Avoid shopping or making important decisions from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Chicago time. After that, the moon moves from Gemini into Cancer.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Today you might feel so fanatical about something, you want to coerce other people into agreeing with you. Lighten up. Don’t be pushy about your views even if you’re excited about them. Life is short and the world is wide.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
You might be obsessed with something. It might be an idea that you can’t get out of your mind even if it isn’t particularly profound. (That’s the maddening part.) It’s got a Vulcan vise grip on your mind!
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
When you’re talking to a friend or a group, you might be obsessed with something, which makes you want to persuade others to agree with you. Because they might not agree with you, you will find this frustrating. Be smart. Let it go.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Listen to yourself today because you might hear yourself going overboard trying to convince someone about something. If their body language indicates they’re not interested, drop the subject. Give up. If you continue to try to convince them, they’ll be annoyed. “These are not the droids you’re looking for.”
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
There are many important issues in the world today, and you might be excited about something that you want to express to someone. However, the odds are that you are obsessed with this idea (even if it’s a good one). Don’t come on like gangbusters. People will listen to a whisper.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
You might be excited about financial matters and shared property today, especially inheritances. This is why you’re obsessed with your point of view. It’s also why you want someone to hear what you have to say. Speak your peace but you don’t have to pound it home.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
You’re a great debater. Today, however, you might feel it’s most important thing in the world for someone else to see your point of view or come to your way of thinking. Sadly, this is not true. Everyone has different ideas and opinions. You have to accept this.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Because you might see better ways of doing something, especially at work or related to your health, you want to share your reforming ideas with someone. You might want to teach them. However, if someone doesn’t want to listen, then lighten up. Stop the tirade.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
You might be excited about a creative concept or something to do with sports or with kids. Whatever it is, it’s crowding out all your other thoughts and you are slowly becoming obsessed by it. This is out of balance. (And you know it.)
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
It’s easy to become obsessed with an idea, especially about your home or your family. Because you value family so much, you want to be heard. You have something important to say! Hey, if others aren’t interested, drop it. Don’t go off the deep end.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Today it’s easy to become obsessed with an idea or a song in your head like “I Shot the Sheriff.” (Sorry about that.) Instead, use this intense mental focus to study or learn something new. Then you can put this compulsive thinking to good use.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Try to keep an open mind on financial matters today because it’s easy to be preoccupied with something to do with cash flow, shopping or earnings. Even if this issue is minor, you can’t shake it. Keep it to yourself and spare others.
If Your Birthday Is Today
Actress Lee Si-young (1982) shares your birthday. You are a fascinating combination of being spiritual and calm, and then, suddenly impulsive and excitable! Nevertheless, you give all important decisions much thought. You are also a faithful friend. This is a powerful time for you because you can expect kudos, promotions and accolades in the next year! People will applaud your efforts. Time to take a bow.
6 p.m. Vaccinations return to Loretto Hospital, but the city will run things this time
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Coronavirus vaccinations will resume next week at Loretto Hospital in city-run clinic, the Chicago Department of Public Health announced Friday.
The new vaccination site will be focused on serving residents of the hospital’s Austin community, according to a health department news release.
On March 18, the health department had halted the delivery of vaccines to Loretto, 645 S. Central Ave., after reports surfaced that the hospital had vaccinated 72 ineligible workers at Trump International Hotel & Tower.
5:45 p.m. Stuck outside U.S. during pandemic, burst pipe floods suburban home, and Allstate won’t pay
The COVID-19 pandemic has messed with people’s lives in countless ways, but I hadn’t heard anything quite like the travails of Floyd and Betsy Rogers.
It’s a complicated story, so settle in.
The Rogerses are retirees.
He’s 78 and used to work at IBM before retiring early to help his brother operate a now-defunct garden center. She’s 79 and went back to school for her Ph.D. after her daughters went away to college, then worked for a time as a consultant retraining industrial workers.
The Rogerses have lived since 1975 in a two-story frame home near Glen Ellyn where they raised two daughters.
Younger daughter Becky Ackermann is a paleoanthropologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she lives with her husband Kurt and their 11-year-old son, the Rogerses’ only grandchild. Their older daughter died of a blood clot in 2002.
Like many people their age with their only surviving child and grandchild far, far away, the suburban couple make annual visits to their daughter’s family in Cape Town, over time gradually extending their stays to months at a stretch.
That’s where they were in February 2020, scheduled to return that April, when Betsy Rogers broke her pelvis, requiring a long, difficult rehabilitation during which she could not be on an airplane.
That meant they were still in South Africa when the pandemic struck.
4:30 p.m. More than twice as many Illinoisans vaccinated than infected with COVID-19, as city prepares to expand eligibility
Public health officials on Friday announced Illinois’ second-most productive COVID-19 vaccination day yet with 166,885 doses going into arms statewide.
Nearly a quarter of all Illinoisans are now fully immunized against the coronavirus after Thursday’s shot effort, which came a week after the state set a record with almost 176,000 administered doses.
Illinois is now averaging about 130,000 shots per day as Chicago vaccine providers prepare to expand eligibility to all residents 16 and older starting Monday.
A federal pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine means there won’t be as many appointments available as officials might have thought a week ago, but the state has downplayed that obstacle. J&J doses only account for about 8% of Illinois’ vaccine supply.
Most appointments at city-run sites will go ahead as scheduled next week after shuffling around some doses, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Mass vax sites at the United Center and Chicago State University will use Pfizer doses instead of J&J, as will the off-site Walgreens clinics that are scheduled to distribute doses at houses of worship this weekend, officials said Friday. The city’s program for homebound residents has switched to Pfizer, too.
3:45 p.m. Michigan’s worst-in-the-nation COVID-19 outbreak is starting to affect automotive production
DETROIT — Michigan’s worst-in-the-nation COVID-19 outbreak is beginning to slow auto production, with a major Ram pickup truck plant reducing its output because of a high number of absent workers.
About 10% of the production work force at the Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) assembly plant in Sterling Heights, north of Detroit, either tested positive or is on quarantine, a person who has been briefed on the situation said Friday. That is equivalent to about 600 workers, said the person, who asked not to be identified because neither the company nor the United Auto Workers union is releasing details.
The 5-million-square-foot plant has about 7,450 hourly workers, but not all of them are on the assembly lines. To try to stem the shortfall, the company has pulled workers from a pickup factory in nearby Warren, Michigan, that has been forced to shut down by the global shortage of semiconductors
2:50 p.m. How to politely ask whether someone has gotten the COVID-19 vaccine
Have the people you know and might be around been vaccinated? Many of us aren’t quite sure how to ask.
It’s a seemingly simple question whether you’re asking before going on a date with someone new or planning a long-awaited hangout with friends. But it can feel uncomfortable to ask.
Partly that’s because of polarizing opinions the pandemic has prompted.
“Not everyone places the same value on being vaccinated,” says Lynn F. Bufka, the American Psychological Association’s senior director of practice transformation and quality. “There are people who are quite clear that they do not want to be vaccinated.”
1:05 p.m. Bulls’ Zach LaVine expected to miss several games in coronavirus protocol
Coby White appears to be lost in his bench role.
Lauri Markkanen looks like he already signed elsewhere.
Patrick Williams seems to have gone headfirst into the rookie wall.
Factor in two embarrassing losses in less than a week to the last-place Timberwolves and the tanking Magic, and, well, there’s seemingly no way things could get worse for the Bulls.
Then Thursday hit.
A noon practice was quickly cancelled after Zach LaVine entered the NBA’s health and safety protocol with a positive coronavirus test, according to a source.
The hope is LaVine only will be out a handful of days, but with the Bulls scheduled to play five games in the next seven days and with only 18 games left in the regular season, that could be the difference between holding on to the final play-in spot or sitting in a lottery position and praying for lottery luck.
12:15 p.m. US setting up $1.7B national network to track virus variants
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is setting up a $1.7 billion national network to identify and track worrisome coronavirus mutations whose spread could trigger another pandemic wave, the Biden administration announced Friday.
White House officials unveiled a strategy that features three components: a major funding boost for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments to ramp up coronavirus gene-mapping; the creation of six “centers of excellence” partnerships with universities to conduct research and develop technologies for gene-based surveillance of pathogens; and building a data system to better share and analyze information on emerging disease threats, so knowledge can be turned into action.
“Even as we accelerate our efforts to get shots into arms, more dangerous variants are growing, causing increases in cases in people without immunity,” White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters. That “requires us to intensify our efforts to quickly test for and find the genetic sequence of the virus as it spreads.”
10:45 a.m. After contracting COVID-19, ex-Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club boss Orvie Cochran gets early prison release
After Outlaws Motorcycle Club boss Orville “Orvie” Cochran survived a shooting outside the biker gang’s South Side clubhouse in 2000 — he slipped on some ice and fell, thus avoiding a hail of bullets — a former friend described him as “- – – damn lucky.”
Cochran’s luck still hasn’t run out.
Arrested in 2017 after being on the run for 16 years to avoid racketeering charges, he caught a break on his sentence. And now — after contracting the coronavirus in prison — Cochran has gotten a federal judge to free him from prison six months early.
The judge ordered a “compassionate” release for Cochran, who had asked for that even before getting infected because, he said, he was afraid he would and had health problems that could make COVID especially dangerous for him.
9 a.m. What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will you need one?
What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will I need one?
“Vaccine passports,” or vaccine certificates, are documents that show you were vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus. They could help you get into places such as stadiums or even countries that are looking to reopen safely.
The certificates are still being developed, and how and whether they’ll be used could vary widely around the world. Experts say they should be free and available on paper, not just on apps, since not everyone has a smartphone.
In the U.S., federal officials say there are no plans to make them broadly mandatory. In some states, Republican governors have issued orders barring businesses or state agencies from asking people to show proof of vaccination.
8:30 a.m. Pause on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine won’t affect United Center appointments, city’s top doc says
Appointments at the United Center’s COVID-19 mass vaccination site will go on as scheduled next week with Pfizer doses being administered instead of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that’s been shelved nationwide, officials said Thursday.
The city’s most prominent mass vax site has been doling out Pfizer since it launched a month ago in a parking lot across the street from the Near West Side arena.
That’ll still be the case Monday, which is when the federally run site had been scheduled to switch to J&J doses — until a handful of extremely rare blood clots tied to that vaccine prompted a temporary suspension this week while experts investigate.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide additional Pfizer doses in its place, meaning plans won’t change for anyone with a United Center appointment, according to Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.
“Everybody who has an appointment from Monday on at the United Center can keep that appointment. You do not need to do a thing. You will just receive Pfizer instead of Johnson & Johnson,” Arwady said during an online Q&A.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,581 new cases of the disease were diagnosed Wednesday among 105,661 tests to keep the state’s average testing positivity rate at 4.2%.
About one quarter of Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated so far, with 138,538 doses administered Tuesday. The state also reported 3,536 new cases and 31 more deaths.
Staff member of state House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch tests positive for COVID-19. The staff member was tested Monday as part of the Legislature’s required protocols to return to in-person work in the Capitol.
There will be no playoffs in this pandemic-shortened season, but it might feel otherwise to Loyola.
The No. 1 Ramblers are navigating their way through the state’s toughest schedule — six straight ranked opponents — with matchups materializing only days in advance against opponents they’ve rarely seen, if ever.
Loyola passed another test in an unusual Friday afternoon home game, shutting out No. 25 Phillips 30-0 behind another dominating performance from running back Vaughn Pemberton and the defense.
Playing only every other series, Pemberton nonetheless piled up more than 100 yards of total offense: 10 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown, and one catch for 11 yards.
Aidan Brownlee scored on an end-around, and quarterbacks JT Thomas and Jake Stearney each threw a touchdown pass for Loyola (5-0).
Phillips and Hillcrest were last-minute schedule additions when the Ramblers’ original week four and five opponents were unavailable. Had they not stepped in, Loyola would have had three weeks off before playing Marist in the regular-season and CCL/ESCC Blue finale.
“When we got Phillips scheduled, we were all really happy,” Pemberton said. “I got the Hudl message from coach (John) Holecek when I was in my bed. I was like, ‘Oh! I’m playing a game.'”
There was a bittersweet aspect to the game, Pemberton said. Besides being the seniors’ last home game, it came days after tight end James Kyle announced on Twitter his football career was over because of health issues.
“We don’t take any of these for granted,” said Pemberton, who like his teammates wrote Kyle’s uniform number (81) on his wrist.
Holecek didn’t take playing for granted either.
“Very nice of Hillcrest and (Phillips coach) Troy (McAllister) to pick us up,” he said, “Both (coaches) said, ‘This helps our program.’
“What was I going to do, take two weeks off to get ready for my week six (game)?”
Loyola’s defense was paced by linebacker Braden Mullen, who had an interception and a sack, and lineman Brandon Svets, who had two sacks.
The Ramblers’ edge in experience and preparation showed against Phillips (2-1).
“I feel bad for these guys because they just got started,” Holecek said of the Wildcats. “CPS tied their hands completely. We had 20 (contact days) in the summer, 20 in the fall and then starting in January a little bit. We can do a lot more than these guys can do.”
That’s the goal every time the Ramblers step on the field in this six-game season, according to defensive back Marty Auer.
“We think we’re the best team in the state,” he said. “We have to prove it one more week.”
The Ramblers couldn’t look past anyone given their loaded schedule. But it’s safe to say the finale at Marist always was in the back of their minds.
“This team beat us at home twice last (season) so we have something to prove,” Auer said. “Yeah, it is our Super Bowl.”
Top-ranked Loyola dominated Phillips on Friday in Wilmette. The 30-0 score tells that tale.
The Wildcats showed up hoping to win, of course, but COVID-19 has taught all of us not to take what used to be everyday events for granted.
High school sports, at their core, are about providing special moments for kids to remember for the rest of their lives. They’re about getting a chance to play with your friends, in front of your family, and to represent your community.
Chicago Public Schools high school students have missed out on so many of those moments since COVID-19 hit, countless things all of us were able to experience during our senior years.
That’s why the game Friday, despite the score, was so important for Phillips coach Troy McAllister and his kids. They picked up a moment to remember: a day they went and got hammered by the best football team in the state, with an opposing student section chanting at them and their parents watching from the stands.
”I was fired up [when Coach told us he had scheduled the game] because we have a Public League schedule, and everybody knows CPS teams aren’t the best,” Wildcats senior Vontrell Chairse said. ”As a team, we wanted a tough task. And I feel like we came out and put our hearts on the field. There’s just little things we need to clean up, and then we will be better.”
Chairse is a Toledo recruit. Just a few weeks ago, it looked as though his senior season would be made up of a handful of blowout games against Public League teams, possibly without any fans in the stands.
”We would do this 100 times out of 100, to have this opportunity to come here and give the kids this experience,” McAllister said. ”We get to send our seniors off with a non-CPS game where they get a true high school experience of playing a top team in the state. And for our young guys, they get to see how important hitting the weight room is and how it makes you a better team.”
The challenges Phillips overcame to become the first Public League school to win a state title in 2015 are well-documented. COVID-19 only has added to the list.
The Wildcats haven’t had access to their weight room since the pandemic began. Some schools, including Loyola, have been practicing and hitting the weight room for more than a year, preparing for this season.
”It’s pretty clear they’ve been in the weight room, and we haven’t had access to one,” Chairse said. ”They did their job; hats off to them. We got to play the best team in the state, and you can’t ask for more than that. It was a great opportunity.”
Phillips has high expectations for junior quarterback Tyler Turner. He was 7-for-21 for 104 yards with one interception and was sacked five times. Junior Avante Savage caught four passes for 84 yards.
”That was awesome,” Turner said. ”I took some hits, for sure, but it was fun. A great competition and a great learning experience.”
Turner’s father, Nate, was a star at Nebraska and played for the Bills in the NFL. He was there to watch his son.
”He got beat up pretty good,” Nate Turner said. ”A couple of those Loyola guys look like they should be in the NFL. They were coming, and we didn’t have an answer for them. Tyler was ducking and dodging.
”But the future is bright. It was awesome for the kids to be out here and play the No. 1 team in the state and have this moment. They will learn from it and move forward.”
Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Logan Square Monument holding signs demanding justice for 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer in Little Village late last month.
“You have allowed police officers to traumatize us,” Mark Clements, a survivor of police violence, told the crowd.
“We are out here because we watched a child gunned down by the Chicago police. Where’s the integrity?” Clements said.
“I want this whole park to rock,” Clements shouted. “We’re showing Lori Lightfoot: No more. We showing the governor: No more. We showing Toni Preckwinkle: No more!”
Preckwinkle was at the event, but did not address the crowd.
Hundreds packed into Logan Square Park on Friday to protest the fatal shooting by Chicago police of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Many speakers became emotional, crying as they called for justice for Adam and others killed by police.
“Adam, we love you, we will not stop until there is justice for you!” The crowd shouted in unison.
From other speakers there also were demands for rent control, better jobs and funding for youth-driven social programs. To accomplish this, some organizers said, was to defund the Chicago Police Department and rerouting those funds to socials safety net.
After a 90-minute rally in the park, the crowd began marching north on Milwaukee Avenue, filling the road, waving signs and chanting. Some also protested the fatal shooting by police of Anthony Alvarez, 22, killed about two days after Adam.
People filled Milwaukee Avenue Friday night for a march to protest police violence. The march started in Logan Square Park, where thousands had gathered by a rally.Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
“No justice, no peace, abolish the police!” some yelled, as diners in the popular business district looked on through restaurant windows.
“They killed a 13-year-old kid with his hands up,” said Nate Brandford, 20, a student at the University of Chicago. “They’ve been killing us for a while now, so I figured I’d come to yet another protest to scream yet another name.”
Andrea Popoca, 26, didn’t expect the protest to turn out to be as big as it did, but he was pleased at the turnout.
“We’re here to show our support for the community in this unjustified murder,” Popoca said holding a sign with Adam’s name on it. “That video was sickening and we were mortified when we saw it.”
Popoca said the video showed a “trigger happy” officer who needs to be fired and charged.
“This keeps happening and it simply needs to stop,” she added.
The march through Logan Square twisted and turned through the Northwest Side neighborhood as TV helicopters flew above, monitoring the protest. Police blocked intersections, allowing the peaceful demonstration to move around.
Manny Ramos is a corps member in Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster Sun-Times coverage of issues affecting Chicago’s South and West sides.
Sam Kelly is a CST Wire reporter.
Hundreds packed into Logan Square Park on Friday to protest the fatal shooting by Chicago police of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
On the bright side, there was no need for all the focus to be on the Cubs’ ongoing inability to hit after a 5-2 loss to the Braves on a freaky Friday at Wrigley Field.
There were other matters of strange, terrible baseball to share the spotlight.
Such as David Bote getting thrown out at second base on a bad-idea, worse-execution steal attempt to end the sixth inning with the Cubs down 4-2 and the potential tying run at the plate.
Or Javy Baez winging it with a total head-scratcher of a bunt attempt — and fouling out to the catcher, as if there’s anything worse — with the leadoff man on base and no one out in a 5-2 game in the eighth.
“You’re looking at guys that are trying to do whatever they can to win a baseball game,” bench coach Andy Green — who filled in for suspended manager David Ross — said about the bunt.
But trying to win doesn’t explain Baez holding on to the ball at short and finally throwing late to home while Ronald Acuna Jr. scored from second on a ground ball in the fourth to make it 4-1.
Or starting pitcher Zach Davies (1-2) serving up a fourth-inning double to opposing starter Kyle Wright (1-0) — it was Wright’s first career hit — to key a three-run Braves rally. What happened to pitchers not being able to hit anymore? Davies can ask himself that as he ruminates on his 10.32 ERA.
“It was just a struggle all day,” he said.
But enough about all that. Whom are we kidding? Of course the focus should be on the Cubs’ catatonic bats. This is a team that totaled 59 hits in its first 12 games, a miniscule average of 4.9. The Cubs have been taking futility where few, if any, punchless teams have dared take it before.
Well, guess what? With six hits in the opener of a three-game series and a nine-game homestand, the Cubs bumped their hits per game to an even five. Please, fans, try to contain your excitement.
“It has been a grind,” said first baseman Anthony Rizzo, whose one-hit day (along with two walks) upped his average to .182. “It has not been fun to watch.”
Day after day, it’s pretty miserable to watch.
“We’ve just got to keep swinging and somehow relax a little bit and just keep playing baseball,” Rizzo said. “We’ve got a long way to go.”
The Cubs were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, agonizing on a day when they drew six walks and had four batters hit by pitches. A tone was set in the first inning after the first two hitters, Ian Happ and Willson Contreras, reached and were moved to second and third by a Rizzo groundout. Kris Bryant struck out on three pitches and Joc Pederson flew out.
The Cubs stranded multiple runners in three of the first four innings. After a Contreras homer and a Rizzo walk in the fifth, any momentum died with the Cubs trailing 4-2 as Bryant again struck out on three pitches, Pederson lined out and Baez went down flailing at a slider buried at his shoe tops by lefty reliever Grant Dayton.
In the ninth, the Cubs loaded the bases for Pederson against southpaw Will Smith. Pederson signed with the Cubs because he wanted to play every day. Finding some left-vs.-left success is the key to the whole operation. So far, Pederson — who struck out to end the game — is 1-for-13 against lefties. Then again, he’s only 4-for-29 against righties.
As Rizzo pointed out, it’s a good thing the season is 162 games again and not 60 as it was in 2020.
Wait, is that a really good thing?
“This is part of being a big-leaguer,” Rizzo said. “You’re going to have ups and downs, and it’s how you carry yourself through these times that makes the good times sweeter.”
LOS ANGELES — President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and a slew of celebrities including Billy Crystal, Jennifer Hudson and Lin-Manuel Miranda are part of a special aimed at boosting COVID-19 vaccination rates.
“Roll Up Your Sleeves,” airing at 6 p.m. Sunday on NBC, will feature Matthew McConaughey interviewing Dr. Anthony Fauci to help separate “fact from fiction” about the vaccines, the network said.
Biden will make a direct appeal in support of the effort, while Obama will be joined by basketball greats Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal to reinforce the role of vaccines in allowing Americans to get their lives back on track.
Former first lady Michelle Obama will team with Miranda, Faith Hill and Jennifer Lopez in support of shots during the hour-long special hosted by spouses Russell Wilson, the NFL quarterback, and actor-singer Ciara.
Other announced highlights include comedy from Billy Crystal and Wanda Sykes and appearances by TV doctors Eric Dane, Ryan Eggold, Ellen Pompeo, Jane Seymour and Ken Jeong, who’s also a real M.D.
Also set to appear are Sterling K. Brown, Lana Condor, Jennifer Hudson, Dale Jarrett, Joe Jonas, Eva Longoria, Demi Lovato, Joel McHale, Kumail Nanjiani and Amanda Seyfried.
When describing the allegations against 21-year-old Ruben Roman — who was arrested at the scene of Adam’s shooting in Little Village — Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy told Judge Susana Ortiz that Toledo had a gun in his right hand a moment before he was shot by an officer.
“The officer tells [Adam] to drop it as [Adam] turns towards the officer. [Adam] has a gun in his right hand,” Murphy said, reading from the proffer on April 10. “The officer fires one shot at [Adam], striking him in the chest. The gun that [Adam] was holding landed against the fence a few feet away.”
The proffer matches a portion of what the video of the deadly March 29 shooting shows, but it doesn’t note that Adam dropped his weapon and had his hands up in the air less than a second before the officer fired the shot.
Chicago media outlets, including the Chicago Sun-Times, reported that Murphy was indicating that Adam had a gun in his hand when he was shot.
State’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Sarah Sinovic declined to comment Friday on why it took the office five days to say that Murphy did not “fully inform himself” before Ruben’s bond hearing.
“An attorney who works in this office failed to fully inform himself before speaking in court,” the statement issued Thursday said. “Errors like that cannot happen and this has been addressed with the individual involved. The video speaks for itself.”
The state’s attorney’s office does not believe Murphy lied or knowingly presented inaccurate information, Sinovic stressed Friday. But she said that the office is concerned that the information Murphy presented in court wasn’t clear.
Murphy “did not make it clear at what point [Adam] didn’t have the gun,” Sinovic said.
“Something was presented as fact when it was still under investigation.”
Sinovic wouldn’t say whether Murphy would face disciplinary action over that omission.
Murphy declined to comment Friday.
Before Ruben’s bond hearing, Murphy had not seen the security camera video that appears to show Adam tossing the gun behind a fence before he was shot, Sinovic said.
She declined to say if that footage was available to the state’s attorney’s office at the time of the hearing.
“It’s still under investigation what videos were available to [Murphy],” Sinovic said. “We’re still trying to figure out what he had access to when he made the the statements in court.”
Two sources with knowledge of the investigation told the Chicago Sun-Times that Murphy’s proffer had not been approved or read by anyone else in the state’s attorney’s office before it was presented before a judge.
Sinovic would not discuss the office’s policy’s on the approval process of proffers but said the office is investigating whether Murphy’s superiors signed off on the proffer.
Ruben is charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon, child endangerment and violating probation.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22450106/CV_LORETTO_11.jpg)
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22450289/Logan_Square_Toledo_rally.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22450409/Logan_Adam_march_Rezin.jpg)
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22450337/Adam_Toledo_Logan_rally_2.jpg)