You don’t have to go far to read intergalactic poetry and you can even stay home to go to Expo Chicago.Read More
Ten Great Things to Do in AprilLynette Smithon April 1, 2021 at 4:51 pm Read More »
Welcome the Rose family to their newest home—Replay in Lincoln Park—as Schitt’s Creek is the latest pop-up at the popular North Side bar. Anyone who is a fan of Schitt’s Creek, myself included, was thrilled to hear that Replay will be bringing this experience to Chicago.
For those who have not seen the show, Schitt’s Creek is a beloved Canadian comedy show about a family of unlikable (but still extremely lovable) rich people who are forced to move to a town they own and adjust to their new surroundings after losing their fortune. The show offers a ton of laughs and some heartfelt moments that will definitely make you want to binge.
Visitors to the pop-up will be able to take photos in front of replications of actual locations from the show, including the infamous Rosebud Motel, Cafe Tropical, Moira’s iconic Wig Wall and the welcome to Schitt’s Creek sign. There is also a pop-up shop run by The Chicago Makers that depicts the Rose Apothecary which will be selling artisanal items and merch created by local artists.
As part of Cafe Tropical, the menu features food and cocktails that you might recognize: Ahn-chiladas, Lovebird Wings, Rosebud Cinnamon Buns and Schitt Fries. When you reserve your spot, you will receive two cocktails and access to more than 30 vintage arcade machines. While walk-ups are welcome, it is recommended that you make a reservation so you don’t potentially miss out on the fun. The Schitt’s Creek pop-up is running through the end of this week until April 4th.
In its 50th year the center continues telling women’s untold stories.
From the outside, 2109 N. Humbolt looks like a typical Logan Square home, with a handsome red brick exterior and a small patch of greenery to the side. While the address may seem ordinary, inside is a wealth of information—like manuscripts and serials—pertaining to women’s history.…Read More
The man was extradited Wednesday from Louisiana to Chicago.
A man was charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting two women and a man during an argument February in the South Shore neighborhood.
Larry Sistrunk, 27, was extradited Wednesday from Louisiana to Chicago, according to Chicago police.
Police said he was identified as the shooter who wounded three people Feb. 21 in the 7800 block of South Muskegon Avenue. The victims were two women, ages 24 and 60, and a 53-year-old man, police said Thursday.
At the time of the shooting, police said someone opened fire during an argument and struck the 24-year-old woman. The other two, standing near the front of a home, were also wounded.
Sistrunk, of the Austin neighborhood, was expected to appear in court Thursday on three counts of attempted murder and three counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.
The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of claims increased from 658,000 the week before.
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose by 61,000 last week to 719,000, signaling that many employers are still cutting jobs even as more businesses reopen, vaccines are increasingly administered and federal aid spreads through the economy.
The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of claims increased from 658,000 the week before. Though the pace of applications has dropped sharply since early this year, they remain high by historical standards: Before the pandemic flattened the economy a year ago, jobless claims typically ran below 220,000 a week.
Still, the four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week gyrations, fell by 10,500 to 719,000 — the fewest since mid-March 2020, just before the pandemic began to cause widespread layoffs.
All told, 3.8 million people were collecting traditional state benefits during the week ending March 20. If you include federal programs that are meant to help the unemployed through the health crisis, 18.2 million people were receiving some type of jobless aid in the week that ended March 13. That’s down from 19.7 million in the previous week.
Economists monitor weekly applications for unemployment aid for early signs of where the job market is headed. Applications generally reflect the rate of layoffs, which normally fall steadily as a job market strengthens. During the pandemic, though, the numbers have become less reliable as states have struggled with application backlogs and allegations of fraud have clouded the actual volume of job cuts.
Even so, measures of the overall economy show clear improvement from the collapse last spring, with the rising number of vaccinations encouraging people to return to airports, shopping centers, restaurants and bars. The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases has dropped from an average of about 250,000 a day in early January to below 70,000, though it has begun to rise again in recent days.
Last month, consumer confidence reached a post-pandemic peak. And the $1,400 checks in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic relief plan have sharply lifted consumer spending, according to Bank of America’s tracking of its debit and credit cards. Spending jumped 23% in the third week of March compared with pre-pandemic levels, the bank said.
And even with the pace of layoffs still relatively high, hiring has begun to accelerate. In February, employers added a robust 379,000 jobs across the country. Last month, they are believed to have added even more: According to the data firm FactSet, economists expect the March jobs report being released Friday to show that the economy added a sizable 614,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate fell from 6.2% to 6%. Less than a year ago, the jobless rate had hit 14.8%.
Some economists are even more optimistic: Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at the tax advisory firm RSM, is predicting 1 million added jobs for March.
The Federal Reserve’s policymakers have substantially boosted their forecast for the economy this year, anticipating growth of 6.5% for 2021, up from an estimate in December of just 4.2%. That would be the fastest rate of expansion in any year since 1984.
“With vaccination efforts increasing seemingly by the day, hope may finally be on the horizon,” said AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab. “Getting the public health situation back to normal is the only way to stop coronavirus’ economic damage. A robust recovery will only be able to flourish once the virus is under control.”
Still, the economic impact of the pandemic lingers. The data firm Womply reports that 63% of movie theaters and other entertainment venues were closed last week, as were 39% of bars and 39% of hair salons and other beauty shops.
“May I tell the story?” 45-year-old Courteney Ross asked on Day Four of former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial. “It’s one of my favorite stories to tell.”
MINNEAPOLIS — George Floyd’s girlfriend cried on the witness stand Thursday as she told the story of how they first met in 2017 at a Salvation Army shelter where Floyd was a security guard with “this great Southern voice, raspy.”
“May I tell the story?” 45-year-old Courteney Ross asked on Day Four of former Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial. “It’s one of my favorite stories to tell.”
Prosecutors put her on the stand as part of an effort to humanize Floyd in front of the jury and portray him as more than a crime statistic.
Ross said she had gone to the shelter because her sons’ father was staying there. She said she became upset because the father was not coming to the lobby to discuss their son’s birthday. Floyd came over to check on her.
“Floyd has this great Southern voice, raspy. He was like, `Sis, you OK, sis?’” Ross recalled. “I was tired. We’ve been through so much, my sons and I, and (for) this kind person just to come up and say, ‘Can I pray with you?’ … it was so sweet. At the time, I had lost a lot of faith in God.”
Ross also explained that both she and Floyd struggled to overcome opioid addiction.
Minnesota is a rarity in explicitly permitting such “spark of life” testimony ahead of a verdict. Defense attorneys often complain that such testimony allows prosecutors to play on jurors’ emotions.
The testimony came a day after prosecutors played extensive video footage: Security-camera scene of people joking around inside a convenience store, and bystander and police bodycam video of officers pulling Floyd from his SUV at gunpoint and struggling to put him in a squad car before they put him on the ground. It also showed Floyd being loaded into an ambulance.
Chauvin, 45, who is white, is charged with murder and manslaughter, accused of killing the 46-year-old Black man by kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs. The most serious charge against the now-fired officer carries up to 40 years in prison.
Floyd’s struggle with three police officers trying to arrest him, seen on body-camera video, included Floyd’s panicky cries of “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” and “I’m claustrophobic!” as the officers tried to push Floyd into the back of a police SUV.
At one point, Floyd bucks forward, throwing his upper body out of the car. Officers eventually give up, and Floyd thanks them — and then is taken to the ground, facedown and handcuffed. Chauvin knee pins his neck, another officer’s knee holds his back and a third officer holds his legs, with the officers talking calmly about whether he might be on drugs.
“He wouldn’t get out of the car. He just wasn’t following instructions,” Officer Thomas Lane was recorded saying. Lane also asked twice if the officers should roll Floyd on his side, and later said he thinks Floyd is passing out. Another officer checked Floyd’s wrist for a pulse and said he couldn’t find one.
The officers’ video was part of a mountain of footage and witness testimony Wednesday showing how Floyd’s alleged attempt to pass a phony $20 bill at a neighborhood market last May escalated into tragedy.
When Floyd was finally taken away by paramedics, Charles McMillian, a 61-year-old bystander who recognized Chauvin from the neighborhood, told the officer he didn’t respect what Chauvin had done.
“That’s one person’s opinion,” Chauvin could be heard responding. “We gotta control this guy ’cause he’s a sizable guy… and it looks like he’s probably on something.”
Floyd was 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, according to the autopsy, which also found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system. Chauvin’s lawyer said the officer is 5-foot-9 and 140 pounds.
Floyd’s death, along with the harrowing bystander video of him gasping for breath as onlookers yelled at Chauvin to get off him, triggered sometimes violent protests around the world and a reckoning over racism and police brutality across the U.S.
The defense has argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s death was not caused by the officer’s knee, as prosecutors contend, but by Floyd’s illegal drug use, heart disease, high blood pressure and the adrenaline flowing through his body.
Events spun out of control earlier that day soon after Floyd allegedly handed a cashier at Cup Foods, 19-year-old Christopher Martin, a counterfeit bill for a pack of cigarettes.
Martin testified Wednesday that he watched Floyd’s arrest outside with “disbelief — and guilt.”
“If I would’ve just not tooken the bill, this could’ve been avoided,” Martin lamented, joining the burgeoning list of witnesses who expressed a sense of helplessness and lingering guilt over Floyd’s death.
___
Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.
A series of court records open the widest window yet into the gambling case involving Gregory Paloian.
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to hand a stiff prison sentence to a bookie with purported mob ties, insisting he tried to sell a “fantasy” to the judge about a fun and fair gambling ring that, while illegal, aimed never to exploit anyone.
In reality, Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Kinney wrote in a court filing Wednesday that Gregory Paloian and his agents hounded gamblers for payments as they lost tens of thousands of dollars, and even prompted one gambler who couldn’t pay his debts to “burst into tears.”
Kinney wrote that Paloian and his agents referred to gamblers in the ring as “goof, goofball, idiot, ‘f*&#%g little pu$%y’, little c&%*sucker and other descriptive monikers.” Paloian also allegedly referred to one gambler as “an annuity,” a “dumb f#%k” and “an idiot and he pays.”
Paloian defense attorney Joseph Urgo last week asked U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow to spare Paloian from prison. Urgo wrote that prosecutors had not found one example where a “customer” or “agent” of Paloian’s gambling ring suffered financial hardship or exhibited signs of problematic gambling habits.
He wrote in a court memo that Paloian “conducted that business in as ‘clean’ a manner as possible, the goal being to never financially exploit anyone, never allow anyone to gamble beyond their means. And safeguards were developed and utilized to ensure this.”
But Kinney, in his own memo Wednesday, wrote that Urgo’s memo was “more fantasy, tall tales, and wishful thinking than reality.” The prosecutor asked Lefkow to give Paloian a prison sentence at the higher end of a range laid out by federal sentencing guidelines. Paloian’s plea agreement estimated that would be around three years, but prosecutors may challenge that.
Kinney also made note of Paloian’s criminal history, which included a racketeering conviction involving a large gambling enterprise that ran from 1985 until 1998.
The court records, along with recently unsealed search warrant affidavits, open the widest window yet into the case against Paloian, who was first charged last October. When Paloian pleaded guilty in January to running an illegal sports gambling operation, Kinney hinted at wide-ranging evidence that included “a large number” of recordings.
The following month, Kinney tied Paloian’s case to another gambling case involving Vincent “Uncle Mick” DelGiudice, who has admitted running a sports bookmaking business from 2016 to 2019 around Chicago. That case also led to charges against Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher, the brother of Chicago Bears great Brian Urlacher who was pardoned in January by Donald Trump in the final hours of Trump’s presidency.
Urgo wrote that FBI agents confronted Paloian about their investigation into his gambling ring on Dec. 9, 2019, at a Starbucks in Melrose Park. Urgo wrote that Paloian “immediately made very excellent decisions and has continued to make excellent decisions ever since those first moments in Starbucks.” He also wrote that Paloian “immediately unlocked his smartphone so the agents could have easy access, and he then surrendered the phone.”
One of those agents wrote in an affidavit seeking a search warrant in March 2020 that agents immediately put Paloian’s phone in “airplane mode” after seizing it so it could not be remotely accessed. Even though the phone initially appeared to contain relevant text messages, “a subsequent review of the phone several days later revealed that its data had been erased.”
Urgo declined to comment on the case Thursday morning.
In a related affidavit filed in December 2019, the agent wrote that law enforcement sought to tap Paloian’s phone Feb. 27, 2019, and conducted physical surveillance of Paloian and another individual March 15, 2019, as they visited The Dome at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Des Plaines.
Kinney wrote that authorities “know now that Paloian was running a bookmaking operation as early as 2012 and continuing until shut down by the FBI.” He wrote that the ring included 60 gamblers and wrote that “one of his most prolific agents” was “a veteran police officer from a local police department.”
DePaul is expected to name Tony Stubblefield as its next head men’s basketball coach, according to sources.
Stubblefield will replace Dave Leitao, who was fired after going 69-113 in six seasons leading the Blue Demons.
The 51-year-old Stubblefield has been at Oregon under Dana Altman for the past 11 seasons. He was named associate head coach this past season.
Known for his high level recruiting prowess while at Oregon, which has included four recruiting classes ranked among the top 12 in the country, Stubblefield has been a part of eight NCAA Tournament teams with the Ducks.
Oregon finished the year 21-7 and reached the Sweet Sixteen, losing to USC on Sunday. The 2015-16 team reached the Elite Eight and the 2016-17 team reached the Final Four.
The short list of candidates reportedly interviewed and were under serious consideration included New York Knicks assistant coach Kenny Payne, Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley, Cleveland State head coach Dennis Gates, Duke associate head coach Jon Scheyer, Wright State head coach Scott Nagy and Pacific head coach Damon Stoudemire.
Max Christie is a nationally-known player now, a McDonald’s All-American.
It’s easy to forget that four years ago Christie took us all by surprise. His name wasn’t on anyone’s lips as the state’s best incoming freshman.
“I remember all the other kids that were really good in seventh grade having these mixtapes and stuff,” Christie said. “I never had a mixtape [in junior high]. My parents didn’t really throw me out there. Everyone knowing who you are in seventh and eighth grade as you are a young kid maturing and going into high school, I just didn’t think it was necessary and neither did my parents. And now four years, five years later it really paid off. I didn’t need all that attention. It just naturally came, we didn’t force it on me.”
Christie’s parents, Max Sr. and Katrina, both played basketball in college. Katrina was a star at Northwestern and Max Sr. was the leading scorer at Wisconsin-Superior. That experience clearly gave them confidence that mixtapes and hype wouldn’t be necessary for their son to succeed.
The Rolling Meadows senior was an instant sensation in high school. He started filling up the stat sheet as a freshman and never stopped. That surprised his coaches, but not his parents.
“To be honest, yes, we knew he would start out that well,” Katrina Christie said. We knew how much work he had put in on and off the court. We didn’t feel this need to put him out there and expose him everywhere. We just kind of kept it quiet and local but we knew what he was capable of and I guess we had more faith in him than everybody else.”
Christie may be the first Sun-Times Player of the Year that has been outscored in a high school game by his mother. Katrina (Hannaford) Christie scored 55 points in a game for Eau Claire Memorial, a high school in Wisconsin.
Christie’s best game in high school was 51 points.
“I wasn’t thinking about my mom’s 55 during that game at all,” Christie said. “It was kind of a close game so I was pretty focused on that.”
Christie led Rolling Meadows to a perfect 15-0 record this season but there was no state tournament due to COVID-19 mitigations. The Mustangs were also limited to a handful of non-conference games and weren’t able to play in the Chipotle Clash of Champions due to conference commitments.
Those circumstances led to Christie being a Player of Year that much of the area has never seen play, a rarity in this era of high-profile shootouts.
“It’s not that big of a deal to me,” Christie said. “If anyone really wanted to come see me they probably would have made the time to come do it. People can watch me on TV next year. I’m not really concerned about the backlash or any reaction to me winning this award. I’m just glad I won it.”
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Rolling Meadows didn’t face a Public League powerhouse during Christie’s high school career. The highest profile game the Mustangs played over the last four years was Christie’s junior year when they lost to Bryce Hopkins and Fenwick.
“No one in the city wanted to play Rolling Meadows,” Max Christie Sr. said. “It just so happened that he is known more nationally than he is locally. People can’t say he’s no good because they haven’t seen him play.”
“He’s played plenty of [top players] in situations that maybe aren’t public for everyone to come watch,” Katrina Christie said. “I think it is more of a motivator for him.”
Christie averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks this season. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo speaks often of Christie’s ability to distribute and play multiple positions, he’s more than just a shooter.
Christie is also the first local player to turn down a scholarship offer from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“Duke wasn’t the right fit but the biggest thing was that Michigan State really preached what they wanted and what they needed me to be,” Christie said. “Just looking at the offense, what would fit me best, Michigan State was the better fit for me.”
Christie is unique in another way. He’s the first Player of the Year from the Mid-Suburban League.
“My goal coming in to high school was to put Rolling Meadows back on the map,” Christie said. “I think especially this year a lot of people saw that the Mid-Suburban League wasn’t just a walk in the park. We had Hersey, Buffalo Grove, a lot of great teams in there. To be the first kid in this area to win the Sun-Times Player of the Year feels great, to break that barrier and show that the MSL is a great conference to play in.”
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
2020–DJ Steward, Young
2019–DaJuan Gordon, Curie
2018–Talen Horton-Tucker, Simeon
2016–Charlie Moore, Morgan Park
2014–Cliff Alexander, Curie
2013–Jahlil Okafor, Young
2012–Jabari Parker, Simeon
2011–Wayne Blackshear, Morgan Park
2010–Jereme Richmond, Waukegan
2009–Jereme Richmond, Waukegan
2008–Kevin Dillard, Homewood-Flossmoor
2007–Derrick Rose, Simeon
2006–Jon Scheyer, Glenbrook North
2005–DeAndre Thomas, Westinghouse
2004-Calvin Brock, Simeon
2003–Shannon Brown, Proviso East
2002–Sean Dockery, Julian
2001–Eddy Curry, Thornwood
2000–Cedrick Banks, Westinghouse
1999–Leon Smith, King
1998–Quentin Richardson, Young
1997–Melvin Ely, Thornton
1996–Ronnie Fields, Farragut
1995–Kevin Garnett, Farragut
1994–Jerry Gee, St. Martin de Porres
1993–Rashard Griffith, King
1992–Chris Collins, Glenbrook North
1991–Sherell Ford, Proviso East
1990–Jamie Brandon, King
1989–Deon Thomas, Simeon
1988–Eric Anderson, de Sales
1987–Marcus Liberty, King
1986–Nick Anderson, Simeon
1985–Michael Ingram, Proviso West
1984–Hersey Hawkins, Westinghouse
1983–Len Bertolini, St. Patrick
1982–Bernard Jackson, Phillips
1981–Walter Downing, Providence
1980–Glenn Rivers, Proviso East
1979–Isiah Thomas, St. Joseph
1978–Mark Aguirre, Westinghouse
1977–Eddie Johnson, Westinghouse
1976–Glen Grunwald, East Leyden
1975–Pete Boesen, Maine South
1974–Audie Matthews, Bloom
1973–Mark Vitali, St. Charles
1972–Quinn Buckner, Thornridge
1971–Quinn Buckner, Thornridge
1970–Lloyd Batts, Thornton
1969–Jim Brewer, Proviso East
1968–Jeff Hickman, Lockport
1967–Rick Howat, Downers Grove
1966–Rich Bradshaw, Marshall
1965–Terry Hurley, Steinmetz
1964–Eugene Ford, Crane
1963–Joe Allen, Carver
1962–Cazzie Russell, Carver
1961–Bob Caress, Thornton
1960–George Wilson, Marshall
No team in the state has a tougher first three games than Loyola (2-0, 1-0 CCL/ESCC Blue), which already owns top-10 wins over St. Rita and Mount Carmel. Coach John Holecek’s Ramblers always have been built around lockdown defenses and this team is no different. Marty Auer and Artist Benjamin have had big takeaways in the first two weeks. And Vaughn Pemberton, one of the area’s premier backs, has been especially dangerous out of the Wildcat formation. Toledo-bound Willie Shaw, who can line up at receiver or running back, leads Rice (1-1, 0-1), which is coming off a 20-16 loss to Pulaski Road rival Marist.
Two multi-talented senior quarterbacks will be in the spotlight in this CCL/ESCC Blue showdown. Marist (2-0, 1-0) has Coastal Carolina recruit Dontrell Jackson Jr., while Mount Carmel (1-1, 0-1) counters with Temple recruit Justin Lynch. But don’t forget about Marist senior Jamari Grant, who ran for 154 yards and a touchdown last week against Brother Rice. Mount Carmel also has a productive back in Illinois recruit Kenenna Odeluga.
Whenever these two rivals get together it’s special, and their 102nd meeting will play out on the big stage at Husky Stadium. Batavia (2-0, 2-0 DuKane) will be without quarterback Kyle Oroni, who suffered a broken leg in last week’s win over St. Charles North. Josh Dornink and Dondre Phillips are a pair of backs capable of picking up some of the slack for the Bulldogs’ offense. Geneva (1-1, 1-1) snapped a 10-game losing streak in decisive fashion last week, blanking St. Charles East 30-0 as its defense had six takeaways.
This crosstown rivalry is heating up again with both teams 2-0 overall and in the DuKane Conference. Wheaton North has a promising running back in Brayton Maske. who averaged 10 yards a carry and scored twice against Lake Park last week. Eddie Robinson and the Wheaton Warrenville South offense heated up after a scoreless first half to get past Glenbard North last week.
The arrow is pointing up for these District 218 rivals. Shepard (1-1, 1-1 South Suburban Red) is coming off its first win over Richards in 28 years, a 42-8 romp that featured six takeaways and 50- and 83-yard TD runs by junior Kendrick Washington. Junior quarterback Nashon Johnson, a transfer from Proviso East, has been a nice addition for Eisenhower (2-0, 2-0), which also has a productive back in Jhajuan Lott.
Breaking down Week 3’s top high school football gameson April 1, 2021 at 2:41 pm Read More »
