What’s New

The various opening days and a string of gorgeous days perfect for being outside brought out lots of anglers and many reports and photos for this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report.

On Sunday, Chris Ranney messaged the photo at the top and this:

Hey Dale … happy Easter … the bigger browns are on the move on the lakefront ….

He also sent a more detailed report that is the Lakefront section.

ILLINOIS SPRING TROUT SEASON

Provided by Eddie Pasiewicz

Reports have generally been good for opening weekend. I suspect the gorgeous weather had something to do with it; certainly drew the crowds, as Eddie Pasiewicz showed with the photo above and this:

Good afternoon Dale

Sand Pond was loaded with Men and Women fishing for spring trout fishing at Sand Pond Adeline Geo Karris Illinois Beach State Park. Pond was full all around with more then 70 cars this past Saturday 7:30 AM. Was a beautiful day.

Thanks Eddie

Bob France emailed the photo below from Grove Lake:

JF Semple and his buddy with limits! Wood Dale Grove

Provided by Bob France

Regulations are same: daily bag of five, those 16 and older needed a license and a stamp. Remember: the five Forest Preserves of Cook County sites–Axehead, Belleau, Green, Horsetail, Sag Quarry East–open Wednesday, April 7. Other nearby sites opened on Saturday, April 3: Wolf Lake (Cook County); Silver, Pickerel and Grove (DuPage); Bird Park Quarry and Rock Creek (Kankakee); Big Lake (Kendall); Sand (Lake); Piscasaw Creek and Atwood (McHenry); Milliken (Will). Click here for general information on Illinois’ spring trout season. Click here for details on the delayed start of FPCC.

SMELT

Click here for the story of the sparsest opening night in decades on Thursday.

Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted Tuesday:

. . . For those interested I have had no smelt reports.

Nor have I.

Smelt netting in Chicago runs through April 30. Chicago Park District regulations: nets may go in at 7 p.m., must be out of the parks by 1 a.m., no open fires, no closed tents, no parking on grass or sidewalks, dispose of coals in appropriate trash receptacles.

LAKEFRONT PARKING

Chicago Park District’s parking passes for the fisherman’s parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors are on sale at Henry’s Sports and Bait in Bridgeport and Park Bait at Montrose Harbor.

Readers suggest SpotHero app downtown. Otherwise, here are some basics: Foster (free street parking or pay lot); Montrose (free street parking); Belmont (pay lots on north and south sides); Diversey (pay lot or street parking); DuSable Harbor (pay lot or fisherman’s lot); Northerly Island/Burnham Harbor (meters, pay lot or fisherman’s lot); 31st/Burnham (meter parking between McCormick Place and 31st Street Harbor); Oakwood/39th (meters); 63rd Street/Casino Pier (pay lot); Steelworkers Park (free street parking at east end of 87th); Cal Park (free parking).

AREA LAKES

Provided

Rob Abouchar emailed the photo above and this:

Hi dale

With one day left of Spring break I felt good enough to take some casts on Monday. I headed to Twin Lakes in Palatine for some early morning bass. Not sure if it was the black cat in my back yard or the brief rainbow that appeared as the sun rose but I was able to at least get one fish to go. The wind was up and the weather did not seem conducive to fish catching. One of those mornings where you just can sense it might be tough. The one fish to hit fell to a Mepps #5 in line spinner in white and red. A young boy was very impressed as he saw me land and release the fish. I said I will send your picture to the man at the new paper and he smiled as he went along his walk. Other anglers did not report any fish being caught. The water was very cold and stained. One shore angler was saying the bite was very slow and he had not caught anything using minnows. Hopefully the weather will turn for the better and the bite should improve.

Tight lines and good health

Rob

That’s my kind of story.

Tom Platt messaged:

I’m going to hit up horsetail probably 5pm hopefully they still bite lol. . . . Crappie are just starting in the preserves, this warm weather might get them going. Rain might slow things down this weekend

Provided

Dan Bernstein, lover of local fishing and cohost of “Bernstein & Rahimi” from 9 a.m. to noon on WSCR-AM, took advantage of the beautiful weather Monday while his son was doing baseball at McGuane Park to fish Palmisano Park. Bernstein sampled the multiple species of the great catch-and-release site in Bridgeport, including the crappie above.

Dicky’s Bait Shop in Montgomery reported a good opening day for trout at Silver Springs SFWA, a limit was even caught on Monday, best on minnows; places such as Phillips and Big Rock Quarry are starting to get better bass action, especially if you find warmer water; crappie reports continue.

Steve Palmisano at Henry’s Sports and Bait texted:

Similar to the previous 2 weeks . . . crappie still going

Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed the photo below and this:

Hey Dale,

Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.

Area lakes- once we got past last weeks cold front, fishing has been improving with the above average temps.

Bass have been decent on jerk baits worked over the top of emerging weed beds. Vary the cadence until the fish tell you want they want. Each day seems to be different.

Crappie are slowly starting to stage and grouping up. Once you can locate them action has been decent on a variety of plastics under a float. A few bluegill can be caught with this presentation as well.

. . .

TTYL

—

Ken “Husker” O’Malley

Husker Outdoors
Waterwerks fishing team

Provided

Pete Lamar emailed:

Hi Dale,

I found a wide range of water temperatures in recent days. Not too many fish, but a wide range of temperatures.

A park district pond near home had warmed into the mid-50s. An office complex retention pond was just below 60 degrees (I only fished the latter, without success). If this trend continues, I think I may be using small poppers on the local ponds by next weekend.

. . .

We’re headed in the right direction. A few more days or a week and things should really get moving.

Pete

“Right direction” is the right thought in my world view.

BRAIDWOOD LAKE

Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview.

CHAIN O’LAKES AREA

Proprietor Greg Dickson at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said fishing is actually good, but water needs to come up big time. Crappie are decent; walleye should be setting in main lake areas because of the low water. Catfish are biting pretty good, large fatheads or crawlers.

NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.

CHICAGO RIVER

Provided

Jeffrey Williams messaged the photo above of his brother Jesse and this:

so i got my butt kicked at the river yesterday, thought i give a lil report, got sum good bites under the bridge with sum grubs, other than tht Carp are hitting pretty good

When I asked for a couple details, he replied:

it felt like crappie bites, my brother Jesse is holding the Carp.

20lbs 33 in

DELAVAN LAKE, WISCONSIN

Arden Katz said there are lots of panfish in the channels, but must downsize to something like ice jigs and spikes to catch bluegills up to 8 inches.

DOWNSTATE

POWERTON: Shore and boat fishing is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

SPRING: Open for fishing.

EMIQUON: Basically, go to the launch. General information at http://experienceemiquon.com/sites/default/files/LakeAccessRules.pdf.

HENNEPIN-HOPPER: Closed for the season.

SHELBYVILLE: Check with Ken Wilson of Lithia Guide Service. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS: Check with Jason Johns of Boneyard Fishing.

FOX RIVER

Provided by Dicky’s Bait Shop

Dicky’s Bait Shop in Montgomery reported the water temperature is 53.5, “so it is definitely climbing;” a good 4 ¹/₂ pound smallmouth caught in the Geneva area; catfish still going good, as photo above shows.

Pete Lamar emailed:

Hi Dale,

. . .

Saturday afternoon, we went to Silver Springs to sight in a turkey gun for the upcoming season. On the way home, we stopped just to look at a Fox tributary near its mouth with the Fox. There was a school of large suckers in a deep pool, easily spotted in the low clear water. But even after a day with temperatures approaching 70 degrees, water was only 42; I doubt much would be actively feeding under those conditions.

We’re headed in the right direction. A few more days or a week and things should really get moving.

Pete

GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN

Guide Mike Norris emailed:

Fishing Report 4/5/2021

Mike Norris

. . .

, , ,

Big Green Lake – Big Green is Wisconsin’s deepest inland lake and is slow to warm. Water temp is only 38 degrees on the main lake but boaters are finding active lake trout in 90 feet of water. Try catching them on Northland Rattling Spoons or a white jig tube.

For information on guide trips reach out to me via my Facebook page at mike.norris.7773 or email me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

GREEN/STURGEON BAYS, WISCONSIN

Click here for the Wisconsin DNR weekly report.

Lance LaVine at Howie’s Tackle in Sturgeon Bay emailed this:

Good morning fellas….here is a quick fishing update

Brown Trout fishing has been going fair to good in recent weeks and with the rains predicted in the near future the Brown Trout fishing should just get better. Trolling the shallow water both on the lake side and the bay side of the peninsula will be the area to target. Floating Rapalas, Thundersticks and Mauler spoons are just a few of the top baits

Pike fishing is going quite well and that fishing will also get better as we move through spring. Both trolling and casting spawn/staging areas with jerk baits, spoons and plastics has been effective along with drifting large sucker minnows.

Walleye fishing is starting to pick up as the water continues to warm. Casting and trolling crank baits at night along with rip jigging with Rippin Raps, Hair jigs, Blades, Paddle tails and shorty Howie Tubes. Concentrate your efforts along the secondary shoreline drops, especially during the day and the primary shoreline drops in the evening and after dark

The stream fishing for Rainbow Trout was off to a strong start then started to dwindle due to the lack of run-off. Again, that fishing with definitely ramp back up as we finally get some much needed rain to get those Lake Michigan tributaries rolling again.

The catch and release Smallmouth bass fishing is also just starting to get rolling as some of those fishing are starting to push into the shallow bays as the water starts to warm. Jerk baits, Howie tubes, small paddle tails and hair jigs just a few of the top baits to use early in the season.

Thanks;

Lance LaVine

Howie’s Tackle

1309 Green Bay Rd
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235
Ph: 920-746-9916

HEIDECKE LAKE

Open 6 a.m. (6:30 bank fishing) to sunset. Click here for the promising preview. Weather made fishing in the first days tough.

ILLINOIS RIVER

Provided

Capt. Mike Hanson of Starved Rock Guide Service texted the photo above and this from an outing with retired veteran Carter Cavitt:

They tell me the Illinois River don’t have big crappie- I disagree

We smashed good ones today let go a bunch too- keeping only ten with his personal best going on his wall-

KANKAKEE RIVER

Provided

Chris Strand messaged the photo above and this:

This was the “Easter egg” I was looking for lol

Spawned out female. 25in caught in kankakee river on a live shiner

Released

Walleye on the Kankakee River have a protected slot from 18 to 26 inches.

Provided by Chris Strand

He also sent this and the photo above:

I would guess [the walleye weighed around 4lbs because of the length? No more than that. Let me tell you it was a very light hit, then a great fight. Pulled drag that was pretty tight. Thought I had a big catfish. Caught a smallmouth before that that jumped and pulled but didn’t fight as much

Bob Johnson emailed the photo below and this on Monday:

Hi Dale –

Fished the Kankakee today and was able to land several smallmouth and a couple largemouth mostly undersized with a few decent ones mixed in. River is in pretty good shape with a slight stain on main channel. Had success working a slight mudline on Crainkbaits actually landing 2 on same cast. Pic attached are the Smallies that were caught together. A first for me.

Provided

LAKE ERIE

Click here for the Ohio DNR Report.

LAKEFRONT

On Sunday, Chris Ranney, who sent the photo at the very top of Michael Fogarty and a good lakefront brown, also sent this extended report:

Within an hour of each other [we got two browns] …… we get this rain , it should really go off as the alewife move in ….. the coho are crazy big for this time ….. late April early may sized fish …. hope your holiday was excellent… be well Dale

I am feeling well, of course this weather helps.

He added this:

Browns were on set lines (bottom) . . . coho were a mix of float lines and the power line. . . . bite started way out . . . then moved in as the chop progressed shallow. . . . that disturbed water is so important with this clear water. . . . we need some turbidity. . . . 3/5′ down for the coho.

Greg Laveau messaged the photo below and this last week:

2 hours today at Montrose 2nd limit this week

He added:

Yes. Night crawlers were the ticket today. On Monday we alternated minnow, worm etc

Provided by Greg Laveau

Tom Platt messaged:

. . . Guys that are putting in the hours are being rewarded. Bass are doing well and some reports of drum. . .

Steve Palmisano at Henry’s Sports and Bait texted:

Similar to the previous 2 weeks coho . . . still going

Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted:

Good morning Dale Coho fishing still good. Powerliners are doing better then rod and reel. Still some nice brown trout and steelhead around. Large minnows and nightcrawlers still seem to be the baits of choice. I would anticipate that the water is starting to warm up this week so guys casting some spoons and crankbaits should start getting a little more action. For those interested I have had no smelt reports.

Lori Ralph at the Salmon Stop in Waukegan texted:

guys are getting browns, steelies, and a few cohos are showing up off the pier.

Capt. Scott Wolfe emailed:

Waukegan 4/5

Hi Dale

In Waukegan coho are starting. Only a couple of serious boats are in now so reliable information is sparse. Some coho are being taken in 25 to 65 trolling dodger and peanut flies or body baits. For boats targeting coho the shallower waters 25- 35 have more then the deeper water Big lake trout are plentiful in 60 feet. The trout are suspended all over the water column. Suspended spoons as well as typical laker taker Mo Rigs are working. The bright rubber skirted Jimmy Fly Green Guy and Green Goby were best.

It’s will still be 2 weeks before my running gear is on and I’m in so my reports may be sporadic until then. It’s already an above average start of April.

Capt Scott Wolfe

630-341-0550
www.schooloffishcharters.com
Manipulator – Waukegan

It feels like the season is truly changing with the first report from Wolfe.

On Saturday, Jason “Special” Le texted the photo below, which I love, and a note and photo on his brother Ricky catching a good whitefish.

Nice to hear of another quality whitefish.

Jason “Special” Le

LaSALLE LAKE

Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview of prospects.

MADISON LAKES, WISCONSIN

Click here for the update from D&S Bait.

MAZONIA

Both units are open for open-water fishing or ice fishing.

NORTHERN WISCONSIN

Kurt Justice at Kurt’s Island Sport Shop in Minocqua emailed:

A very unusual warm early April has most of our lakes completely ice free. The few exceptions being the largest lakes, Fence and Trout. But with air temps hitting 80 degrees on Monday (4/5) that won’t last long.

It’s rare to see such an early ice out with open water and such nice weather. Anglers are out checking on Crappie spots, Perch spots and getting the kinks out of their equipment.

Crappie: Good-Very Good – Anglers finding Crappies filtering through standing weeds in 6-8′ of water. Spooking easily, so long cast required with small floats and minnows or tiny hair jigs. While still a long way off from spawning, some anglers reporting Crappies moving close into shallow brush. Most likely to soak up warmth that helps with their egg production later.

Yellow Perch: Good – Below dams that are open to fishing (The Rainbow Dam closes April 10^th as a sanctuary until May 1^st). Jig and medium fats or pieces of crawlers, lindy rigs or floats in the eddies work.

Bluegill: Poor – Just no reports as of now. Most interest in Crappies and Perch.

With ice off so early and so much warm weather, expect almost all Walleye spawning to be finished by May 1^st. A good post spawn bite should occur, but lots can happen here in the Northwoods between now and then.

Catch & Release Bass IS open.

Panfish (Crappie, Bluegill, Yellow Perch) IS open.

NO Walleye fishing is open up here with the exception of the research Lake Escanaba with its one over 28″ regulation.

The closed season is to give some species a break from harvest and pursuit. Please be aware and respect these rules. Rules like these and bag limits are meant to ensure opportunities for the future, so everyone can enjoy for years to come.

Kurt Justice

Kurt’s Island Sport Shop
Like us on FaceBook

NORTHWEST INDIANA

Capt. Rich Sleziak at Slez’s Bait in Lake Station texted:

Willow slough good for boat fisherman gills,crappie on jigs tipped with beemoth

Coho action on the portage river walk is hit or miss everyday has been different

Trolling for coho has been all over the place from good to slow you find a pocket of fish work that area. East Chicago up and down the wall to Gary light to the mouth of the ditch and the mouth of the port of Indiana are the areas that have been getting worked. Brads thinfish and dodgers and peanut Flys best baits

Crappie at lake George in Hobart around the bridges and log jams using crappie minnows

Christina Petrites at Stan’s Bait & Tackle Center in Hammond emailed:

Hi, Dale. I hope you’re loving this gorgeous weather. Here’s what we have for this week:

Area Anglers are having good luck trolling for Coho in 15-30 FOW with a few kings showing up. Guys are trolling flatlines with thin fish and 3 colors of leadcore with small spoons. The rivers have slowed down a lot with just a few steelhead being caught. There are some catfish being caught. The inland lakes are starting to do much better a lot of nice crappie and some bluegill.

ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN

Click here for the Wisconsin DNR’s report, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday.

SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said boaters are getting coho south of St. Joe, but they don’t have to go all the way to the Cook plant; pier is slow, but it was real good back when the winds were rocking; walleye are closed on the river.

Paddle and Pole hosts the Berrien Springs Fish Ladder Camera.

SHABBONA LAKE

Site hours through Oct. 31 are 6 a.m.-10 p.m. daily

As of now, the reopening of the concessions is on hold after the initial sale fell through.

SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN LAKEFRONT

Click here for the southern Lake Michigan reports from the Wisconsin DNR.

WISCONSIN RIVER, PETENWELL FLOWAGE

Guide Mike Norris emailed:

Fishing Report 4/5/2021

Mike Norris

. . .

Petenwell Flowage – For walleye work current breaks from below the Pettenwell Dam down to the mouth of the lake. Both vertical Jigging and casting jigs with minnows work well. Water level is down so careful navigating in rocky areas.

. . .

For information on guide trips reach out to me via my Facebook page at mike.norris.7773 or email me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com

WOLF LAKE

Trout season is open on the Illinois side.

WOLF RIVER, WISCONSIN

Gary Bloom messaged on Winneconne:

FYI. Water low in Winneconne, but Walleye starting to bite. Friends (3) had limit by 9am yesterday. 13-16 inches. Limit is 3.

Guide Mike Norris emailed:

Wolf River – Walleyes are active and can be caught vertical jigging with a jig and minnow. Water temp is in the low 40’s. The walleyes should spawn this week with the incoming warm weather.

Read More

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police are taught to restrain combative suspects with a knee on their back or shoulders if necessary but are told to “stay away from the neck when possible,” a department use-of-force instructor testified Tuesday at former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.

Lt. Johnny Mercil became the latest member of the Minneapolis force to take the stand as part of an effort by prosecutors to dismantle the argument that Chauvin was doing what he was trained to do when he put his knee on George Floyd’s neck last May.

Several experienced officers, including the police chief himself, have testified that Floyd should not have been kept pinned to the pavement for close to 9 1/2 minutes by prosecutors’ reckoning as the Black man lay face-down, his hands cuffed behind his back.

According to testimony and records submitted Tuesday, Chauvin took a 40-hour course in 2016 on how to recognize people in crisis — including those suffering mental problems or the effects of drug use — and how to use de-escalation techniques to calm them down.

Sgt. Ker Yang, the Minneapolis police official in charge of crisis-intervention training, said officers are taught to “slow things down and re-evaluate and reassess.”

Records show Chauvin also underwent training in the use of force in 2018. Mercil said those who attended were taught that the sanctity of life is a cornerstone of departmental policy and that officers must use the least amount of force required to get a suspect to comply.

Under cross-examination by Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson, Mercil testified that officers are trained in some situations to use their knee across a suspect’s back or shoulder and employ their body weight to maintain control.

But Mercil added: “We tell officers to stay away from the neck when possible.”

Nelson has argued that the now-fired white officer “did exactly what he had been trained to do over his 19-year career,” and he has suggested that the illegal drugs in Floyd’s system and his underlying health conditions are what killed him, not Chauvin’s knee.

In fact, Nelson sought to point out moments in the video footage when he said Chauvin’s knee did not appear to be on Floyd’s neck.

Nelson showed Mercil several images taken from officers’ body-camera videos, asking after each one whether it showed Chauvin’s knee appearing to rest more on Floyd’s back, shoulder or shoulder blades than directly on Floyd’s neck. Mercil often agreed.

Nelson acknowledged the images were difficult to make out. They were taken at different moments during Floyd’s arrest, starting about four minutes after he was first pinned to the ground, according to time stamps on the images.

In other testimony, Jody Stiger, a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant serving as a prosecution use-of-force expert, said officers were justified in using force while Floyd was resisting their efforts to put him in a squad car. But once he was on the ground and stopped resisting, “at that point the officers … should have slowed down or stopped their force as well.”

Stiger said that after reviewing video of the arrest, “my opinion was that the force was excessive.”

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death May 25. Floyd, 46, was arrested outside a neighborhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A panicky-sounding Floyd writhed and claimed to be claustrophobic as police tried to put him in the squad car.

Bystander video of Floyd crying that he couldn’t breathe as onlookers yelled at Chauvin to get off him sparked protests around the U.S. that descended into violence in some cases.

Instead of closing ranks to protect a fellow officer behind what has been dubbed the “blue wall of silence,” some of the most experienced members of the Minneapolis force have taken the stand to openly condemn Chauvin’s actions as excessive.

Chauvin had been certified to perform CPR, and Minneapolis Officer Nicole Mackenzie, who trains members of the force in medical care, testified Tuesday that department policy required him to start aid before paramedics arrived, if possible.

Officers kept restraining Floyd — with Chauvin kneeling on his neck, another kneeling on Floyd’s back and a third holding his feet — until the ambulance got there, even after he became unresponsive, according to testimony and video footage.

The officers also rebuffed offers of help from an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter who wanted to administer aid or tell officers how to do it.

“Have you have ever had a circumstance where an individual has lost their pulse and suddenly come back to life and become more violent?” prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked Mercil, suggesting that Floyd was held down long past the point where he might be a threat.

“Not that I’m aware of, sir,” Mercil replied.

Webber reported from Fenton, Mich.

Read More

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police are taught to restrain combative suspects with a knee on their back or shoulders if necessary but are told to “stay away from the neck when possible,” a department use-of-force instructor testified Tuesday at former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.

Lt. Johnny Mercil became the latest member of the Minneapolis force to take the stand as part of an effort by prosecutors to dismantle the argument that Chauvin was doing what he was trained to do when he put his knee on George Floyd’s neck last May.

Several experienced officers, including the police chief himself, have testified that Floyd should not have been kept pinned to the pavement for close to 9 1/2 minutes by prosecutors’ reckoning as the Black man lay face-down, his hands cuffed behind his back.

According to testimony and records submitted Tuesday, Chauvin took a 40-hour course in 2016 on how to recognize people in crisis — including those suffering mental problems or the effects of drug use — and how to use de-escalation techniques to calm them down.

Sgt. Ker Yang, the Minneapolis police official in charge of crisis-intervention training, said officers are taught to “slow things down and re-evaluate and reassess.”

Records show Chauvin also underwent training in the use of force in 2018. Mercil said those who attended were taught that the sanctity of life is a cornerstone of departmental policy and that officers must use the least amount of force required to get a suspect to comply.

Under cross-examination by Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson, Mercil testified that officers are trained to use their knee across a person’s back or shoulder and employ their body weight to maintain control.

But Mercil added: “We tell officers to stay away from the neck when possible.”

Nelson has argued that the now-fired white officer “did exactly what he had been trained to do over his 19-year career,” and he has suggested that the illegal drugs in Floyd’s system and his underlying health conditions are what killed him, not Chauvin’s knee.

In fact, Nelson sought to point out moments in the video footage when he said Chauvin’s knee did not appear to be on Floyd’s neck.

Nelson showed Mercil several images taken from officers’ body-camera videos, asking after each one whether it showed Chauvin’s knee appearing to rest more on Floyd’s back, shoulder or shoulder blades than directly on Floyd’s neck. Mercil often agreed.

Nelson acknowledged the images were difficult to make out. They were taken at different moments during Floyd’s arrest, starting about four minutes after he was first pinned to the ground, according to time stamps on the images.

In other testimony, Jody Stiger, a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant serving as a prosecution use-of-force expert, said officers were justified in using force while Floyd was resisting their efforts to put him in a squad car. But once he was on the ground and stopped resisting, “at that point the officers … should have slowed down or stopped their force as well.”

Stiger said that after reviewing video of the arrest, “my opinion was that the force was excessive.”

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death May 25. Floyd, 46, was arrested outside a neighborhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A panicky-sounding Floyd writhed and claimed to be claustrophobic as police tried to put him in the squad car.

Bystander video of Floyd crying that he couldn’t breathe as onlookers yelled at Chauvin to get off him sparked protests around the U.S. that descended into violence in some cases.

Instead of closing ranks to protect a fellow officer behind what has been dubbed the “blue wall of silence,” some of the most experienced members of the Minneapolis force have taken the stand to openly condemn Chauvin’s actions as excessive.

Chauvin had been certified to perform CPR, and Minneapolis Officer Nicole Mackenzie, who trains members of the force in medical care, testified Tuesday that department policy required him to start aid before paramedics arrived, if possible.

Officers kept restraining Floyd — with Chauvin kneeling on his neck, another kneeling on Floyd’s back and a third holding his feet — until the ambulance got there, even after he became unresponsive, according to testimony and video footage.

The officers also rebuffed offers of help from an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter who wanted to administer aid or tell officers how to do it.

Mercil testified that in his experience, it takes less than 10 seconds for someone to be rendered unconscious with a neck restraint. He said someone having a rush of adrenaline or a higher breathing or heart rate can be affected even faster.

“Have you have ever had a circumstance where an individual has lost their pulse and suddenly come back to life and become more violent?” prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked, suggesting that Floyd was held down long past the point where he might be a threat.

“Not that I’m aware of, sir,” Mercil replied.

Webber reported from Fenton, Mich.

Read More

FREDERICK, Md. — A Navy medic shot and critically wounded two U.S. sailors at a military facility Tuesday, then fled to a nearby Army base where he was shot and killed, police and Navy officials said.

Fantahun Girma Woldesenbet, a petty officer third class assigned to Fort Detrick, began shooting with a rifle inside a Navy facility at the Riverside Tech Park, causing people inside to flee, Frederick Police and Fort Detrick officials said at a news conference.

Authorities said they were still trying to determine the shooter’s motive and whether he knew the victims, two Navy sailors assigned to Fort Detrick, both of whom were airlifted to a hospital for treatment.

“We’re still trying to sort through stacks of paper … to figure out exactly what the motive would be,” said Frederick police Lt. Andrew Alcorn.

A hospital spokeswoman did not respond to an email asking for an update on the victims’ conditions.

The suspect drove to the base after the initial shooting at the office park and was told to pull over to be searched by gate guards who had advance warning that he was coming, Brigadier General Michael J. Talley said. But Woldesenbet immediately sped off, making it about a half-mile into the installation before he was stopped at a parking lot by the base’s police force. When he pulled out a weapon, the police shot and kill him, Talley said.

Talley said investigators will determine as much as they can, including why the suspect went back to the base.

“(I) don’t know his mental status at the time, and we’re certainly going to find all that out,” he said.

The brigadier general said the facility where the shooting took place was not under his command. He declined to identify the facility more specifically or describe the work that was done there.

Fort Detrick is home to the military’s flagship biological defense laboratory and several federal civilian biodefense labs. About 10,000 military personnel and civilians work on the base, which encompasses about 1,300 acres in the city of Frederick.

The base is a huge economic driver in the region, drawing scientists, military personnel and their families. Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor noted that various defense contractors are located near Fort Detrick and that it wouldn’t be unusual for a member of the military to be off base and working with a private firm that does business with the U.S. government.

“When these incidents happen in other places, you’re always grateful that it’s not your community,” O’Connor added. “But you always know, perhaps in the back of your mind, that that’s just luck — that there isn’t any reason why it couldn’t happen here. And today it did.”

By early afternoon, the Nallin Farm gate at Fort Detrick through which the shooter entered remained closed and two officers were standing by.

Police cordoned off Woldesenbet’s garden-style apartment building in Frederick City, a few miles from the site of the shooting.

A neighbor, Ava Target, said she knew Woldesenbet only by sight, and that he lived on the top floor of the apartment complex with a wife and two kids. She wasn’t aware of any problems.

Mark Nelson, a firefighter who lives in a row of townhomes across the street from the base, said he heard the base blast warning sirens Tuesday morning.

“I heard, I don’t know what they call it, but they were like air raid sirens, and I knew something was going on,” Nelson said.

Frederick Police Chief Jason Lando called the shootings “very tragic.”

“It’s happening too frequently,” he said. Every time we turn on the TV we’re seeing something like this happening. And now it’s happening in our backyards.”

___

Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; and Jonathan Drew in Durham, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California prosecutor filed 33 criminal charges Tuesday against troubled Pacific Gas & Electric for a 2019 wind-driven wildfire officials blamed on the utility, accusing it of injuring six firefighters and endangering public health with smoke and ash.

The company denied that it committed any crimes even as it accepted that its transmission line sparked the blaze.

The Sonoma County district attorney charged the utility with five felony and 28 misdemeanor counts in the October 2019 Kincade Fire north of San Francisco. The blaze burned more than 120 square miles and destroyed 374 buildings.

The 33 charges include recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury to six firefighters, named only as John Does #1-#6. Among the firefighters injured were a member of an inmate fire crew and at least two out-of-state contractors, one of whom suffered second- and third-degree burns to his legs and torso.

Fire officials said a PG&E transmission line sparked the fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes and caused nearly 100,000 people to flee.

The utility said it hadn’t seen the report or evidence gathered by state fire investigators, but it will accept the finding that its transmission line caused the fire “in the spirit of working to do what’s right for the victims.”

“However, we do not believe there was any crime here,” the company said in a statement. “We remain committed to making it right for all those impacted and working to further reduce wildfire risk on our system.”

It thanked firefighters, including those who were injured, and said it was grateful that no one died.

The company serves more than 16 million people across much of Northern California. PG&E Corporation Chief Executive Officer Patti Poppe said in her own statement that she came to the company in January to “make it safe again in California. We will work around the clock until that is true for all people we are privileged to serve.”

The charges and related enhancements accuse the company of destroying inhabited structures and emitting air contaminants “with reckless disregard for the risk of great bodily injury” from toxic wildfire smoke and related particulate matter and ash, thereby endangering public health.

They allege that the utility failed to maintain services and facilities including transmission lines, one of the numerous related misdemeanor charges.

It’s the latest in a series of similar problems for the utility.

PG&E’s alleged criminal negligence in the Sonoma County wildfire occurred while the company was still mired in a bankruptcy triggered by a series of deadly infernos that were ignited by the utility’s crumbling equipment during 2017 and 2018.

The most lethal in Butte County wiped out the entire town of Paradise in the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s recorded history. It culminated in PG&E pleading guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter last June.

Although PG&E’s then-chief executive Bill Johnson appeared in court to enter the guilty pleas before some of the surviving families of those killed in Butte County, no one from company went to prison. Instead, the company paid the maximum penalty of $4 million.

PG&E emerged from bankruptcy protection shortly after those guilty pleas after negotiating a series of settlements to cover the damages caused by its fraying grid. Those settlements included a $13.5 billion fund for wildfire victims that recently started distributing some of the money to help people rebuild their lives.

The Sonoma County wildfire also raised the hackles of a federal judge overseeing PG&E’s ongoing criminal probation for a 2010 explosion in its natural gas lines that blew up a neighborhood in San Bruno, a suburb south of San Francisco.

U.S. District William Alsup, who has repeatedly lambasted PG&E for its shoddy maintenance of its equipment, is currently considering ordering proposed changes that could result in the utility being forced to turn off its power lines even more frequently than it has in recent years during dry and windy conditions to reduce the chances of causing more deadly fires.

____

Associated Press writer Michael Liedtke contributed from San Francisco.

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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 will be mostly sunny with a high near 81 degrees. Tonight’s low will be around 58 degrees. Tomorrow will be partly sunny, with a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening, and a high near 76 degrees.

Top story

2-year-old critically wounded in road-rage shooting on Lake Shore Drive near Grant Park

A 2-year-old boy was shot in the head during an apparent road-rage incident late this morning on Lake Shore Drive near Grant Park.

The boy was at Lurie Children’s Hospital in critical condition, police said.

A dispute over one car not letting another car into a lane of traffic about 11 a.m. on northbound Lake Shore Drive just south of Soldier Field apparently led to the shooting, Chicago Police Cmdr. Jake Alderden said at a news conference this afternoon.

Both cars continued north and shooting began on Lake Shore Drive just west of the Shedd Aquarium. Bullet casings were recovered over a two-block stretch as the cars proceeded north, he said.

The vehicle the 2-year-old was in crashed at Monroe Street and Lake Shore Drive, near the Chicago Yacht Club and Maggie Daley Park.

A good Samaritan in a passing Tesla saw the crashed car and drove the boy and a male and female occupant to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The boy, who was shot in the temple, was later transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital, police said.

A handgun was recovered from an occupant of the crashed vehicle, though police couldn’t immediately say if it was used in the shooting or if it was possessed legally.

Alderden expected information about the other car involved in the shooting, which fled the scene, to be released soon.

Read the full story from David Struett, Sam Kelly and Mitch Dudek here.

More news you need

1. Seven people were wounded during a fight that escalated into a shootout last night in Englewood. Multiple shooters exchanged gunfire, but no one has been arrested, police said.
2. A steady, monthlong surge in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations took its latest troubling step up in Illinois today as officials reported 2,931 new cases of the virus, and positivity rates soared to levels not seen in months. The latest infections were diagnosed among 51,625 tests, meaning 5.7% of samples came back positive.
3. Four years after the Illinois race for governor broke national records for self-financing candidates, next year’s contest is shaping up to be another duel of the deep pockets. Millionaire businessman Gary Rabine has donated enough of his own cash to his campaign to lift all fundraising caps on the race.
4. Citing her husband’s health and unfinished business in her current position, Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough said she will not run for Illinois secretary of state and will instead throw her support behind Ald. Pat Dowell. “I’m going to run for re-election,” Yarbrough said. “I haven’t finished the work I’ve started with in the office.”
5. A five-month jury trial suspension ended this week in federal court, clearing the way for judges to slowly begin clearing a backlog of cases that has built up in the year since the coronavirus pandemic took hold. But safety protocols mean the work could be slow going.
6. Metra is adding service on three lines beginning Monday to accommodate increased ridership as more people return to the city for work and for pleasure. Trains will be added the BNSF, Milwaukee District North and North Central Service lines.

A bright one

There’s a shot! Mass vaccination site opens next to Wrigley Field

Want to catch the Cubs and do your part to try to avoid catching — or spreading — COVID-19?

Beginning this week, eligible Chicagoans can head to Wrigleyville to get vaccinated. The American Airlines Conference Center at Gallagher Way, next to Wrigley Field, is one of two new mass vaccination sites opening in the city; the other is at Chicago State University.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

The North Side facility is expected to offer up to 2,000 shots daily, according to the mayor’s office. Chicago State is expected to offer up to 1,200 walk-up and 1,000 drive-thru vaccination appointments daily. Shots at either site are available by appointment only. To register, go to zocdoc.com/vaccine.

As vaccinations kicked off yesterday at the North Side site, organizers there said they hoped the proximity to good public transportation and Wrigley Field itself would encourage people to come get vaccinated — particularly young adults, who, it is believed, are fueling the current surge in cases in the city.

Read Stefano Esposito’s full story here.

From the press box

As much as Porter Moser loved coaching at Loyola, Joe Hendrickson explains why the popular former Ramblers coach could not pass up Oklahoma’s offer.

The new Loyola coach, Drew Valentine, got a high recommendation this morning from his brother, Bulls guard Denzel Valentine.

And the New York Jets traded quarterback Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers for three NFL Draft picks. Patrick Finley explains how that move could affect the Bears.

Your daily question ?

Have you gotten your COVID-19 shot yet? If so, what’s changed for you since getting vaccinated?

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

Yesterday, we asked you: What’s your favorite place to get deep dish in Chicago? Here’s what some of you said…

“I love Lou Malnati’s with its wonderful Plum Tomato Sauce and Corn Meal crust. The best I ever had was a supreme pizza one afternoon at Pizzeria Uno. I could still taste it days later, it was that good.” — Mark Farina

“Pequod’s because of how the cheese chars on the sides. Giordano’s meat and more meat is also a solid deep dish pizza.” — Chris Goebel

“In the ’60s it was Gulliver’s on Howard. Their onion soup was good too. Now it’s Giordano’s because I’m old and they are close to home. Lou’s in Elk Grove Village was it in the ’70s.” — Lisa Urquhart

“Palermo’s on 63rd is the very best.” — Liam Whitney

“Connies on Archer is # 1 for me.” — Robert Braun

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

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I’m not sure what is more out of touch: the Sun-Times editorial board’s conflated and outdated perspectives about diesel technology, or the selection of a 19-year-old image to run alongside.

According to our analysis of IHS Markit data (2020), fully 64% of all commercial vehicles of class 3-8 operating on Illinois roads today are the newest generation of near-zero emissions diesel technology. It would take more than 60 of these 2021 model year trucks to have the same level of emissions as the 1992 model in the photo. Conflating individual pickup truck owners’ choices to illegally modify their vehicles is a cheap shot and an illogical comparison against diesel.

Even more surprising is that by advocating for electrification, the Sun-Times is taking a direct stand against a major home-grown industry and employer. Illinois is home to the fourth-largest production of biodiesel in the country, a low-carbon renewable fuel that today is reducing emissions from all diesel engines both new and existing.

SEND LETTERS TO: [email protected]. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be 350 words or less.

Truck and engine manufacturers are developing a range of powertrain options for their customers including hydrogen fuel cells, advanced diesel and natural gas technology. None are perfect, even electric. Today, fully 40% of Illinois electricity comes from coal and natural gas, so total emissions from electric vehicles would not be zero, yet considerable state investment in infrastructure and incentives for electric vehicle purchase will be needed. As for the future of diesel, analysts agree that diesel technology will continue to be the dominant technology in heavy-duty truck applications for decades to come.

Tackling climate change is a big challenge. There is not a single best solution. We should value greenhouse gas and other emissions reductions in whatever form they come, but with eyes wide open, and not make a case based on old and outdated perspectives. Until an all-electric future could be realized, we need continued steady progress.

Greater benefits to Illinois will accrue faster with more of the newer generation of diesel trucks hitting the road and expanding use of renewable fuels.

Allen Schaeffer, executive director, Diesel Technology Forum

A tribute to Rabbi Marx

I would like to lift up a slice of Rabbi Robert Marx’s persona to complement Maureen O’Donnell’s fine tribute to this Chicago civil rights icon.

From my own experience with him, a close colleague and friend from the movement years, Robert embraced and offered an unusual gentleness in the midst of uncompromising righteous anger. While he named evil sharply in his public statements, he was a calm lamb in mediating arguments at strategy meetings. His was a tender soul, exuding humility and care of each individual in any group.

We shared marches, as with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Aug. 5, 1966, when all three of us were hit with flying missiles in Marquette Park. We shared podiums, prayer services, interfaith weddings and even played chess together. Robert’s gentle spirit pervaded his prophetic voice on all matters of injustice. What a mensch.

Rev. Martin Deppe, Ravenswood Manor

Another taxpayer burden

Now that they have passed a bill gratuitously raising over 2,000 Chicago firefighters’ pensions and thus sticking the City of Chicago and its taxpayers, already drowning in unfunded governmental pension obligations, with millions of dollars in new pension obligations — what’s next for the Illinois legislature and Gov. J.B. Pritzker?

Pushing through a bill forcing Chicago to extend its abominable parking meter deal by 20 years?

Tom Field, Lincoln Park

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MEDORA, N.D. — Firefighters are making headway against a blaze in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

The fire in the park’s North Unit tripled in size on Sunday, threatening park staff housing, maintenance buildings and the CCC Campground. North Dakota Forest Service Acting Outreach and Education Manager Beth Hill said Tuesday that the blaze is 45% contained.

But she said the fire has consumed about 5,000 acres, or nearly eight square miles. The campground, other infrastructure and some private homes on the fire’s north end remain at risk.

Federal forestry officials have closed more areas in the park, including the CCC Campground, Summit Campground, several trails and the Summit Overlook, Beth said.

They also have issued emergency restrictions on fires and shooting in all national forest lands in a host of North Dakota counties since conditions are ripe for fires.

Wildfires have burned more than 47 square miles in North Dakota this spring. Fewer than 15.6 square miles burned all of last year.

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A 16-year-old boy was killed and a man was wounded in a shooting Tuesday in South Shore, according to police.

Someone in a vehicle pulled up and fired shots at the pair about 2:10 p.m. as they stood outside in the 7800 block of South Escanaba Avenue, Chicago police said.

The boy was struck in the back and head, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

A 25-year-old man was shot in the arm but refused medical attention, police said.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office has not identified the boy.

Area Two detectives are investigating.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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Chicago Bears: John Elway, Teddy Bridgewater could help QB situation by Ryan Heckman

Veteran starting pitcher Trevor Williams made his season debut for the Chicago Cubs on Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field. Williams was brilliant on Monday as he carried a perfect game into sixth gaming as his dad and two brothers looked on from the stands. Williams finished the night by giving up two runs on two hits in six innings of work while earning his first win of the season.

Williams was an under-the-radar signing for the Cubs this off-season. Under the radar in the sense that the veteran starting pitcher struggled during his past two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Williams posted a 6.18 ERA (6.30 FIP) in 11 appearances during the 2020 season and a 5.38 ERA (5.12 FIP) in 26 appearances during the 2019 season.

Needless to say, the Cubs did not sign Williams with the full knowledge that he would be a factor in the team’s starting rotation at the beginning of the 2021 season. What the Cubs were hoping is that they can get Williams into their pitching lab and work with pitching coach Tommy Hottovy to re-discover the success that he had during the 2018 season.

During the 2018 season with the Pirates, Williams posted a 3.11 ERA (3.86 FIP) while starting 31 games. A large part of the reason for Williams’ success during the 2018 season was due to the fact that he had a plus slider with effective movement on his sinking fastball.

So, then the question becomes what was the difference for Williams in 2018 compared to 2019/2020? The difference is that Williams suffered an injury in between those seasons and his mechanics never quite returned to form. The Cubs and Williams noticed a mechanical flaw in Williams’ delivery that resulted in his throwing arm coming too far across his body.

Jordan Bastian broke down this discovery in his piece for MLB.com:

Mechanically, Hottovy said Williams — who has a rare combination of a low release point and great extension — was pulling toward first base on his follow through, impacting his release point. The Cubs have been working with the righty on a more direct line to the plate.

“When he’s moving right,” Hottovy explained, “and does all the things right up the chain, over the rubber, that front side kind of gets to home plate and then works back to him, versus gets to home plate, gets kind of pulled toward first base. Directionally, he’s in a much better place.”

The initial result was a success for Williams as he shut down the Brewers’ offense on Monday night. Looking beyond his corrected delivery, Williams effectively used his slider and sinking fastball to thwart the timing of the Brewers’ hitters.

Related Story: Three young Cubs to really watch this season

Entering the season, the Cubs starting rotation was a question mark for the team. Mainly due to the questions of success, if any, that would come from the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation. Williams proved on Monday night that he could be a hidden gem for the Cubs this season and if that proves to be true, the trajectory of the Chicago Cubs season could change dramatically.

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