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Less than an hour later, an off-duty Chicago police officer shot someone breaking into their home in Portage Park.

A Chicago police officer fatally shot an armed man in Portage Park, according to police, in the second police shooting early Wednesday on the Northwest Side.

Officers began chasing the man on foot at 12:20 a.m. in the 3500 block of North Laramie Avenue, Chicago police said in a statement.

The man allegedly pulled out a gun in the 5200 block of West Eddy Street, “which led to a confrontation with police,” and an officer fired shots striking him, police said.

The man was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name hasn’t been released.

Police spokesman Tom Ahern shared a photo of a weapon allegedly recovered from the man.

CPD spokesman Tom Ahern/Twitter

The specifics of the shooting were being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability with the cooperation of the Chicago Police Department, police said. The officers involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days.

Less than an hour later, an off-duty Chicago police officer shot someone breaking into their home in Portage Park on the Northwest Side. The officer shot the man in his face about 12:55 a.m. as the man broke into the officer’s home in the 3100 block of Belle Plaine Avenue, police said. The man was rushed in serious condition to Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Wednesday’s police shootings mark the sixth and seventh police shootings in Chicago this month.

Early Monday, Chicago police fatally shot an armed person and arrested another after responding to gunfire in Little Village. Last Thursday, an alleged shoplifter was killed in a shootout with police after he shot a security guard and an officer in Back of the Yards on the South Side.

On March 20, an officer was shot in her hand Saturday during a SWAT standoff in the Austin neighborhood by a man who allegedly wanted to “lure” cops to the area, according to prosecutors. On March 15, an off-duty officer was ambushed by two gunman while stopped in traffic in the Calumet Heights neighborhood

On March 14, an on-duty CPD sergeant was shot while standing in the parking lot of the Gresham District police station, at 7808 S. Halsted St.

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

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MLB Opening Day for the 2021 season is here. Finally! After a stagnant offseason that didn’t lead to signing Anthony Rizzo, the Chicago Cubs will take the field on Thursday, April 1. Their first regular season outing is against the Pittsburgh Pirates at home. And yes, fans will be there at Wrigley. Capacity is limited to 20 percent which means roughly 8,000 masked fans in the seats. Hopefully as the season goes on they’ll continue to fill the stands as the 2016 World Series champions compete to regain their foothold atop of the NL Central. 

As many Cubs fans know, anything can happen over the course of 162 games, and we’re here to give you a Cubs 2021 season preview before Opening Day!

Early MVP Prediction

You couldn’t have worse odds trying to predict Cubs’ MVP because honestly, some of the names we’d select might not be here midway through the season. We’ll talk about that later.

Our pick for MVP this season is none other than Mr. Javier Baez. Baez’s down year in 2020 and Spring Training numbers aren’t much to write home about. But he’s still our pick. The return of fans to the stands should give him some much needed energy. Plus, he’s in a contract year, and is fully capable of producing on both offense and defense. 

Who Will Be The X Factor?

When the dust settles, we’re predicting that first year Cubbie, Joc Pederson, will be the team’s “X Factor”. Pederson signed a one-year deal back in February after we parted ways with Kyle Schwarber. Pederson hit a whopping .378 in preseason with an OBP of .431. Should he avoid the typical ups-and-downs for a Joc Pederson season, he’ll most certainly be the X Factor we need in 2021.

Season Predictions

Has anyone ever been correct making predictions for a season? No? Well we’re hoping to change that with two predictions this year. The first is less than ideal and the second is obviously our preference. It all comes down to where the Cubs stand as the year progresses.

Our first prediction is that the Cubs go 74-88, miss the playoffs, and finish 3rd or 4th in the NL Central. For this to happen, the Cubs will be 1) not playing well, and 2) beginning a rebuild. With Rizzo potentially on the way out, and other big names up for free agency next season, the clubhouse could go on a selling spree if they aren’t winning early on.

This next prediction has a much better ending for the Cubs 2021 season. A somewhat surprising 90-72 finish, postseason berth, and first place finish in their division. On paper, this roster has everything needed to make this come true. They’ll need the offensive output they’re capable of to get it done. We know which prediction we’re rooting for.

The post 2021 Chicago Cubs Season Preview: Can the North Siders Start Hot After a Stale Offseason? appeared first on UrbanMatter.

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A 28-year-old man is facing felony gun charges after a police chase Tuesday from the Far South Side to suburban Dolton.

Gianni Kennedy has been charged with a felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and a felony count of being in possession of a weapon as a felon, Chicago police said. A second person from was charged with a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.

Officers responded to a call of multiple people with firearms about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 10300 block of South Stoney Island Avenue, according to information from police.

The group then fled the scene in two separate vehicles and officers followed them into Dolton, where they were taken into custody, police said. Multiple firearms were recovered

Three CPD officers were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries from the incident, and all listed in good condition, police said.

Kennedy is due in bond court Wednesday.

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A podcast created by filmmaker Adam McKay (“The Big Short,” “Vice,” “Anchorman”) details the nuances surrounding the tragic deaths of hoops phenoms and the presence of intersectional issues many attributed to policies of the Reagan Administration.

“Death at the Wing,” a narrative podcast premiering Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher features the tragic deaths of Celtics draft pick Len Bias, Nets guard Drazen Petrovic and Hornets guard Bobby Phills, among others, including Simeon hoops legend Ben Wilson.

Wilson, the subject of episode four, was viewed as the top high school player in the nation — the first Chicagoan to receive the honor — but was murdered in 1984.

Sun-Times

Wilson was having an argument with his girlfriend, Jetun Rush, the mother of his son, Brandon, when he bumped into William Moore. An argument ensued, and Moore shot Wilson.

Before Wilson’s murder shook the city, he was sent to a hospital that didn’t have a trauma unit.

McKay, an Academy Award winner and Second City alumnus, serves as the podcast’s host and producer. He also is the executive producer of an upcoming HBO limited series detailing the 1980s “Showtime” era of the Lakers.

“I’ve been an NBA junkie pretty much my whole life and have always been haunted by the amazing young talents we tragically lost in the 1980s into the ’90s,” said McKay in a press release. “Once we dove in, it became obvious the tragic stories of these young, mostly African American men are really the story of what happened to America over the last 40 years. A forty years that would see the NBA become a global powerhouse while the U.S. slowly came apart.”

The episode also features Moore, now an anti-violence activist who served 19 years and 9 months for Wilson’s killing and lost his own son, William IV, to gun violence in July 2017.

Last year, Anthony and Jeff Wilson — Ben Wilson’s brothers — and Moore appeared publicly for the first time at an event featuring clips from “Both Sides of the Gun: A Story of Reconciliation,” a documentary that chronicles their road to forgiveness.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

In 2018 after years of strong criticism — including protests — from community stakeholders, the University of Chicago Medical Center opened a Level I adult trauma center on the South Side. In 1990, the now-shuttered Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center closed its trauma center, leaving large swaths of the South Side without a trauma center.

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Chicago Blackhawks: Three veterans to trade away at deadline by Vincent Parise

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Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Since general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy became a duo a few years back, the Chicago Bears have won some and lost some in the draft.

When specifically looking at Pace, Bears fans know to expect the unexpected. Sometimes that’s a good thing, while other times it leaves us fall with our heads in our hands.

Pace is unequivocally himself — a definition that’s hard to sum up with few words. He’s not shy about making a big move if he’s convinced it’s worthwhile, even if that move doesn’t necessarily work out. Look at his track record with moves for guys like Khalil Mack and Mitchell Trubisky.

He also loves taking chances on guys from smaller schools in the draft. Pace has had some success in the past, finding Tarik Cohen coming out of North Carolina A&T a few years back. Then again, Pace is also the guy who drafted Adam Shaheen in the second round coming out of Ashland.

All of these are reasons why it is so difficult to summarize who Pace is as a general manager. He’s mostly been frustrating, if you had to use one single word. But, Pace is still here, and the Bears will win or lose with him at the helm in 2021.

In the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears could yet again look at small school prospects.

There are some positions the Bears simply won’t have enough draft capital to address early on. Without a fourth-round pick, Pace is going to have to work some magic in the later rounds.

Hopefully, the Bears use the first and second round for an important position like quarterback, even if it means trading up. But, beyond those two rounds, they still have several needs to look at filling.

If Pace wants to find some potential gems coming out of smaller programs, he and the Bears should look at some of the following prospects. Most of them can be found later than Round 2, as well.

Next: 1. Spencer Brown

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This week’s featured gig poster was created by Chicago-via-Indiana photographer and designer Adeleine Prairie Sinsabaugh.

This week’s featured gig poster was created for an online celebration of International Women’s Day sponsored by several organizations, including two from Chicago: music presenter HotHouse and publisher Haymarket Books.…Read More

Chicago rapper Vic Mensa has had a career trajectory unlike many other Chicago artists the past decade. After rising to national prominence in the early 2010s as front man of Kids These Days, he became a solo star, delivering a sharp debut mixtape (2013’s Innanetape) and a career-making hip-house single (2014’s “Down On My Luck”) en route to signing with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label in 2015.…Read More

We’re not out of the woods after more than a year of this, but we can still be grateful for the little things.

In the unlikely event you don’t already know the drill: for most of the past year, Bandcamp has passed along its usual cut of sales revenue on the first Friday of the month.…Read More

Boqvist’s defensive play and confidence has improved this season, his second in the NHL, and his playing time has increased lately as a result.

The Blackhawks’ play has been so poor in recent weeks that it has been difficult for some of the team to stay positive.

But Adam Boqvist’s jovial, fun-loving personality has proven immune to discouragement.

“I’m always having a smile on my face when I come into the locker room,” Boqvist said Tuesday. “I feel like everyone is happy. We’re in a great position right now. We’re not 10 points behind the playoffs. We’re in the race and it’s fun. We have to enjoy the moment.”

That perspective on the season’s stretch run, especially considering the Hawks’ youth, is important to keep in mind. The fact the team is contending at all is a surprise; they should indeed try to enjoy and make the most of it.

Boqvist is certainly doing that personally.

The 20-year-old Swedish defenseman has been one of the Hawks’ few bright spots in March. His development curve — frustratingly slow and jagged during his rookie season — has greatly accelerated in his second season.

Coach Jeremy Colliton carried on for several minutes Tuesday with his praise for Boqvist.

“He’s doing a really good job of getting body position and putting himself in a position to get stops, to win loose pucks, to defend by working to stay on the [defensive] side [of opposing players] and using his skating to get through hands,” Colliton said. “When he does that, it creates opportunities for him to make plays in transition, and that’s where we think he’s really strong.

“Obviously there’s more there, but he’s improved a lot. With that confidence on the defensive side, it’s really helped his offensive game, too, because he’s comfortable. He’s got some swagger to him. He’s made a lot of plays for quite a long stretch of games here.”

The Hawks are 3-5-0 with a 45.2% on-ice shot attempt ratio in their last seven games, but Boqvist’s results are the opposite: he has an on-ice shot attempt differential above at least 43% in all eight games and above 50% in five.

Boqvist’s defensive improvement has been noticeable beyond statistics, too.

He has learned how to neutralize NHL-caliber players and read NHL-level plays, identifying where the puck will go — rather than where it currently is — and positioning himself in the correct spot to disrupt it. He memorably broke up several two-on-one rushes in the Stars and Lightning series.

His offseason decision to switch his defensive tactics and emphasize positioning and stick usage rather than body contact when engaging opponents has also helped.

There have been some hiccups, such as when he left the front of the net and still allowed a centering pass to get through for the Predators’ first goal Saturday.

But every Hawks defenseman has made mistakes — Boqvist at least has committed fewer than most. His on-ice scoring chance ratio this season is actually best among all Hawks defensemen by a significant margin.

On the offensive end, Boqvist may not yet be the dynamic playmaker some expected, but he’s making more and more crafty plays.

And Colliton wasn’t kidding about that blossoming swagger.

“From last year, I’ve been better overall out there,” Boqvist said. “I feel comfortable. And obviously when the coaches trust you, it makes you more confident. You want to be out there when the game is on the line. You want to be the guy.”

The coaching staff’s faith in Boqvist has manifested in his playing time. After averaging 16:13 of ice time per game as a rookie, then 16:39 through his first 19 games this season, Boqvist has handled almost 20 minutes per game over his last seven appearances — including 23:08 on March 20 and 21:56 on Sunday.

All the while, Boqvist’s optimism continues to push him forward.

“I come to the rink and [aim to] be one day better, not one day older,” he said. “I’m just going to keep working.”

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The man was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

A Chicago police officer fatally shot an armed man Wednesday morning in Portage Park on the Northwest Side.

About 12:20 a.m., officers were involved in an on foot pursuit in the 3500 block of North Laramie Avenue, Chicago police said in a statement. The man allegedly pulled out a gun in the 5200 block of West Eddy Street, which led to a confrontation with officers, and an officer fired shots striking him.

The man was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said. A weapon was recovered from the scene.

The specifics of the shooting are being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability with the full cooperation of the Chicago Police Department, police said. The officers involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for thirty days.

Less than an hour later, an off-duty Chicago police officer shot someone breaking into their home in Portage Park on the Northwest Side, police said.

Read More