

Still, Tsarouchas believes he’s leaving the program in a good place. He credits players for buying in.

“I am most grateful for the first group of kids who really had no reason to believe they could be (this) good. Their attitude and effort and trust in the process laid the foundation.”

Taft now has its own lighted, on-campus stadium, making Friday night lights a reality on the Northwest Side. And there are both talent and numbers on the lower levels. Taft’s B team, made up mostly of sophomores, took over Roosevelt’s schedule this spring when the Rough Riders opted out, and won the Chicago Madison Street title.

Even though he won’t be the Eagles’ head coach any longer, Tsarouchas will never stop being true to his old school.

“I’m a Taft kid,” he said. “I’ve always had the Taft chip on my shoulder to this day. Anybody wants to knock it off, they’re going to have an issue.”

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Joel Greenberg, a longtime associate of Gaetz, appeared in federal court in Orlando. He pleaded guilty to six of the nearly three dozen charges he faced, including sex trafficking of a minor, and he admitted that he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida politician who emerged as a central figure in the Justice Department’s sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz pleaded guilty Monday to six federal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of a plea deal.

Joel Greenberg, a longtime associate of Gaetz, appeared in federal court in Orlando. He pleaded guilty to six of the nearly three dozen charges he faced, including sex trafficking of a minor, and he admitted that he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men.

Gaetz was not mentioned in the plea agreement or during the court hearing. But Greenberg’s cooperation — as a key figure in the investigation and a close ally of Gaetz — may escalate the potential legal and political liability that the firebrand Florida congressman is facing.

Federal prosecutors are examining whether Gaetz and Greenberg paid underage girls and escorts or offered them gifts in exchange for sex, according to two people familiar with the matter. Investigators have also been looking at whether Gaetz and his associates tried to secure government jobs for some of the women, the people said. They are also scrutinizing Gaetz’s connections to the medical marijuana sector, including whether his associates sought to influence legislation Gaetz sponsored.

The people had knowledge of the investigation but were not allowed to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Gaetz has denied the allegations and any accusation of wrongdoing and has said repeatedly he will not resign from Congress. A spokesman for the congressman has said Gaetz “never had sex with a minor and has never paid for sex.”

During the nearly hourlong hearing Monday, Greenberg acknowledged he understood the charges he was pleading guilty to and the possible punishment he faced and told the judge he was of a sound frame of mind.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Hoffman told Greenberg that even though prosecutor may request some leniency from his sentencing judge because of his cooperation, there was no guarantee a judge would agree to the prosecutors’ recommendations and that Greenberg would be unable to change his plea. No sentencing date was immediately set.

Monday’s court appearance marked the first time Greenberg has been seen in court since the Gaetz investigation blew into the public spotlight in March. Outside the courthouse, a plane flew over during the hearing pulling a banner that read: “TICK TOCK MATT GAETZ.”

After the hearing Greenberg was taken back to jail in handcuffs and shackles, wearing a dark inmate uniform and looking worn down.

As part of his plea deal, Greenberg, who served as the tax collector in Seminole County, admitted he recruited women for commercial sex acts and paid them more than $70,000 from 2016 to 2018, sometimes through online payment services like Venmo. They include at least one underage girl he paid to have sex with him and others, the plea agreement says.

Prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement that Greenberg had introduced the girl to others, who also “engaged in commercial sex acts” with her. The agreement does not identify the men.

Greenberg first met the girl online from a website where she was posing as an adult and first paid her $400 after a meeting on a boat, the documents said. He later invited her to hotels in Florida where he and others would have sex with her and supplied the girl and other people with ecstasy, according to the plea deal.

In total, prosecutors say Greenberg had sex with the girl at least seven times.

Greenberg’s legal scrutiny began when he was arrested last summer on charges of stalking a political opponent, Brian Beute. Prosecutors said he mailed fake letters to the school where his opponent worked, signed by a nonexistent “very concerned student,” who alleged the opponent had engaged in sexual misconduct with another student.

“I wouldn’t want to be him,” Beute, who showed up at the courthouse on Monday, said after the hearing.

Greenberg is also accused of embezzling $400,000 from the Seminole County Tax Collector’s office, according to the indictment filed against him.

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The latest attacks killed a top Gaza leader of the Islamic Jihad militant group whom the Israeli military blamed for some of the thousands of rocket attacks launched at Israel in recent days.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli military unleashed a wave of heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Monday, saying it destroyed 9 miles of militant tunnels and the homes of nine Hamas commanders, as international diplomats worked to end the weeklong war that has killed hundreds of people.

The latest attacks killed a top Gaza leader of the Islamic Jihad militant group whom the Israeli military blamed for some of the thousands of rocket attacks launched at Israel in recent days.

Israel has said it intends to press on for now with its attacks against Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, and the United States signaled it would not pressure the two sides for a cease-fire.

At least 200 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, including 59 children and 35 women, with 1,300 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Eight people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a soldier, have been killed in ongoing rocket attacks launched from civilian areas in Gaza toward civilian areas in Israel.

Violence has also erupted between Jews and Arabs inside Israel, leaving scores of people injured. On Monday, an Israeli man attacked last week by a group of Arab citizens in the central city of Lod died of his wounds, according to police.

The overnight airstrikes in Gaza on Monday hollowed out one floor of a multistory concrete building. A woman picked through clothing, rubble and splintered furniture in a room that had been destroyed. One strike demolished the wall of one room, leaving untouched an open cabinet filled with bedding inside. Children walked over debris in the road.

A car in the street that witnesses said was hit by an airstrike was bent and torn, its roof ripped back and what was left of the driver’s side door smeared with blood. A beachside cafe the car had just left was splintered and on fire. Rescue workers tried to put out the blaze with a small fire extinguisher. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Gaza’s mayor, Yahya Sarraj, told Al-Jazeera TV that the strikes had caused extensive damage to roads and other infrastructure. “If the aggression continues, we expect conditions to become worse,” he said.

The U.N. has warned that the territory’s sole power station is at risk of running out of fuel, and Sarraj said Gaza was also low on spare parts. Gaza already experiences daily power outages for between eight and 12 hours, and tap water is undrinkable. Mohammed Thabet, a spokesman for the territory’s electricity distribution company, said it has fuel to supply Gaza with electricity for two or three days.

The war broke out May 10, when Hamas long-range rockets at Jerusalem after weeks of clashes in the holy city between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police. The protests were focused on the heavy-handed policing of a flashpoint sacred site during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers.

More protests were expected across the region Tuesday in response to a call by Palestinian citizens of Israel for a general strike. The protest has the support of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.

Since the fighting began, the Israeli military has launched hundreds of airstrikes it says are targeting Hamas’ militant infrastructure. Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired more than 3,200 rockets into Israel. Israeli military officials said Hamas had stockpiled about 15,000 rockets before the war started. Rocket attacks continued Monday, with one hitting a building in the city of Ashdod that caused injuries, the Israeli police said.

U.S. diplomat Hady Amr met with a delegation from the Palestinian Authority on Monday, a day after meeting senior Israeli leaders. But the Biden administration has declined so far to publicly criticize Israel’s part in the fighting or send a top-level envoy to the region.

Speaking to reporters during a trip to Denmark, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would support any initiative to stop the fighting, but signaled the country did not intend to put pressure on the two sides to accept a cease-fire.

“Ultimately it is up to the parties to make clear that they want to pursue a cease-fire,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who spoke Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, emphasized Germany’s solidarity with Israel, condemned the continued rocket attacks from Gaza and expressed hope for a swift end to the fighting, according to her office.

Hamas’ top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who is based abroad, said the group has been contacted by the United Nations, Russia, Egypt and Qatar as part of cease-fire efforts but “will not accept a solution that is not up to the sacrifices of the Palestinian people.”

In an interview with the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, he blamed the war on Israel’s actions in Jerusalem and boasted that the rockets were “paralyzing the usurping entity (Israel).”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said his government is working to “urgently” end the violence, in his first comments since the war broke out. Egypt, which borders Gaza and Israel, has played a central role in the cease-fires brokered after previous rounds of fighting.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it struck 35 “terror targets” Monday as well as the tunnels, which it says are part of an elaborate system it refers to as the “Metro,” used by fighters to take cover from airstrikes.

The tunnels extend for hundreds of miles, with some more than 20 yards deep, according to an Israeli Air Force official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, in keeping with regulations. The official said Israel was not trying to destroy all the tunnels, just chokepoints and major junctions.

The military also said it struck nine houses in different parts of northern Gaza that belonged to “high-ranking commanders” in Hamas. Islamic Jihad said a strike killed Hasam Abu Harbid, the militant group’s commander for the northern Gaza Strip.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad say at least 20 of their fighters have been killed, while Israel says the number is at least 130 and has released the names of and photos of more than two dozen militant commanders it says were “eliminated.”

Israel’s airstrikes have leveled a number of Gaza City’s tallest buildings, which Israel alleges contained Hamas military infrastructure. Among them was the building housing The Associated Press Gaza office and those of other media outlets. The Israeli military alerted staff and residents before the strike, and all were able to evacuate safely.

Sally Buzbee, the AP’s executive editor, has called for an independent investigation into the airstrike.

Netanyahu alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating inside the building and said Sunday any evidence would be shared through intelligence channels. Blinken said he hasn’t yet seen any evidence supporting Israel’s claim.

___

Krauss reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Matthew Lee in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s stand comes despite growing pressure from the United States’ U.N. Security Council partners, some Democrats and others for President Joe Biden’s administration and other international leaders.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signaled Monday the U.S. still was not joining calls for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers as fighting entered its second week, with more than 200 people dead, most of them Palestinians in Gaza.

Blinken’s stand comes despite growing pressure from the United States’ U.N. Security Council partners, some Democrats and others for President Joe Biden’s administration and other international leaders to wade more deeply into diplomacy to end the worst Israel-Palestinian violence in years and revive long-collapsed mediation for a lasting peace there.

Speaking in Copenhagen, where Blinken is making an unrelated tour of Nordic countries this week, Blinken ticked off U.S. outreach so far to try to de-escalate hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel, and said he would be making more calls Monday.

“In all of these engagements we have made clear that we are prepared to lend our support and good offices to the parties should they seek a cease-fire,” Blinken said.

He said he welcomed efforts by the U.N. — where the United States has so far blocked a proposed Security Council statement on the fighting — and other nations working for a cease-fire.

“Any diplomatic initiative that advances that prospect is something that we’ll support,” he said. “And we are again willing and ready to do that. But ultimately it is up to the parties to make clear that they want to pursue a cease-fire.”

As battles between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers surged to their worst levels since 2014 and the international outcry grew, the Biden administration — determined to wrench U.S. foreign policy focus away from the Middle East and Afghanistan — has declined so far to criticize Israel’s part in the fighting or send a top-level envoy to the region. Appeals by other countries so far show no sign of progress.

Pulling back from Middle East diplomacy to focus on other policy priorities — like Biden’s emphasis on dealing with the rise of China — carries political risk for the administration either way. That includes weathering any blame when violence flares as the U.S. steps back from conflict zones in the Middle East, and Afghanistan. But a relatively hands-off approach from the administration in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict also could spare Biden officials years of shuttle diplomacy in support of a peace process that neither side actively supports.

At least 200 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes as of Monday, including 59 children and 35 women, with 1,300 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Eight people in Israel have been killed in rocket attacks launched from Gaza, including a 5-year-old boy and a soldier.

Blinken also said he had asked Israel for any evidence for its claim that Hamas was operating in an Gaza office building housing The Associated Press and Al Jazeera news bureaus that was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike over the weekend. But he said that he personally has “not seen any information provided.”

Blinken’s comments came after U.N. Security Council diplomats and Muslim foreign ministers convened emergency weekend meetings to demand a stop to civilian bloodshed, as Israeli warplanes carried out the deadliest single attacks Sunday in the week of fighting.

Biden’s ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told an emergency high-level meeting of the Security Council on Sunday that the United States was “working tirelessly through diplomatic channels” to stop the fighting.

She warned that the return to armed conflict would only put a negotiated two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict even further out of reach.

However, the United States, Israel’s closest ally, has so far rejected moves by China, Norway and Tunisia in the Security Council for a statement by the U.N.’s most powerful body, including a call for the cessation of hostilities.

In Israel, Hady Amr, a deputy assistant dispatched by Blinken to try to de-escalate the crisis, met with officials. Blinken himself has no announced plans to stop in the Middle East on his current trip.

Rep. Adam Schiff, Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, urged Biden on Sunday to step up pressure on both sides to end current fighting and revive talks to resolve Israel’s conflicts and flashpoints with the Palestinians.

“I think the administration needs to push harder on Israel and the Palestinian Authority to stop the violence, bring about a cease-fire, end these hostilities, and get back to a process of trying to resolve this long-standing conflict,” Schiff, a California Democrat, told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, the senior Republican on the foreign relations subcommittee for the region, joined Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the subcommittee chairman, in asking both sides to cease fire. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia separately joined 26 other Democratic senators and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, on Sunday in urging an immediate cease-fire to prevent further civilian deaths and any further escalation of the overall conflict. More Democratic lawmakers joined the calls Monday.

Biden focused on civilian deaths from Hamas rockets in a call with Netanyahu on Saturday, and a White House readout of the call made no mention of the U.S. urging Israel to join in a cease-fire that regional countries were pushing. Thomas-Greenfield said U.S. diplomats were engaging with Israel, Egypt and Qatar, along with the U.N.

Netanyahu told Israelis in a televised address Sunday that Israel “wants to levy a heavy price” on Hamas. That will “take time,” Netanyahu said, signaling the war would rage on for now.

Representatives of Muslim nations met Sunday to demand Israel halt attacks that are killing Palestinian civilians in the crowded Gaza strip.

At the virtual meeting of the Security Council, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the U.N. was actively engaging all parties for an immediate cease-fire.

Returning to the scenes of Palestinian militant rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes in the fourth such war between Israel and Hamas, “only perpetuates the cycles of death, destruction and despair, and pushes farther to the horizon any hopes of coexistence and peace,” Guterres said.

Eight foreign ministers spoke at the Security Council session, reflecting the seriousness of the conflict, with almost all urging an end to the fighting.

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Knickmeyer reported from Oklahoma City, Lee from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Lederer from New York. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed.

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