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Brooklyn Strong was 23rd on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard a week ago, which normally would lead to focusing on the Preakness or Belmont. An unusual number of dropouts paved the way for Brooklyn Strong to make it to Kentucky.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Brooklyn Strong needed a few horses to drop out to make the Kentucky Derby and now needs to make it to Churchill Downs at the latest possible minute.

The defection of trainer Brad Cox’s Caddo River on Sunday opened the door for Daniel Velasquez’s Brooklyn Strong to be the 20th and final horse in the field for the Run for the Roses. The New York-bred named after one of New York City’s five boroughs worked out at Parx outside Philadelphia on Monday and will be vanned overnight to Louisville to get settled in for his biggest race.

“It’s absolutely insane,” Velasquez said about the quick turnaround. “I can’t put it into words. ‘Chaos’ is the only thing I can think of because it’s just been that chaotic the last 24 to 48 hours.”

Brooklyn Strong was 23rd on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard a week ago, which normally would lead Velasquez and owner Mark Schwartz to give up on the chances of making it and look toward the Preakness or Belmont. An unusual amount of dropouts paved the way for Brooklyn Strong to make it after a disappointing fifth-place finish in the Wood Memorial on April 3.

“I almost stopped paying attention last week because I was just over it,” said Velasquez, who got a feeling this was coming when he only needed two more horses to exit to make it. “I told Mark: ‘Somebody’s going to be out. From the way they’re dropping out, we’re going to get in.’”

It’s still a surprise for a horse who has run only twice since November. Brooklyn Strong’s 10 qualifying points from winning the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct in December are the fewest by any horse to make the Derby since Giant Finish in 2013, the year the points system was introduced.

“I’m going there now with no pressure,” Velasquez said in a phone interview from Parx in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. “Now I have zero pressure because I don’t think anybody expects me to do anything anyways, so I’m just going to enjoy it.”

Schwartz, who booked jockey Umberto Rispoli to ride and is trying to get friends and family tickets and accommodations for the weekend, pointed out that Brooklyn Strong beat Derby rival Known Agenda in the Remsen and is confident going into Saturday.

“He’s not a long shot in my mind,” said Schwartz, who didn’t know how much respect oddsmakers would give his horse. “If he’s ready like he was in the Remsen, if he runs like he did in the Remsen, I have no problems. He’ll be there. That’s how I feel. I think the horse is tremendous.”

The story around the horse is just as insane. Schwartz got into racing through a buddy he used to play hockey with, and Velasquez is still recovering from a serious accident a month ago.

Velasquez’s liver was lacerated and a labrum in one of his shoulders torn when a racehorse rear-ended his pony as he was leading another horse onto the track. He may still need shoulder surgery, but said that won’t keep him from getting Brooklyn Strong ready for the Kentucky Derby.

“I’m a little stubborn,” he said. “I shouldn’t even be saddling this horse, but I’m going to do it.”

KORNACKI TO DERBY

NBC News political correspondent Steve Kornacki, who has gained increasing fame since the presidential election, is taking his talents to the Kentucky Derby next. Kornacki will offer some insights on betting trends and analyze the top Derby contenders.

This isn’t Kornacki’s first foray into sports: He broke down the NFL playoff picture on NBC’s “Football Night in America” late last season. Kornacki will try to replicate one of his earliest horse racing memories, when he picked five consecutive harness winners at Scarborough Downs in Maine as a kid.

BLACK JOCKEYS HONORED

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday signed a proclamation honoring African-American contributions to racing. Beshear named the final week of April “Ed Brown Society Week” in the state after the 19th century Black trainer.

“I can’t imagine a better way to start Derby week then ensuring derby is truly available for everyone, and that we address and confront our past as it relates both to this and other industries,” Beshear said.

Owners Greg Harbut and Ray Daniels, who saddled Neckar Island in the 2020 Derby, were set to be on hand for the proclamation. They’re founders of the Ed Brown Society, which seeks to create a pipeline for Black executives and sprout a generation of new fans to diversify the sport.

LAST CALL

Midnight Bourbon closed the likely final Derby major workout among the 20 hopefuls strongly, clocking 1:02.40 over five furlongs Monday over a fast track at Churchill Downs.

His workout with exercise rider Wilson Fabian included splits of 24.40 and 49.60 and he galloped out six furlongs in 1:16.20 as the colt looked to improve from finishing second to Hot Rod Charlie at the Louisiana Derby in March.

“I’m very happy with how he went,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “We got exactly what we wanted and he continues to do very well.”

Asmussen’s other colt, Super Stock, jogged a mile on Monday, two days after clocking 1:01.20 over five furlongs in Saturday’s final Derby work.

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Altogether, the U.S. population rose to 331,449,281, the Census Bureau said, a 7.4 increase that was the second-slowest ever.

WASHINGTON — The nation’s political center of gravity shifted further to the Republican-led South and West on Monday, with Texas, Florida and other Sun Belt states gaining congressional seats while chillier climes like New York and Ohio lost them.

Altogether, the U.S. population rose to 331,449,281, the Census Bureau said, a 7.4 increase that was the second-slowest ever.

The new allocation of congressional seats came in the U.S. Census Bureau’s first release of data from a 2020 headcount. The numbers chart familiar American migration patterns, and confirm one historic marker: For the first time in 170 years of statehood, California is losing a congressional seat, a result of slowed migration to the nation’s most populous state, which was once a symbol of the country’s expansive frontier.

The census release marks the official beginning of the once-a-decade redistricting battles. The numbers released Monday, along with more detailed data expected later this year, will be used by state legislatures or independent commissions to redraw political maps to account for shifts in population.

Those shifts have largely been westward. Colorado, Montana and Oregon all added residents and gained seats. Texas was the biggest winner — the second-most populous state added two congressional seats, while Florida and North Carolina gained one. States losing seats included Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The reshuffling of the congressional map moved seats from blue states to red ones, giving Republicans a clear, immediate advantage. The party will have complete control of drawing the congressional maps in Texas, Florida and North Carolina — states that are adding four seats.

In contrast, though Democrats control the process in Oregon, Democratic lawmakers there have agreed to give Republicans an equal say in redistricting in exchange for a commitment to stop blocking bills. In Democratic Colorado, a nonpartisan commission will draw the lines, meaning the party won’t have total control in a single expanding state’s redistricting.

It’s been a bumpy road getting this far. The 2020 census faced a once-in-a-century coronavirus pandemic, wildfires, hurricanes, allegations of political interference with the Trump administration’s failed effort to add a citizenship question, fluctuating deadlines and lawsuits. Division of federal money to the states is also a stake.

The GOP can shape districts to maximize the influence of Republican voters and have a major advantage in upcoming elections — possibly enough to win back control of the U.S. House.

But in the long term, it’s not clear the migration is good news for Republicans. Many of the fastest growing states are increasingly competitive political battlegrounds where the new arrivals — including many young people and people of color — could at some point give Democrats an edge.

“What’s happening is growth in Sunbelt states that are trending Democratic or will soon trend Democratic,” said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

That means Republicans may be limited in how many favorable seats they can draw as Democrats move to their territory.

“It’s going to be harder and harder for the Texas Legislature to gerrymander advantageous congressional districts” for Republicans, said William Fulton, director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University in Houston. “Texas hasn’t flipped blue yet as a state, but the blue population centers are growing really fast.”

Fulton, who moved to Texas from California, said his former home has become “the new California — the big state that’s adding a lot of population.” He believes California risks becoming the new Northeast — which he characterized as a stagnant, crowded area that retains wealth and intellectual clout but loses innovators to more promising places.

Despite California’s slow growth, the state still has 10 million more residents than Texas.

North Carolina and Texas, Fulton said, are positioned to become the intellectual powerhouses of the new economy, as the South has snatched away major manufacturing industries like automobiles from the Rust Belt. “We are 10-20 years away from the South and the West being truly dominant in American culture and American society,” Fulton said.

But population booms also bring new burdens, like increased traffic, rising home prices and strains on an infrastructure already grappling with climate change — vividly illustrated when the Texas power grid failed in the winter storms of February.

The pattern outlined in the the Census data was one started in the 1930s with the invention of modern air-conditioning and has been steady since then, according to experts. The only change in the pattern was the halt in California’s growth.

That has happened as home prices have soared in California, contributing to a steady stream of residents leaving for other Western states. Those relocations helped turn Colorado and Nevada into Democratic states and made Arizona competitive.

“That’s the California exodus, blue state immigrants,” Frey said. “Californians are taking their votes and moving to other places.”

It’s not just Californians who are moving. Brad Baskin and his wife, Janie, moved from the Chicago suburbs to Orlando, Florida, three years ago to be closer to their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. Janie Baskin is a registered Democrat, while Brad Baskin hasn’t registered a party affiliation but was turned off by Trump.

The political views they have encountered in Florida have been a bit jarring, going from a state overwhelmingly dominated by Democrats to one where Republicans are in control at the state level, though Democrats control most municipal offices in the county that is home to Orlando.

Baskin, a photographer, said he recently made head shots for a client who told him, “It’s OK for you guys to move down here, but leave your liberal views up there.”

The power shift is also being driven by Hispanics. Over the decade, Hispanics accounted for around half of the growth in Arizona, Florida and Texas, according to figures from the American Community Survey, a Census Bureau program separate from the decennial census.

The state population figures known as the apportionment count determine not only political power but the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year.

The legal deadline for turning in the apportionment numbers was Dec. 31, but the Census Bureau pushed back that date to April because of challenges caused by the pandemic and the need for more time to correct not-unexpected irregularities.

More detailed figures will be released later this year showing populations by race, Hispanic origin, gender and housing at geographic levels as small as neighborhoods. This redistricting data will be used for redrawing precise congressional and legislative districts.

___

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP

Follow Nicholas Riccardi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NickRiccardi

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Let’s be honest….most of us are running on coffee, right? I know I have at least 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day and that’s just to get the day started (I know..not the best for me). And nothing compares to a GOOD cup of coffee. Chicago has some of the best coffee I’ve found (I know I’m a little biased) and I’m going to share with you 6 of the cutest coffee shops in Chicago you need to try this summer! Trust me, they won’t disappoint. 

Hero Coffee Bar 

22 E Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604

Hero Coffee Bar actually has 4 Chicago locations but the most iconic one is located on East Jackson Street. The coffee shop first opened its doors in 2014 at 439 S. Dearborn. It was later purchased by Michelle Martinez and her partner Trey. They combined the initial concept from the founders and their new mission statement “to positively impact our communities one meaningful cup at a time.” The best part about Hero is their large overhead “Coffee” sign and the outdoor seating! It’s a perfect place to grab a cup of joe and take a cute Instagram pic! 

Dollop Coffee Company 

55 W Monroe St Chicago, IL 60603

Established in 2005, they are the roasters of beans and bakers of bread. They grind and laminate their doughs and are the concoctors of syrups, standard and seasonal. They have locations throughout the city with 14 cafes. They roast their own coffee and have a bakeshop where they make their deliciously baked pastries and bread. 

Heritage Bikes & Coffee

2959 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL 60657

With 7 locations around Chicago, Heritage Bikes & Coffee brings a new meaning to individuality. You can sip their coffee AND be surrounded by old and new bicycles. Aside from the good coffee (obviously), you should definitely take some cute pics. Oh did I mention that you should take a pic of their coffee too? All of their hot beverages come with a heart design in the foam! Makes it that much more luxe! 

Maison Marcel 

3114 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60657

Maison Marcel is a French bakery located in the Lakeview neighborhood, offering a healthy menu with the freshest ingredients, in addition to the signature artisanal pastries by their Maître Boulanger from France. The scent of the freshly baked croissants and roasted coffee greets you the second you enter the doors. Grab a spot on the couch and catch up with a friend over pastries and a hot beverage of your choice, or re-energize after an intense workout a with their healthy smoothies at the juice bar, or bring your laptop or book and enjoy the natural lighting in the boho-inspired deco open space. They will make sure to make you feel right à la maison (at home).

Chiqueolatte

2643 N Milwaukee Ave Chicago, IL 60647

Step in one of the cozy houses of Chiqueolatte and talk with your friends or family while you immerse cookies and marshmallows in the chocolate fondue or go for a coffee that has a delicious cacao flavor. Relaxed music in the background ensures a wonderfully relaxing afternoon. The interior showcases hints of rich wood and industrial design. The best part though, is their delicious menu that showcases their iconic special drinks topped with whipped cream and cookies! 

Caffe Streets 

1750 W Division Chicago, IL 60622

Caffe Streets is a Specialty Coffee Shop featuring different roasters. In a social atmosphere they offer different brewing methods with an emphasis on quality, freshness and flavor. All of their hot beverages contain cute and classy designs that will make you WANT to take a picture. Take in the smells of freshly ground coffee as you sip and relax or work among their comfortable, wood inspired designs.

Coffee Shops Chicago Photo Credit: Pexels

The post 6 Cute Coffee Shops You Need To Try in Chicago This Summer appeared first on UrbanMatter.

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Chicago Bears: Ryan Pace given chance to save job and re-energize fan base by Patrick Sheldon

There was always just something about Andrew Shaw that stuck out. He wasn’t the best player on the Chicago Blackhawks ever but that didn’t mean much. He was a very good player but he was by no means an offensive superstar. He has a career of 544 games played with 116 goals and 131 assists for 247 points. His possession numbers and advanced analytics were always good so there is no doubt that he was a key contributor to winning.

That is partially why he is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Chicago Blackhawks. Now, after those 544 games played, he is retiring from the National Hockey League because of concussions. It was a shorter career than he probably wanted to have but there is no doubt he left a long-lasting impact on the city of Chicago.

Andrew Shaw quickly became a Chicago Blackhawks fan favorite and always will be.

Andrew Shaw had a ten-year career in the NHL. 7 of those years were with the Hawks and he had three good years with the Montreal Canadiens right in the middle. It was the type of career filled with offensive points but he was also a very tough player to play against. Despite his small stature, he was not afraid to mix it up out there. He would have no problem trying to get players much bigger and stronger than him off of their game.

Andrew Shaw was not a forward that rode his way to two Stanley Cup rings just by being on a good team. He was an impressive player that had a lot to do with it on his own. He was able to be a fourth-liner if needed and he could be Patrick Kane’s winger if needed (which he was a lot). He even managed to score a Stanley Cup Final game-winning goal in 2013.

Truly one of a kind.

Thank you for your relentlessness, your laughs, your grit, your chirps, your energy, and your joy for the game.

Thank you Andrew Shaw! pic.twitter.com/yx6r6BWJKO

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 26, 2021

“Thank you for giving a Mutt a home.”

A message from Andrew Shaw (@shawz15er). #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/XAN3L6jv27

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 26, 2021

.@shawz15er, thank you for wearing your heart on your sleeve and leaving it all on the ice every night. Enjoy a well-deserved retirement! pic.twitter.com/NIcdz3G3k3

— Canadiens Montreal (@CanadiensMTL) April 26, 2021

It is less than ideal to see Shaw have to retire this way but that is the way it has to be. He will be remembered for being a great player on this team during the golden era but he will also just be remembered for being one of the most unique players that the team has ever had. Everyone on the team and in the fanbase seemed to like Andrew Shaw.

Related Story: An update on Jonathan Toews is available

Hopefully, we are lucky enough to see Shaw stick around the game a little bit. He is an amazing personality and the game is better when he is around. Congratulations to him on retirement, he was truly one of the most fun players that this team has ever had. We will always remember number 65 fondly.

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Chicago Blackhawks: Andrew Shaw was a true fan favorite by Vincent Parise

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(Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

The Atlanta Falcons are in some cap trouble. That might cause them to make some big changes before the start of the 2021 season and the Chicago Bears might be smart to take advantage. If the Bears wanted to add another good wide receiver, Julio Jones might be a really good option.

There are some rumors out there that he is available right now. Ian Rapoport had a tweet today about the Falcons taking calls on the pick and what it might look like. The Bears should at least be on the phone seeing what it may cost. One of these three trade packages would make a lot of sense:

Bears Get

Julio Jones

Falcons Get

2022 First-Round Pick

2021 Second-Round Pick

Trade One

The Chicago Bears might have some leverage in a trade like this knowing their situation.

Everyone knows why the Atlanta Falcons want to trade Julio Jones. He is an elite player that can make plays when the ball is thrown at him. The Chicago Bears don’t really have a stable group of wide receivers right now so giving up next year’s first-round pick along with this year’s second-round pick might work for both sides.

Next year’s draft probably doesn’t have the future quarterback of the Bears so saving this year’s pick might be a good idea in case they figure out that this year could have the guy. Julio Jones would look nice lining up in the blue and orange so giving up this type of draft capital is not a bad idea.

The only question is who will be throwing him the ball and what other weapons will help him. If they can figure most of that out in this year’s draft, this is a no-brainer acquisition for them. The only question is what is it that gets the trade done.

Next: Trade Two is giving away just one draft pick

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Lightfoot is unveiling details of her five-year capital plan at the start of the 2021 street-paving season.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot famously warned African-American aldermen who dared to vote against her 2021 budget, “Don’t ask me for s—t for the next three years” when it comes to choosing projects for her five-year, $3.7 billion capital plan.

Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) was so infuriated, she said it proved Lightfoot was “no better than Daley or Rahm.”

On Monday, that mayoral threat, coming before the closest budget vote Chicago has seen since Council Wars, was all but forgotten at a feel-good press conference launching the five-year capital plan at the start of the 2021 paving season.

There was no more talk about punishing recalcitrant aldermen. Instead, a City Hall news release distributed before the press conference talks about a capital plan that relies on “data to select and prioritize investments across the full array of public assets, address the worst first, along with an emphasis on equity and safety in order to create jobs.”

To emphasize the “equity” component, Lightfoot chose an arterial street resurfacing project at 81st Street and Damen Avenue in Auburn Gresham as the backdrop for Monday’s announcement.

It’s among 75 miles of arterial streets and 500 blocks of residential streets expected to be resurfaced across over the next two years, nearly double Chicago’s annual average. That’s thanks to mayor’s ambitious capital plan as well as an infusion of state and federal funding.

“With paving season underway across our city, we are thrilled to be able to create and offer jobs to our residents that will allow us to make critical infrastructure repairs in all 77 of our neighborhoods,” Lightfoot was quoted as saying in the press release.

“With an emphasis on equity, the Chicago Works infrastructure plan will allow us to invest in the lives of residents in need and bring out entire city closer together by literally building bridges between our communities. This effort will allow us to unlock our city’s full potential, give our residents the resources they need to succeed right in their own neighborhoods and ensure that our city retains its reputation as a world class destination filled with state-of-the-art infrastructure.”

The first two years of the mayor’s capital plan is funded by a $1.4 billion general obligation bond issue approved by the City Council, with $600 million of that spent in the first year.

Projects includes everything from road and bridge repairs, police cars, fire trucks and snow plows to long-deferred maintenance on libraries, fire houses and health centers. There’s even enough money for streetscapes, lighting, sidewalks and bikeways as well as traffic safety improvements and public art.

The goal is to make Chicago a more sustainable and safer city to walk, bike and take mass transit.

“Additional investments in fleet and equipment will not only drive down our operations and maintenance costs, but improve the efficiency and productivity of our workforce, ensuring residents get services faster,” Assets Information and Services Commissioner David Reynolds was quoted as saying.

Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi said the $3.7 billion capital plan sets the stage for, what she called a “legacy investment in our critical transportation infrastructure,” especially in neighborhoods historically “challenged by mobility and economic hardships.”

“As our city leads the way on recovery from the pandemic, Chicago Works includes funding for streetscapes, lighting, bikeways, bridges, sidewalks, traffic safety, public art and more,” Biagi was quoted as saying.

“These improvements prioritize making it easy to safely move around the city in sustainable ways like walking, biking and taking public transit while making our streets and our public streets and our public way vibrant, safe and inviting places.”

As always with city construction contracts valued at more than $100,000, at least half the jobs must be performed by Chicago residents.

At last week’s City Council meeting, former Black Caucus Chairman Roderick Sawyer (6th) introduced an ordinance to narrow that residency requirement. Instead of just any Chicago residents, he wants half the jobs to go to residents of areas that are “socio-economically disadvantaged.”

“Now more than ever, we must invest in our city’s human infrastructure by providing good-paying, sustainable jobs to stay afloat and contribute to our economic recovery,” Economic and Capital Development Committee Chairman Gilbert Villegas (36th), Lightfoot’s former floor leader, was quoted as saying.

Last fall, aldermen were told the largest capital plan in Chicago history would be bankrolled by a mix of tax increment financing, a first-year bond issue backed by property and/or sales taxes and “interim financing and cash-flow management” in anticipation of future state and federal funding.

That wasn’t good enough to satisfy Civic Federation President Laurence Msall.

Not when Lightfoot’s “pandemic” budget already included a $1.7 billion debt restructuring and refinancing.

“It’s very hard to see how the city could afford to go to market for a $3.7 billion capital plan without a new revenue source to back it up at the same time they’re looking to re-structure their existing debt merely to free up room in the current operating budget,” Msall told the Sun-Times.

“The city is very highly leveraged. It has a very low credit rating. And to undergo that type of additional borrowing without a new revenue source would be very expensive. And it might not be feasible.”

Lightfoot was asked then how the city could afford $3.7 billion in additional debt without a new, clearly identified funding source. “We can’t afford not to,” she replied.

“The need is there. We have to figure out a way to move forward and not just say, `It’s too much. It’s too big.’ We got the same blowback when we said we’re gonna start the process [of replacing] lead service lines. That can’s been kicked down the road so many times, it’s unrecognizable,” the mayor said on that day.

Pounding the podium for emphasis, Lightfoot added: “I ran, I’m here to solve big problems and I’m not gonna shy away from them. We have to be committed to … taking on the needs of our city. And having a rational, long-term capital plan is a critical part of who we must be.”

Lightfoot says she also believes “government can actually be a stimulus” at a time of unprecedented economic hardship.

“If we are actually committed to a long-term capital infrastructure plan, that means we’re creating jobs and jobs is something that we all desperately need,” she said.

Yet another source of controversy is the mayor’s plan to increase the “buying power” of the aldermanic menu program — from $1.32 million-a-year for each of the 50 aldermen to $1.5 million — by taking projects off their plate.

In return, she wants aldermen already reeling from her elimination of aldermanic prerogative to relinquish control over the selection of projects, turning it over to the Chicago Department of Transportation.

That will undoubtedly please Inspector General Joe Ferguson, who’s sought menu reforms for years. But it’s a non-starter with mayoral allies and critics alike.

“Our communities depend on us — not a bureaucrat, but us. Their elected officials. I can’t buy something I cannot deliver,” Health and Environmental Protection Committee Chairman George Cardenas (12th) has said.

“We ought to get the extra buying power. But as far as giving up control, I don’t think that’s in the cards. Our constituents depend on the fact that, when they talk to the alderman, some things are gonna get done. We need to speak with certainty — not hypotheticals.”

Among the highlights of the first two years of projects:

• Aldermanic menu program: $216 million over two years; the yearly menu budget increases from $1.32 million to $1.5 million per ward.

• Bridges and viaducts: $164.3 million to complete funding for 23 bridge replacement projects; $66.2 million for 37 bridge repair projects; $16.9 million to rehabilitate 13 underpasses; and $7.5 million to begin the process of improving vertical clearance at 5 viaducts.

• Streets and alleys: $250.4 million for residential and arterial street resurfacing. Also funds one “green alley” in each ward every year.

• Street lighting: $112.3 million for the complete replacement of 300 blocks of lighting infrastructure, along with targeted light pole replacements and wiring repairs.

• Traffic signals: $28.4 million to modernize Chicago’s traffic signal system.

• Sidewalks and pedestrian rights-of-way: $112.2 million for sidewalk repair.

• Complete streets: $49.0 million for improvements to bike lanes, priority bus routes, pavement markings and Vision Zero pedestrian safety projects; $104.2 million toward funding 24 streetscape projects, including those in Invest South/West Corridors; $6 million for planting 12,000 trees.

• Waterways: $12.3 million to rebuild one mile of lakeshore encompassing Morgan Shoal and expand the Calumet River Dredging Facility to ensure clean waterways for commerce on the Calumet River.

• Facilities: $132.5 million for renovations and system upgrades to public facilities such as Department of Family and Supportive Service centers, Chicago Department of Public Health locations, Chicago Public Library locations. Also includes environmental remediation of city-owned land and demolition of hazardous buildings.

• Equipment: $162.1 million for the Chicago’s vehicle fleet, equipment, and IT systems.

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The 26-year-old Taylor, an emergency medical technician who had been studying to become a nurse, was roused from sleep by police who came through the door using a battering ram.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is opening a sweeping probe into policing in Louisville, Kentucky after the March 2020 death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death by police during a raid at her home, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday. It’s the second such sweeping probe into a law enforcement agency by the Biden administration in a week.

The 26-year-old Taylor, an emergency medical technician who had been studying to become a nurse, was roused from sleep by police who came through the door using a battering ram. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired once. A no-knock warrant was approved as part of a narcotics investigation. No drugs were found at her home.

The new investigation is known as a “pattern or practice” — examining whether there is a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing — and will be a more sweeping review of the entire police department.

Garland last week announced a probe into the tactics of the police in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd. The attorney general has said there is not yet equal justice under the law and promised to bring a critical eye to racism and legal issues when he took the job. Few such investigations were opened during the Trump administration.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted last week of murder in Floyd’s death, but no one has been charged in Taylor’s, though her case, too fueled protests against police brutality and systemic racism.

Her death prompted a national debate about the use of so-called “no knock” search warrants, which allow officers to enter a home without waiting and announcing their presence. The warrants are generally used in drug cases and other sensitive investigations where police believe a suspect might be likely to destroy evidence. But there’s been growing criticism in recent years that the warrants are overused and abused.

Kentucky’s lawmakers passed a partial ban on no-knock warrants last month. The measure would only allow no-knock warrants to be issued if there was “clear and convincing evidence” that the “crime alleged is a crime that would qualify a person, if convicted, as a violent offender.” Warrants also would have to be executed between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

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But charter advocates will be prepared to offer candidates for an elected board, standing with Black and Latinx families and educators who choose charter public schools.

As the leader of the principal charter public school advocacy organization in Chicago, I feel compelled to respond to recent reports and op-eds in the Sun-Times related to proposed legislation to create a fully elected school board in Chicago.

Multiple articles have claimed that an elected board ultimately will lead to a high-dollar political fight between the Chicago Teachers Union and charter advocates, similar to what has taken place in major cities like Los Angeles. This creates a false equivalency between the CTU and our organization. The Illinois Network of Charter Schools is not the organization lobbying Springfield in an attempt to create a fully elected school board.

To be clear, the question of school board governance is not about individual organizations, special or adult interests. Getting this legislation right is about serving the Black and Latinx communities in this city who have been historically voiceless in education decisions and outcomes. This process is about righting the wrongs of past policies that did not seek enough community input and support before altering the foundation of many Chicago communities — its public schools.

But to think such a result will occur by adding 21 new politicians to Chicago’s fractured political environment is the height of naivete.

Whatever the outcome in Springfield, charter advocates will be prepared to offer candidates for an elected board and unify our coalition to back a series of candidates who will stand with Black and Latinx families and educators who choose charter public schools. We cannot in one breath say that Chicagoans deserve to exercise their voice through an elected board, but then in the next diminish the voices of tens of thousands of charter public school families who have voted with their feet for over 20 years in this city.

Unfortunately, it has become politically advantageous to scapegoat the charter public school community and the families who choose this option. But we will not allow our families to be used as political footballs to score points with a vocal minority of adult advocates. We fight for children and respect families’ choices — that will never change.

INCS supports a school board that is ready and willing to work with all communities and families, including the 97% of Black and Latinx families that charter public schools serve. We support a school board that leads with policies and actions that prioritize students and their individual needs, respects families’ choices, and supports all public schools equitably, regardless of school type. When school boards act critically and fairly, there is no need for political volleying of children to elevate adult interests. We work with elected school boards across the state that have authorized charter schools, from Rockford to East St. Louis. The boards that are most effective are those that put student interests and learning ahead of self-interest, narrow parochial concerns, or ideological battles.

One thing remains constant for INCS: no matter if Chicago has a fully elected school board, a hybrid school board, or mayoral control, charter public schools are a critical component of the success of Chicago Public Schools over the past two decades. To deny that fact is to deny the reality of the thousands of charter public school graduates who have graduated college and are successfully contributing to their communities every day. Many of these graduates are currently employed by the city, CPS or in the charter public school community.

Simply put, INCS supports policies that center the needs of students and leaders who lead with integrity, equity, and are community-minded. We always stand with those individuals who are willing to work in coalition and partnership to create the best outcomes for students.

Andrew Broy is president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and a former civil rights attorney and public school teacher.

Send letters to [email protected].

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The latest

Walk-ins now welcome at all six COVID-19 mass vaccination sites in suburban Cook County

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Starting Monday, all six COVID-19 mass vaccination sites in suburban Cook County will start accepting walk-in appointments.

While scheduling appointments in advance are still encouraged, walk-ins will be welcomed at the county’s mass vaccination sites Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For help finding an appointment in Chicago, visit zocdoc.com or call (312) 746-4835.

For suburban Cook County sites, visit vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or call (833) 308-1988.

To find providers elsewhere, visit coronavirus.illinois.gov or call (833) 621-1284.

Read Madeline Kenney’s full story here.

News

1:43 p.m. 2021 Chosen Few picnic postponed; online event scheduled for July 4 weekend

Chicagoans craving a semblance of live summer musicin the city are taking yet another hit to their plans as a popular local event rebrands as a virtual festival due to COVID-19 concerns.

The Chosen Few Picnic & House Music Festival, which takes place annually in Jackson Park, has postponed their usual slate of in-person activities in favor of a July 3, online event according to an official announcement Monday.

Last spring, the group consisting of DJs Wayne Williams, Jesse Saunders, Alan King, Andre Hatchett, Mike Dunn and Terry Hatcher, made a similar announcement, and despite ideas to hold an in-person socially-distanced show, the group wants to wait for an actual picnic and festival — a popular event on the social calendar of many Black Chicagoans — local house heads know and love.

Read the full story from Evan Moore here.

12:32 p.m. With graduations virtual, Chicago college students dream of in-person, multi-school ceremony at Soldier Field

With only weeks before Chicago colleges face yet another graduation period during the pandemic, many schools have again made plans for virtual ceremonies this spring.

That’s led some students to take matters into their own hands.

Three Columbia College Chicago students have launched a campaign called #CommenceAnyways to hold an in-person ceremony at Soldier Field — which would not involve campus administration in any way.

“I’ve learned and grown so much during my time being a college student, and it’s really this moment to be celebrated,” said organizer Nathan Branch.

Branch, along with classmates Jahmelah Miller and Alice Scharf, started the initiative as an event for CCC students, but have since opened up their Eventbrite ticket page for all Chicago-area graduating students.

According to the organizers, this would be the first in-person citywide graduation event in Chicago for college students, although last year, the city hosted a citywide virtual graduation for high school seniors.

“We set out to be the change we wanted to see,” Miller said. “After a few weeks of getting feedback we decided not only Columbia students deserved this effort but all college students. We have all worked so hard and deserve this moment.”

The campaign involves a social media push for donations on their gofundme page. In a video, several Chicago students expressed why they find the campaign important.

“As a first generation immigrant, graduation means a lot to me and my family,” said Bichoy Boutros, fashion design major at CCC,. “So thank you to #commenceanyways for making that happen.”

Read the full story here.

11:23 a.m. EU launches legal action against vaccine-maker AstraZeneca

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s executive branch said Monday that it has launched legal action against coronavirus vaccine-maker AstraZeneca for failing to respect the terms of its contract with the 27-nation bloc.

The AstraZeneca vaccine has been central to Europe’s immunization campaign, and a linchpin in the global strategy to get vaccines to poorer countries. But the slow pace of deliveries has frustrated the Europeans and they have held the company responsible for partly delaying their vaccine rollout.

European Commission spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker said that Brussels launched the legal action against AstraZeneca last Friday “on the basis of breaches of the advance purchase agreement.”

He said the reason for the legal action was that “some terms of the contract have not been respected” and that “the company has not been in a position to come up with a reliable strategy to ensure a timely delivery of doses.”

AstraZeneca’s contract with the EU, which was signed by the Commission on behalf of the member countries last August, foresaw an initial 300 million doses for distribution among member countries, with an option for a further 100 million.

The British-Swedish drugmaker had hoped to deliver 80 million doses of that in the first quarter of 2021, but only 30 million were sent. According to the Commission, the company is now set to provide 70 million doses in the second quarter, rather than the 180 million it had promised.

AstraZeneca said in a statement that it “regrets” the Commission’s decision to take legal action and that it will “strongly defend” itself in court.

“We believe any litigation is without merit and we welcome this opportunity to resolve this dispute as soon as possible,” AstraZeneca said. It said deliveries are improving “following an unprecedented year of scientific discovery, very complex negotiations, and manufacturing challenges.”

“We are making progress addressing the technical challenges and our output is improving, but the production cycle of a vaccine is very long which means these improvements take time to result in increased finished vaccine doses,” it said.

Read the full story here.

10:09 a.m. From rotten teeth to advanced cancer, patients feeling effects of pandemic-era treatment delays

With medical visits picking up again among patients vaccinated against covid-19, health providers are starting to see the consequences of a year of pandemic-delayed preventive and emergency care as they find more advanced cancer and rotting and damaged teeth, among other ailments.

Dr. Brian Rah, chair of the cardiology department at Montana’s Billings Clinic, was confused in the early days of the covid pandemic. Why the sudden drop in heart attack patients at the Billings Clinic? And why did some who did come arrive hours after first feeling chest pains?

Two patients, both of whom suffered greater heart damage by delaying care, provided what came to be typical answers. One said he was afraid of contracting covid by going to the hospital. The other patient went to the emergency room in the morning, left after finding it too crowded, and then returned that night when he figured there would be fewer patients — and a lower risk of catching covid.

“For a heart attack patient, the first hour is known as the golden hour,” Rah said. After that, the likelihood of death or a lifelong reduction in activities and health increases, he said.

Read the full story here.

8:52 a.m. Community colleges hope to bring students back to campus this fall

Community colleges across Illinois are cautiously optimistic they will be able to bring back students for in-person classes this fall.

And while a few four-year schools in the Chicago area — including Loyola University Chicago, Columbia College and DePaul University — have announced that students will be required to be vaccinated before returning to campus, most community colleges do not plan to make vaccines mandatory.

After more than a year of nearly all remote coursework, most community colleges said they plan to offer classes four different ways this fall: fully in-person; a hybrid format involving a combination of both in-person and online instruction; virtual classes that involve online synchronous meetings; and fully asynchronous, online classes.

City Colleges of Chicago will offer a range of in-person and remote options for students to take classes this summer and fall, officials said.

“While we strongly encourage all Chicagoans who are eligible to get vaccinated, students will not be required to be vaccinated. We are currently running a COVID-19 testing pilot at three City Colleges of Chicago locations,” said a City Colleges spokeswoman.

Read the full story from Zinya Salfiti here.

New cases and vaccination rates

• State health officials on Sunday reported 2,035 new coronavirus cases and an additional 24 virus-related deaths. That brings the state’s pandemic totals to 1,321,033 cases and 21,826 deaths. The Chicago area accounted for 16 of Sunday’s fatalities, which included a Cook County woman in her 20s.
• The new cases were diagnosed among the 61,299 tests processed by the Illinois Department of Public Health in the last day. That kept the statewide seven-day positivity rate at 3.5%, the lowest its been since the beginning of this month.
• More than 8.8 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have now gone into the arms of Illinoisans since mid-December, including an additional 74,461 doses doled out Saturday, officials said.
• As of Saturday night, 3,769,787 people in Illinois were fully vaccinated, meaning two weeks removed from their final dose, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health’s website. That’s about 29.6% of the state’s populations — still well under 80% needed for herd immunity.

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For the second summer in a row, Chicago’s house heads will have to get their fix online.

Chicagoans craving a semblance of live summer music in the city are taking yet another hit to their plans as a popular local event rebrands as a virtual festival due to COVID-19 concerns.

The Chosen Few Picnic & House Music Festival, which takes place annually in Jackson Park, has postponed its usual slate of in-person activities in favor of a July 3 online event, according to an official announcement Monday.

Last spring, the group consisting of DJs Wayne Williams, Jesse Saunders, Alan King, Andre Hatchett, Mike Dunn and Terry Hatcher made a similar announcement, and despite ideas to hold an in-person socially distanced show, the group wants to wait for an actual picnic and festival — a popular event on the social calendar of many Black Chicagoans — local house heads know and love.

“The health and safety of our attendees continue to be our top priority, and it is not possible for us to execute the very costly and time-consuming process of planning for an event that may not happen given the level of public health uncertainty that still exists,” the Chosen Few DJs said in a website statement.

The Chosen Few DJs said the details on the 2021 virtual event, where tickets purchased for the 2020 festival will be honored at the 2022 in-person event, are coming in the “next few days.”

Ticket holders also have the option to submit a request for a refund at https://explore.seetickets.us/refund-form-chosen-few-2021/. Refund requests must be made by 11:59 p.m. on May 22, 2021.

Earlier this month, the Silver Room Block Club Party, which normally takes place in July in the Hyde Park neighborhood, was also canceled for the second consecutive summer amid COVID-19 and business concerns.

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