Chicago Bears: These draft prospects would compliment Russell Wilsonon March 9, 2021 at 3:30 pm
What some might have thought as impossible and just a pipe dream may soon happen, as the Chicago Bears eye Russell Wilson in a trade.
What’s New
Dingers- A Chicago Cubs Podcast Ep.30 He-Man and the Masters of Spring TrainingNick Bon March 9, 2021 at 2:47 pm
The Dingers crew discuss the hot start of Nico Hoerner, answer the question: “Can you have too many quality starting pitchers?” and a lot more on Episode 30 of the Dingers podcast!
The post Dingers- A Chicago Cubs Podcast Ep.30 He-Man and the Masters of Spring Training first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More
Chicago Bears: It might be smart to avoid going for Russell Wilsonon March 9, 2021 at 1:00 pm
Another unsuccessful Chicago Bears season could lead to a domino effect for an effective Bears rebuild.
Bears fans have gotten excited recently for the Russell Wilson trade rumors and rightfully so. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN had some excellent news for Bears fans to relish about.
Blackhawks: Three risky trades to make with Nashville Predatorson March 9, 2021 at 12:00 pm
(Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
The Chicago Blackhawks are in the position that the Nashville Predators thought they would be in and the Predators are in the position that the Hawks thought they would be in. It is truly remarkable how different these teams are right now. The Blackhawks have been better than them in every way. Right now, it sounds like the Predators are going to be shipping out some players as the season goes along as they try to retool their roster.
Horoscope for Tuesday, March 9, 2021Georgia Nicolson March 9, 2021 at 6:01 am
Moon Alert
After 1:45 a.m. Chicago time, there are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Aquarius.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Things are a bit delicate dealing with friends or perhaps a group. You might suddenly have a difference of opinions about money or a possession. You definitely have strong feelings about something, that’s for sure. Someone older or more experienced might throw some shade on you. (Whaaat?)
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Be careful dealing with parents, bosses, teachers, VIPs and the police because this is a tricky day. Authority figures will probably come on heavy. And yet, you might have a strong reaction. Don’t be lippy. Don’t do anything you will regret. Stay cool.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
You have lots of energy because fiery Mars is in your sign energizing your ideas about race, politics, foreign issues, religion and anything to do with the law as well as medical matters. However, you might feel hemmed in by rules and regulations.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Something unexpected that affects your financial arrangements with someone or perhaps something to do with shared property, taxes, debt or insurance might catch you off guard. You might have to pay the piper. Probably, discussions will be volatile.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
A close friend or your partner might surprise you in a way that really makes you react. Perhaps you feel hemmed in by having a limited choice about something. You want to rebel against this situation but perhaps you can’t? A friend might help you.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Certain issues with your job are a bit difficult today. Something will happen, perhaps unexpectedly, that restricts your situation or your range of activity. Nevertheless, you have strong ideas about what you want to do. As Bruce’s grandmother used to say, “Wantin’ ain’t gettin’.”
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Parents might have difficulties dealing with kids. Meanwhile, support situations and social events will suffer from sudden changes and restrictions. This is an accident-prone day both in terms of sports and your kids, so be vigilant. Pay attention to everything you do.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Your home routine will be interrupted because someone might rebel against rules and regulations. People feel feisty today. Although you might get the practical and financial support you want to do something, someone else might object. It was ever thus.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Be mindful and alert today because this is an accident-prone day for your sign. You will encounter new faces, new places, new ideas along with new restrictions and different ways of doing things. Don’t succumb to fear and anxiety. As Mark Twain said, “I had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
You might feel some kind of a financial squeeze play today. In fact, something unexpected could affect your money or your possessions, so keep your eyes open to guard against loss, theft or damage. Fortunately, any loss will be minimal.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
You are high-energy because the moon is in your sign dancing with fiery Mars. This makes you energetic and proactive! You might also feel rebellious (more than usual). Whatever happens, you can’t ignore the reality of a situation today. It is what it is.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Today you might be dealing with situations taking place behind the scenes. Things might be beyond your control, which is why a surprise might catch you off guard. Someone older or more experienced might be calling the shots, which means you have to follow along. You can do this to keep the peace.
If Your Birthday Is Today
Actor Matthew Gray Gubler (1980) shares your birthday. You are a creative, artistic person who truly cares about others. Wonderful news for your new year ahead! This is your time of harvest, when you will start to reap the benefits of the seeds that you planted in the last decade. You deserve this time of success! As a result, you might enjoy increased influence and leadership in all your relationships.
Horoscope for Tuesday, March 9, 2021Georgia Nicolson March 9, 2021 at 6:01 am Read More »
Report: Manhattan DA subpoenas documents related to loans used to build Trump tower in ChicagoMitch Dudekon March 9, 2021 at 5:15 am
The CNN report came out Monday.
Manhattan district attorney Cy Vance Jr. has subpoenaed documents from an investor that provided a loan Donald Trump’s company used to build the Chicago skyscraper that bears his name, according to a CNN report published Monday.
Late last year, Vance issued a grand jury subpoena to collect information from Fortress Investment Group related to the $130 million it provided the Trump Organization to build the Trump International Hotel and Tower, according to CNN, which attributed the report to sources.
The skyscraper along the Chicago River, built on the former footprint of the Chicago Sun-Times building, was completed in 2009.
By 2012, Fortress forgave more $100 million of the loan to secure a partial repayment of about $45 million amid a financial crisis in the real estate market, according to CNN.
Prosecutors in Vance’s office are looking into whether Trump and his company reported the loan forgiveness as income and paid taxes on it, as required by law.
The subpoena is part of a continuing financial fraud investigation into the ex-president that’s probing whether lenders or insurance brokers were misled about property valuations.
Alan Garten, the general counsel for the Trump Organization, declined to comment, according to CNN.
Garten previously told The New York Times that the company and Trump paid all taxes on forgiven debts.
The issue was first raised by New York Attorney General Letitia James last fall when her office disclosed in a court filing that it was investigating whether Trump and the Trump Organization recorded the forgiven amount as income and paid taxes or whether there was some explanation as to why that wouldn’t be required, according to CNN.
Chicago weed giant illegally took pot to Arkansas in Whole Foods salad containers, federal suit claimsTom Schubaon March 9, 2021 at 2:20 am
An employee of Verano Holdings allegedly took the marijuana on a commercial flight, the suit filed in Colorado says. Verano calls the claims “totally false and absurd.”
Verano Holdings, a Chicago weed firm worth roughly $3 billion, was sued Monday in federal court as part of a sweeping racketeering complaint that accuses the company of illegally trafficking marijuana from Illinois to Arkansas.
The lawsuit filed in Colorado alleges a complicated conspiracy that allegedly included the company and Harvest Health & Recreation, an Arizona firm that attempted to acquire Verano for $850 million in March 2019.
The plaintiff, Nicholas Nielsen, worked for a cultivation center in Newport, Arkansas, that was owned by Natural State Wellness Enterprises and managed by Harvest as the company worked in lockstep with Verano as the acquisition was pending. The deal fizzled, however.
The suit hinges on Nielsen’s arrest last January in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where police raided his home after uncovering 28 harvested pot plants in his garbage can, the Van Buren County Democrat reported. Nielsen was then arrested and charged after the cops found two more plants inside the home along with other pot products and paraphernalia.
However, the suit claims those plants were actually being cultivated for the Newport greenhouse while it was awaiting approval from state officials.
The cultivation center’s chief grower previously said agents with the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division showed up there during the raid and learned plants at the facility came from Nielsen’s home, according to the local news report.
The suit claims the plants at Nielsen’s home were allegedly grown from clippings brought to Arkansas by Michael Frontier, a Verano employee who was indicted in federal court in Chicago in October 2019 for allegedly running an illegal gambling business in an action unrelated to his work in the pot industry.
In April 2019, Frontier — who was still an employee of Verano — was introduced to Nielsen as Harvest’s central regional cultivation manager, the suit states. Two months later, Frontier was allegedly “instructed by his employer” to take young cannabis plants from an unnamed Verano facility in Illinois and transport them to Arkansas.
Frontier allegedly hid four different pot strains in Whole Foods salads and took the weed on a commercial flight from Chicago to Memphis, the suit contends. From there, Frontier allegedly rented a car and drove the marijuana to Nielsen in Arkansas.
In the suit, Nielsen claims Harvest initially told him that it was legal to grow the plants at the makeshift cultivation facility in his home, which the company allegedly financed. But following the raid, the suit notes that Nielsen was fired by Harvest “as a result of his arrest.”
Nielsen now faces felony counts of manufacture of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Frontier has not been charged in connection with the allegations, nor has anyone else listed in the lawsuit. Nielsen’s attorney, Matthew Buck, said his client hasn’t reported anyone else to law enforcement, though he said Nielsen “would definitely testify against all of them” in a criminal case.
The suit includes dozens of co-defendants, including Verano CEO George Archos and other company executives. And it also targets individuals tied to Harvest and Natural State Wellness, as well as various investors and a credit union in Colorado accused of laundering money in connection to the alleged trafficking scheme.
All the parties engaged in an illegal interstate drug enterprise in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the suit claims. The complaint was filed in Nielsen’s home state, where some of the defendants also live and do business.
The suit comes just weeks after Verano began trading publicly in Canada with a valuation of nearly $3 billion, making it one of the biggest weed firms in the U.S.
In a statement, Buck said Verano and its board of directors “wantonly violated Illinois State law, as well as federal law, when they had their employee traffic marijuana from Verano’s cultivation facility to Arkansas.”
“It’s unconscionable that low-level employees take the fall while Verano’s board continues to make money off of their illegal conduct,” Buck said.
Buck said his client intends to ask for more than $6 million from the defendants as a group under RICO, as well as the same amount from each individual defendant.
Pot firms push back against claims
Verano claimed the allegations in the suit “are completely and totally false and absurd.”
“The plaintiff and his lawyer have turned an employment dispute between a former Harvest employee and his employer into a sensationalized and imagined series of events aimed at a company like Verano with a proven track record of compliant operations,” spokesman Dennis Culloton said in a statment. “Verano and its affiliates are proud of their strict compliance with and adherence to state laws and regulations, and any insinuation to the contrary is completely fictional.”
Harvest also claimed the lawsuit is “replete with inaccuracies,” saying it amounts to “nothing more than a thinly veiled shakedown.”
“Knowing his client was legally bound to take any dispute to binding confidential arbitration, Mr. Nielsen’s lawyer threatened to unleash a smear campaign by filing a lawsuit filled with damaging false information unless we paid him millions of dollars,” spokesman Terry Fahn said in a statement. “He went so far as to threaten what he believed the headline emanating from the lawsuit would be.”
Fahn noted that Harvest has filed a motion to compel arbitration, and both firms vowed to fight the suit in court.
Frontier’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Michelle Obama, Mia Hamm, Katherine Johnson among 9 chosen for National Women’s Hall of FameAssociated Presson March 9, 2021 at 3:43 am
The National Women’s Hall of Fame inducts a new class every other year in Seneca Falls, the site of the first women’s rights convention.
SENECA FALLS, N.Y. — Former first lady Michelle Obama and soccer star Mia Hamm have been chosen for the National Women’s Hall of Fame as part of a Class of 2021 announced Monday that also includes former PepsiCo Chief Executive Indra Nooyi and retired Brig. Gen. Rebecca Halstead.
Halstead commanded in combat as the first female commanding general at the strategic level in Iraq.
NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who died last year, also will be inducted during an Oct. 2 ceremony, along with the late author Octavia Butler, Native American artist Joy Harjo, abolitionist Emily Howland and artist Judy Chicago.
The National Women’s Hall of Fame inducts a new class every other year in Seneca Falls, the site of the first women’s rights convention. As in other years, this year’s ceremony will be in person, hall officials said, but tickets will not be available until April or May, when there is a better understanding of COVID-19 protocols for live events.
The ceremony also will be livestreamed.
Coronavirus live blog, March 8, 2021: How the coronavirus pandemic has affected high schoolers’ mental healthSun-Times staffon March 9, 2021 at 3:09 am
Here’s Monday’s news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois.
News
9:10 p.m. Student mental health struggles intensify as high schools remain closed year into pandemic
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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
When the coronavirus pandemic first closed schools last year, one Chicago mother watched as her son — then a freshman at a public school on the North Side — became hyper-focused on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s daily briefings, spurring disappointment every time he announced a delay in reopening schools.
As Chicago Public Schools remained closed for the rest of the year and did not reopen in the fall, the mother said her son’s anxiety and depression manifested more severely as he became too angry to function.
He remains “emotionally miserable,” said the woman, who asked not to be named. “He’s in therapy, he’s taking medication. This has never been true before.”
High school students in CPS still have no idea when they will return in person this school year, even as kindergarten through fifth graders returned to classrooms last week and 6-8 graders return Monday. CPS officials on Friday said high school students could opt-in for in-person learning possibly later this spring, but no deal has been reached with the Chicago Teachers Union, and no details of how schools would look if they open their doors have been released.
Now nearing a year of schools being closed, students are suffering from more intense symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses, according to mental health experts.
Nationwide, the number of children’s mental health-related emergency department visits increased steadily from April to October 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For children ages 12-17, the number of visits increased by 31% compared to 2019.
At Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, from September 2020 to January 2021, the rate of emergency department visits for mental health concerns doubled compared to the year before, rising from 2.4% to 4.2% of all cases. While the pandemic more than halved the number of emergency room visits overall, the number of mental health visits remained about the same as the prior year.
Dr. Jennifer Hoffman, an emergency room physician at Lurie, said although there was a hesitancy to visit the emergency room during the pandemic, mental health concerns for some children were so high that families deemed the risk necessary.
Keep reading Clare Proctor’s story here.
4:06 p.m. Fully vaccinated people can gather without masks, CDC says
NEW YORK — Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials.
The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can come together in the same way — in a single household — with people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the guidance Monday.
The guidance is designed to address a growing demand, as more adults have been getting vaccinated and wondering if it gives them greater freedom to visit family members, travel, or do other things like they did before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world last year.
“With more and more people vaccinated each day, we are starting to turn a corner,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
12:51 p.m. Health officials report 1,182 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths
Illinois public health officials announced 1,182 new cases of the coronavirus Monday as well as five deaths — the lowest daily fatality count in nearly six months.
The new cases come from a batch of 39,636 tests. As of Sunday night, 1,178 people with COVID-19 were reported to be in the hospital. Of that number, 266 patients were in intensive care units throughout the state; 118 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The state’s preliminary seven-day statewide case positivity is 2.3%.
The last time the state saw a daily death toll this low was Sept. 14, when the state logged five deaths. Illinois hasn’t seen a single-digit daily death rate since early Oct. 11, when health officials announced nine deaths.
The deaths reported Monday bring the state’s total COVID-19 toll to 20,767 people.
Health officials also reported 3.38 million vaccines have been administered so far, with an average of of 90,135 doses administered daily in the past seven days, slightly less than the 93,183 rolling average of shots reported Sunday.
Read the full story from Rachel Hinton here.
1:07 p.m. CPS welcomes back middle school students Monday
Chicago Public Schools reached a milestone of sorts Monday, with all elementary school grades open districtwide for in-person learning — even though most parents continued to keep their kids at home in remote learning.
The district welcomed back sixth through eighth grade students Monday.
“It never gets old seeing kids come back to school — some of them excited, some of them not so excited about it. But at the end of the day, we know it’s the best place for them,” said Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson, speaking to reporters outside Robert J. Richardson Middle School, 6018 S. Karlov.
Just before Jackson spoke, students lined up — socially distanced — outside the school, as a staff member with a laptop quizzed them about any recent sickness and out-of-state travel, among other questions.
Staff at Richardson were expecting 185 out of 1,083 students to return for the current quarter.
Overall, about 18,500 students in sixth to eighth grades were expected to return to their classrooms Monday. That’s on top of the 37,000 K-5 students that went back last week. About 145,000 elementary students will continue learning remotely through at least April.
Jackson said that, to date, CPS has offered coronavirus vaccinations to about 25,000 school employees — about 60% of the total.
She said the district has received many questions about the levels of in-person staffing.
“After one week of instruction with K-5 back last week, we don’t have any reports of widespread staffing shortages,” she said.
Read the full story from Stefano Esposito here.
11:45 a.m. Fully vaccinated people can gather without masks, CDC says
Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials.
The recommendations also say that vaccinated people can come together in the same way — in a single household — with people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the guidance Monday.
The guidance is designed to address a growing demand, as more adults have been getting vaccinated and wondering if it gives them greater freedom to visit family members, travel, or do other things like they did before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world last year.
11:10 a.m. Sox, Cubs, can have fans attend games, mayor says
The Cubs and Sox will play before real fans, instead of cardboard cut-outs.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot gave both teams the go-ahead to sell 20% of the seats at Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Field citing the “remarkable” progress Chicago has made toward containing the coronavirus and vaccinating its residents.
“As a diehard sports fan myself, I’m personally excited to have Chicago take its first, cautious steps toward safely reopening our beloved baseball stadiums to fans this season,” Lightfoot, a Sox season ticket holder, was quoted as saying in a press release.
“We’re able to do that thanks to the commitment of our city’s two great baseball franchises who continue to work in close partnership with Chicago’s public health officials to find solutions that are not only safe, but offer a path forward toward safely increasing stadium capacity as we move closer into our COVID-19 recovery.”
Guaranteed Rate has a seating capacity of 40,000. The city’s gradual reopening plan will limit the crowd to 8,122 fans with at least six feet between parties, starting with the home opener on April 8.
Wrigley Field has a capacity crowd of 41,374. There a 20% rule will allow the Cubs to sell 8,274 seats, beginning with the home opener on April 1.
The reopening of both ballparks will start at 20% “with additional restrictions and potentially open to more fans as vaccination and recovery efforts continue,” City Hall said.
Get the full story from Fran Spielman here.
9:50 a.m. Polar Plunge goes virtual amid COVID-19
Every year for the last two decades, thousands of people ascend to North Avenue to dive into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan to raise money for Special Olympics Chicago and Special Children’s Charities.
In 2020, nearly 5,000 people charged into the lake, raising a record-setting $2.2 million during what turned out to be one of the last major events in the city to take place before the pandemic uprooted life as we knew it.
But that wasn’t the case this year. Like so many other traditions, this year’s Polar Plunge was forced to take place virtually, with Sunday marking the final day of the weeklong event.
Many participants got creative with the reimagined Polar Plunge.
Some still made the trip to the lakefront to take a dip in Lake Michigan, while another group constructed a homemade dunk tank that they set up in an alleyway. On Saturday, students and teachers at St. Patrick High School hosted a fun-filled event outside on the school’s football field and raised about $10,700.
Find out how others participated in the Polar Plunge this year.
New cases
- State health officials reported 1,068 new probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases Sunday, the fewest new cases recorded in a day since July 21. Sunday’s cases were found among the 68,094 tests processed by the Illinois Department of Public Health, for a daily positivity rate of roughly 1.6%.
- Illinois’ daily caseload has surpassed 2,000 only twice in March, 10 times in the last month and twice in March. Because of this, the state’s seven-day positivity rate has dropped close to an all-time low. On Sunday, that figure, which experts use to gauge the spread of the virus across the state, was 2.3% — down a full percentage point from one month ago.
- Officials also announced 14 virus-related deaths, marking the smallest daily pandemic death toll since October. Five of those fatalities were reported in the Chicago area.
- Statewide hospitalizations have returned to pre-peak levels, too. As of Saturday night, 1,141 beds were occupied statewide by coronavirus patients, with 255 of those patients in intensive care units and 112 on ventilators, officials said.