What’s New

There’s plenty to see and do online and in-person in the Chicago area in the week ahead.

Bard’s b-day party

Chicago Shakespeare Theater celebrates its namesake’s April birthday with “To Be 4/23,” an evening of performance recorded on the theater’s rooftop and set against the city skyline. The free event at 7 p.m. April 23 “celebrates the power of the arts to inspire, heal and unite us.” The evening features actor-rapper-activist Common in conversation with artistic director Barbara Gaines and event co-chair Binta Niambi Brown, a number by singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson from her upcoming musical version of “The Notebook,” and performances by Joriah Kwamé, Susan Moniz and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater plus Ariana Burns, Lucy Godinez, Alexa Moster, Juwon Tyrel Perry, Brandon Pisano and Sawyer Smith. Visit chicagoshakes.com/tobe.

A sound environment

Eric Gay/AP

The syndicated radio program “eTown” was launched on Earth Day in 1991 and has since produced musical, social and environmental programming all geared to its mission to create a responsible and sustainable world. Now founders Nick and Helen Forster are hosting “eTown’s 30th B’Earthday,” an online concert featuring Black Pumas, Nathaniel Rateliff, Lyle Lovett, Bob Weir, Los Lobos, Sam Bush, Sarah Jarosz, City and Colour, The Way and Treaty and Raquel Garcia plus interviews with environmental advocate Tim Wirth and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.). Streams free at 7:30 p.m. April 22. Visit etown.org/30.

Good knights

Courtesy Medieval Times

Medieval Times in Schaumburg reopens April 22. Adhering to the latest statewide pandemic restriction easements, each performance will allow 350 guests inside the castle. Some of the safety protocols in place include the wearing of masks at all times by guests and staff/performers, and temperature taking upon entry. Parties will be seated six feet apart in the tournament arena. Digital menus will be accessible through smartphones; disposable silverware will be available upon request. Information on upcoming show times through May 2, as well as tickets are available at medievaltimes.com.

Break a leg

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Emmy Award-winning actress Rachel Brosnahan emcees “The Show Goes On,” a fundraiser for the outreach program and scholarship fund of the Actors Training Center in Wilmette. The event also includes greetings from Tony Goldwyn (“Scandal”), Phillipa Soo (“Hamilton”), Matt Shively (“The Real O’Neals”) and Jason Ralph (“The Magicians”) plus performances from Jos N. Banks (“Kinky Boots”), Nick Blaemire (“Glory Days”), singer-songwriter Justin Jesso and (performing together) singer-songwriter Carson Rammelt and singer Sabrina Fosse. The free stream debuts at 4 p.m. April 25 and continues on demand to May 2. There’s also an actor-themed raffle ($50). Visit actorstrainingcenter.org.

Traditions in music

Richard Holder

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Aurelio Martinez and his six-member Garifuna Soul Band perform a concert filmed in La Ceiba, Honduras, as part of the University of Chicago Presents series. With his upbeat, irrepressible style, Martinez celebrates Garifuna music and culture. The Garifuna culture originated on the island of St. Vincent and spread throughout the Caribbean and to the Central American coast in the 18th century. The music reflects a mix of cultures and French, Spanish and English folk music traditions blended with Afro-Caribbean rhythms. “We’re not going to let this culture die,” Martinez says. “I know I must continue my ancestors’ legacy and find new ways to express it.” The concert streams at 7 p.m. April 23. Tickets: $15. Visit tickets.uchicago.edu.

Drama on court

Writers Theatre

Writer Theatre’s staging of Anna Ziegler’s “The Last Match” was canceled in March 2020 just days before it was to begin preview performances. Fast-forward to February 2021 as the actors began rehearsals once again. With COVID-19 restrictions still in effect for in-person theater, a filmed version of Ziegler’s drama is now ready for streaming. A young Russian tennis phenom and an American superstar in his prime meet at center court during a U.S. Open tennis final in this fast-moving story that explores family, sacrifice and legacy. Kayla Carter, Heather Chrisler, Ryan Hallahan and Christopher Sheard star; Keira Fromm directs. “The Last Match” streams April 28-May 30. Tickets: $40-$100. Visit writerstheatre.org.

Neighborhood resource

Jonas Becker

Mana Contemporary Chicago presents a Material Reuse Community Event, an in-person, free afternoon of socially distanced public programs focusing on themes of resource use and reuse. The event includes an exhibit of photographs by artist Jonas Becker, who has developed a process in which he uses coal dust to depict projects such as prisons, malls and former Appalachian mining sites; a papermaking demonstration using recycled paper waste, seeds and plant matter; a workshop on how to grow indigo and the history of indigo blue; demonstrations by the Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange; information from the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization on new initiatives for dealing with lead contamination in water lines; and a performance by Lional “Brother El” Freeman. From noon-4 p.m. April 24 at Mana Contemporary Chicago, 2233 S. Throop. To register for a timed admission, visit manacontemporary.com/event/material-reuse/

Classical notes

Saverio Truglia

Grammy-winning Third Coast Percussion performs the unexpected — chamber music on percussive instruments. Streams free at 3 p.m. April 25. Visit musicinst.org/nch-live. … Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra’s Showers of Sound Gala features performances by baritone Jeffrey Mattsey, clarinetist Anthony McGill, violinist Rachel Barton Pine and harpist Lisa Tannebaum. Livestreams at 7 p.m. April 24. Tickets: $175. Visit ipomusic.org/gala2021.

Virtual stage

Kachi Mozie

Porchlight Music Theatre and KB Productions stream “Call Me Elizabeth,” Kayla Boye’s one-woman show about the early life of actress Elizabeth Taylor as she grapples with celebrity and her place in Hollywood. Streams April 23-30. Tickets: $25. Visit porchlightmusictheatre.org. … The Goodman Theatre presents Robert Falls’ 2013 staging of Shakespeare’s dark comedy “Measure for Measure.” Streams free April 26-May 9. Plus Chay Yew directs a free staged reading of Max Yu’s “Nightwatch,” a drama about a family’s unknown history and generations of hidden stories. Streams at 7 p.m. April 24. Visit goodmantheatre.org. … Sideshow Theatre presents a reading of Dawn Renee Jones’ “A Heap See,” about a Laotian mother determined to give her six children a better life. Streams at 7 p.m. April 23. Tickets: pay-what-you-can. Visit sideshowtheatre.org/house-party.

Mary Houlihan is a Chicago freelance writer.

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“What our community demands and deserves is more than prayers or platitudes, but action, Mayor Lightfoot,” Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez told the mayor, who replied: “Sir, you are now out of order. You are out of order. … Mister clerk, please move on.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot clashed with Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) Wednesday — and ruled him out of order — during debate on a resolution honoring the life of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

“What our community demands and deserves is more than prayers or platitudes, but action Mayor Lightfoot,” Sigcho-Lopez told the mayor.

“We have a bill right now and you know this very well … in the Committee on Public Safety” empowering a civilian oversight panel to hire and fire the police superintendent and be the final arbiter on disputes over police policy.

Lightfoot banged the gavel and interrupted Sigcho-Lopez at the mere mention of a civilian oversight ordinance she promised to deliver in her first 100 days in office.

“Sir, you are now out of order. You are out of order. … Mister clerk, please move on,” the mayor said.

Sigcho-Lopez’s microphone was promptly cut off as he continued to speak from the Council floor. That’s a tactic Mayor Richard J. Daley’s administration famously used to silence independent Ald. Dick Simpson (44th) nearly 50 years ago.

“Sir, out of respect for the chamber, lower your voices. We are proceeding with business,” Lightfoot admonished aldermen as Sigcho-Lopez continued to speak while aldermen talked to each other, apparently prompted by the clash.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file

Wednesday’s brief dust-up happened after the mayor agreed to suspend the rules and allow Little Village Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd) to debate a resolution that was only being introduced, not voted on.

Debate is supposed to be limited to matters the Council is voting on, but Lightfoot allowed it because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Toledo was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer summoned to the area by a Shot Spotter in the early morning hours of March 29. Toledo fled on foot and was chased by the officer into an alley.

Video released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability last week appeared to show Toledo with both hands in the air after tossing the gun he was carrying behind a fence a split second before he was shot in the chest.

“Ordinarily, this is simply referring ordinary matters to committee. This is not really the proper place to speak to this. You can certainly speak to it during the committee process,” Lightfoot said.

Rodriguez said he understood, but “given the recency and the tragic nature of this occurrence, I just wanted to briefly speak to this resolution. It’ll be under a minute. … I just want to raise up the situation as one that has been internationally recognized.”

When Lightfoot told him to keep it brief, Rodriguez read from the resolution expressing the City Council’s “grief and sorrow” at the police shooting that culminated in Toledo’s death.

“As a city, we need time to grieve, to mourn and to heal together. But we also need to re-imagine, re-invent and reform the societal factors and pressures that led to losing one of our sons far too soon,” Rodriguez said, reading from the resolution.

“We need to do the work for Adam and for all of Brown and Black boys to reform our police department and commit to substantive, sustained investments in our communities to create real futures for young people of color across our city. … While we rightly demand accountability for Adam’s death through an open, transparent, just and expedient investigation, we also want everyone to remember and celebrate Adam’s life … as a 13-year-old child whose life was taken much too soon.”

Lightfoot agreed with the tone of the resolution.

“We all need to pray for the Toledo family as we continue giving them support,” the mayor said.

Lightfoot then agreed to recognize Sigcho-Lopez, even as she warned, “Folks, we’re not gonna start a precedent here of speaking on matters that are simply being introduced. … So, Alderman Sigcho-Lopez, I will give you a brief moment to speak. Brief, sir.”

Sigcho-Lopez promised not to take long. But he made the mayor regret the exception she had just made.

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ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina deputy shot and killed a Black man while executing a search warrant Wednesday, authorities said, spurring an outcry from a crowd of dozens that immediately gathered at the scene and demanded law enforcement accountability.

The Pasquotank County Sheriff’s deputy was placed on leave pending a review by the State Bureau of Investigation, Sheriff Tommy Wooten II said at a news conference. He said the deputy shot Andrew Brown Jr. about 8:30 a.m. while serving the warrant with the assistance of a nearby sheriff’s office in Elizabeth City, a municipality of about 18,000 people 170 miles northeast of Raleigh.

Wooten said he didn’t know Brown’s age and he didn’t release the deputy’s name. Local NAACP leader Keith Rivers said Brown was Black.

The deputy was wearing an active body camera at the time of the shooting, said Wooten, who declined to say how many shots the deputy fired or release any other details, citing a pending review by the State Bureau of Investigation. WAVY-TV reported that neighbors heard multiple shots.

Among the roughly 100 people who gathered at the scene of the shooting was Keith Rivers, president of the Pasquotank County chapter of the NAACP, who criticized the sheriff’s office for taking hours to release details.

“When is it going to stop? We just got a verdict yesterday,” Rivers said in a phone interview, referring to the guilty verdicts handed down Tuesday in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the fatal shooting of George Floyd. “Is it open season now? At some point, it has to stop. We have to start holding the people in charge accountable.”

Brown’s grandmother, Lydia Brown, and his aunt, Clarissa Brown Gibson, told The Associated Press that they learned about his death through a TV news report. Both said they want the shooting thoroughly investigated.

“I am very upset. Andrew was a good person,” Lydia Brown said. The deputy “didn’t have to shoot him like that.”

Clarissa Brown Gibson said: “We want to know if he was served with a warrant, why the shooting over a warrant?”

The State Bureau of Investigation will turn the findings of its review over to District Attorney Andrew Womble, who pledged a thorough and deliberate inquiry.

“What we are looking for at this time will be accurate answers and not fast answers,” Womble told the news conference. “We’re going to wait for the full and complete investigation … and we’ll review that and make any determinations that we deem appropriate at that time. This will not be a rush to judgment.”

___

Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia.

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Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon won’t feel much like spring with rain and snow expected and a high near 44 degrees. Tonight’s low will be around 31 degrees. Tomorrow, seasonally appropriate weather returns with sunny skies and a high near 56 degrees.

Top story

Feds say Burke made a ‘distasteful’ comment about Jewish people as authorities investigated him

Federal prosecutors allege Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) made a derogatory comment about Jewish people as authorities investigated him for using his position on the City Council to steer business toward his private law firm.

In discussions about the renovation of the Old Post Office, Burke allegedly made the comment that, “Well, you know as well as I do, Jews are Jews and they’ll deal with Jews to the exclusion of everybody else unless . . . unless there’s a reason for them to use a Christian.”

Prosecutors called the comment “distasteful” but said it was taken to mean Burke would only be hired to do tax work for an individual if Burke could help that person out as an alderman.

The comment appears in a heavily redacted 227-page brief filed by prosecutors as part of Burke’s criminal case in federal court. It alleges that the investigation into Burke revealed him “to be thoroughly corrupt and worthy of prosecution.”

Prosecutors also called recordings of Burke’s phone calls “powerful evidence” of his involvement in criminal activity and said he is trying to keep them from a jury.

It has been nearly two years since the feds hit Burke with a blockbuster racketeering indictment. Burke political aide Peter Andrews and developer Charles Cui were charged along with him.

Read Jon Seidel’s full story here.

More news you need

1. Mayor Lori Lightfoot clashed with Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez — and ruled him out of order — during debate on a resolution honoring the life of 13-year-old Adam Toledo today. Lightfoot banged the gavel and interrupted Sigcho-Lopez at the mere mention of a CPD civilian oversight ordinance she promised to deliver in her first 100 days in office.
2. Chicago Public School students will have the option of returning to classrooms full time in the fall, district officials announced today. Families uncomfortable or unable to return will still be allowed to learn remotely.
3. Cook County public health officials said they expect to soon resume administering doses of the federally scrutinized Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, as federal regulators appear poised to give providers the go-ahead to do so. The J&J shot was shelved nationwide last week following six reports of rare blood clots surfacing among almost 7 million recipients.
4. A pair of Cook County mass vaccination sites — one in Matteson, the other in Tinley Park — will now offer vaccines without appointments. The two sites will be open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday for walk-ins, officials said.
5. Cook County prosecutors dropped state charges today against a man who already pleaded guilty in federal court after setting fire to a cop car during protests last summer. Jacob Fagundo, 23, already faces a sentence of 8-14 months in federal prison, so county prosecutors decided not to move forward with charges at the state level.
6. Ald. Scott Waguespack wants City Council to extend an ordinance capping fees on third-party delivery service apps through at least the fall. DoorDash responded to the cap, which is currently set to expire in July, by introducing a $1.50 “Chicago fee” on all orders placed in the city.
7. A new city program will spend at least $60 million to help support the arts and local artists. Arts 77 will focus on employing creative workers locally, expanding public investments in the arts through policy and increasing involvement in the creative and cultural sector across the city’s 77 community areas.

A bright one

Jeffrey P. Haydon leading Ravinia into a new era, and a return to live performances amid a pandemic

When Jeffrey P. Haydon took over as president and chief executive officer of the Ravinia Festival in early September, six months into the devastating coronavirus pandemic, he did not have the luxury of a soft landing.

The seasoned arts administrator had to immediately help stabilize the venerable Highland Park event’s shaky finances and begin determining if there were a way it could present much-desired, in-person performances in 2021.

The big news is that Ravinia will present a live season this summer that will have about the same duration as usual but will likely feature 80-85 classical, jazz, pop and family events compared to the 110-120 that typically take place in a normal year. The schedule is expected to be announced in early May.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

“The board and I had a very passionate conversation where we all agreed that we wanted to open up Ravinia if it were safe to do so,” Haydon said. “Everyone realized that we have a mission and we need to fulfill that mission by bringing live music to people.”

Ravinia is the longtime summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and a highlight of this year’s season will be a full six weeks of performances by the ensemble, with the maximum number of on-stage musicians capped at around 50 because of COVID-19 safety protocols. Seven concerts will be led by Marin Alsop in her first season as Ravinia’s chief conductor and curator.

Read Kyle MacMillan’s full story on how Ravinia’s new CEO plans to lead the nation’s oldest outdoor music festival into a new era.

From the press box

The White Sox-Indians game scheduled for tonight has been postponed due to weather and field conditions. The matchup will be played as a straight doubleheader May 31 starting at 3:05 p.m.

The Cubs’ Joc Pederson hopes to break out his season-long slump tonight when the team hosts the Mets at Wrigley Field (6:40 p.m.).

NBC Sports Chicago will give viewers the option to watch an alternate betting-focused broadcast of the Bulls-Hornets game tomorrow night. Airing on NBCSCH+ opposite the main broadcast on the main channel, it will give viewers data, analysis and commentary focused on the gambling aspects of the game.

Your daily question ☕

Has not going in to the office during the pandemic made you rethink how you view work and/or career goals?

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday for 4/20, we asked you: What’s your favorite way to consume cannabis? Here’s what some of you said…

“Personally I like to smoke it early in the morning to the sound of rain before anyone else in my house wakes up … then walk back in and watch a movie with frosted flakes.” — Jesus Morales

“Been partaking since 1973. Mostly smoking but now also enjoy edibles.” — Larry Reno Paganelli

“In a way that doesn’t cost $20 in taxes to the state of Illinois.” — Jeremiah Panagopöulos

“Smoke. Pipe.” — Tom Zielinski

“Gummies.” — Gary Eskew

“You the cops or something? Don’t worry about it, narc.” — Ryan Flynn

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.

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Hollywood is increasingly viewing video games as one of the ripest, richest veins of intellectual property outside of comic books.

NEW YORK — Is there a more woebegone movie genre than the video game adaptation? This is the pantheon of “Max Payne,” “Wing Commander” and “Assassin’s Creed.” In the 27 years since the first video game movie, “Super Mario Bros.,” these adaptations have been so regularly mocked that you might think the genre was — like a teetering fighter in “Mortal Kombat” surrounded by chants of “Finish him!” — on its last legs.

And yet, Hollywood is increasingly viewing video games as one of the ripest, richest veins of intellectual property outside of comic books. Even as much of the film business slowed over the last year, the hunt for the kind of IP that has fueled an overwhelming share of worldwide box-office ticket sales has continued unabated.

The video game movie isn’t finished. It might even be just pressing “Start.”

AP

On Friday, Warner Bros. will release a new, rebooted “Mortal Kombat” 26 years after the first adaptation of the martial arts fighter. It was then just the fourth video game movie, coming on the heels of “Double Dragon” and “Street Fighter,” with Jean-Claude Van Damme. This was well before the IP land rush started by Marvel’s success more than a decade later. “Apollo 13” was the No. 2 film at the box office in 1995.

Now, a bloodier, R-rated “Mortal Kombat” signals a new cycle for video game adaptations. After years of misfires and flops, it’s lately seemed like a new level has been unlocked for one of the movies’ most derided genres. In 2019, “Detective Pikachu,” based on the Nintendo game, grossed more than $400 million worldwide for Warner Bros. Last year, “Sonic the Hedgehog” became the genre’s highest grosser; a sequel is already underway. Netflix, which on Wednesday suggested it may invest more deeply in gaming, has found one of its biggest hits — the streamer’s answer to “Game of Thrones” — in “The Witcher.” The Henry Cavill-led series is based on a fantasy novel series that found fame as a popular video game.

No one is engraving Oscars or Emmys yet. But it may be that video game adaptations aren’t cursed, after all. They were just going through some growing pains.

“Comic-book IP is the biggest IP in the world right now and yet it took 40 years to really get into the spotlight and it took 50 years to become the biggest thing,” says Matthew Ball, a venture capitalist and former head of strategic planning for Amazon Studios. “Video game adaptions have been happening since the early ’90s but we see a lot of evidence that people are learning — they’re training. At some point in the near future, I would be shocked if we didn’t have on a recurring basis one of the biggest films and TV series of the year coming from video games.”

Hollywood’s hunt for IP with built-in global fanbases has found more dead ends over the last decade than new directions. But gaming is unique in its scope and growth. Last year, the gaming industry was worth more than $150 billion. By 2023, revenue will reach $200 billion, Juniper Research has forecast, exceeding the size of the film industry. A study released this week by consulting firm Deloitte found that the top entertainment activity of Gen Z — those aged 14-24 — is playing video games, ranking over movies or music by a wide margin.

“There’s an appetite and desire to make things that might have seemed more niche at some point,” says “Mortal Kombat” filmmaker Simon McQuoid, an in-demand director of commercials who’s previously worked on ad campaigns for Sony’s PlayStation and “Halo.” “I get the feeling people are OK pushing that forward and being a little mainstream with things.”

AP

Many video game adaptations have had prolonged or even torturous developments, suggesting the industry is still figuring out how to tackle these properties. “Mortal Kombat” was in development for a decade. Infamously, “Sonic the Hedgehog” was forced to redesign its animated protagonist after an outcry from fans. There are reasons that video game movies get ranked from “least bad to absolute worst.”

Some have suggested the mediums are inherently distinct. The late Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert maintained video games aren’t art and “by their nature require player choices, which is the opposite of the strategy of serious film and literature, which requires authorial control.”

But someone, eventually, may crack the code of the video game movie. In the years since Ebert wrote that in 2015, games have developed in atmosphere, narrative and character. They are more cinematic. More filmmakers are gamers, themselves, and they’re interested in plumbing virtual worlds while staying true to a game’s spirit.

“The importance of the source material has become something that 20 years ago people didn’t really care about. They nodded at it,” says Johannes Roberts (“47 Meters Down”), director of the upcoming “Resident Evil” reboot, “Welcome to Racoon City.” “There’s definitely a real understanding that you need to believe and love in it. I think studio execs get that, that it is an important thing, that you can’t just take the name and run with it.”

Roberts’ film, currently in post-production, follows six “Resident Evil” films, the longest-running video game movie franchise. It’s set for release in November from Sony Pictures, which next February will unveil a long-awaited adaptation of the game “Uncharted” by director Ruben Fleischer (“Venom,” “Zombieland”), with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg.

Pipelines are getting crowded. A long-in-development, Steven Spielberg-produced “Halo” series is planned for early next year on Paramount+. Netflix will premiere a “Resident Evil” series in June; the streamer also has an “Assassin’s Creed” series in the works. Last month, Sony and PlayStation Productions said they would produce an adaptation of the hugely popular game “Ghost of Tsushima” with “John Wick” director Chad Stahelski.

Launched in 2019, Sony’s PlayStation Productions is uniquely poised between moviemaking and video games. The production company is also making an HBO series of the “The Last of Us,” a celebrated third-person post-apocalyptic adventure game. That the project attracted “Chernobyl” creator Craig Mazin is for many observers a sign of a rising stature for video game adaptations.

“I’ve noticed in the last year that there is this awareness that they’re sitting on something that is quite interesting and not as mined as it should be, or could be,” says Roberts, who says he’s approaching “Resident Evil” the way he would a Stephen King novel. “I’m interested to see how all the other movies tackle it. It’s a fascinating time for sure.”

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The president’s first task: Convincing the world that the politically fractured United States isn’t just willing when it comes to Biden’s new ambitious emissions-cutting pledges, but also able.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is convening a coalition of the willing, the unwilling, the desperate-for-help and the avid-for-money for a global summit Thursday aimed at rallying the world’s worst polluters to move faster against climate change.

The president’s first task: Convincing the world that the politically fractured United States isn’t just willing when it comes to Biden’s new ambitious emissions-cutting pledges, but also able.

Success for Biden in the virtual summit of 40 leaders will be making his expected promises — cutting coal and petroleum emissions at home and financing climate efforts abroad — believable enough to persuade other powers to make big changes of their own.

For small countries already fighting for their survival, global climate progress noticeably slowed in the four years of President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the effort. Panama Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes hopes the United States’ high-profile return to international climate work will spur months of one-on-one worldwide deal-making leading up to November. That’s when there will be United Nations talks in Glasgow, where about 200 governments will be asked to spell out what each is willing to do to keep the Earth from becoming a far hotter, more dangerous and less hospitable place.

With Biden’s summit, “we can start with that momentum,” Mouynes said. In Panama, freshwater shortages that officials blame on climate change already are complicating shipping through the Panama Canal, one of the world’s main trade routes and the country’s main money earner. Even Panama’s best climate safeguards, like hotlines and surveillance drones to catch rainforest logging, aren’t enough to save the country on their own, Mouynes says.

“Otherwise it’s just empty speeches one after the other, where we all say we want a green country, a green planet, and nothing happens,” she said.

The summit will see Biden, who campaigned on promises for a high-employment, climate-saving technological transformation of the U.S. economy, pledge to halve the amount of coal and petroleum pollution the U.S. is pumping out by 2030, officials said this week. That’s compared to levels in 2005, and nearly double the voluntary target the U.S. set at the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord.

The European Parliament confirmed Wednesday that it will set a similarly ambitious target. The U.S. is looking to other allies, such as Japan and Canada, to announce their own intensified climate efforts, hoping that will spur China and others to slow building of coal-fired power plants and otherwise chill their smokestacks.

And the world is looking to well-off countries to make clear how they’ll help poorer countries shutter coal plants and retool energy grids, including $2 billion that the U.S. already promised but has never paid.

“The summit is not necessarily about everyone else bringing something new to the table — it’s really about the U.S. bringing their target to the world,” said Joanna Lewis, an expert in China energy and environment at Georgetown University.

This is an urgent but hardly perfect time for the U.S. to try to spur action for multiple reasons, and the summit will play out as a climate telethon-style livestream because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The world’s top two climate offenders, China and the United States, are feuding over nonclimate issues. Chinese President Xi Jinping waited until Wednesday to confirm he would even take part.

India, the world’s third-biggest emitter of fossil fuel fumes, is pressing the United States and other wealthier nations to come through on billions of dollars they’ve promised to help poorer nations build alternatives to coal plants and energy-sucking power grids.

“Where is this money? There is no money in sight,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said ahead of the summit this month, after Biden climate envoy John Kerry visited.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose nation by some assessments is the world’s fourth-worst climate polluter, also accepted the U.S. invitation but is fuming over Biden calling him a “killer,” as part of high tensions over Putin’s aggressiveness abroad and U.S. sanctions.

And at home, political divisions exposed by Trump’s presidency have left the United States weaker than it was at the 2015 Paris global accord. Unable to guarantee that a different president in 2024 won’t undo Biden’s climate work, the Biden administration has argued that market forces — with a boost to get started — will soon make cleaner fuels and energy efficiency too cheap and consumer-friendly to trash.

“The president has every intention of getting reelected, and certainly, ensuring that he is implementing policies where … addressing our climate crisis, putting Americans back to work, go hand in hand,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

Having the United States, with its influence and status, back in the climate game is important, said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Helsinki.

But hoping the world will forget about the last four years seems like wishful thinking, he said. “There is too much of an impulse in the U.S. to just wish away Trump’s legacy and the fact that every election is now basically a coin toss between complete climate denial and whatever actions the Democrats can bring to the table.”

Biden sketched out some of his $2 trillion big picture for transforming U.S. transportation systems and electrical grids in his campaign climate plan and in his infrastructure proposals for Congress. But there’s no hard and fast plan detailing how the U.S. will fulfill Biden’s promise to eliminate all carbon emissions from its economy by 2050.

Deborah Seligsohn, a political scientist and expert in air pollution and governance at Villanova University, said the overall approach signaled by the White House was, however, a promising departure from past administrations.

“The Biden administration has chosen a different approach –- focus on investment, rather than regulation first,” she said. “I think the way we’re going to actually decarbonize is to start pouring money into what we actually want to do, and create a set of successful businesses in the green space. And then they will lobby for more money.”

In his campaign, for example, Biden had called for giving Brazil $20 billion in international aid to protect the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest and a sink for the world’s fossil fuel sins.

Ahead of the summit, however, Senate Democrats are warning that Trump-allied Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro might take the money but keep up destruction of the Amazon.

China and the United States together account for nearly half of the world’s climate-wrecking emissions. Climate experts hope Xi will watch what the U.S. and China’s neighbors pledge and toughen its own emissions goals in following months.

Xi’s government continues building and financing new coal-fired power plants, and China’s emissions are still rising. Myllyvirta, the climate expert at the Helsinki center, said Xi’s comments at recent domestic political forums make clear he is serious about cutting emissions.

Amid U.S. and China disputes over territorial claims, trade practices and human rights, however, the two countries’ presummit pronouncements were an island of climate cooperation in a sea of complaints and grievances. “The international community knows very well who is taking actions, who is playing lip service, who is making contributions and who is seeking one’s own interest,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said before the summit.

___

Knickmeyer reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press writers Ashok Sharma in New Delhi, Joe McDonald in Beijing, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Seth Borenstein, Alexandra Jaffe and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

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Other guest hosts will include “Good Morning America” anchors George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts, author and CNBC host David Faber, and sportscaster Joe Buck.

LeVar Burton fans will be out-of-this-world excited to tune into ”Jeopardy!” soon.

The former “Roots” and “Star Trek: Next Generation” star, who has vociferously campaigned for ”Jeopardy!” host, is among a new crop of guest hosts who will preside over the iconic game show through the rest of its 37th season. The other guest hosts will include “Good Morning America” anchors George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts, author and CNBC host David Faber and sportscaster Joe Buck. Specific dates for the hosts have not yet been announced, but will begin showing up in June.

“Our goal has been to present a wide variety of guest hosts with different skill sets and backgrounds on our path to finding a permanent host,” executive producer and one-time guest host Mike Richards said in a statement. “Our passionate fans are telling us what they like, and we are listening. All of the guest hosts have brought individualism, energy and an authentic love of our show to each of their episodes. We look forward to sharing the rest of the season with our viewers.”

After the death of beloved and longtime host Alex Trebek in 2020, “Jeopardy!” has been cycling through guest hosts while producers search for a permanent replacement. The hosts so far have included:”Jeopardy!” champ Ken Jennings; Richards; journalist Katie Couric; talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz; Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers; and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who is in the midst of a two-week run now. Future guest hosts who have already been announced include “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, neurosurgeon and CNN medical adviser Dr. Sanjay Gupta, “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker (who’s next up on May 3) and actress Mayim Bialik.

The inclusion of Burton, an actor and educator who hosted PBS’s “Reading Rainbow” for over 20 years, is significant because there was a very loud social media campaign supporting him as a successor to Trebek. ”This is something that I really think is a good idea,” Burton told USA TODAY last week while appearing on an episode of The Mothership podcast. ”I think it’s a good fit of what the show is, what the show requires and what I feel like I bring to the table.” Over 200,000 fans have signed a Change.org petition supporting his bid.

Burton told USA TODAY that winning ”Celebrity Jeopardy!” in 1995 is one of his proudest moments. Up until then, he didn’t have much interaction with Trebek, but recalled a time he ran into the beloved host backstage at a taping in Las Vegas.

“He was unbelievably smooth. You sense that on TV. In person it’s even more apparent just how comfortable he was. And relaxed. And very, very, very, very smooth. Just effortless. And I know how much work it takes to make it look that easy,” he said of Trebek.

The five newly announced hosts will be the final group to join the series for this season, which will conclude in August. The series recently tapped all-star player Buzzy Cohen, who won the 2017 champions tournament, to guest host the 10-day battle of 15 top winners, which will be broadcast May 17-28 (check local listings).

Contributing: Bill Keveney

Read more at usatoday.com

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Get the latest news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois. Follow here for live updates.

The latest

J&J’s R&R ending? Johnson & Johnson shots to resume in Cook County after feds’ OK: ‘We will continue to offer it as an option’

Brian Rich/Sun-Times

Cook County public health officials on Wednesday said they expect to soon resume administering doses of the federally scrutinized Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, as federal regulators appear poised to give providers the go-ahead to do so.

The one-and-done J&J shot was shelved nationwide last week following six reports of rare blood clots surfacing among almost 7 million recipients.

European regulators decided earlier this week that the benefits of the 66% effective vaccine outweigh the “very low risk” of the one-in-a-million side effects, and Dr. Rachel Rubin, co-lead and senior medical officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health, said she expects U.S. regulators to follow suit.

“We anticipate hearing from the CDC and FDA later this week that the vaccine will be put back into use, but probably with some restrictions and certainly a warning about the potential for the very rare complication of blood clots,” Rubin said during a news conference at Provident Hospital on the South Side.

Read the full story here.

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News

2:30 p.m. Cook County offering walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations at 2 sites

Cook County will offer vaccinations without appointments at two of its mass vaccination sites as part of a pilot program running through Saturday.

Vaccinations were previously available by appointment only at the Matteson and Tinley Park sites. The two sites are open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday for walk-ins and for those with appointments, county officials said. A photo ID is required. Those younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult. People can make appointments online at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or by calling 833-308-1988.

The Tinley Park site at 18451 Convention Center Drive has a supply of Moderna vaccine. The Matteson site at 4647 Promenade Way has a supply of Pfizer vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine is the only one approved for 16 and 17 year olds.

Read the full story from Stefano Esposito here.

12:55 a.m. CPS announces full-time, in-person learning in the fall

Chicago Public Schools students will have the option of returning to classrooms full time in the fall, district officials announced Wednesday, in what will be the largest step yet toward the resumption of pre-pandemic schooling.

Though a few thousand high school students started learning in person four days per week on Monday, no CPS students have been back daily since schools closed because of COVID-19 conditions 13 months ago.

All students in all grades will have that choice available to them in the fall, while families uncomfortable or unable to return will still be allowed to learn remotely, CPS leaders said. Few other details were immediately available.

“To ensure the district’s plans are aligned to the needs of families, CPS will be engaging families in the weeks ahead to help develop specific plans for the upcoming school year,” CPS said in a news release.

Read Nader Issa’s full story here.

11:15 a.m. Hitting latest vaccine milestone, Biden pushes shots for all

The United States is set to meet President Joe Biden’s latest vaccine goal of administering 200 million coronavirus shots in his first 100 days in office as the White House steps up efforts to inoculate the rest of the public.

Biden, in remarks planned for Wednesday, will note that the U.S. will surpass that shot goal this week, according to a White House official who was not authorized to publicly discuss specifics of the speech before the president gives it and spoke on condition of anonymity.

With more than 50% of adults at least partially vaccinated, Biden will reflect on his efforts to expand vaccine distribution and access in his first three months in office. But with all those 16 and older now eligible for shots, the president is expected to outline his administration’s plans to drive up the vaccination rate even further.

Read the full story here.

10:25 a.m. Budweiser giving away free beer with proof of COVID vaccination

Budweiser is the latest brand to raise awareness for the COVID-19 vaccines by offering free beer to those who get vaccinated.

The Anheuser-Busch beer brand has brought back its popular Budweiser Clydesdales and a puppy for the commercial called “Reunited with Buds,” which posted to YouTube Thursday and is scheduled to run on national television April 26, the company told USA TODAY.

Set to the tune of Queen’s hit “Don’t Stop Me Now,” the ad “celebrates our favorite bars as they start to reopen and reminds people to safely return to them once they have been vaccinated,” the company said.

To help encourage more to get vaccinated, there’s also a contest with 10,000 free beers up for grabs.

Now through May 16, or while supplies last, U.S. residents 21 and older can enter the “Reunite with Buds” giveaway at ABeerOnBud.com with proof of vaccination.

Read the full story here.

9:30 a.m. Lightfoot expects Blackhawks, Bulls fans will be allowed to return to United Center this season

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday she expects Bulls and Blackhawks fans will be allowed to watch home games at the United Center this season, barring a turn for the worse in COVID-19 cases.

“We feel like we might be plateauing and even, dare to dream, going down,” Lightfoot said of COVID-19 cases during an unrelated news conference. “Going down is the right time to have that conversation. So we’ll continue with that, and I expect before seasons end there will be fans in the United Center.”

The Bulls and Blackhawks each have seven regular-season home games on their schedules.

A limited number of fans have been able to attend home games for the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, but those fans are at a decreased risk of COVID-19 transmission because seats are in an open-air setting. Fans were allowed into Soldier Field to watch the Chicago Fire home opener on Saturday, too.

Read Mitch Dudek’s story here.

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New cases and vaccination rates

• The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,587 new coronavirus cases diagnosed among 62,406 tests on Tuesday, decreasing the seven-day average statewide positivity rate to 3.8% — the first time that figure has fallen below 4% since April 6.
• The numbers have now trended in the right direction for eight straight days, including in Chicago, where the regional positivity rate has inched down to 5.5% after more than a month of troubling increases.
• Hospitals across the state are still feeling the effects of Illinois’ uptick, even if it is flattening out. COVID-19 patients took up 2,288 beds statewide Monday night, the highest number of admissions since the first week of February.
• The state reported nine more coronavirus deaths Tuesday, including that of a Cook County woman in her 40s.
• COVID-19 has killed at least 21,694 Illinoisans since March 2020, as more than 1.3 million residents have tested positive.

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“What our community demands and deserves is more than prayers or platitudes, but action, Mayor Lightfoot,” Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez told the mayor, who replied: “Sir, you are now out of order. You are out of order. … Mister clerk, please move on.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot clashed with Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) Wednesday — and ruled him out of order — during debate on a resolution honoring the life of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

“What our community demands and deserves is more than prayers or platitudes, but action Mayor Lightfoot,” Sigcho-Lopez told the mayor.

“We have a bill right now and you know this very well … in the Committee on Public Safety” empowering a civilian oversight panel to hire and fire the police superintendent and be the final arbiter on disputes over police policy.

Lightfoot banged the gavel and interrupted Sigcho-Lopez at the mere mention of a civilian oversight ordinance she promised to deliver in her first 100 days in office.

“Sir, you are now out of order. You are out of order. … Mister clerk, please move on,” the mayor said.

Sigcho-Lopez’s microphone was promptly cut off as he continued to speak from the Council floor. That’s a tactic Mayor Richard J. Daley’s administration famously used to silence independent Ald. Dick Simpson (44th) nearly 50 years ago.

“Sir, out of respect for the chamber, lower your voices. We are proceeding with business,” Lightfoot admonished aldermen as Sigcho-Lopez continued to speak while aldermen talked to each other, apparently prompted by the clash.

Wednesday’s brief dust-up happened after the mayor agreed to suspend the rules and allow Little Village Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd) to debate a resolution that was only being introduced, not voted on.

Debate is supposed to be limited to matters the Council is voting on, but Lightfoot allowed it because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Toledo was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer summoned to the area by a Shot Spotter in the early morning hours of March 29. Toledo fled on foot and was chased by the officer into an alley.

Video released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability last week appeared to show Toledo with both hands in the air after tossing the gun he was carrying behind a fence a split second before he was shot in the chest.

“Ordinarily, this is simply referring ordinary matters to committee. This is not really the proper place to speak to this. You can certainly speak to it during the committee process,” Lightfoot said.

Rodriguez said he understood, but “given the recency and the tragic nature of this occurrence, I just wanted to briefly speak to this resolution. It’ll be under a minute. … I just want to raise up the situation as one that has been internationally recognized.”

When Lightfoot told him to keep it brief, Rodriguez read from the resolution expressing the City Council’s “grief and sorrow” at the police shooting that culminated in Toledo’s death.

“As a city, we need time to grieve, to mourn and to heal together. But we also need to re-imagine, re-invent and reform the societal factors and pressures that led to losing one of our sons far too soon,” Rodriguez said, reading from the resolution.

“We need to do the work for Adam and for all of Brown and Black boys to reform our police department and commit to substantive, sustained investments in our communities to create real futures for young people of color across our city. … While we rightly demand accountability for Adam’s death through an open, transparent, just and expedient investigation, we also want everyone to remember and celebrate Adam’s life … as a 13-year-old child whose life was taken much too soon.”

Lightfoot agreed with the tone of the resolution.

“We all need to pray for the Toledo family as we continue giving them support,” the mayor said.

Lightfoot then agreed to recognize Sigcho-Lopez, even as she warned, “Folks, we’re not gonna start a precedent here of speaking on matters that are simply being introduced. … So, Alderman Sigcho-Lopez, I will give you a brief moment to speak. Brief, sir.”

Sigcho-Lopez promised not to take long. But he made the mayor regret the exception she had just made.

Read More

Get the latest news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois. Follow here for live updates.

The latest

Cook County offering walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations at 2 sites

Brian Rich/Sun-Times

Cook County will offer vaccinations without appointments at two of its mass vaccination sites as part of a pilot program running through Saturday.

Vaccinations were previously available by appointment only at the Matteson and Tinley Park sites. The two sites are open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday for walk-ins and for those with appointments, county officials said. A photo ID is required. Those younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult. People can make appointments online at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or by calling 833-308-1988.

The Tinley Park site at 18451 Convention Center Drive has a supply of Moderna vaccine. The Matteson site at 4647 Promenade Way has a supply of Pfizer vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine is the only one approved for 16 and 17 year olds.

Read the full story from Stefano Esposito here.

---

News

12:55 a.m. CPS announces full-time, in-person learning in the fall

Chicago Public Schools students will have the option of returning to classrooms full time in the fall, district officials announced Wednesday, in what will be the largest step yet toward the resumption of pre-pandemic schooling.

Though a few thousand high school students started learning in person four days per week on Monday, no CPS students have been back daily since schools closed because of COVID-19 conditions 13 months ago.

All students in all grades will have that choice available to them in the fall, while families uncomfortable or unable to return will still be allowed to learn remotely, CPS leaders said. Few other details were immediately available.

“To ensure the district’s plans are aligned to the needs of families, CPS will be engaging families in the weeks ahead to help develop specific plans for the upcoming school year,” CPS said in a news release.

Read Nader Issa’s full story here.

11:15 a.m. Hitting latest vaccine milestone, Biden pushes shots for all

The United States is set to meet President Joe Biden’s latest vaccine goal of administering 200 million coronavirus shots in his first 100 days in office as the White House steps up efforts to inoculate the rest of the public.

Biden, in remarks planned for Wednesday, will note that the U.S. will surpass that shot goal this week, according to a White House official who was not authorized to publicly discuss specifics of the speech before the president gives it and spoke on condition of anonymity.

With more than 50% of adults at least partially vaccinated, Biden will reflect on his efforts to expand vaccine distribution and access in his first three months in office. But with all those 16 and older now eligible for shots, the president is expected to outline his administration’s plans to drive up the vaccination rate even further.

Read the full story here.

10:25 a.m. Budweiser giving away free beer with proof of COVID vaccination

Budweiser is the latest brand to raise awareness for the COVID-19 vaccines by offering free beer to those who get vaccinated.

The Anheuser-Busch beer brand has brought back its popular Budweiser Clydesdales and a puppy for the commercial called “Reunited with Buds,” which posted to YouTube Thursday and is scheduled to run on national television April 26, the company told USA TODAY.

Set to the tune of Queen’s hit “Don’t Stop Me Now,” the ad “celebrates our favorite bars as they start to reopen and reminds people to safely return to them once they have been vaccinated,” the company said.

To help encourage more to get vaccinated, there’s also a contest with 10,000 free beers up for grabs.

Now through May 16, or while supplies last, U.S. residents 21 and older can enter the “Reunite with Buds” giveaway at ABeerOnBud.com with proof of vaccination.

Read the full story here.

9:30 a.m. Lightfoot expects Blackhawks, Bulls fans will be allowed to return to United Center this season

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday she expects Bulls and Blackhawks fans will be allowed to watch home games at the United Center this season, barring a turn for the worse in COVID-19 cases.

“We feel like we might be plateauing and even, dare to dream, going down,” Lightfoot said of COVID-19 cases during an unrelated news conference. “Going down is the right time to have that conversation. So we’ll continue with that, and I expect before seasons end there will be fans in the United Center.”

The Bulls and Blackhawks each have seven regular-season home games on their schedules.

A limited number of fans have been able to attend home games for the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, but those fans are at a decreased risk of COVID-19 transmission because seats are in an open-air setting. Fans were allowed into Soldier Field to watch the Chicago Fire home opener on Saturday, too.

Read Mitch Dudek’s story here.

---

New cases and vaccination rates

• The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,587 new coronavirus cases diagnosed among 62,406 tests on Tuesday, decreasing the seven-day average statewide positivity rate to 3.8% — the first time that figure has fallen below 4% since April 6.
• The numbers have now trended in the right direction for eight straight days, including in Chicago, where the regional positivity rate has inched down to 5.5% after more than a month of troubling increases.
• Hospitals across the state are still feeling the effects of Illinois’ uptick, even if it is flattening out. COVID-19 patients took up 2,288 beds statewide Monday night, the highest number of admissions since the first week of February.
• The state reported nine more coronavirus deaths Tuesday, including that of a Cook County woman in her 40s.
• COVID-19 has killed at least 21,694 Illinoisans since March 2020, as more than 1.3 million residents have tested positive.

Read More