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Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause won’t slow UC appointments (LIVE UPDATES)Sun-Times staffon April 16, 2021 at 3:48 pm

People approach to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at the United Center’s mass vaccination clinic last month on the Near West Side.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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The latest

Pause on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine won’t affect United Center appointments, city’s top doc says

People approach to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at the United Center’s mass vaccination clinic last month on the Near West Side.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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.

Read Mitchell Armentrout’s full story here.

News

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.

Read the complete story by Robert Herguth here.

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.

Read the full story here.

New cases & vaccination numbers

  • 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.
  • Pritzker office staffer tests positive for COVID-19. The staff member was not in close contact with Gov. Pritzker Monday, or in previous days.
  • 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.

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Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause won’t slow UC appointments (LIVE UPDATES)Sun-Times staffon April 16, 2021 at 3:48 pm Read More »

NFL partners with Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings on sports betting dealsWayne Parry | Associated Presson April 16, 2021 at 3:15 pm

Once one of the staunchest opponents of allowing people to bet legally on its games, the NFL announced deals with three major gambling companies to become official sports betting partners.
Once one of the staunchest opponents of allowing people to bet legally on its games, the NFL announced deals with three major gambling companies to become official sports betting partners. | Wayne Parry/AP

The gambling companies will get the use of NFL trademarks and official league data, and will integrate their own betting content into media properties including NFL.com and the league’s official app.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Once one of the staunchest opponents of allowing people to bet legally on its games, the NFL on Thursday announced deals with three major gambling companies to become official sports betting partners.

The league is partnering with Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings and FanDuel, all of which will get the use of NFL trademarks and official league data, and will integrate their own betting content into media properties including NFL.com and the league’s official app.

“As the sports betting landscape has continued to evolve in the United States, we have been thoughtful with our strategy and are excited to announce three partners who share the NFL’s vision and goals,” said Renie Anderson, chief revenue officer and executive vice president of NFL Partnerships. “Working closely with Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel, we will provide fans new and different ways of interacting and engaging with the sport they love.”

Terms of the deals were not announced.

Caesars will continue as the league’s official casino sponsor. The deal calls for to Caesars to create content and opportunities for engagement across its legal online sports betting operations and its nationwide network of retail sportsbooks.

DraftKings is renewing its role as the league’s official daily fantasy sports partner. It will integrate content across NFL media properties, including a “prominent presence” on the NFL Red Zone channel.

FanDuel will have access to video footage from the league, and will work with the league on pre-game integration opportunities on the NFL Network for the seven regular season games the network will air in 2021.

The NFL was among the professional sports leagues that vehemently fought New Jersey’s efforts to overturn a ban on legal sports betting in most of the country, opposing gambling as a perceived threat to the integrity of its games.

But New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case in May 2018 clearing the way for any state to offer legal sports betting; by the end of this year nearly half the country could have legal sports betting amid the fast-changing landscape.

The deals were the logical extension of a trend that has seen gambling companies join forces with media companies and sports leagues to capitalize on the fast-growing legal sports betting market.

“Together, we will create new ways for football fans to share in the action of their favorite sport,” Caesars CEO Tom Reeg said. “Football season will be more exciting than ever now that fans can enjoy an enhanced experience at our casinos, in our sportsbooks, and online.”

“The way fans consume sports years from now will look drastically different, and it will be due in part to forward-thinking collaborations like our expanded relationship with the NFL,” said Jason Robins, CEO, chairman and co-founder of DraftKings.

“On Super Bowl Sunday we got a glimpse at how powerful the combination of the NFL’s excitement and our platform can be in delivering an enhanced fan experience,” said Matt King, CEO of FanDuel.

On Wednesday, The Associated Press began a partnership with FanDuel in which the sportsbook will be the AP’s source of sports lines and betting odds.

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NFL partners with Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings on sports betting dealsWayne Parry | Associated Presson April 16, 2021 at 3:15 pm Read More »

2 die in Back of the Yards basement fireon April 16, 2021 at 2:30 pm

A woman and man died in a fire that may have been caused by smoking on a mattress Friday morning at an apartment building in Back of the Yards on the South Side.

The blaze broke out in a basement about 5 a.m. in the 1400 block of West Garfield Boulevard, according to Chicago fire spokesman Larry Langford.

Inside, firefighters found the two victims — a woman in her 50s and a man in his 60s — a few feet from the basement front door, Langford said.

“The fire looks like it was mainly a mattress burning. The occupants were known to be smokers, and there were no working smoke detectors inside the home,” he said.

The pair was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center and pronounced dead, fire officials said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office hasn’t released their names.

The fire was confined to the basement unit, according to Langford, who didn’t immediately have word about how many other people were displaced from the building.

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Immerse yourself in Chinatown and its arton April 16, 2021 at 2:52 pm

Chicago’s Art and Beer Scene

Immerse yourself in Chinatown and its art

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Immerse yourself in Chinatown and its arton April 16, 2021 at 2:52 pm Read More »

Rusty Young, founding member of Poco who wrote ‘Crazy Love,’ dies at 75on April 16, 2021 at 1:10 pm

Rusty Young, a founding member of the country rock band Poco who wrote its hit song “Crazy Love,” has died at 75.

Young’s management confirmed Thursday that Young, born Norman Russell Young, died of a heart attack Wednesday at his home in Davisville, Missouri.

“I just received word that my friend Rusty Young has passed away and crossed that line into eternity,” founding member Richie Furay told Variety. “My heart is saddened. He was a dear and longtime friend who help me pioneer and create a new Southern California musical sound called ‘country rock.’ He was an innovator on the steel guitar and carried the name Poco on for more than 50 years. Our friendship was real and he will be deeply missed. My prayers are with his wife, Mary, and his children Sara and Will.”

Young formed Poco in 1967 with former Buffalo Springfield members Richie Furay and Jim Messina after Young was invited to play the steel guitar on Buffalo Springfield’s third and final album. George Grantham also joined Poco.

Over the next five decades, Young remained the only constant member of the band, which also included a rotation over the years that included Randy Meisner, Timothy B. Schmit and guitarist Paul Cotton.

The group’s biggest hit was the Adult Contemporary #1 single “Crazy Love,” which Young wrote in less than 30 minutes while working on his house.

In a 2008 interview with MetroActive, Young said the hit song “was our first hit single. It’s a classic, and it still pays the mortgage.”

“I was paneling a wall and looking out over the valley in L.A., and the chorus came into my head,” Young told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2012. “I told [the other band members], ‘Don’t worry about the Ooh, ooh, Ahhhh haaa part, I can find words for that.’ And they said, ‘Don’t do that, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.’ “

The musician, who started playing the lap steel guitar as a boy growing up in Denver, was inducted into Guitar Player Magazine’s “Gallery Of Greats” in 1974 and the Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame in 2012.

Rick Alter, Poco and Young’s manager of more than 20 years, called Young “a once-in-a-lifetime musician, songwriter, performer and friend.

“Rusty was the most unpretentious, caring and idyllic artist I have ever worked with, a natural life force that he consistently poured into his music,” Alter said.

A memorial service will be held for Young on Oct. 16 in Steelville, Missouri, where he met his wife Mary two decades ago.

Young is survived by Mary, their two children Sara and Will, his stepchildren Joe, Marci and Hallie and grandchildren Chandler, Ryan, Graham, Quentin and Emma.

Read more at usatoday.com

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Rusty Young, founding member of Poco who wrote ‘Crazy Love,’ dies at 75on April 16, 2021 at 1:10 pm Read More »

Simon & Schuster won’t distribute book by officer in deadly Breonna Taylor raidon April 16, 2021 at 12:51 pm

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville police officer who fired at Breonna Taylor after being shot during the deadly raid on Taylor’s apartment is writing a book, but it won’t be distributed as planned by publishing giant Simon & Schuster.

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and another officer fired shots that hit Taylor during the March 13, 2020, narcotics raid. Mattingly was shot in the leg by Taylor’s boyfriend. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical worker, died at the scene, but no drugs were found in the apartment.

Mattingly’s book will be published by Tennessee-based Post Hill Press, The Courier Journal reported. The company website said it publishes “current events, Christian and conservative political books,” among other topics. It has a deal to have its books distributed by Simon & Schuster, which earlier Thursday indicated it could not refuse Post Hill titles.

But late Thursday, Simon & Schuster released a statement saying it would not be involved in Mattingly’s book.

“Like much of the American public, earlier today Simon & Schuster learned of plans by distribution client Post Hill Press to publish a book by Jonathan Mattingly,” the publishing house said in a statement. “We have subsequently decided not be involved in the distribution of this book.”

News of Mattingly’s book drew online criticism Thursday, including from Kentucky state Rep. Attica Scott, a Democrat, who wrote on Twitter that “People love to profit off of Black pain and tragedy. It sells.”

In a statement to The Associated Press, a publicist for Post Hill Press said the company supports its authors’ free speech rights and that Mattingly “deserves to have his account of the tragic events heard publicly.”

Post Hill Press books are distributed by Simon & Schuster and Mattingly’s book is expected to be released in the fall. Other authors include conservative commentator Dan Bongino and embattled Congressman Matt Gaetz.

Mattingly’s book will be titled “The Fight For Truth: The Inside Story Behind the Breonna Taylor Tragedy.”

Mattingly, 48, was shot in the leg by Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who said he fired a single shot after fearing an intruder was breaking into the apartment.

Mattingly was recently reprimanded by Louisville’s police chief for a September email that was critical of department leadership and protesters. He remains on the department. Two other officers who fired their guns during the raid have been dismissed.

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Simon & Schuster won’t distribute book by officer in deadly Breonna Taylor raidon April 16, 2021 at 12:51 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears: 3 wide receivers more deserving of HOF than Julian Edelmanon April 16, 2021 at 1:52 pm

Chicago Bears (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Chicago Bears (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
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Chicago Bears, Julian Edelman

Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Over the years, the Chicago Bears have not been as fortunate as other teams when it comes to a couple of positions.

First and foremost, the Bears have been quarterback starved for what seems like decades. If we’re being honest, Jay Cutler was fine, but he wasn’t an All Pro guy who could win you a Super Bowl.

With quarterback being the obvious pain point, the Bears have also rarely had talented wide receivers who stick around. That last part of the point is key, because the Bears have had some strong wideouts come through Chicago. The problem has always been, they don’t hang around for very long.

One particular wide receiver who is not only a loyal guy, but a standup citizen and incredibly well-respected around the league, recently announced his retirement. Julian Edelman was, of course, never a Bear. But, he will go down as one of the most beloved New England Patriots of all time.

Can any former Chicago Bears wide receiver compare to Julian Edelman?

After being released by New England, Edelman chose to call it a career — a career which began all the way back in 2009 as a seventh-round pick by the Patriots. All he did was go on to become part of three Super Bowl winning teams and make several crucial plays throughout those playoff runs.

Yet, when it’s all said and done, people need to realize, Edelman is no lock for the Hall of Fame. In fact, there are even some former Bears wide receivers you could argue more deserving of that nod than Edelman.

It might sound crazy, but the Bears have had some pretty excellent talents throughout the years. You just might have to go back a little further for some of them. So, even though Edelman was a very good player, even the Bears have a few guys who should be inducted first.

Next: 1. Johnny Morris

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