Joel Quenneville is out as coach of the Panthers. | Christian Petersen/Getty Images

There’s plenty of disgrace to go around, but Quenneville will carry an extra-large share. He had the stature to stand up to John McDonough or anyone else and raise his voice so there was no mistaking it.

Joel Quenneville is 31 victories shy of going where only one NHL coach has gone before. Ironically, that coach was Scotty Bowman, whose son, Stan, stepped down as Blackhawks general manager Tuesday amid a sexual-assault scandal that has rocked the organization and outraged the public. The elder Bowman worked for the Hawks, too, when former video coach Brad Aldrich allegedly assaulted then-prospect Kyle Beach in 2010 and the Hawks, according to an independent investigation conducted by Chicago law firm Jenner & Block, failed to take appropriate action in what amounted to a cover-up.

Never has the titanic No. 1,000 looked so small and inconsequential as it does as Quenneville closes in on it. Here’s hoping he never gets there. Here’s hoping the coach known as “Q” remains stuck on 969 — with an asterisk for a grave, inexcusable failure — forever.

The three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Hawks has the resume of a living legend but, after a damning investigation, a Q rating that has never been lower. This won’t soon change after it was revealed that he met privately with then-president John McDonough, Stan Bowman, assistant GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and other team executives after the Western Conference finals in 2010 and prioritized focusing on a title chase above protecting a 20-year-old player — and potentially others — by cutting off Aldrich from the team while dutifully confronting the allegations against him.

The rumors and reports that began to swirl Thursday were later confirmed: Quenneville resigned as coach of the Panthers.

Fans here once loved Quenneville — revered him — for his stoic, no-nonsense, unflappable ways. No matter what swirled around him and a star-studded team that blew up into a dynasty, Quenneville was all about the next game, the next practice, the next shift. Throw in a famous mustache, and he was a distinctly impressive figure who always seemed to give the Hawks an edge. But if all that led to his success, it also seems to have led to his defining failure.

That failure continued Wednesday, when Quenneville inexplicably was allowed to coach his unbeaten Panthers and collect “W” No. 969. A day later, he was in New York meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Cheveldayoff, now GM of the Jets, was to meet with Bettman on Friday.

Public reaction to Quenneville coaching Wednesday was swift and severe: What were the Panthers and the NHL thinking? But an equally relevant question: Why didn’t Quenneville himself think better of it?

Call it a simple Q&A, and the answer is that’s just who he is. And who, it turns out, he isn’t.

Meanwhile, the tide of public opinion seems to have turned entirely against an organization that watched Beach come and — deeply damaged, if not broken — go. Franchise icons Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are among those who are being shredded on social media. That itself is an interesting thing to think about and a complicated thing to talk about honestly.

It’s clear that Toews and Kane — the only players still active from that 2010 Cup run — didn’t actively stand for an assaulted teammate or against a predator in the building. But it’s unclear how much they knew and when they knew it. It’s also true that Toews was 22 and Kane 21 at the time of Beach’s alleged assault, and it’s just not intellectually honest to suggest that’s irrelevant.

“I thought what I’d heard,” Toews said Wednesday, “was the beginning and the end of it. … I thought Brad being let go or resigning from the organization was the way that it was dealt with.”

A 33-year-old player, as Toews is now, might have more maturity, wisdom and perspective to bring to bear. Quenneville, on the other hand, was 51 — a 500-game winner who’d taken 11 teams in three NHL cities to the playoffs — when he decided, the investigation found, to keep his Cup-focused blinders on. For a man with teenagers at home at the time, there seemingly was no instinct to protect players young enough to be his own sons.

Worse still, Quenneville appears to have lied about what he knew and when he knew it. He told the AP in July of this year — after Beach filed a lawsuit against the Hawks — that he’d “first learned of these allegations through the media earlier this summer.”

The investigation concluded Quenneville was well informed in 2010. Beach told Canadian network TSN this week there was “absolutely no way [Quenneville could] deny knowing it.”

There’s plenty of disgrace to go around, but Quenneville will carry an extra-large share. He was the coach. He had the stature to stand up to McDonough or anyone else and raise his voice so there was no mistaking it.

“If I see Aldrich within 50 rinks of one of my players ever again, every one of you will regret it,” is the sort of thing Quenneville might find himself wishing he had said.

But he didn’t, so here’s a piece of advice — call it a Q tip — for a coach who utterly blew it:

Just go away.

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It’s been a difficult week for the Bears. | Kyusung Gong/AP

It’s just one thing after another for the Bears.

Patrick Finley and Mark Potash detail the Bears’ week from hell and pick different winners for Sunday’s game against the 49ers.

New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Luminary, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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State Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, stands on the floor of the Illinois Senate in May. | Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register via AP file

While a measure to license certified midwives passed the House easily, another that would block state residents from using their moral beliefs as a reason to refuse to comply with COVID-19 requirements in their workplace was sent to the governor’s desk only after two days of heated debate.

State legislators late Thursday passed a measure blocking the use of moral objections as a reason to refuse to comply with COVID-19 requirements in the workplace — over Republican objections that the state was embarking on a dangerous path, and “we don’t know where it ends.”

The state Senate voted 31 to 24, with four senators not voting, to send legislation amending the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.

State Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said the nearly quarter century old law as written is “broadly drafted” and is being “construed” in a way that’s not in line with its original intent.

Democrats contend the 1998 act was originally designed to protect doctors, nurses and other health care providers who refused to perform medical procedures — such as abortions — that they’re opposed to on a moral or religious basis.

But Democratic state legislators and members of the Pritzker administration argue the act has been misused by some to refuse to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other efforts to curb the pandemic.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 members and their supporters protest against COVID-19 mandates outside City Hall Monday morning.

The amendment that has now passed both chambers is intended to make clear that public officials and private companies can impose COVID-19 requirements as part of conditions of employment, potentially shielding those employers from legal challenges they might face after imposing those obligations.

While the language of the amendment no longer clearly says employees can be terminated for complying with vaccine mandates or other requirements, it does allow for the conditions to be enforced. The language of the bill does not elaborate on how the measure might be implemented.

Republicans in the chamber worried that the measure would infringe on state residents’ rights to refuse to comply on religious grounds. People can still request exemptions from vaccinations for medical or religious reasons under the legislation.

State Sen. John Curran, R-Downers Grove, warned against passing the measure, saying “we go down this path — we don’t know where it ends.”

“Today we’re diminishing the protections in the workplace for a minor medical procedure — this is my objection, it’s not about vaccinations,” Curran said. “I’m vaccinated, that’s not the issue here. [The issue] is diminishment of protections in the workplace for workers.

“Today, this is the issue in the future, it could be a diminishment of protections that allows one to take a prayer break in the workplace, allows one to wear religious garment, religious headdress in the workplace.”

Shortly after the state Senate gave its sign off, Pritzker lauded the amendment’s passage, saying the state has “effective tools to fight this pandemic — namely, vaccines, masks and testing — and all of our communities are safer when we use the public health and workplace safety protocols we know to work.”

“The Health Care Right of Conscience Act was never meant to put vulnerable people in harm’s way,” the governor said. “This legislation clarifies existing law’s intent without infringing on federal protections.

“Ultimately, this means we can keep kids in school, businesses open, neighbors safe, and continue on the path to bring this pandemic to an end.”

Earlier Thursday, members of the House voted overwhelmingly to send legislation creating a licensing process for midwives and an Illinois midwifery board to Pritzker’s desk on their final scheduled day of fall veto session.

That measure passed much more easily.

In the House, legislators voted 114 to 1, with three not voting, to allow for certified midwives to go through the licensing process. The bill creates standards for that qualification and sets education and training criteria for those seeking to be licensed as a certified professionals in the field.

The state doesn’t currently recognize certified professional midwives. Under state law, midwifery now requires a nursing degree. Registered nurses who’ve undergone advanced studies or completed certain clinical practice requirements can be recognized by the state as nurse-midwives.

Certified nurse-midwives provide women with primary health care, including gynecological exams, delivering babies and prenatal and postnatal care, according to the Illinois Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

A sponsor of the licensing measure, state Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, said she and others had worked for over 20 years on the measure, and passing the bill would allow women more choice in their health care decisions.

Blue Room Stream file
State Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, speaks on the House floor Wednesday night.

Legislators in the Senate also advanced a measure supported by Pritzker to encourage electric vehicle manufacturers, businesses and supply chain companies to “invest, locate and stay in the state of Illinois,” state Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, said while introducing the legislation.

Senators voted 55 to 0 to send the measure to the House, where the measure was up for debate late Thursday.

A measure to allow people in prisons the right to vote while they’re serving their sentences fell just three votes short of the 60 votes needed to pass Thursday.

That legislation, sponsored by state Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago, would allow a person convicted of a felony or otherwise serving a sentence in a state correctional facility to have their right to vote restored and “shall be eligible to vote not later than 14 days following his or her conviction or not later than five days before the first election following the person’s confinement.”

The West Side Democrat postponed consideration on the measure, a parliamentary move that will allow the legislation to be voted on again at a later date.

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A certified nurse-midwife examines a patient at a Chicago hospital in 1993. | Chicago Sun Times archives

While a measure to license certified midwives passed the House easily, another that would block state residents from using their moral beliefs as a reason to refuse to comply with COVID-19 requirements in their workplace appeared stalled in the state Senate.

Members of the House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to send legislation creating a licensing process for midwives and an Illinois midwifery board to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk on their final scheduled day of fall veto session.

While that measure passed easily, another that would block state residents from using their moral beliefs as a reason to refuse to comply with COVID-19 requirements in their workplace appeared stalled in the state Senate.

In the House, legislators voted 114 to 1, with three not voting, to allow for certified midwives to go through the licensing process. The bill creates standards for that qualification and sets education and training criteria for those seeking to be licensed as a certified professionals in the field.

The state doesn’t currently recognize certified professional midwives. Under state law, midwifery now requires a nursing degree. Registered nurses who’ve undergone advanced studies or completed certain clinical practice requirements can be recognized by the state as nurse-midwives.

Certified nurse-midwives provide women with primary health care, including gynecological exams, delivering babies and prenatal and postnatal care, according to the Illinois Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

A sponsor of the licensing measure, state Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, said she and others had worked for over 20 years on the measure, and passing the bill would allow women more choice in their health care decisions.

Blue Room Stream file
State Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, speaks on the House floor Wednesday night.

But another health care measure’s legislative passage was a bit less smooth on Thursday.

A Senate committee voted to advance an amendment to the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act, but, by the evening a vote on the matter seemed uncertain.

Democrats contend the 1998 act was originally designed to protect doctors, nurses and other health care providers who refused to perform medical procedures — such as abortions — that they’re opposed to on a moral or religious basis.

But House Democrats and members of the Pritzker administration argue the act has been misused by some to refuse to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other efforts to curb the pandemic.

The amendment that passed the House is intended to make clear that public officials and private companies can impose COVID-19 requirements as part of conditions of employment and shields those employers from legal challenges they might face after imposing those obligations.

While the language of the amendment no longer clearly says employees can be terminated for complying with vaccine mandates or other requirements, it does allow for the conditions to be enforced. The language of the bill does not elaborate on how the measure might be implemented.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 members and their supporters protest against COVID-19 mandates outside City Hall Monday morning.

The full Senate could still vote on the measure, but senators were busy debating the revised congressional district maps late Thursday.

Legislators in the Senate also advanced a measure supported by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to encourage elective vehicle manufacturers, businesses and supply chain companies to “invest, locate and stay in the state of Illinois,” state Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, said while introducing the legislation.

Senators voted 55 to 0 to send the measure back to the House.

A measure to allow people in prisons the right to vote while they’re serving their sentences fell just three votes short of the 60 votes needed to pass Thursday.

That legislation, sponsored by state Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago, would allow a person convicted of a felony or otherwise serving a sentence in a state correctional facility to have their right to vote restored and “shall be eligible to vote not later than 14 days following his or her conviction or not later than five days before the first election following the person’s confinement.”

The West Side Democrat postponed the vote on the measure, a parliamentary move that will allow the legislation to be voted on again at a later date.

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The University of Illinois and Northwestern football teams square off at a November 2019 game in Champaign. Bettors would be able to wager on Illinois college athletics legally for the first time under a bill that advanced Thursday. | AP Photos

Residents could bet on in-state college teams — but only at casinos — under a bill that passed Thursday, over the staunch opposition of some university athletics officials.

The Illini, Ramblers and other Illinois college sports teams soon could be on the board for bettors at casinos statewide under a measure passed Thursday by lawmakers in Springfield.

The bill heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk would eliminate a ban on wagers on in-state college teams, a prohibition that has irked scores of fans since Illinois’ nascent legal sports betting industry launched a year and a half ago — and that has left millions in potential revenue off the table, sponsoring legislators say.

Under the bill, which passed the state Senate 44-12 and the House 100-11, wagers on local college teams would have to be placed in person at a casino, limited to bets on the outcomes of games, not individual performances. The in-state ban would be reinstated in two years unless lawmakers pass another bill allowing it.

The ban was a key concession in negotiations for the 2019 gambling expansion that introduced legal sports betting to the state, as a means of appeasing officials at some universities who have vehemently opposed college wagering of any sort.

Those detractors have been led by University of Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman, who told lawmakers before they advanced an earlier version of the bill during the spring legislative session that it would put athletes under intense pressure — potentially from their own classmates in the same dorm.

“By allowing people in our state to bet on our own student-athletes, we’re only opening the door and inviting people to have those intense, threatening, abusive interactions” that already take place on social media, Whitman said.

Sponsoring state Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, has said the new provisions meet some of Whitman’s concerns halfway, while allowing the state to capitalize on betting dollars that are crossing the borders to Indiana and Iowa — or worse, to the black market. Illinois bettors have already wagered more than $947 million on non-Illinois college contests since the legitimate industry launched in March 2020.

AP Photos
State Rep. Michael Zalewski, D-Riverside (left), pictured in Springfield during the spring legislative session.

While the legislation will allow fans of DePaul and Northern Illinois to get in on the action, it won’t provide the betting boon it would if it allowed wagers outside brick-and-mortar casinos. The vast majority of legal bets in Illinois are placed online, accounting for upwards of 97% of the statewide handle, or the amount of money wagered.

“We’ve got one of the best sports betting markets in the country, and this is going to make it even more mature,” Zalewski said after the bill passed. “We were not preventing it from happening. We may as well take advantage of the market. I think we’ve been judicious.”

The bill heading to Pritzker’s desk includes several other key gaming provisions:

Wintrust Arena would be allowed to open a sportsbook. While the 2019 gambling expansion allowed sports venues with capacities of 17,000 or more to open books, the South Loop home of the WNBA champion Chicago Sky only holds about 10,000.
Illinois residents would be able to sign up for sports betting accounts from their phones or computers beginning March 5, instead of doing so in person at a casino as required under the 2019 law. That so-called “penalty box” requirement, which was created to give casinos a head start on the industry over large online sports betting companies, originally had not been scheduled to expire until late 2022.
Local governments would not be able to impose additional taxes on video gaming terminals. A dozen or so towns already have passed such “push taxes,” typically levying one cent for every play on a slot machine on top of their 5% take on revenue. Those municipalities would be allowed to keep collecting, but other towns wouldn’t be able to create such taxes after Nov 1. Some local leaders have called the push tax ban a favor to the slot machine industry, but sponsors say it prevents a patchwork of local ordinances that would drive down business.

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A 16-year-old boy was wounded in a drive-by Oct. 28, 2021, in Grand Crossing. | Sun-Times file photo

About 8:40 p.m., he was sitting on the porch of a residence in the 1400 block of East 71st Street, when someone inside a passing black sedan fired shots.

A 16-year-old boy was shot Thursday in Grand Crossing on the South Side.

About 8:40 p.m., he was sitting on the porch of a residence in the 1400 block of East 71st Street, when someone inside a passing black sedan fired shots, Chicago police said.

He was struck twice in the arm and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, in fair condition, police said.

Area One detectives are investigating.

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On a turn-back-the-clock night in which Joakim Noah was honored, the Bulls and Knicks turned the clock back to the 1990s in a gritty, physical game with two teams that feel like they’ve arrived.

There were players heading to the locker room with injuries, a few flagrant fouls, tempers flaring, and some good old fashioned in-your-face playground defense.

The NBA has needed a Bulls-Knicks rivalry rekindled after decades of being dormant, and they might just have it.

As Thursday’s 104-103 Knicks win at the United Center showed, both teams are not only up-and-coming, but arrived. The good news was there’s still three more regular-season meetings with Round 1 in the books.

No one knew that more than Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached the Bulls for five successful seasons, but was also an assistant with the Knicks when Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing were doing their tango in the 1990s.

“They’re both two great basketball cities,” Thibodeau said. “So there’s great appreciation for the subtleties of the game – hustle plays, the extra pass, the effort plays, the togetherness, the teamwork, the discipline.

“I just remember how fierce the games were. Back then, there were a number of great rivalries, the Chicago-New York one, the Miami-New York one, New York-Indiana. It was a great time in the NBA. Every night was a big night. Hopefully we can get back to that.”

No doubt that steps were taken in this first meeting.

The loss was the first one for the Bulls (4-1) this season, and also came on the same evening that the franchise was honoring Joakim Noah for his nine years in the uniform.

However, it was also a grit check.

Down 13 with 2:13 left in the game, the Bulls came storming back thanks to defensive stops, as well as a clutch three-pointer by Nikola Vucevic with 40.7 seconds left that cut the lead to three. After a Kemba Walker miss, Zach LaVine took the easy dunk rather than trying to launch a three, cutting the deficit to just one with 9.5 seconds left.

Julius Randle was fouled, but gave the Bulls life when he shockingly missed both. After the timeout to set up the final shot, LaVine inbounded it, DeRozan had the option to hand it back to LaVine on the handoff, but chose to drive just outside the elbow, attempt the pump fake, and took the shot.

He missed. Everything.

“Just tried to have a little misdirection,” DeRozan said. “Kind of rushed it at the end. I’ll live with it. It sucks.”

And just like that the Knicks (4-1) pulled out the win, while Thibodeau improved to 8-2 against the Bulls since they fired him.

“I think DeMar got to a good area of the floor,” coach Billy Donovan said of that final shot. “The play was to drive the ball. It was supposed to be either DeMar or Zach. I had no problem with what they did on the play.”

The news didn’t get better for the Bulls, either.

Starting power forward Patrick Williams went down hard in the third quarter and left the game with an injured left wrist, while LaVine was playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb. It didn’t seem to hinder the All-Star guard in the first half, as he led all scorers with 17 points, but he was definitely off in the second half, adding just eight points.

Whether that was the thumb or Thibodeau’s defense, it didn’t matter much. The thumb is going to be a slow heal and LaVine will just have to deal with it if he wants to continue playing.

“There’s certain things he struggles with that are uncomfortable for him,” Donovan said of LaVine. “He’s a pretty competitive, tough guy. He wants to play. It’s just how much pain he can tolerate and what he can do and can’t do.”

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Joel Quenneville resigned as the Panthers’ coach Thursday. | AP Photos

“My former team, the Blackhawks, failed Kyle [Beach], and I own my share of that,” Quenneville said in a statement.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Joel Quenneville’s tenure as Panthers coach ended Thursday, three days after an investigation found the former Blackhawks coach was culpable in the team’s 2010 sexual assault scandal.

Quenneville met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in New York on Thursday. Hours later, he finally resigned from his post with “deep regret and contrition,” he said in a statement.

In a now-infamous May 2010 meeting of Hawks leadership, Quenneville joined then-president John McDonough in lobbying against taking immediate action regarding former Hawks video coach Brad Aldrich for alleged assault of former Hawks player Kyle Beach, ex-Hawks GM Stan Bowman told Jenner & Block investigators.

“I want to express my sorrow for the pain this young man, Kyle Beach, has suffered,” Quenneville said in his Thursday statement. “My former team, the Blackhawks, failed Kyle, and I own my share of that.

“I want to reflect on how all of this happened and take the time to educate myself on ensuring hockey spaces are safe for everyone.”

On Wednesday, Beach had added to the pressure against Quenneville, saying he witnessed meetings about the assault in Quenneville’s office and that there’s “absolutely no way that he can deny knowing it.”

Just a few days ago, Quenneville’s resignation would’ve been inconceivable. The second-winningest coach in NHL history had the up-and-coming Panthers off to a perfect 7-0-0 start this season. Now, all of that is finished and tarnished.

Andrew Brunette, a longtime NHL forward who retired in 2012 after spending his final season with the Hawks, will take over as Panthers interim coach, TSN reported.

Meanwhile, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff — a former Hawks assistant GM who was found to have also been in that 2010 cover-up meeting — moved up his scheduled meeting with Bettman to Friday, TSN reported.

Beach: Hawks trying to ‘destroy’ lawsuit

In a new statement Thursday, Beach thanked the hockey community for its “outpouring of endless love and support” this week.

But Beach also said his “battle is really just beginning,” alleging the Hawks “continue to attempt to destroy my case in court.”

The Hawks did file a support to their motion to dismiss Beach’s lawsuit Tuesday. But they said Wednesday that was done only to meet an unfortunately timed, court-mandated deadline and that they do intend to settle the case, with initial talks scheduled with Beach’s lawyer next week.

The legal proceedings have been lengthy and convoluted all summer, so it may take weeks to determine each side’s true intentions moving forward.

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The University of Illinois and Northwestern football teams square off at a November 2019 game in Champaign. Bettors would be able to wager on Illinois college athletics legally for the first time under a bill that advanced Thursday. | AP Photos

Residents could bet on in-state college teams — but only at casinos — under a bill that passed Thursday, over the staunch opposition of some university athletics officials.

The Illini, Ramblers and other Illinois college sports teams soon could be on the board for bettors at casinos statewide under a measure passed Thursday by lawmakers in Springfield.

The bill heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk would eliminate a ban on wagers on in-state college teams, a prohibition that has irked scores of fans since Illinois’ nascent legal sports betting industry launched a year and a half ago — and that has left millions in potential revenue off the table, sponsoring legislators say.

Under the bill, which passed the state Senate 44-12 and the House 100-11, wagers on local college teams would have to be placed in person at a casino, limited to bets on the outcomes of games, not individual performances. The in-state ban would be reinstated in two years unless lawmakers pass another bill allowing it.

The ban was a key concession in negotiations for the 2019 gambling expansion that introduced legal sports betting to the state, as a means of appeasing officials at some universities who have vehemently opposed college wagering of any sort.

Those detractors have been led by University of Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman, who told lawmakers before they advanced an earlier version of the bill during the spring legislative session that it would put athletes under intense pressure — potentially from their own classmates in the same dorm.

“By allowing people in our state to bet on our own student-athletes, we’re only opening the door and inviting people to have those intense, threatening, abusive interactions” that already take place on social media, Whitman said.

Sponsoring state Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, has said the new provisions meet Whitman’s concerns halfway, while allowing the state to capitalize on betting dollars that are crossing the borders to Indiana and Iowa — or worse, to the black market. Illinois bettors have already wagered more than $947 million on non-Illinois college contests since the legitimate industry launched in March 2020.

State Rep. Robert Rita, D-Blue Island, discusses the gaming legislation on the House floor Thursday night.

While the legislation will allow fans of DePaul and Northern Illinois to get in on the action, it won’t provide the betting boon it would if it allowed wagers outside brick-and-mortar casinos. The vast majority of legal bets in Illinois are placed online, accounting for upwards of 97% of the statewide handle, or the amount of money wagered.

“If student-athletes are being harassed, we’ll revisit it. If we’re not making enough revenue, we can revisit it,” Zalewski said after his original bill advanced in June.

The amended bill that passed Thursday included several other key gaming provisions:

Wintrust Arena would be allowed to open a sportsbook. While the 2019 gambling expansion allowed sports venues with capacities of 17,000 or more to open books, the South Loop home of the WNBA champion Chicago Sky only holds about 10,000.
Illinois residents would be able to sign up for sports betting accounts from their phones or computers beginning March 5, instead of doing so in person at a casino as required under the 2019 law. That so-called “penalty box” requirement, which was created to give casinos a head start on the industry over large online sports betting companies, originally had not been scheduled to expire until late 2022.
Local governments would not be able to impose additional taxes on video gaming terminals. A dozen or so towns already have passed such “push taxes,” typically levying one cent for every play on a slot machine on top of their 5% take on revenue. Those municipalities would be allowed to keep collecting, but other towns wouldn’t be able to create such taxes after Nov 1. Some local leaders have called the push tax ban a favor to the slot machine industry, but sponsors say it prevents a patchwork of local ordinances that would drive down business.

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Kyle Rittenhouse appears for a motion hearing earlier this month in Kenosha, Wis. | AP file

A politically divided nation will be watching as the teen goes on trial for killing two men during protests that erupted in Kenosha in 2020. There must be no question about justice in this case.

Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz were all shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in the summer of 2020.

But prosecutors can’t refer to the dead — Rosenbaum, 36, and Huber, 26 — or the injured — Grosskreutz, 27 — as “victims” during Rittenhouse’s upcoming trial, Kenosha County Judge Bruce E. Schroeder ruled this week.

But Schroeder, in laying out his ground rules, conversely said defense attorneys can describe Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz as “rioters, arsonists, and looters” if they have evidence to prove that the three men were engaged in these activities during the Kenosha protests that followed after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot by a white police officer.

But “victim” is too “loaded” of a word, in Schroeder’s view.

From our perspective, the term “victim” is no more “loaded,” no more inflammatory and derogatory, than the words Schroeder ruled may be used against the men who were shot.

In a high-profile trial like Rittenhouse’s, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Nov. 1, there is no margin for error, no room for “loaded” or biased terms on either side.

The Rittenhouse case raises so many questions — especially regarding vigilante justice and the dangers of civilians carrying guns, particularly military-style weapons, to scenes of public protests and disturbances — that Schroeder must be scrupulously fair.

A politically divided nation is watching. If the public is to have confidence in the jury’s verdict, there can be no judicial missteps.

A claim of self-defense

From a legal perspective, Schroeder’s ruling is not unusual.

It makes sense that Rittenhouse’s lawyers did not want the word “victim” used before a jury, because they are expected to argue that the 18-year-old was defending himself when he fired a semiautomatic rifle on the night of Aug. 25, 2020.

The hesitancy to use the word “stems from a concern that the term ‘victim’ conclusively states a crime has occurred and therefore, that its use is prejudicial and violates a defendant’s constitutional due process right to a fair trial,” according to 2009 article in a publication by the National Crime Victim Law Institute.

However, the descriptors Schroeder may allow are equally prejudicial, veteran Chicago defense attorney Richard Kling said.

There really wouldn’t be notoriety surrounding Schroeder’s decision to bar the word “victim” if he didn’t juxtapose it with his approval of the controversial words that could be used to portray Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz, attorney Kulmeet S. “Bob” Galhotra says.

“It’s jaw-dropping. It’s truly bizarre,” says Galhotra, who says he never asked a judge to keep prosecutors from using the word “victim” during his nearly three decades with the Cook County public defender’s office.

Since Rittenhouse’s arrest, he’s become a hero among those on the right who see nothing wrong with vigilante justice. He’s been called a patriot, and bailed out of jail with the help of high-profile conservatives, such as actor Ricky Schroder and Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow.

As a veteran judge, we hope Schroeder will make it clear to both prosecutors and defense attorneys: Avoid all pejorative, loaded terms.

Stick to the facts and the law.

Send letters to [email protected].

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