The Chicago Bears have signed a purchase agreement for the 326-acre site of Arlington International Racecourse, a potential site of a new stadium that would replace Soldier Field. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

The Chicago Bears calling Arlington Heights home might make life easier for a whole lot of people.

Last week Ald. Harry Osterman said he wants the city to try to keep the Bears so he won’t have to drive to Arlington Heights to see them play.

Mr. Osterman, you do know that Metra goes to Arlington Heights, right? Of course you don’t want to drive there to watch the Bears. Who wants to see the Bears? Or drive anywhere? Hop on the train, if you must. It makes life so easy.

The other day I wanted to go to a reception at the Newberry Library. The event was an hour long, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and I paused, considering the “getting there” part. Leave home … what? … 2:30 p.m., to be on the safe side. Crawling down the Edens because everybody has to slow down and watch some idiot change a tire. Squeeze onto the Kennedy. Overland to Bughouse Square.

Three hours of driving, round trip, for an hour’s mingling.

Or … I thought. There’s the Skokie Swift to the Red Line. Lets you off two blocks away, on Chicago Avenue. Also 90 minutes each way. But at least I’d be sitting down, reading.

So that’s what I did. The reception was in the Newberry parking lot, and conversation was as interesting as I had hoped: about the history of handwriting (with the curator of a future exhibit) avant-garde women (with the curator of the current exhibit) and lots about Dante — OK, that was a logorrheic spiel I delivered to the head of adult classes, volunteering myself to give a talk on how the Divine Comedy is funny. I tried to stop, particularly when I noticed her shooting those little “Please somebody save me from this” glances in all directions. But once I get going, it’s hard for me to hit the brakes.

Try to never drive anywhere in Chicago. As for the wisdom of the Bears moving to Arlington Heights, here again, as with Dante, the less I say the better. I try to respect other people’s joys. But have you been to a Bears game? They’re awful. I’ve gone twice. The first was very, very cold — I can see why they’d want a domed stadium in Arlington Heights. Makes perfect sense, and since most folks are watching at home on TV, or not at all, who cares if the game is being played on the lakefront or in the suburbs or the moon? And the second was an early season game, warm and autumnal. It wasn’t bad, because I went with my younger son — he wanted to go, and I tried to pretend I was that kind of father. But I can’t recall even one second of the game.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Fans cheer as the Chicago Bears take on the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field on Sunday, Oct. 3.

From my perspective, the benefits of the Bears moving far outweigh the advantages of staying.

First, it would be another blot on Lori Lightfoot’s first and, please God, only term in office. There’s the post-George Floyd riots being so badly mismanaged. And the COVID disaster, which she didn’t cause, but which still took place on her watch. Add now losing the Bears to freakin’ Arlington Heights. That might just be enough to inspire some significant opponent to hop off the bench and defeat her. Trust me, Lightfoot won’t mind; she’ll be grateful to run back into the big-money embrace of private enterprise. And Chicago might get a mayor who isn’t quite so dreary.

Second, sure, Mr. Osterman and his 2.7 million fellow Chicagoans would lose bragging rights to a truly lousy sports franchise. But those rights will transfer to twice as many suburbanites who ring Chicago and love the city as if it were our own. We will now have a ready retort when we get mocked for not living in Chicago, as we often are. I can say the most obvious thing — the main building of the new Obama Presidential Center looks like the blockhouse of a remote trading post in a Star Wars movie — and readers will sneer, “Pretty cheeky from a guy who lives in Northbrook.”

Once the Bears are underwhelming the world in climate-controlled comfort from Arlington Heights, then across the map, from Evanston to Glencoe to Niles to Beecher, suburbanites can answer in one voice: “If the suburbs are good enough for the Chicago Bears, the team of Bronko Nagurski, Mike Ditka and Walter Payton, then they’re good enough for us!“

Something to look forward to regarding the Bears, which is more than fans can hope for.

Neil Steinberg/Sun-Times
If this cute puppy named Jack can call Arlington Heights home, so can the Chicago Bears.Read More

Joliet Catholic’s Vinny Iannantone (28) runs the ball against Brother Rice. | Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

Joliet Catholic grabs the second spot but things remain stable overall after a calm Week 7.

This was the first calm week in the rankings in awhile. There was very little movement overall, other than Brother Rice taking a bit of a tumble after losing at home to Joliet Catholic and Bolingbrook dropping a bit after losing in overtime to Lockport.

Week 8’s schedule doesn’t provide much in the way of marquee match ups. I’ll likely head to Lockport to see the unbeaten Porters host Lincoln-Way East. It’s time to do some research on the last time Lockport won that game.

Oswego East spent a good chunk of the year ranked. The Wolves have a huge rivalry game against Oswego (a team that could easily be in the 20-25 range) on Friday. That’s the other big game of the week. It’s possible the winner of that squeaks into the Super 25 next week.

Week 8’s Super 25

With record and last week’s ranking

1. Loyola (7-0) 1

Friday at St. Patrick

2. Joliet Catholic (7-0) 3

Friday at Benet

3. Neuqua Valley (7-0) 4

Friday vs. DeKalb

4. Brother Rice (5-2) 2

Friday at Marian Catholic

5. Cary-Grove (7-0) 5

Friday vs. Burlington Central

6. Maine South (6-1) 6

Friday vs. Evanston

7. Warren (6-1) 7

Friday at Libertyville

8. Batavia (7-0) 8

Friday vs. St. Charles East

9. Wheaton North (6-1) 9

Friday vs. Geneva

10. St. Ignatius (7-0) 10

Friday at DePaul Prep

11. Mount Carmel (5-2) 11

Friday at St. Viator

12. Marist (5-2) 12

Friday at Carmel

13. St. Rita (5-2) 13

Friday vs. Providence

14. Hersey (7-0) 14

Friday vs. Prospect

15. Lockport (7-0) 15

Friday vs. No. 17 Lincoln-Way East

16. Naperville Central (4-3) 16

Friday vs. Metea Valley

17. Lincoln-Way East (5-2) 17

Friday at No. 15 Lockport

18. Hinsdale Central (6-1) 20

Friday vs. Proviso West

19. Lemont (7-0) 19

Friday vs. TF South

20. South Elgin (7-0) 21

Friday at Bartlett

21. Bolingbrook (5-2) 18

Friday at Lincoln-Way Central

22. York (6-2) 22

Friday at Willowbrook

23. Glenbard North (5-2) 23

Friday at St. Charles North

24. Fenwick (5-2) 24

Friday at Marian Central

25. Glenbard West (6-1) 25

Friday at Lyons

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Runners compete during the 2021 Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 10, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. | KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Watch along as athletes compete in the 43rd edition of the Chicago Marathon.

After taking a year off due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 Chicago Marathon welcomes thousands of runners back to the downtown streets Sunday for the 26.2-mile course through the city.

Just like two years ago, NBC Chicago is providing live coverage of the race that started at 7 a.m. CT. You can watch on television or online through NBC Chicago’s website, apps and streaming channels on Roku and Apple TV.

Television coverage will conclude at 11 a.m., not long after the first runners are expected to finish, but the live stream will go until 3 p.m.

For Spanish-language viewers, Telemundo Chicago and TeleXitos will also be covering the race for the same times as NBC.

Runners started in seven different groups with start times ranging from 7:20 a.m. to 8:35 a.m. Spectator access to Grant Park, where runners will start and finish the race, begins at 9:30 a.m. The outdoor festival accompanying the marathon at Grant Park will be open until 4 p.m.

You can click here for NBC Chicago and click here for Telemundo.

You can find the results for the 2021 Chicago Marathon here.

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ndianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay with the Fender Stratocaster guitar Bob Dylan played at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Irsay is talking with officials in several cities about the possibility of creating a museum to display the pop culture memorabilia that he’s spent millions of dollars collecting over the past 20 years. | Michelle Pemberton/The Indianapolis Star, distributed by the Associated Press

Jim Irsay’s collection includes guitars used by Prince and Bob Dylan, a piano used by John Lennon and a Ringo Starr drum set, as well as the 120-foot-long scroll on which Jack Kerouac wrote the 1950s novel “On the Road.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay is talking with officials in several cities about the possibility of creating a museum to display the pop culture memorabilia that he’s spent millions of dollars collecting over the past 20 years.

That collection includes musical instruments such as guitars used by Prince and Bob Dylan, a piano used by John Lennon and a Ringo Starr drum set, and other items such as the 120-foot-long scroll on which Jack Kerouac wrote the 1950s novel “On the Road.”

Irsay has ramped up discussions about a museum recently, Colts chief operating officer Pete Ward told the Indianapolis Business Journal.

“He’s added some really significant pieces to his collection over the past six to 12 months and he doesn’t want them sitting in a room where no one can enjoy them except for himself,” Ward said.

Irsay in the past couple months has purchased an Apple II computer manual signed by Steve Jobs and Elton John’s tour piano.

Irsay has loaned some of his collection for museum exhibitions or displayed them at private showings, but he’s interested in a permanent location. He is looking at Indianapolis, along with cities such as Boston, Chicago, Nashville, Tennessee, and Austin, Texas.

“We’ve had some casual conversations — nothing real intense or serious, but there have been indications that there’s interest,” Ward said, noting that no decisions haven’t been made on how to pay for creation of the museum. Irsay has been “approached by a couple of entities about the collection and we’re looking at engaging an architect to talk about concepts. But that’s really all that’s happening right now.”

Chris Gahl, vice president of the Visit Indy tourism promotion group, said the organization had been asked to determine how the collection could attract visitors to the city.

“Part of our responsibility as the city’s lead tourism agency is to look for ways to continue to diversify and grow our tourism ecosystem to attract more visitors and keep them here longer, spending more,” Gahl said.

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An American white pelican, a rare sight in the English Lake area of the Kankakee River in Indiana. | Joe LaMonica

Deciphering the first of the fall woolly bear photo a reader sent, an unusual sighting in Indiana of a pelican, discerning the connection of culture and nature, and the season cap on the harvest of wolves in Wisconsin are among the notes from around Chicago outdoors and beyond.

Notes come from around Chicago outdoors.

WILD OF THE WEEK

Joe LaMonica photographed this American white pelican, first he saw in the English Lake area of the Kankakee River in Indiana.

WOTW, the celebration of wild stories and photos around Chicago outdoors, runs most weeks in the special two-page outdoors section in the Sun-Times Sports Saturday. To make submissions, email [email protected] or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).

WILD TIMES

HUNTER SAFETY

Oct. 30-31: Elgin, [email protected]. . . Morris, click here to register and for info

FISH GATHERINGS

Tuesday, Oct. 12: Capt. Andy Schiera on tips/tactics for Lady of the Lake Tournament, Chicagoland Muskie Hunters chapter of Muskies, Inc., North Branch Pizza & Burger Co., Glenview, 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 12: Salmon Unlimited, Thornwood Restaurant & Lounge, Wood Dale, 7 p.m., salmonunlimitedinc.com

Wednesday, Oct. 13: Capt. Andy Schiera, Fox River Valley chapter of Muskies, Inc., Schaumburg Golf Club, 7 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 14: Robert Bobich, “Pond Fishing Fun Tips & Tricks to Catching More Fish,” Riverside Fishing Club, LaGrange American Legion, 6:30 p.m.

TOUR

Saturday, Oct. 16: DuPage Forest Preserve District holds rare public tour of its Urban Stream Research Center at Blackwell Forest Preserve, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (tours leave every 30 minutes), all ages (under 18 must be with an adult), $5 per person, click here to register at or call (630) 933-7248.

NIGHT FISHING

Wednesday, Oct. 13: “Fishing in the Dark,” Rock Run Rookery, shoreline fishing after dark, 6-8 p.m. , must preregister at apm.activecommunities.com/fpdwc/Activity_Search/fishing-in-the-dark/7837 or call (815) 727-8700.

ILLINOIS SEASONS

Saturday, Oct. 16: Woodcock hunting opens

Saturday, Oct. 16, to Oct. 17: Youth waterfowl, north zone

Saturday, Oct. 16: Fall trout season opens statewide. Click here for statewide details.

DALE’S MAILBAG

Jeff Norris
An October woolly bear in the western suburbs.

A: Jeff Norris texted the first photograph of a woolly bear on Monday. It looks middle of the road for prognosticating the winter. I will, half seriously, analyze other woolly bears in coming days.

BIG NUMBER

130: Statewide quota for the 2021 wolf season in Wisconsin, 74 by state-licensed hunters and trappers, 56 by Ojibwe Tribes’ treaty right within the Ceded Territory.

LAST WORD

“Our understanding of nature has been profoundly shaped by our culture, our social norms, and our collective decisions about who gets to be a scientist at all. And our relationship with nature–whether we succumb to it, whether we learn from it, whether we can save it–depends on our collective decisions too. “

Ed Yong, from his introduction to “The Best American Science and Nature Writing in 2021,” excerpted in The Atlantic

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Two people were killed and 33 others wounded since Friday 5 p.m. | Sophie Sherry/Sun-Times

One person was killed and four others wounded in West Town Sunday morning.

Two people were killed and 33 others — including five teens — wounded in shootings in Chicago since Friday evening.

One person was killed and four others wounded in a drive-by Sunday morning in West Town on the Northwest Side. Gunfire erupted from a dark-colored vehicle about 3:40 a.m. in the 1500 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, striking five people, Chicago police said. A 32-year-old man was shot in the chest and taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died, police said. Another man, 30, was shot in his left leg, and was taken to Stroger, police said. A woman, 22, was shot in her right leg and a 25-year-old woman was shot in her back, police said. Both were also taken to Stroger, police said. Another 25-year-old woman went to Swedish Covenant Hospital with a gunshot wound to her left leg, police said. Their conditions were stabilized, according to police.
A man was shot to death Saturday night in Little Village on the Southwest Side. The 45-year-old was on the sidewalk about 7:15 p.m. in the 2800 block of South Kildare Avenue when a vehicle pulled up and two people got out before firing shots, police said. He was struck in the torso and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name hasn’t been released.
In nonfatal attacks, less than an hour later, three people, including two teens, were shot in a drive-by in North Lawndale. They were standing on the street about 7:50 p.m. in the 3500 block of West 12th Place when a dark vehicle pulled up and someone from inside fired shots, police said. A 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, police said. A teen girl, also 16, was struck in the buttocks and was transported to Stroger Hospital in good condition. A man, 20, was shot in the hand was also taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, police said.
Two teenagers were wounded, one critically, in a shooting Saturday afternoon in Chicago Lawn on the Southwest Side. The were on the street about 5:50 p.m. in the 2500 block of West 70th Street when a dark SUV drove by and someone from inside opened fire, police said. A 17-year-old boy was struck in the arm and was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in good condition, police said. The other, 18, was shot in the chest and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition.
Three people were wounded in a drive-by shooting after a funeral Friday afternoon in West Englewood. They were attending a repast about 5:40 p.m. in the 6000 block of South Ashland Avenue when someone in a dark Jeep drove up and opened fire, police said. A 55-year-old man was shot in the shoulder and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said. Another man, 70, was struck in the hand and transported to St. Bernard Hospital in good condition. A male, whose age wasn’t known, was shot in the shoulder and drove himself to the University of Chicago Medical Center. His condition wasn’t immediately known.
A 16-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet Sunday morning in West Garfield Park on the West Side. The teen was standing outside about 1:40 a.m. in the 3800 block of West Gladys Avenue when he was grazed in the abdomen by gunfire, police said. He was driven by a friend to Mt. Sinai, where he was in good condition, police said.
A 17-year-old walked into the University of Chicago about 3 a.m. with gunshot wounds to his pelvic area and leg Sunday morning, police said. Officials said the teen wouldn’t state where the shooting occurred. He was listed in good condition, police said.

At least 19 others were wounded in gun violence in Chicago since 5 p.m. Friday.

At least four people were killed and 41 others were wounded — including four teens — across Chicago last weekend.

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One person was killed and four others wounded in a drive-by shooting Sunday morning on the Northwest Side. | Sophie Sherry/Sun-Times

Gunfire erupted from a dark-colored vehicle about 3:40 a.m. in the 1500 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, striking five people, police said.

One person was killed and four others wounded in a drive-by Sunday morning in West Town on the Northwest Side.

Gunfire erupted from a dark-colored vehicle about 3:40 a.m. in the 1500 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, striking five people, Chicago police said.

A 32-year-old man was shot in the chest and taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died, police said.

Another man, 30, was shot in his left leg, and was taken to Stroger, police said.

A woman, 22, was shot in her right leg and a 25-year-old woman was shot in her back, police said. Both were also taken to Stroger, police said.

Another 25-year-old woman went to Swedish Covenant Hospital with a gunshot wound to her left leg, police said.

Their conditions were stabilized, according to police.

No one was in custody.

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The Rev. Arnold Damen | Sun-Times files

In 1871, the city’s official Relief Society decided which Chicagoans were “worthy” of aid, leaving thousands of immigrants to fend for themselves.

Sun-Times reporter Mitch Dudek is right about seven lights still glowing in the Church of the Holy Family, 1080 W. Roosevelt Road, but there’s more to the story of Rev. Arnold Damen, S.J. and his vow in the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1871.

Fr. Damen and Jesuit priests and brothers opened the doors of the Gothic church and their new college next door to provide relief for homeless victims. One of the rare documents I’ve found in the course of my research on the history of Saint Ignatius College Prep was a New York Irish World illustration pasted in a scrapbook in the school’s archives. Dated Nov. 4, 1871, it is a vivid etching of Chicago’s Jesuits offering assistance “without distinction of race or creed.”

SEND LETTERS TO: [email protected]. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be approximately 350 words or less.

Why is this significant? In 1871, the city’s official Relief Society decided which Chicaogans were “worthy” of aid, leaving thousands of immigrants to fend for themselves. Then, as now, immigrants were regarded with suspicion as threats to urban life. Arnold Damen, born in Leur, Holland in 1815, was a city-builder who understood that the Jesuit church and its schools represented hope for working-class people and Chicago itself.

Journals in the archives of Saint Ignatius College Prep corroborate this extraordinary outreach, noting that orphans were housed in the school, now located at 1076 W. Roosevelt Road, and that its basement was used as “a depot for distribution of provisions & clothing.”

While Catherine O’Leary has finally been absolved of blame for starting the Great Fire of 1871, isn’t it time, after 150 years, to set the record straight about Fr. Damen and Jesuit outreach?

Ellen Skerrett, Morgan Park

The price of neglect and deprivation

The richest person in Illinois, Ken Griffin, has threatened to move out of Chicago because the crime here has finally become visible to him. Never mind that this should come as no surprise to anybody, given how our economy has been manipulated over many years to favor the haves and disfavor the have-nots — in Chicago and elsewhere.

Without excusing criminality, which must be squelched, chronic disinvestment in certain groups of people and neighborhoods cannot go on forever without there being a backlash. We reap what our city fathers have sown with respect to how resources have been deployed. Neglect and deprivation don’t stay bottled up by arbitrary boundaries. They spill over into rage and, sometimes, criminality.

People play the hand they are dealt. Why act surprised?

Ted Z, Manuel, Hyde Park

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A teen was grazed by a bullet Sunday morning in West Garfield Park on the West Side. | Sun-Times file

The teen was standing outside about 1:40 a.m. in the 3800 block of West Gladys Avenue when he was grazed in the abdomen by gunfire, Chicago police said.

A 16-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet Sunday morning in West Garfield Park on the West Side.

The teen was standing outside about 1:40 a.m. in the 3800 block of West Gladys Avenue when he was grazed in the abdomen by gunfire, Chicago police said.

He was driven by a friend to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was in good condition, police said.

No one was in custody.

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