A man died April 17, 2021, after being shot days earlier in Austin. | Adobe Stock Photo
Michael Pipes, 35, and a 26-year-old man were shot April 6, officials said.
A man who was shot earlier this month in Austin on the West Side has died from his injuries.
Michael Pipes, 35, was pronounced dead at 4:46 a.m. Saturday at Mount Sinai Hospital, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
Pipes and a 26-year-old man were wounded in a shooting days earlier.
About 7:30 p.m. April 6, they were in the 300 block of North Latrobe Avenue when a vehicle drove up and someone opened fire, Chicago police said.
Pipes was struck in the head and the other man was shot in the leg, police said. Both were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.
An autopsy found Pipes died of complications from his gunshot wound and ruled his death a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said. He lived in South Shore.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot took to Twitter Sunday morning to dismiss lascivious “rumors” about her impending resignation that set the social media platform ablaze over the weekend.
“I will continue to lead a group of the willing all across our city who are about doing the people’s work,” Lightfoot tweeted from her personal account. “The people of Chicago elected me mayor, and I will continue to serve today, tomorrow and into the future. Back to work.”
The claim that Lightfoot planned to step down Sunday was apparently fueled by a now-deleted tweet sent by Ja’Mal Green, an activist and former mayoral candidate who continues to call for her resignation.
“Lori Lightfoot is resigning tomorrow in a stunning end to her mayorship,” Green tweeted Saturday.
That claim quickly lit up Twitter, leading to speculation about a series of uncorroborated allegations about the mayor’s personal life. The Sun-Times hasn’t independently confirmed any of those claims, including the allegation Green said prompted his initial tweet.
“Our city doesn’t have any time for homophobic, racist and misogynistic rumors, today or any day,” Lightfoot tweeted. “It’s shocking and disappointing to see some media members and verified Twitter handles are peddling this trash as truth.”
In a statement Sunday, Green apologized for his tweet and claimed it “was taken out of context.”
“I should have kept quiet,” he said.
Green explained he fired off the tweet after he was “made aware by members of the political world that it was possible that mayor [sic] Lightfoot would resign.” However, he acknowledged that ultimately “helped to amplify rumors” that were already circulating — rumors he claimed were pushed by members of the union that represents Chicago’s rank-and-file police officers.
“I made clear to the public and to the mayor that my intention was never to fuel rumors about her family. I have major concerns with how the mayor is leading right now, but I will never get personal,” said Green, noting his own connections to Lightfoot’s family.
Lightfoot began her tweet thread by jokingly referencing a previous rumor that she was moving her family from Logan Square to Sauganash, a sleepy neighborhood on the Northwest Side. But she quickly shifted tones, hammering on the “major challenges” facing Chicago while decrying the claims churning in the rumor mill.
“This nonsense that some apparently have the luxury of indulging in has not fed one person, stopped the pandemic, housed anyone living on the street or saved one young person,” Lightfoot tweeted.
“Anyone who wants to work with me to make progress, I’m ready,” she added. “Even if we don’t always see eye to eye, if you actually love this city and want to be part of making it better, let’s do the work. The rest of you, get out of the way.”
There are no Public League football teams in this week’s Super 25. That may be jarring to some, but it is my honest take on the current state of things.
I’ve detailed everything Public League football has been up against over the past year in recent stories. There’s enough talent on the high-level Public League teams to be ranked, but they just aren’t there right now and it’s important to keep the Super 25 legitimate. I’ve kept a Public League team or two in the bottom of the rankings most of the season, choosing to give the powerhouses from the city the benefit of the doubt. There are several highly-ranked suburban teams that haven’t been challenged at all either.
Phillips lost to Loyola 30-0 on Friday and Simeon squeaked past Kenwood 23-18 on Saturday. I was at both games and can safely say that the teams are just a few steps behind the rest of the area’s elite right now.
Dons aren’t done
Notre Dame opened the football season with a 34-13 loss to Marist and then dropped a 7-0 game to Providence at home in Week 2. Star quarterback Anthony Sayles isn’t playing this season, so that along with the two losses pretty much shoved the Dons out of the spotlight.
Welcome back Notre Dame. Mike Hennessey’s squad shocked Nazareth on Saturday, knocking off the Roadrunners 10-0. Dons quarterback Vincenzo Ricciardi connected with Conor O’Boyle for the winning touchdown.
Nazareth junior Tyler Morris left with an injury in the second half. He’s one of the state’s best players and a top 100 talent in the national Class of 2022.
What’s next?
Things are going to feel extremely odd this time next week. The football season, which just seemed to get going, will abruptly end. There will be a slew of undefeated teams and absolutely nothing settled.
The basketball season fizzled out the same way for most teams, but the Chipotle Clash of Champions provided a small bit of closure. There also weren’t a dozen or more highly-regarded undefeated teams with claims to lofty rankings.
That’s life during COVID-19. Maybe it is best to view this season as an appetizer for the fall.
Player of the Year/All-Area
The Sun-Times will select a Player of the Year and an All-Area team over the next week. Coaches and athletic directors, please email your nominations to [email protected]. I’ll be depending on the nominations more than ever this season since I wasn’t able to see nearly enough games due to the shortened season and all the cancelations.
This season has been a mess for a lot of teams and I’ve decided not to hold that against any player. If a kid had a tremendous career and could only play one or two games this season that’s fine, send over the nomination.
Antioch: There were two really easy calls this week on which teams to add to the rankings. I’ve had my eye on both the Sequoits and St. Francis since the preseason and they could have joined at any point over the last month.
St. Francis: The opening week win against IC Catholic opened everyone’s eyes and the Spartans haven’t let up.
Crete-Monee: The Warriors have been absolutely crushing opponents this season.
Dropping out:
Nazareth (2-2): The Roadrunners fall out after getting shut out 10-0 by Notre Dame. The amount of talent the team lost over the last few months is well documented and coach Tim Racki has been playing a ton of guys in every game, which is definitely the right call during this season. That’s more important than a ranking.
Phillips (3-1): I’ve kept a Public League team or two in the bottom of the rankings most of the season, choosing to give the powerhouses from the city the benefit of the doubt. There are several highly-ranked suburban teams that haven’t been challenged at all either. The Wildcats lost at Loyola this week and Simeon struggled to beat a talented young Kenwood team that Morgan Park shut out a few weeks ago. After seeing all the CPS powers, other than the Mustangs, my honest opinion is that Public League just isn’t Super 25 quality at this point.
Simeon (3-0): See above. It should be noted that the future is very bright for the top-level Public League teams. There are promising young players getting some important experience this spring.
White Sox pitcher Jonathan Stiever warms up prior to a spring training baseball game against the Seattle Mariners Friday, March 5, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) | Ross D. Franklin, AP Photos
Right-hander could start Game 2 of split doubleader against Red Sox
BOSTON — The White Sox recalled right-hander Jonathan Stiever from the Schaumburg training facility to serve as the 27th man for their split doubleheader against the Red Sox Sunday.
Manager Tony La Russa wouldn’t commit to Stiever as the starter for the second game. Left-hander Dallas Keuchel starts Game 1, and the Game 2 starter is listed as TBA.
“The priority is just to watch the first game and do whatever it takes to win with the ‘pen behind Dallas, if it’s necessary,” La Russa said. “And then we’ll sort out the second game. But Jonathan would be one of the guys that you would consider.”
Stiever, 23, was the Sox’ fifth-round draft pick in 2018 and is rated by Baseball America as the Sox’ No. 7 prospect. He made two starts last season, going 0-1 with a 9.95 ERA (seven earned runs over 7 1⁄3 innings). He combined to go 10-10 with a 3.48 ERA and 154 strikeouts in 154 innings over over 26 starts between Class A Kannapolis and advanced A Winston-Salem in 2019.
Stiever traveled with the team as part of the five-man taxi squad. The other pitcher is Alex McRae, who is not on the 40-man roster. La Russa said prospect Jimmy Lambert was also considered.
“Jonathan, he’s an outstanding prospect,” La Russa said. “I wouldn’t hesitate to use him in either one of these two games. The first priority is Game 1, and you don’t want to be saving something for Game 2 when you have a real chance to win Game 1. That’s why you’ve got to be not playing any games with the Red Sox, because it’s going to depend on who we need to get the first win the first game we play.”
Lauri Markkanen and Coby White have each been dealing with inconsistency this season, but with just 16 games left and so much on the line, the hope is Saturday was another learning block in winning basketball.
All Billy Donovan is hoping for is lessons have been learned.
With just 16 regular-season games left for the Bulls, they better be.
Guard Coby White had just eight points in the Saturday win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, but had nine assists and was plus-eight in the plus/minus category.
Lauri Markkanen was finally a factor off the bench, not only scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds, but was a plus-14 in plus/minus.
“The two guys I’m really, really proud [of] is Lauri and Coby,’’ the coach said after the five-game losing streak was finally ended. “Not one more than the other, but in particular the fact that Coby, I think he had 27 points [in the loss to Memphis on Friday], and then he comes back against the [Cavs] and he can’t make a shot – I think he goes 2-for-10 – but I thought he played winning basketball. He did a good job running the team, he got us in and out of stuff. I thought he competed like crazy on the ball [defensively].
“And I think for Lauri, coming off the bench and doing what he did … this to me is development. They need to understand how to impact winning, and I felt like both guys hopefully took a step in that direction that whether or not they’re making shots or missing shots, they still can have an impact on the game.’’
That’s the mode the Bulls find themselves these days – doing whatever it takes to impact winning, because if they want to play a meaningful game in May, winning has to be done.
And with Zach LaVine testing positive for the coronavirus, it has to be done without an All-Star and arguably one of the elite scorers in the Eastern Conference.
That’s why Donovan took some hope from the win over Cleveland. Yes, it was the slumping Cavs, but the fact that White looked like a capable point guard and Markkanen looked like a player the coach could close a game with, that has staying power.
How long it stays is now up to both players.
“Those two guys are really important pieces to our team and they’re two really good young players,’’ Donovan said. “But they haven’t won at a very significant level. And I’m not blaming either one of them for that.
“They need to learn how to [win games] and what goes into that. Whatever Lauri’s minutes are, whether it’s 15 or 27, what kind of impact does he make where he’s saying, ‘You know what, they’re going to have to keep me on the floor? I do too much. I rebound. I run the floor. I defend. I protect the rim. If I’m not shooting, I do other things.’ ‘’
He checked a lot of those boxes in the Cavs win, and that’s why he did get closing duties. The problem with both, however, is they have shown these moments before, but then they’ve inexplicably slipped back into bad habits.
Sometimes it just takes one game for something to click. That’s what Donovan is hanging onto. And while Markkanen was saying the right things, because he’s so laid back it’s hard to guess what sticks with him and what doesn’t.
“I think a lot of guys have sacrificed,’’ Markkanen said of the current situation for himself and White. “I’m not going to do anything that jeopardizes the team. I’m going to play my role as well as I can. I think in the last games, I could’ve done a better job. I’m just trying to focus on staying positive and bringing the energy off the bench. The opportunity is going to be there.’’
He’s right, the opportunity will be there. The big question is will he grab it and hang onto it?
In 2017, Luis Gutiérrez wipes away a tear as he announces he will retire from congress at the end of his term. The longtime congressman also became emotional talking about the death of Adam Toledo. | Scott Olson, Getty
Former Congressman Luis Gutierrez speaks out about the Adam Toledo shooting.
“I grew up in a gang-infested neighborhood. I don’t know a Latino who didn’t,” said Luis Gutierrez, the former congressman and long-ago alderman. “We all grew up together. It wasn’t like ‘West Side Story.’ We didn’t dance around each other.
“I remember the manipulation, the cruelty, the exploitive nature of gang members. People like to think of them as the protectors of the neighborhood. I get that. I was the the alderman of the 26th Ward. It’s no different than Little Village. None.”
We were talking over the weekend about what everybody in Chicago has been talking about since Thursday, when the body-cam video of Little Village 13-year-old Adam Toledo being shot by a police officer was released.
The footage makes for sickening viewing: the jumpy chase through an alley; the barked, ignored commands; the boy’s hands going up followed instantly by the gunshot. The red blood. Watching it once, I can’t imagine ever watching it again. Once is too much.
I had just read the upbeat update about Gutierrez that Mark Brown wrote last week; he’s returned to Chicago to welcome his second grandchild — his daughter Jessica’s baby shower was Saturday — and to promote Puerto Rican causes.
So I almost shook off Gutierrez’s suggestion that we speak about the shooting. My job isn’t to echo Mark. Yet why not see what Gutierrez has to say? My first question was whether he truly wants to plunge into this emotional maelstrom. Or as I put it: “Do you really want to jam your hand into this spinning fan?”
“I understand that,” he said. “But at some point you have to stop and say something. I feel that what is happening to Adam is a second demonization process.”
Some Latino politicians are dismissing Toledo as just another gangbanger who got what gangbangers get.
“One thing is irrefutable: He was 13 years old,” said Gutierrez. “He was a child. All of this, ‘What was he doing out in 2:30 in the morning?’ I guess that’s a death sentence in Chicago. When I see this young man, I say to myself, ‘Wow, once again he’s being exploited and manipulated by adult gang members who basically trafficked him.’”
Gutierrez issued a letter condemning Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), who went on Fox News and lauded the “amazing restraint” of the police officer who shot Toledo. Lopez didn’t explain exactly how that “restraint” manifested itself; maybe by not shooting him in the back as he ran, maybe by firing only once and not the 16 times that is traditional.
“What kind of internalized self-loathing and self-hatred who you are and who you pretend to represent exists in that alderman?” Gutierrez asked. “Because that’s the only way I could figure it out.”
I observed that the adult with Toledo certainly managed to allow himself to be arrested without harm.
“The 21-year-old is smart,” Gutierrez replied. “He said to himself, ‘Give the gun to the 13-year-old kid.’ That’s what they do, an act of cowardice; he gives the gun to the child, puts the child directly in the line of fire. Those are gangs, it’s what they do.
“There is little or no difference what I’ve seen in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala. People flee to come here, to get their children here. What their mothers go through, to get their children out of Central America. I’m not going to say it’s exactly the same. This is not a Third World country. But there are many of the same attributes. The gang infestation. Let’s not sugarcoat what’s going on here.”
Even though the bar of ineptness and deceit has been set pretty low, I was still surprised by the City Hall spin over the two weeks leading up to the video release. The video obviously was going to be jarring, or it would have been released immediately.
Yet there was Mayor Lori Lightfoot pretending it was going to be exculpatory out of one corner of her mouth while talking about amending foot chase policy out of the other. As horrible as the video was, she found a way to make it worse.
“It accentuates the shock to me,” Gutierrez agreed. “I don’t look much toward the mayor.”
You, me and everybody else. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx also did what Kim Foxx does: botched the situation.
“I look at the prosecutor as someone who could have said something much earlier,” he continued. “That’s why I stayed quiet, didn’t join in. I said to myself, ‘We don’t know all the facts.’ The prosecutor certainly would not say this is an armed confrontation unless he had a gun in his hand. It silenced me,and said ‘Shut up, don’t say anything.’ Then I saw it and realized they LIED to us. Clearly, they lied to us.”
Gutierrez described the shooting as “an execution.” Did he really believe the officer deliberately killed Toledo? That it wasn’t a split second mistake?
“Here’s what I believe: He didn’t give a shit,” Gutierrez said. “This cop didn’t give a shit about this kid. He just didn’t. He didn’t see the value, the humanity, of this unarmed 13-year-old CHILD … He’s a little brown boy, so he gets turned into a man, he gets turned into a gun, his life becomes reduced.”
Now that we’ve gone over what happened, the hard question: What to do?
“What we really need is a very energetic, a very robust conversation among ourselves,” he said, tearing up. “Let’s use our leadership. We have to make sure there’s not another Adam Toledo.
“We can protest. We can condemn. We can praise, as Ald. Lopez did, the actions of the police. But in the end, don’t we need to end this? Don’t we need them to become peace officers rather than police officers? Keepers of the peace.
“I’m proud I represented Little Village for 26 years, so proud,” Gutierrez said. “They’re doing what they have to do. Having their voices heard in a peaceful, nonviolent manner that is going to gain us broader trust and broader support and a solution.”
A person was hurt in a fire April 18, 2021, in Streamwood. | Adobe Stock Photo
The residents were at home when the fire started but escaped before firefighters arrived, officials said.
A person was injured after a fire broke out at a home Sunday in suburban Streamwood.
Crews responded to a blaze about 6:20 a.m. at a two-story home in the 700 block of Lacy Avenue and extinguished the fire on the home’s rear deck, Streamwood fire officials said.
The residents were at home when the fire started but escaped before firefighters arrived, officials said.
One resident suffered burn injuries and was taken to St. Alexius Medical Center, officials said. Firefighters also rescued a cat from the home.
The home sustained $200,000 in damage, officials said.
