State Rep. Lakesia Collins speaks Wednesday outside Evergreen Tower II demanding that the owner of the building invest more for residents’ safety. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Residents of of River North’s Evergreen Towers I and II called on management to restore safety measures that were scaled back during the coronavirus pandemic.

Senior tenants at two affordable housing buildings are calling for management to reinstate safety services that were scaled back during the coronavirus pandemic.

Residents of Evergreen Towers I and II, in River North, and the Jane Addams Senior Caucus, a Chicago-based senior citizen advocacy group, this week demanded the owner, Cullen Davis, invest in their safety with 24-hour security and a full-time service coordinator, services they say were offered before the pandemic.

UPholdings, the affordable housing and management company, first met with the tenants in the spring but has yet to adequately meet their demands, tenants said. In May, the tenants organized a 311 call campaign, where they collectively filed complaints with the city about the building conditions.

UPholdings did not respond to requests for comment.

Lisa Johnson said she has lived at Evergreen Towers for about 10 years. Without 24-hour security, she said emergency vehicles do not have easy access to the building, which can be life-threatening for tenants in need of medical treatment.

In the past, Johnson called an ambulance for herself and had to take the elevator to give the paramedics building access.

“I had to be treated by the ambulance in the lobby because they could not get let in,” Johnson said.

In August, management added personnel to monitor the security cameras in one of the buildings. But security cameras do not meet adequate standards for care, said Jacqueline Reynolds, the president of Evergreen Towers I.

Reynolds wants to see personnel monitor who is entering the building. She said the buildings gets a lot of unwanted guests, and tenants are currently afraid to leave their apartment after 5 p.m because they do not feel safe.

After the full-time service coordinator retired in early 2020, Reynolds also said management did not move to find a replacement. They said they are still without a service coordinator, who would conduct wellness checks and organize programming.

A city ordinance passed in July 2020 requiring owners of senior buildings to conduct well-being checks twice a week. Management paid residents of Evergreen Towers to conduct these check-ups, but tenants have repeatedly said a service coordinator needs to fill that role.

“Seniors all over Chicago came together with an ordinance that you did not follow,” Reynolds said, speaking of management. She was one of the tenants who carried out wellness checks at the start of the pandemic. “You stripped away our security and our service coordinator, and that made seniors start to feel unsafe.”

State Rep. Lakesia Collins said she has been in conversation with the owner about addressing the needs of senior tenants. “It is simple. Do what you’re supposed to do, Cullen Davis. Make sure that our seniors have 24-hour security, make sure that they’re doing wellness checks in these facilities,” Collins said.

The tenants also demanded on Wednesday that Davis and building management implement fire safety drills and monthly extermination of all units.

Read More

Angela Gregg and Mychal Moultry Sr., mother and father of slain 4-year-old Mychal Moultry, speak to reporters about their son at Saint Sabina Church on Sept. 9. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times file

Tucked into Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed city budget is $12.25 million to help devastated victims of crime in simple and practical ways.

Last month, 4-year-old Mychal Moultry Jr. was shot twice in the head and killed while sitting in an apartment in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. The bullets flew in a window from the front yard.

Mychal and his mother, Angela Gregg, had been visiting from Alabama. She was devastated, of course, and likely will continue to be devastated for the rest of her life. Ask any parent.

Talking to reporters later, Ms. Gregg pleaded for the killer to turn himself in.

“Give us some type of peace. Don’t take that away from us, too. Don’t take our son and take our peace,” she said. “Give us something. You’ve taken everything.”

Gregg talked soon after, as well, with the mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, who promised her the police would do all they could to bring the killer to justice. The mayor also expressed her sorrow, speaking as one mother to another.

As mayor, Lightfoot has had many such conversations with grieving mothers and fathers, and those quiet talks have no doubt taken their toll. Ask any mayor. They have also made Lightfoot particularly aware, as she will tell you, of the need to help the families in quick and practical ways to ease their burden.

With that in mind, Lightfoot has included in her proposed new city budget a $12.25 million fund, the first of its kind for Chicago, to pay for services for the victims of crimes, including funeral arrangements, counseling and the inevitable filling out of piles of paperwork.

“The list of victims in our city is so long and so deep, we have an obligation to make sure we are providing a space for them and we advocate for them, but also that we bring them the services that they need to heal,” Lightfoot recently told the Sun-Times Editorial Board.

In a proposed $16.7 billion budget, $12.25 million is not a great deal of money, but it would allow the city to expand on services currently provided by nonprofit groups and the state. In a small way, it could help build trust and relationships between the Chicago police and communities hardest hit by violence. The fund would include $10 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

At the moment, the city works with a network of 11 social service partners to help victims of crime.

In Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood, for example, there’s Universal Family Connection, which offers family reunification and stabilization programs, domestic violence prevention and survivor services, such as counseling and employment programs. In Humboldt Park and Little Village, there are the New Life Centers of Chicagoland, which offer gang mediation and family support services to head off any possible further acts of violence. New Life offers one-on-one mentorship for young individuals and runs sports programs in safe spaces.

Another valuable resource for local victims of crime is the Illinois Crime Victim Compensation Program, which is intended to reduce the new financial burdens. It provides eligible applicants with up to $27,000 in state aid for expenses that stem from a violent crime.

Chicago’s $12.25 million victim-assistant fund would be overseen by the Department of Public Health and focus on providing services in neighborhoods where crime is at its worst and, consequently, the need for family support is greatest. It is no small matter in a time of crisis, when the world feels upside down, to get a little practical help in planning a funeral or filling out a form for state aid.

When Lightfoot presented her proposed new budget two weeks ago, we described it as an admirable plan for people living through hard times. It would provide, on an experimental basis, $500 a month to 5,000 low-income families — a guaranteed minimum income. It would invest $202 million in services to reduce homelessness, $150 million for youth programming, $52 million for mental health services, and even funding to plant 75,000 trees to fight global warming.

Tucked into the budget, as well, is that $12.25 million for crime victim services. We trust the fund will make it into the city’s final, approved spending plan.

We owe it to grieving mothers such as Angela Gregg, who did nothing to deserve such sorrow. Her only mistake was to come up from Alabama with her little boy to visit friends.

Send letters to [email protected].

Read More

AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith

The Sox offense was only able to score one run in their 6-1 loss to the Astros in Game 1 of the ALDS.

HOUSTON — Throughout the regular season, the White Sox’s offense bludgeoned pitching staffs into submission. Even with the team missing Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez for significant periods throughout the year, when they fired on all cylinders, they were one of the best offense in baseball

But there were also times during the season when their high-powered offense would go dormant, leaving people scratching their heads.

Unfortunately, for the Sox, their offense was quiet in their 6-1 Game 1 loss to the Astros on Wednesday, dropping the first of the five-game series.

The Sox had no answers for Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr, who dominated over 6 2/3 innings, as the offense looked lethargic against the Astros. The Sox didn’t scratch out their first hit until Yoan Moncada’s single in the fourth inning.

The Sox weren’t able to barrel up the baseball against McCullers Jr. and while he mixed his pitches well, it was his slider that kept them off balance.

McCullers Jr.’s slider is one of the best in MLB, allowing just a .150 batting average against it this season, which was the fifth-lowest among starting pitchers. The White Sox ranked 22nd in slugging against sliders this season and didn’t have success in Wednesday’s loss.

When the Sox hit the ball in the air, it usually leads to success, but they weren’t able to do that. They hit into 11 groundouts and had only one runner reach third base, allowing McCullers Jr. to dominate without having to get swings-and-misses or work deep into counts.

The Sox finally got some offense going late in the game with an RBI-single by Jose Abreu in the eighth inning to make it a 6-1 game. But it was too little, too late.

The Sox are hoping that Game 2 brings them better results at the plate as they face lefty Framber Valdez. They’ve notoriously torched southpaws over the past two seasons and hit a .261 against left-handers this season, which ranks fifth in the American League.

Read More

AP Photos

White Sox fall 6-1 to McCullers, three Astros relievers; Lynn allows five runs in 3 2/3 innings

HOUSTON — White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn has been one of baseball’s top pitchers the last two seasons.

But not against the Astros.

Not this season, not last year and certainly not Thursday, when Lynn was peppered for five runs in 3 2/3 innings in a mostly flat 6-1 Sox loss in Game 1 of a long-awaited American League Division Series. The best of five series shifts to Friday (1:07 p.m), with Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito opposing Astros lefty Framber Valdez.

Lynn gave up five runs on six hits and two walks and was pulled by manager Tony La Russa with two outs in the fourth in a game that looked, with Astros righty Lance McCullers in command allowing one hit in 6 2/3 scoreless innings, all but over. The 33-year-old Lynn has allowed 34 runs in 32 2/3 innings over his last six starts against the Astros, good for a 9.37 ERA and 0-6 record.

The Astros’ second run scored in the third inning when Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada threw late to catcher Yasmani Grandal trying to get Jose Altuve for the second out. Moncada made a good stop on Alex Bregman’s ground ball to his left, but had a slim chance of getting Altuve after spinning around to make the throw.

Altuve, the Astros leadoff man who led off the inning with a walk, had advanced to third when Grandal couldn’t keep Lynn’s bounced wild pitch in front of him. After Altuve scored, Yordan Alvarez banged a belt-high fastball doubled off the left center field wall, scoring Bregman to make it 3-0.

Michael Brantley’s two-run single in the fourth knocked out Lynn in favor of Reynaldo Lopez, who gave up a home run to Alvarez in the fifth.

Lynn seemed amped up, touching 97 mph to strike out Yuli Gurriel in the second, but he needed 76 pitches, 46 for strikes, to record 11 outs.

The Sox lineup, held to seven singles, was not amped. Designated hitter Jose Abreu’s two-out single against Kendall Graveman in the eighth scored Tim Anderson with a run that offered a glimpse of hope bringing Grandal up with two on. But Grandal (0-for-4, four left on base) flied out to medium deep center to end one of the only Sox threats.

Abreu’s status was in doubt until he took batting practice. He did not travel to Houston with the team Tuesday because of flu-like symptoms not related to Covid-19.

Read More

Sox fans Anthony Rodriguez, left, and Hector Roldan, right, say the Sox’s playoff spot, along with the Cubs’ postseason absence, gives the team bragging rights over their crosstown rival. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times, Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

As the Sox enter into their first back-to-back postseason appearance in franchise history, some Sox fans say being the only Chicago team with a hope at the World Series is enough to make them smile this year.

White Sox fan Anthony Rodriguez puffed on a cigar Thursday outside Turtles Bar & Grill in Bridgeport as his team kicked off what fans hope is a long playoff-run after its first division title since 2008.

As the Sox played the first game of the best-of-five series against the Houston Astros, Rodriguez said he had cautious optimism.

The Houston matchup gives him a feeling of deja vu that the Sox are going to win it all again, just as they did 16 years ago when the Sox beat the Astros in the World Series.

“I’ve got 2005 vibes flowing through me,” Rodriguez said. “It’s been a long time already, but I remember that feeling, and it’s Houston again. It’s who we beat last time. We gotta pick up right where we left off.”

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
South Side native Barry Temple, left, said being a Sox fan might be more about hating the Cubs than rooting for the black and white.

South Side native Anthony Ciaravino, who grew up just a few blocks away from the Sox Stadium, had “butterflies” in his stomach all day.

Although hearing the shouts of rowdy White Sox fans were commonplace when he was growing up, this year seems different. For one, the crowds at Guaranteed Rate Field are bigger than he can remember.

And the team is not in the shadow of the its North Side counterpart, the Cubs, who didn’t make the postseason.

“The White Sox always feel like we’re the red-headed stepchild in this city,” Ciaravino said. “It’s nice to finally get some attention.”

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
White Sox fan Anthony Ciaravino says the sounds of stadium fireworks are like second nature to him. This year he’s hopeful the Sox will win it all, he said.

Rodriguez said the South Side fanbase has a special sense of pride.

“It’s kind of like bragging rights for the time being,” said Rodriguez. “Even the Cubs fans now, look at where they’re going, they’re rebuilding and this is our time now.”

Although fans didn’t get the outcome they hoped Thursday, they still took pride in the South Siders as it made the postseason for the second season in a row, the first time in team history.

“This season they started picking it up, and playoffs are a different ballgame. I’m liking the bats and definitely the pitching is good, too,” said Dan Archer, who was at Cork and Kerry at the Park, also in Bridgeport. He wasn’t worried the team had a subpar record later in the season. “It’s the playoffs, seeing firsthand like in 2005, they didn’t play for the second half either and they ended up winning the whole thing.”

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
South Side native Barry Temple, left, said being a Sox fan might be more about hating the Cubs than rooting for the black and white.

And even if they don’t pull it out, fans have hopes for the future.

“They’ve got a lot of good prospects out there, and they’re coming into the room right now with [Luis] Robert and [Danny] Mendick,” Archer said. “They’re only going to get better.”

Read More

Soldier Field was renovated at a cost of more than half a billion dollars less than 20 years ago. But now the team is pondering a move to the suburbs. Ald. Harry Osterman (48th), chairman of the City Council’s Housing Committee, said during budget hearings on Thursday that he doesn’t want to drive to Arlington Heights to watch his beloved Bears. And he’s certain plenty of Arlington Heights residents “don’t want to see a bunch of Chicagoans” descend on their Northwest suburb. | Sun-Times file

“We have a lot of land. Before that door closes, I would ask you to do everything in your power to look at what options there are to keep them here that could be an economic driver for parts of our city that could use it and it could work,” said Ald. Harry Osterman.

A top city official was urged Thursday to get on the political playing field and do whatever he can to prevent the Bears from moving to Arlington Heights.

Ald. Harry Osterman (48th), chairman of the City Council’s Housing Committee, said he doesn’t want to drive to Arlington Heights to watch his beloved Bears. And he’s certain plenty of Arlington Heights residents “don’t want to see a bunch of Chicagoans” descend on their Northwest suburb at least 10 days a year.

That’s where Maurice Cox comes in. He’s the commissioner of planning and development. So could he play a role in planning and developing the new stadium many observers believe it will take to prevent the Bears from closing on the agreement they signed last week to purchase the 326-acre site of the now-shuttered Arlington International Racecourse for $197.2 million?

“We have a lot of land. Before that door closes, I would ask you to do everything in your power to look at what options there are to keep them here that could be an economic driver for parts of our city that could use it and it could work,” Osterman told Cox during Thursday’s City Council budget hearing.

Osterman did not suggest a specific site for a new stadium. Nor did he say whether he believes that stadium should be domed, built along the lakefront or whether or how he believes Chicago taxpayers can afford a new stadium.

He would only tell Cox, “If there’s a win-win there, then let’s find that win.”

After tweeting a photo of himself wearing a White Sox jersey to celebrate Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series, Osterman compared the Bears stadium saga to the “stop-the-clock” legislative vote on the deal to build a new baseball stadium for the White Sox, preventing the team from moving to St. Petersburg, Fla.

“The Chicago White Sox are … in the playoffs — not the St. Petersburg White Sox. That’s because people tried to make it work and they made it work,” Osterman said.

“So I just ask you, with all the priorities you have of lifting up communities, which is where the priority has to be, let’s not give up on trying to find a place to keep these guys in Chicago,” Osterman said.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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.

The Bears stadium saga wasn’t the only thing on the minds of City Council members.

Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) complained — gently — about the design committee of outside experts that Cox created last summer to weigh in on major developments before they get built.

It’s an extra stop for projects that already must get approval from department staff, the City Council and, in some cases, the Chicago Plan Commission.

“If we weren’t getting money from the federal government right now, we would literally be in trouble right now,” Burnett said.

“Next year at this time, I don’t want to be votin’ on no tax increases. … We have the tools. We have the momentum of development going on in the city. We need to keep it moving, man. … We need to keep it moving in order to keep the money coming.”

Burnett’s Near West Side ward includes Fulton Market, which he called “one of the hottest areas in the world” with booming development that is “sustaining us.”

Meanwhile, economic development in other parts of the city has slowed during the pandemic. That’s reflected in a 20% drop — from $62 million to $50 million — in funds generated by the share-the-wealth Neighborhood Opportunity Fund. Developers pay fees for the right to build bigger and taller projects in a broader downtown area; those fees are used to rebuild neighborhood commercial strips.

Burnett complained that, at his last meeting with city planners, “Everything in the list was being postponed because of design.” That prompted him to ask, “Is this the Department of Planning or the Department of Design?”

“I understand design. But I also understand the bottom line for the city. … We want to stay competitive and bring that money in and balance our budget and not have to increase taxes because we’re all doomed if we have to do that. Our livelihoods are at stake,” he said.

Zoning Committee Chairman Tom Tunney (44th) said he’s talked to a number of developers who’ve said, “We’re done with Chicago for a myriad of reasons.” If he’s heard it once, he said, he’s heard it 40 times in the last two years.

Cox said he can understand how “any new process” put in place by the city “creates uncertainty,” which developers hate.

“Our goal has been to use this [Design Committee] as a tool to expedite the process. … We know that the engine that is producing a lot of the economic well-being of the city are in these four or five wards, so we’re hyper-conscious of trying to expedite this,” he said.

Read More

Fields’ elite speed makes him a revelation at quarterback for the Bears. | AP Photos

Fields’ speed is integral, not ancillary. It’s time for the Bears to adapt to the modern NFL and use everything he brings to the table.

Justin Fields has many valuable traits, but if the Bears made a list of the qualities that compelled them to trade up and draft him No. 11 overall, his speed would be at the top.

It makes him an uncommon quarterback for a franchise so starved for athleticism at the position that Jim Harbaugh in the early 1990s qualifies as their most recent running threat. It’s also new for Matt Nagy, who often points to Alex Smith as one of his favorites and, aside from some overlap with Michael Vick in Philadelphia, hasn’t coached anyone like Fields.

So it will require some rethinking by the Bears and Nagy to enhance his unique skillset rather than bend it to traditional quarterback template. His speed has been essential to his success, and it’d be a mistake to scrub it out in the interest of making him more conventional.

It’s a relief to hear the Bears sound like they’re embracing that, though it’s cautious optimism until they actually show it in games. After impressing as a runner during the preseason, Fields ran six times for 21 yards over his first two starts, and the Bears could use more of that Sunday against the Raiders with running back David Montgomery injured.

“I would imagine there will always be some QB run in Justin’s game,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said Thursday. “Some weeks it might be two plays; some weeks it might be eight. Designed QB runs will be part of the game, and then there will always be some unscripted, for-whatever-reason-it-was-time-to-go part of his game.

“As he gets experience, he’s gonna decide, split-second, ‘I’m hanging in here for this one because I know this play and I think it’s about to come open,’ or, ‘I don’t like how it looks; I can go and get it.’ His whole career, he’ll be balancing those things.”

So will the Bears — especially Nagy, who remains the architect of the game plan even with Lazor calling plays.

If it sounds overly suspicious to raise this concern after two starts by Fields, remember that it was part of the problem with the Bears’ last first-round quarterback, Mitch Trubisky. That wouldn’t have worked out anyway, but it certainly didn’t help that they drafted him in large part because of his athleticism, then Nagy insisted he, “Win from the pocket,” which he could not.

Fields looks like he can win from anywhere. He fired deep shots against the Lions from the pocket, is adept at throwing on roll-outs and has wide-receiver-level speed at his disposal. That mix of abilities should give Lazor and Nagy limitless ideas, and there’s no sense in narrowing the number of ways he can beat a defense.

“You never want to lose what he has with that speed,” Nagy said, pointing to a third-and-four against the Lions when the pocket crumbled and Fields raced past safety Will Harris for 11 yards. “A lot [of quarterbacks] can’t do that.

“At the same point in time, Justin will be the first to tell you that he wants to be the best quarterback he can be, and so that’s our job: teaching him the game.”

But running can be part of being a great quarterback, and that better be part of his education. Russell Wilson and Cam Newton went to Super Bowls doing it that way. Lamar Jackson won an MVP. Kyler Murray might win it this season.

And for Fields, his running ability is integral, not ancillary.

“There are some quarterbacks you’re seeing like Justin that have elite arm talent downfield and all that stuff, but can also do things that scare defenses with their legs,” Nagy acknowledged. “You see it throughout the league.”

Except with the Bears. And now is the perfect time to change that.

Read More

Bears second-year tight end Cole Kmet has eight receptions for 59 yards and no touchdowns this season. | Kamil Krzaczynski/AP

The second-year tight end played a key role in the Bears’ focus on pass protection and establishing the running game against the Lions. But he’s here to make big plays downfield.

Bears tight end Cole Kmet was understandably excited about his blocking against the Lions on Sunday. The tight end group was used extensively to facilitate a rushing attack that produced 188 yards and three touchdowns in the Bears’ 24-14 victory.

“It’s a big deal,” Kmet said. “As a group I thought our entire team did a really good job with the blocking portion of everything. We’re more than willing to step up if that’s what we’ve got to do in order to win games.

“I thought we played a big part in that rushing attack Sunday, so we’re really happy with that. Looking forward to continuing to do that.”

Kmet’s development as a blocking tight end can’t be ignored — it’s expected to be a big part of his game. But after the Adam Shaheen experience, the focus on Kmet’s blocking four games into Year 2 already is looking more like a red flag than part of the process of Kmet becoming a dual threat tight end.

The 49ers’ George Kittle, a 2017 fifth-round draft pick, might be the prototypical blocking/receiving tight end in the NFL today when it comes to doing both facets of the job well. But by Week 5 of his second season in 2018, Kittle was coming off a six-catch, 125-yard performance against the Chargers — including an 82-yard touchdown — from back-up C.J. Beathard. Kittle was on his way to a Pro Bowl season — 88 receptions for 1,377 yards and five touchdowns.

In the Bears’ offense, Kmet isn’t even close. The second-round draft pick from Notre Dame and St. Viator has eight receptions for 59 yards and no touchdowns. That’s not quite the leap that was expected after Kmet finished strong as a receiving threat in his rookie season — 20 receptions for 149 yards and one touchdown in the final five games.

The Bears had five pass plays of 20 or more yards against the Lions and four plays that were 25 yards or more. But the tight ends were not on the receiving end of any of them. Kmet had one catch for six yards on three targets. Jimmy Graham had no targets.

Kmet said he’s looking forward to joining that party.

“For sure,” he said. “In our room, we’re optimistic about it all and we’re just going to keep doing what we’re asked of and do it to the best of our ability.”

It’s early, but Kmet’s eight receptions rank 29th among tight ends in the NFL through four games. His 59 yards ranks 39th. Graham has one catch for 11 yards in 65 snaps this season.

The victory over the Lions gave the Bears at least a semblance of an offensive identity with Justin Fields at quarterback. Now they need to build on that against better defenses than the Lions, who rank 21st in yards, 31st in yards per play and 29th in scoring.

“Obviously, Justin’s a threat with being able to get out of the pocket and run the ball is special,” Kmet said, “and I think if we’re able to solidify a run game, Justin’s ability to stretch the field also with his arm — those are two things that kind of go hand-in-hand and create a pretty dynamic passing attack.”

Read More

Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle. | James Foster,

Neither President Toni Preckwinkle nor other officials would say if anyone was hit by the gunfire outside her Hyde Park home.

A security detail exchanged gunfire with a carjacker outside the Hyde Park home of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle last week, but neither she nor other officials would release details of the attack Thursday, including whether the robber was shot.

The incident occurred on Sept. 27 but was not acknowledged by Chicago police or county officials until this week after the incident was reported by CWB Chicago.

A Forest Preserves police officer was parked outside Preckwinkle’s home on the 5100 block of South Kimbark Avenue when an “armed offender” walked up and opened fire while trying to take the car around 8:30 p.m., according to a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation.

The officer then returned fire, the source said. Police were initially told the officer was off duty at the time, the source said.

But the Forest Preserves District, in a brief statement, said the officer is a member of Preckwinkle’s “executive protection detail” and was on duty. The statement said the officer “fired shots during an attempted carjacking” but did not say anything about the carjacker being armed or firing shots.

“For security reasons, we do not disclose any of the operational procedures of the detail,” the statement concluded.

Chicago police released a statement around the same time, but its brief narrative did not identify the person involved as a police officer. And it said nothing about shots being fired by anyone.

The department only said that a “57-year-old male” was sitting in his car “when he was approached by an armed offender on foot who attempted to take the victim’s vehicle. The offender then fled the scene. No injuries were reported at the time of the incident.”

The incident was not reported at the time on the department’s major incident log that is continually updated with major crimes in the city, including carjackings.

The log does include an entry about an 18-year-old man being found with a gunshot wound to the left knee nearly three miles south, at the far end of Jackson Park, around the same time.

CWB reported that police were looking into whether he may have been shot by the Forest Preserves officer.

Preckwinkle’s security detail — a three-person team who each earn more than $100,000 in salary — has been staffed by officers from the Forest Preserves Department of Law Enforcement since 2016. Before, it was staffed by officers from the county’s Department of Emergency Management.

That same year, Preckwinkle faced scrutiny from the county’s inspector general after a county-owned SUV was found abandoned in a ditch the day after the election in south suburban Lemont.

The Chevy Tahoe’s tires had been slashed and Preckwinkle campaign materials were found inside, alongside with a dry cleaning receipt that belonged to the head of her security detail.

Until 2014, Preckwinkle’s security detail had been drawn from officers in the Cook County sheriff’s department, an arrangement that changed after Sheriff Tom Dart complained the officers did not report to his chain of command.

Read More

Shannon Brown is among 18 former NBA players charged in a fraud scheme. | Wilfredo Lee/AP

According to the indictment, the ex-players submitted false and fraudulent claims to get reimbursed for medical and dental expenses that were never actually incurred.

Four former NBA players with deep Chicago roots were among the 18 charged Thursday for allegedly pocketing about $2.5 million by defrauding the league’s health and welfare benefit plan.

Three of them played on NBA title-winning teams.

Two of the players, Harvey native Melvin Ely and Chicagoan Will Bynum, were arrested early Thursday morning in the Chicago area and appeared before a federal judge here later in the afternoon. The judge ordered their release on unsecured $250,000 bonds.

According to an indictment returned in Manhattan federal court, the ex-players teamed up to defraud the supplemental coverage plan by seeking reimbursement for medical and dental procedures that never happened.

U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said prosecutors have travel records, email and GPS data that proves the ex-players were sometimes far from the medical and dental offices at the times when they were supposedly getting treated.

The indictment said the scheme was carried out from at least 2017 to 2020, when the plan — funded primarily by NBA teams — received false claims totaling about $3.9 million. Of that, the defendants received about $2.5 million in fraudulent proceeds.

Strauss said each defendant made false claims for reimbursements that ranged from $65,000 to $420,000.

A request for comment to the league wasn’t immediately returned.

Among those charged are Ely and Bynum, as well as Maywood’s Shannon Brown and Chicagoan Tony Allen.

During the Thursday’s hearing for Ely and Bynum, both men mentioned job searches. Bynum asked whether the charges would “prohibit me from looking for a job?” The judge told him that, in fact, he was “encouraged to look for work.”

Ely said his “finances aren’t what they used to be,” and he asked whether he would have to travel to New York for the next hearing in the case. The judge said he would have to be present for his arraignment.

Brown and Ely were Sun-Times Players of the Year. Brown, the Sun-Times’ Player of the Year and Mr. Basketball in 2003, played at Michigan State and had stints with eight NBA teams after graduating from Proviso East.

Ely, who attended Thornton, was Sun-Times Player of the Year in 1997. He spent time with six different NBA teams between 2002 and 2014 after a successful college career at Fresno State.

Bynum and Allen both played at Crane. Bynum played collegiately at Arizona and Georgia Tech and had stints with three NBA teams. He’s one of the most prolific scorers in Chicago high school basketball history.

Allen wasn’t the high school superstar that the other three players were, but he carved out the best NBA career. He had stints with the Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans over his 14 years in the league. He won a title with the Celtics in 2007 and was named to the All-Defensive Team six times.

Darius Miles, an East St. Louis grad and high school sensation, was also among the 18 charged. The 2000 Mr. Basketball winner was drafted right out of high school by the Clippers. Miles had a nine-year NBA career, playing with four different teams.

Contributing: Associated Press

Read More