The Washington Football Team is parting ways with Alex Smith, and already the ChicagoBears have been linked to the veteran quarterback. There has been nothing concrete yet, but the Bears have definitely been tossed around by some national media members in regards to a team that makes sense for Smith. Last season, Smith completed […]
The ChicagoBulls battled back Monday night, but ultimately fell to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. After the first quarter, Chicago was down by 12 and the momentum seemed to be carrying the Nuggets to a dominating victory. However, Chicago won the next two quarters and actually took a 6-point lead a few minutes […]
While listening to Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers, the most recent release by operatic baritone Will Liverman with pianist and recital partner Paul Sánchez, I realized with a start that time had ground to a halt. But when?…Read More
Vivian (Hadley Robinson, right) finds inspiration in her mom Lisa (Amy Poehler) in “Moxie.” | Netflix
In addition to directing the winning cast, Amy Poehler plays the ‘cool mom’ who really is cool.
When Amy Poehler played the “cool mom” who was actually uncool and irresponsible in “Mean Girls,” she was all of seven years older than Rachel McAdams, who played her daughter. Now here we are 17 years later and Poehler is playing a teenager’s mom who really IS cool in “Moxie,” a smart and sweet and inspirational comedy/drama directed by Poehler and featuring a winning ensemble cast of relative newcomers and reliable veterans.
Premiering Wednesday on Netflix, “Moxie” starts off with a “Booksmart” vibe. It’s the junior year at an Oregon high school for Vivian Carter (Hadley Robinson) and her BFF Claudia (Lauren Tsai), bright and funny but shy girls who have spent their first two years of high school as the equivalent of background extras for the jocks and the skateboarders and the cheerleaders and the drama club and the Instagram obsessives. (Robinson and Tsai click so well together we instantly believe Vivian and Claudia have a lifelong friendship.) Vivian in particular sticks to her comfort zone: sitting in the back of the class, keeping her head down and trying to avoid confrontations with the likes of Mitchell (Patrick Schwarzenegger), the handsome and popular and boorish quarterback of the football team, who is basically the poster boy for toxic teen masculinity.
As Vivian and Claudia arrive for the first day of junior year, they gossip about some of the more popular kids, and who might be mentioned on the annual, anonymous online rankings list, which is rife with sexist and superficial labels. Vivian: “It’s so nice not to be on anyone’s radar.” Claudia: “Totally.”
Things are about to change, and it all starts in the English class taught by the amiable Mr. Davies (Ike Barinholtz). A transfer student named Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Pena in a terrific performance) questions the relevance of the assigned summer reading, “The Great Gatsby” — prompting the aforementioned cocky jock Mitchell to mansplain and condescend to Lucy, who makes it quite clear she’s not going to take any of Mitchell’s s—-, not now and not ever.
Vivian is inspired. She asks her mom Lisa (Poehler) about mom’s teen rebel days back in the 1990s, which leads to Vivian finding her mother’s old photo albums and notes and clothes — and hearing Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” and feeling an immediate connection. Stirred to action, Vivian creates a girl power zine called “Moxie” (a reference to the principal applauding the cheerleaders for having “moxie”) and leaves copies in the girl’s bathroom — and boom, a movement is ignited.
Augmented by an online component, “Moxie” shines a spotlight on deep-rooted sexism permeating the school. The football team is terrible but they receive the vast majority of funding, while the powerhouse girls’ soccer team can’t even get new uniforms. Nobody says a word about the hulking and leering jock who wears T-shirts with cutoff sleeves to class and often takes his shirt off, but when a female student wears a tank top, she’s sent home for the day. And then there’s that poisonous rankings list, with labels such as “Best Rack,” “Most Bangable,” “Designated Drunk” and “Future MILF.” Lucy and Vivian become an increasingly disruptive and effective voice for change, much to the consternation of the old-school principal (Marcia Gay Harden) and the juvenile, nauseatingly sexist jerks such as Mitchell.
Adapting the Young Adult novel by Jennifer Mathieu, director Poehler and writers Tamara Chestna and Dylan Meyer deftly deliver the socially relevant platform in “Moxie” against the backdrop of familiar High School Movie scenes, including the obligatory crazy blow-out party; a trying-on-outfits montage; a sweet and awkward romance, and sudden friction between best friends who vowed they’d never let anything get between them. The dialogue is crisp and funny and smart, and feels authentic throughout.
NetflixLongtime friends Claudia (Lauren Tsai, left) and Vivian (Hadley Robinson) prefer to be off the high-school radar.
“Moxie” also finds time for a tender romance between Vivian and Nico Hiraga’s Seth, a skateboard geek long known as “Seth the Shrimp” who has sprouted over the summer and has become something of a hunk, and a sincere and respectful hunk at that. When Seth blows a possible goodnight kiss with Vivian by overthinking it and she walks away, he runs after and blurts, “I like you a lot, I do. I got all in my head about it, I started worrying in my head like maybe I shouldn’t come on too strong, you’re like this super powerful feminist, you’re not just a cute girl …” and the poor kid is just beside himself with good intentions and hesitation, and Vivian’s response is … perfect.
“Moxie” hits a couple of minor plot road bumps along the way, and there’s a late, admittedly impactful development that would have carried an even more powerful punch had it not been telegraphed throughout the story. Still, this is a film that pulls off the difficult balancing act of carrying an important and uplifting message while delivering consistent laughs and introducing us to some wonderfully badass teens.
Four people were hurt and one person who was burned, in an apartment complex fire in Uptown on the North Side.
About 4:30 a.m., Chicago fire crews responded to a high-rise apartment complex in the 4500 block of North Sheridan Road, for calls of carbon monoxide readings of 200 ppm, according to the Chicago Fire Department. Four people were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Crews found a faulty furnace and were able to return carbon monoxide levels back to normal a short time later, fire officials said. Residents were able to return to the building.
About 30 minutes later, a small fire was found in one of the units, fire officials said. The blaze was put out shortly after it was discovered.
One person was taken to the hospital with a minor burn, fire officials said.
The Chicago Bears are in need of a star quarterback like Russell Wilson, and a hometown celebrity might be the ticket to land him.
For a few weeks now, a major story in the NFL has flown around whether or not the Seattle Seahawks would actually consider trading Wilson. At first, it was cute. It was just another offseason rumor, seemingly in the middle of peak NFL rumor season.
But, as time has gone on, reports from outlets such as The Athletic have documented an actual rift between Wilson and the Seahawks. The specific reasoning behind Wilson being unhappy is due to the Seahawks not taking his opinion and insight into consideration when it comes to running the organization — similar to Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans.
Before that information came out courtesy of The Athletic, the biggest bit came when Wilson said he was sick of getting hit so much. After all, he has taken the second-most hits by a quarterback in the last decade. It’s a fair assessment.
So, let’s catch up to speed a little bit here. Wilson’s agent came out and said a few days ago that, if he were to be traded, he’d like to be traded to one of four teams: the Raiders, Saints, Cowboys or … the Bears.
Say what? A future Hall of Fame quarterback wants to play for the Bears? It’s time to call out the big guns for some help.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) March 2, 2021
Chicago native, rapper and activist Chance the Rapper has officially joined the cause. It looks as though he is going to make a phone call or two in order to try and lure Wilson to the Bears.
But, as many calls as he makes, he’ll have to pray the Seahawks are convinced to actually pull the trigger on a trade in the first place.
Wilson is 32 years old, but has never missed a single game in his NFL career. It’s been nearly a decade, but the former Wisconsin Badger is still going strong — 16 games at a time. He’s as tough as they come, so the age factor shouldn’t have much to do with anyone being scared to give up a king’s ransom for the Pro Bowl quarterback.
Chicago shouldn’t be hesitant to make the offer of the century for Wilson. If he continues down this pattern of health, there is no reason he can’t play another six seasons or so. If you’re telling me the Bears can’t win a Super Bowl with Khalil Mack and Wilson, at least once in six years, I’d call you out of your mind.
A 19-year-old man was shot and an 11-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet in a shooting March 1, 2021, in the 100 block of West 127th Street. | Adobe Stock Photo
The 11-year-old girl does not appear to be the intended target, police said.
A 19-year-old man was shot and an 11-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet Monday night in a shooting at a gas station in West Pullman on the Far South Side.
About 10:50 p.m., the 19-year-old was leaving the store of a gas station in the 100 block of West 127th Street, when someone fired shots at him striking him in the groin area, Chicago police said. The man returned fire, but no one was struck.
An 11-year-old girl who was sitting in the backseat of a vehicle parked at a gas pump was also struck in the face, police said.
The man was brought to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious-to-critical condition, according to Chicago fire officials. The girl was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition.
A weapon was found in the 12600 block of South Wentworth Avenue, police said.
The 11-year-old girl does not appear to have been the intended target.
Four people were shot March 1, 2021, in Chicago. | Sun-Times file photo
A 19-year-old man was shot and an 11-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet in a shooting in the 100 block of West 127th Street.
Four people were shot Monday in Chicago including a 19-year-old man was shot and an 11-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet at a gas station in West Pullman on the Far South Side.
About 10:50 p.m., the 19-year-old was leaving the store of a gas station in the 100 block of West 127th Street, when someone fired shots at him striking him in the groin area, Chicago police said. The man returned fire, but no one was struck. An 11-year-old girl who was sitting in the backseat of a vehicle parked at a gas pump was also struck in the face. The man was brought to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious-to-critical condition, according to Chicago fire officials. The girl was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition. A weapon was found in the 12600 block of South Wentworth Avenue. The 11-year-old girl does not appear to have been the intended target.
A 19-year-old man was shot in Chatham on the South Side. About 4:10 p.m., he was in his vehicle in the 300 block of East 86th Street when a light-colored vehicle pulled up and someone inside began firing shots, police said. He suffered a gunshot wound to the mouth and was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center for treatment.
A man was shot in Clearing on the Southwest Side. The 22-year-old was standing outside next to a vehicle about 2:45 p.m. in the 5700 block of West 64th Place when a dark-colored pickup truck pulled up and someone inside fired shots, police said. The man was struck in the left thigh and transported to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. He was listed in serious to critical condition, fire officials said.
A man was fatally shot Feb. 28, 2021, in Woodlawn. | Sun-Times file photo
He was in a vehicle about 6:45 p.m. Sunday in the 6200 block of South Park Shore East Court when someone fired shots from an SUV, Chicago police said.
A 21-year-old man was killed in a shooting Sunday in Woodlawn on the South Side.
He was in a vehicle about 6:45 p.m. in the 6200 block of South Park Shore East Court when someone fired shots from an SUV, Chicago police said.
The man was struck in the head and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:54 a.m. Monday, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
He was identified as David Prince who lived on the Far South Side, the medical examiner’s office said.
No arrests have been reported. Area One detectives are investigating.
Here’s Monday’s news on how COVID-19 impacted Chicago and Illinois.
Chicago actress and stand-up comedian Erica Watson died in Jamaica on Saturday from COVID-19 complications, according to a family member. A Kenwood Academy High School and Columbia College alumna, Watson wore many hats as an actress, stand-up comedian, public relations representative and activist.
Here’s what else happened in coronavirus-related news.
News
8:55 p.m. Erica Watson, Chicago actress and stand-up comedian, dies from COVID-19 complications
GettyActress Erica Watson attends the “CHI-RAQ” New York premiere at Ziegfeld Theater on December 1, 2015 in New York City.
Chicago actress and stand-up comedian Erica Watson died in Jamaica on Saturday from COVID-19 complications, according to a family member. She was 48.
On Sunday, Watson’s brother, Eric Watson, confirmed his sister’s death via a Facebook post, writing, in part: “We are not taking this easy. Please respect our privacy right now … as we make arrangements to bring my sister home. Keep us in your prayers.”
Watson, a Kenwood Academy High School and Columbia College alumna, wore many hats as an actress, stand-up comedian, public relations representative and activist. Her acting credits and media work include Showtime’s “The Chi,” NBC’s “Chicago Fire,” Spike Lee’s feature film“Chi-Raq,” ABC 7’s “Windy City Live” and WCIU’s “The Jam.”
In 2018, Watson created “Fierce,” a cosmetic collection in a brand partnership with Nena Cosmetics, where she was one of the cover girls for their advertisements.
“When I was a little girl ‘What Are Little Girls Made Of’ was my favorite nursery rhyme, but I wasn’t the normal little girl where it was just sugar and spice and everything nice. There was a little naughty in the mix,” she told the Sun-Times in 2018.
7:34 p.m. Restaurant owners demand city expand indoor dining to 50% capacity
Almost a year after their businesses were shut down at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, restaurants are hoping to expand indoor dining even more to help keep their establishments afloat.
The Chicago Restaurants Coalition, which represents hundreds of Chicago restaurant and bar owners, is asking the city to increase indoor dining capacity to the lesser of 50% capacity or 100 people by Thursday.
Roger Romanelli, the coalition’s coordinator, cited the city’s declining COVID-19 positivity rate, which is currently at 2.9%, the lowest since June. He added that major cities across the Midwest have all reopened indoor dining at 50% capacity or above.
“If St. Louis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Indianapolis are at or above 50%, I think Chicago needs to get with the rest of our Midwest cities and get our restaurants up to 50%,” Romanelli said.
5:30 p.m. Excitement, tears and masks as CPS students head back to school for 1st time during pandemic
Nicole Ramirez thought she’d be able to handle it, but then she saw staff at Walt Disney Magnet School swipe her 7-year-old daughter’s forehead with a thermometer.
And Ramirez started to cry.
“It’s something about everything we’ve gone through this year. Dropping her off has been really emotional for me,” said Ramirez, 40, still teary eyed as she talked Monday morning in Uptown.
Ramirez’s daughter was one of more than 37,000 K-5 Chicago Public Schools students expected to return Monday, with another 18,500 in sixth to eighth grade set to return next week. That’s the largest group to return since the pandemic started, although 145,000 have chosen to continue learning remotely.
2:52 p.m. State reports lowest daily COVID-19 caseload and positivity rate since last summer
Illinois reported an additional 1,143 new COVID-19 cases Monday — the lowest daily count in seven months — as the state continues to see a sustained decline in the positivity rate.
The Illinois Department of Public Health also reported an additional 20 coronavirus-related deaths Monday, including 10 from Cook County.
The state’s seven-day positivity rate stands at 2.4%, the lowest since June. The new cases were found among the 42,234 tests processed by IDPH in the last day.
The daily caseload of new infections is the lowest since July 28, when 1,076 new cases were reported.
As of Monday, IDPH was reporting a total of 1,187,839 coronavirus cases statewide, including 20,536 deaths.
A total of 2,756,831 vaccines had been administered in Illinois, including 319,393 in long-term care facilities. The seven-day rolling daily average for vaccinations stood at 77,876, according to IDPH. On Sunday, 50,897 people received vaccinations.
The state also reported 1,288 people in Illinois were hospitalized with COVID-19; of those, 308 patients were in intensive care and 148 patients were on ventilators.
12:54 p.m. Johnson & Johnson’s one-and-done vaccine arriving in Chicago this week, mayor says
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday she expects Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot coronavirus vaccine to arrive in Chicago in day or two and the city is ready to put the third option to immediate use.
Two days after the Food and Drug Administration cleared the J&J vaccine for emergency use, Lightfoot told reporters she’s chomping at the bit to take advantage of the one-and-done option it provides.
“We anticipate that it will be here, if not today, then tomorrow. I don’t have a firm lock on what the amount of doses is, so I don’t want to get ahead of myself. But we do expect it here this week,” the mayor said at a news conference on the gradual re-opening of Chicago Public Schools.
“We will put it to work as soon as we get it. CDPH has been preparing now for some time, as we saw the Johnson & Johnson vaccine kind of moving through the regulatory approval process. And it gives us obviously another tool to use to get people vaccinated. So we’re excited for that opportunity.”
Johnson & Johnson initially is providing a few million doses of its one-shot vaccine, with shipments to states expected to begin Monday. By the end of March, the pharmaceutical giant has said it expects to deliver 20 million doses, ramping up to 100 million doses by summer.
11:40 a.m. It’s another back-to-school Monday for CPS
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times Children walk to George B. Armstrong International Studies Elementary School as students return to in-person learning at the Rogers Park neighborhood school on the North Side, Monday morning, March 1, 2021.
Nicole Ramirez thought she’d be able to handle it, but then she saw staff at Walt Disney Magnet School swipe her 7-year-old daughter’s forehead with a thermometer.
And Ramirez started to cry.
“It’s something about everything we’ve gone through this year. Dropping her off has been really emotional for me,” said Ramirez, 40, still teary-eyed as she talked Monday morning.
More than 37,000 K-5 students are due to return Monday, with another 18,500 in sixth to eighth grade set to return next week. That’s in addition to the 5,000 pre-kindergarten and special education cluster program students who have been in classrooms already.
Disney Principal Paul Riskus stood outside the North Side school, greeting parents — many of whom were, perhaps not surprisingly, a little confused about which entrance to use at the sprawling concrete-and-steel campus.
“We’re ready. We’ve been getting ready since July,” Riskus said. “There have definitely been challenges, but I’m really excited about today. We feel the building is safe and we’re really just excited about seeing the kids.”
9:39 a.m. Near West Side’s profit lure outlasts the pandemic’s lull
Wander the sidewalks of the Near West Side, and it’s easy to get an eerie sensation. It’s almost like a “Twilight Zone” episode about a place with evidence of human habitation right there, maybe just around the corner, and yet you don’t see anybody.
It’s just the mind playing tricks, after all. Whatever name applies — West Loop, Fulton Market, West Town — the region was Chicago’s busiest place for development and an extension of downtown’s commercial might.
It’s hushed now, as people are still staying out of offices. With capacity limits in place, restaurants are groggily stirring to life, but there is still less reason than before to be out and about, even with the weather easing up.
Look closer, though, at the signs of ongoing investment, and the neighborhood gives off a different vibe. Having recoiled in the pandemic, parts look ready to spring back to business.
State health officials reported an additional 22 people have succumbed to COVID-19, bringing the number of virus-related deaths to 20,516. Eight of Sunday’s 22 fatalities were reported in the Chicago area and included three Cook County men in their 60s.
8:28 a.m. Pandemic makes obvious another great health threat to African Americans: obesity
As COVID-19 descended on us last March, the Fat Nag watched with dread and hope.
Dread, knowing this 21st-century plague would hit Black folks hardest. When it comes to health disparities, we always weigh in on the wrong side of the scale.
And as the Fat Nag always reminds, there is another plague that affects us most — our everlasting battle with obesity.
I harbored hope, however, the pandemic would usher in a new awareness that the fat is killing us.
For years, as the self-proclaimed Fat Nag, I have been reminding, railing and begging Black folks to get the fat out.
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