DETROIT — The U.S. government has opened a formal investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot partially automated driving system after a series of collisions with parked emergency vehicles.

The investigation covers 765,000 vehicles, almost everything that Tesla has sold in the U.S. since the start of the 2014 model year. Of the crashes identified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of the probe, 17 people were injured and one was killed.

NHTSA says it has identified 11 crashes since 2018 in which Teslas on Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control have hit vehicles at scenes where first responders have used flashing lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board or cones warning of hazards. The agency announced the action Monday in a posting on its website.

The probe is another sign that NHTSA under President Joe Biden is taking a tougher stance on on automated vehicle safety than under previous administrations. Previously the agency was reluctant to regulate the new technology for fear of hampering adoption of the potentially life-saving systems.

The investigation covers Tesla’s entire current model lineup, the Models Y, X, S and 3 from the 2014 through 2021 model years.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which also has investigated some of the Tesla crashes dating to 2016, has recommended that NHTSA and Tesla limit Autopilot’s use to areas where it can safely operate. The NTSB also recommended that NHTSA require Tesla to have a better system to make sure drivers are paying attention. NHTSA has not taken action on any of the recommendations. The NTSB has no enforcement powers and can only make recommendations to other federal agencies.

Last year the NTSB blamed Tesla, drivers and lax regulation by NHTSA for two collisions in which Teslas crashed beneath crossing tractor-trailers. The NTSB took the unusual step of accusing NHTSA of contributing to the crash for failing to make sure automakers put safeguards in place to limit use of electronic driving systems.

The agency made the determinations after investigating a 2019 crash in Delray Beach, Florida, in which the 50-year-old driver of a Tesla Model 3 was killed. The car was driving on Autopilot when neither the driver nor the Autopilot system braked or tried to avoid a tractor-trailer crossing in its path.

Autopilot has frequently been misused by Tesla drivers, who have been caught driving drunk or even riding in the back seat while a car rolled down a California highway.

A message was left early Monday seeking comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations office.

NHTSA has sent investigative teams to 31 crashes involving partially automated driver assist systems since June of 2016. Such systems can keep a vehicle centered in its lane and a safe distance from vehicles in front of it. Of those crashes, 25 involved Tesla Autopilot in which 10 deaths were reported, according to data released by the agency.

Tesla and other manufacturers warn that drivers using the systems must be ready to intervene at all times. In addition to crossing semis, Teslas using Autopilot have crashed into stopped emergency vehicles and a roadway barrier.

The probe by NHTSA is long overdue, said Raj Rajkumar, an electrical and computer engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies automated vehicles.

Tesla’s failure to effectively monitor drivers to make sure they’re paying attention should be the top priority in the probe, Rajkumar said. Teslas detect pressure on the steering wheel to make sure drivers are engaged, but drivers often fool the system.

“It’s very easy to bypass the steering pressure thing,” Rajkumar said. “It’s been going on since 2014. We have been discussing this for a long time now.”

The crashes into emergency vehicles cited by NHTSA began on Jan. 22, 2018 in Culver City, California, near Los Angeles when a Tesla using Autopilot struck a parked firetruck that was partially in the travel lanes with its lights flashing. Crews were handling another crash at the time.

Since then, the agency said there were crashes in Laguna Beach, California; Norwalk, Connecticut; Cloverdale, Indiana; West Bridgewater, Massachusetts; Cochise County, Arizona; Charlotte, North Carolina; Montgomery County, Texas; Lansing, Michigan; and Miami, Florida.

“The investigation will assess the technologies and methods used to monitor, assist and enforce the driver’s engagement with the dynamic driving task during Autopilot operation,” NHTSA said in its investigation documents.

In addition, the probe will cover object and event detection by the system, as well as where it is allowed to operate. NHTSA says it will examine “contributing circumstances” to the crashes, as well as similar crashes.

An investigation could lead to a recall or other enforcement action by NHTSA.

“NHTSA reminds the public that no commercially available motor vehicles today are capable of driving themselves,” the agency said in a statement. “Every available vehicle requires a human driver to be in control at all times, and all state laws hold human drivers responsible for operation of their vehicles.”

The agency said it has “robust enforcement tools” to protect the public and investigate potential safety issues, and it will act when it finds evidence “of noncompliance or an unreasonable risk to safety.”

In June NHTSA ordered all automakers to report any crashes involving fully autonomous vehicles or partially automated driver assist systems.

Shares of Tesla Inc., based in Palo Alto, California, fell 3.5% at the opening bell Monday.

Tesla uses a camera-based system, a lot of computing power, and sometimes radar to spot obstacles, determine what they are, and then decide what the vehicles should do. But Carnegie Mellon’s Rajkumar said the company’s radar was plagued by “false positive” signals and would stop cars after determining overpasses were obstacles.

Now Tesla has eliminated radar in favor of cameras and thousands of images that the computer neural network uses to determine if there are objects in the way. The system, he said, does a very good job on most objects that would be seen in the real world. But it has had trouble with parked emergency vehicles and perpendicular trucks in its path.

“It can only find patterns that it has been ‘quote unquote’ trained on,” Rajkumar said. “Clearly the inputs that the neural network was trained on just do not contain enough images. They’re only as good as the inputs and training. Almost by definition, the training will never be good enough.”

Tesla also is allowing selected owners to test what it calls a “full self-driving” system. Rajkumar said that should be investigated as well.

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Former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler announced on Twitter that he has been dropped from an Uber Eats ad campaign due to his views on mask mandates for children in schools.

“Lost a commercial with Uber eats partnering with the NFL,” Cutler wrote on Twitter. “Was going to film in LA, ‘views aren’t aligned.’ Guess they don’t like future School board members. Frees up my weekend.”

The 38-year-old Cutler only recently returned to Twitter and has used the social media platform to voice his displeasure with health regulations related to the coronavirus pandemic, including mask mandates.

The onetime Pro Bowl passer-turned-reality TV star also has hinted at a possible run for school board in Tennessee over mask mandates.

“We are proud of all the work Uber has done over the last year to help get as many people vaccinated as possible. As such, we prefer to partner with those who support that work,” an Uber spokeswoman said in a statement to USA TODAY.

Cutler was a first-round selection — No. 11 overall — by the Denver Broncos in the 2006 NFL Draft. After three seasons in Denver, Cutler was traded to the Bears. He had an up-and-down career in Chicago, twice leading the NFL in interceptions, while also helping the team reach the 2010 NFC championship game and becoming the Bears’ all-time career passing yardage leader. After a brief retirement, Cutler signed a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins in 2017. He finished his 12-year NFL career passing for 35,133 yards and 227 touchdowns.

In 2013, Cutler married reality TV star Kristin Cavallari, and he made appearances on her show “Very Cavallari.” Their marriage ended in divorce in 2020.

Read more at usatoday.com

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Fifty-six people were shot, seven of them fatally, in citywide gun violence this weekend. Six of the wounded were 15 years old or younger.

The youngest homicide victim, a 7-year-old girl, was killed in a shooting Sunday afternoon that also wounded her younger sister.

Serenity Broughton, 7, and her 6-year-old sister were being placed in the backseat of a car by their mother when gunfire rang out about 2:50 p.m. in the 6200 block of West Grand Avenue, Chicago police said.

The 7-year-old was shot in her chest and torso and pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Police said her younger sister was “fighting for her life” at Loyola University Medical Center.

Other weekend homicides:

A 70-year-old woman was fatally shot early Monday in Hegewisch on the Far South Side. The woman was parked in her car just after 4:25 a.m. in the 13300 block of South Baltimore Avenue when two males approached and fired shots, police said. She was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where she was pronounced dead. Her name was not released.

A man was killed and a woman injured in Chatham early Sunday when someone opened fire at a group of people. The shooting happened just before 2 a.m. in the 7500 block of South Saint Lawrence Avenue, police said. The man, 33, was shot in the chest killed. The woman, 34, was shot in the leg and her condition was stabilized.

Saturday evening, a man was fatally shot in a drive-by in Hyde Park on the South Side. Around 8:15 p.m., the victim, 25, was standing on the sidewalk in the 800 block of East 54th Street when a white-colored vehicle drove up and someone inside opened fire, police said. He was shot in the torso and taken to University of Chicago Medical Center where he later died.

A 59-year-old man was fatally shot Saturday afternoon while driving in West Humboldt Park. About 12:40 p.m., the man was driving in the 1200 block of North Pulaski Road when someone in another vehicle fired shots, striking him in the upper back and right arm, police said. The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A person was killed in a triple shooting Friday night on the Eisenhower Expressway near Damen Avenue. The shooting happened around 8:30 p.m. and closed down a stretch of Interstate 290 for about four hours while troopers investigated, according to Illinois State Police. Three people wounded in the shooting had been located at a nearby hospital, officials said. One person was later pronounced dead and the other two were expected to survive.

Friday evening, an 18-year-old man was killed in Belmont Cragin. About 5:15 p.m., the teen was in the middle of the street in the 5100 block of West Fullerton Avenue when someone in a vehicle fired shots, striking him in the leg, chest and back, police said. The victim, Nikko Mercado, was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

Forty-five other people were wounded in other shootings this weekend, between 5 p.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Monday.

Last weekend, 75 people were shot, including a Chicago police officer who was killed, in Chicago gun violence.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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The record for the most expensive sports collector’s card of all-time is now a Honus Wagner baseball card.

The T206 card sold for $6.606 million on Monday morning, at a 20% buyer’s premium. That number shatters the previous record – which was a tie between a LeBron James-Upper Deck autographed rookie jersey card (set in April) and a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card.

The seller of the Wagner card is an “East Coast collector.” Both the seller and buyer have remained anonymous.

Robert Edward Auctions President Brian Dwyer said in a public statement Monday: “This is an incredible result that speaks to this card’s status as one of the world’s most iconic collectibles. The rarity and the legend of the T206 Honus Wagner, coupled with the quality of this example, excited bidders who recognized it may be a very long time before an opportunity like this came around again.”

The card, printed in between 1909 to 1911, was on display at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, Illinois, in July when nearly 100,000 people were in attendance.

Wagner’s lore stems from the fact that he was one of, if not the first pro athletes, to pioneer endorsement deals. He sponsored Louisville Slugger and also had deals for gum, soda, gunpowder, razors and cigars.

Read more at usatoday.com.

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Justin Fields’ performance in his preseason debut Saturday that excited the masses also intrigued coach Matt Nagy — but not enough to change the Bears’ grand plan at quarterback. There is no competition for the starting job.

Andy Dalton still will be the Week 1 starter regardless of what happens in the preseason, Nagy reiterated Monday. But Fields will get more snaps with first-team offense and against the first-team defense.

Asked if Dalton is still the unchallenged starter, Nagy said, “Yes, it is the case. Andy had six plays [against the Dolphins on Saturday], so we’re going to get him some more snaps this coming preseason game. With Justin, we want to be able to see live plays, live situations and he got that [against the Dolphins] and he did a great job.

“So the only thing he can do is continue doing that and then we’ve got to make sure that that plan allows us to evaluate how well he does, knowing the circumstances. Ultimately, whatever is best for the Chicago Bears is what we’re going to do.”

Dalton played two series against the Dolphins with the first-team offense — which was missing several starters — with two three-and-outs and a net of 14 yards on seven snaps. Fields started slowly but led three scoring drives for 17 unanswered points. He completed 14-of-20 passes for 142 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for a 106.7 passer rating. He also rushed for 33 yards on five carries, including a nifty eight-yard touchdown on a scramble.

That performance has earned him a better look, which means more first-team reps this week.

“I think that’s real,” Nagy said. “You need to look into that. Not so much to see that with his own players — because he gets some of that [experience] in practice right now. But it would be good to see what he does versus the first-team defense.”

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A 70-year-old woman was fatally shot Monday in Hegewisch on the Far South Side.

The woman was parked in her car just after 4:25 a.m. in the 13300 block of South Baltimore Avenue when two males approached and fired shots, Chicago Police said.

She was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where she was listed in critical condition, police said.

She was then transported to University of Chicago Medical Center where she died, police said. She has not been identified yet.

No one was in custody.

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Twenty years from now, we’ll still remember the concerts we went to BC and AD — right before COVID and after distancing. And among the population, there will be those lucky enough to say they made their re-entrance at the Hella Mega Tour, the triple headline extravaganza featuring Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Green Day that offered a strong lineage of singalong-ready pop punk and an invitation to let loose — no vax proof or test required — after 17 months of collectively holding our breath.

The sold-out fete was the first concert back at Wrigley Field since the summer of 2019, and the wait was well invested, with the evening providing nearly 60 songs in 41/2 hours (in true punk rock efficiency) and what had to be the ballpark’s full pyro and firework budget for the season.

Weezer leader Rivers Cuomo sports a new look during the band’s Sunday set at Wrigley Field.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

After a brief performance by the tour’s special guest, West Coast ska outfit The Interrupters, Weezer took the stage. But this time around Rivers Cuomo didn’t so much look like Buddy Holly, as the band’s song goes, as he did “Wayne’s World” sidekick Garth Algar with a long, askew mullet, hornrims and Flying V guitar. While it would be nice to think it was a nod to the fictional Aurora-based cable access show, it’s really just a visual ruse to keep the band’s ironic streak going (see also a rousing performance of Weezer’s guiltless cover of Toto’s “Africa”). That’s the thing with Weezer, though, you just never know what to take with a grain of salt or if it’s all overseasoned on purpose.

Like their tour mates, the Weezer guys stuck to the same set list they’ve been delivering in most markets and focused heavily on star-wattage material including “Beverly Hills,” “Hash Pipe,” “Say It Ain’t So” and “Undone — The Sweater Song.” This time around the songs had some heavier riffs courtesy of Cuomo and Brian Bell. Maybe Weezer is hinting at going heavier on its upcoming material? Cuomo’s studded leather jacket, the massive amplifier wall of sound and some Van Halen intro music would suggest as much. But in true fashion, they’re intent to keep us guessing.

Fans outside Wrigley Field on Waveland Avenue watch as fireworks shoot into the sky during the Fall Out Boy performance.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Thankfully, Fall Out Boy rebounded from a COVID-19 scare that had the quartet pull out of the first couple stops of the tour, and the band (originally from Wilmette) was able to deliver a homecoming show worthy of the grandeur of the setting. Fall Out Boy brought along lavish stage sets, a bizarre “space opera” video montage that featured actor Ron Livingston and a barrage of fireworks and fireballs.

Fall Out Boy remains one of the few locally grown acts that have had the privilege to plug in on the grounds (in 2018 as well), and the musicians did so with aplomb. Wearing a Cubs jersey, octave-spanning singer Patrick Stump couldn’t erase the grin off his face as he led the band into a back-to-back crescendo of “The Phoenix” and “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” the latter of which elicited one of the bigger audience singalongs of the entire night.

Fall Out Boy’s fanbase is, in a word, solid, graduating the bandmates from VFW Halls to stadium tours nearly overnight, after speaking as much to a generation as their forefathers on this tour bill once did. “It’s mind-blowing to play Wrigley, especially with Weezer and Green Day. We grew up with those bands,” bassist Pete Wentz said before lauching into “Thanks fr th Mmrs,” reminding the young denizens in the audience to dream big.

Billie Joe Armstrong fronts Green Day at Wrigley Field on Sunday.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Green Day took a minute to encourage the new gen too, inviting a blue-haired young adult from the front row to come up on stage and play guitar on a cover of Operation Ivy’s “Knowledge.” It was one of many displays of camaraderie frontman Billie Joe Armstrong proffered during the set, also encouraging the audience to put their phones away early on. “We’ve been looking at our phones for a year, we need to take advantage of our time together,” he cautioned, though many in the crowd grabbed at them again to illuminate the field for pensive numbers like “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends.”

Green Day wasted no time launching into the set with instruments blazing on “American Idiot.” And like the famed Broadway musical of the same name, the set carried a theatrical undertone at times, full of character, a range of emotion and an incredibly tight production from the cast, also including longtime bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool as well as a touring ensemble. Though Green Day’s material can border on self-help garishness at times (“Pollyanna” and the expected set-ender “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”), the band mixed the set list up well with several mainstays including “She,” “Longview” and “Basketcase” that were in line with the biggest takeaways from the night — that we all needed a heavy dose of nostalgia and good old-fashioned punk-rock release.

Selena Fragassi is a local freelance writer.

Here are the set lists from Sunday night’s concert at Wrigley Field:

Weezer

“Hash Pipe”

“All The Good Ones”

“Beverly Hills”

“The End of the Game”

“My Name Is Jonas”

“Pork and Beans”

“Feels Like Summer”

“All My Favorite Songs”

“Undone — The Sweater Song”

“Surf Wax America”

“El Scorcho”

“Island in the Sun”

“Africa” (Toto cover)

“California Snow”

“Say It Ain’t So”

“Buddy Holly”

Fans sit in the upper deck of Wrigley Field near right field, waiting for Weezer to perform Sunday, during the Chicago stop for The Hella Mega Tour.Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Fall Out Boy

“The Phoenix”

“Sugar, We’re Going Down”

“Irresistible”

“Uma Thurman”

“Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy”

“Save Rock and Roll”

“The Last of the Real Ones”

“Dance, Dance”

“A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me”

“This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race”

“My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”

“I Don’t Care”

“Thnks fr th Mmrs”

“Centuries”

“Saturday”

Fans sing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” right before Green Day performs Sunday at Wrigley Field,Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Green Day

“American Idiot”

“Holiday”

“Know Your Enemy”

“Pollyanna”

“Boulevard of Broken Dreams”

“Longview”

“Welcome to Paradise”

“Hitchin’ a Ride”

“Rock and Roll All Nite” (Kiss cover)

“Brain Stew”

“St. Jimmy”

“When I Come Around”

“21 Guns”

“Minority”

“Knowledge” (Operation Ivy cover)

“Basket Case”

“She”

“Wake Me Up When September Ends”

“Still Breathing”

“Jesus of Suburbia”

“Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”

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The Setting

Welcome to the Chicago suburbs, the latest battleground in the culture wars. We lay our scene at Evanston/Skokie School District 65, which serves about 7,300 students and employs about 1,400 early childhood, elementary, and middle school staff members. It’s a majority-minority district: 42 percent of students are white, 23 percent Black, 21 percent Hispanic, and 5 percent Asian American. In 2017, the district pledged to have every teacher undergo antiracist training within two years. Sounds helpful, especially with such a racially diverse student body, right? Don’t be naive — this is America! Land of baseball, apple pie, and suing your employer!

The Major Players

The plaintiff Nichols Middle School drama teacher Stacy Deemar, who is white and has taught in the district for nearly 20 years. She’s represented by the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a Georgia-based conservative nonprofit, in conjunction with journalist-activist Chris Rufo’s campaign against critical race theory.

The defendants The lawsuit names Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and its superintendent, Devon Horton; deputy superintendent, Latarsha Green; and assistant superintendent of curriculum, Stacy Beardsley.

Critical race theory A framework developed in the 1970s to study inequality in post–civil rights movement America. The term has been co-opted by the right (in a movement led by Rufo) into a catchall for theory, language, and lessons that criticize American institutions and/or seek to dismantle racism.

The Argument

Deemar and the SLF argue the district’s approach to teaching race violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment. The lawsuit takes particular offense to the district separating teachers by race, as the complaint says happened during antiracist training sessions. Doing so, Deemar’s attorneys argue, is in itself racist. Deemar and the SLF also argue that encouraging employees to consider their racial privilege is actually bias against white people. Among the incidents cited in the lawsuit: being instructed to teach a book that quotes Toni Morrison saying, “White people have a very, very serious problem”; the suggestion that Eurocentric education might not work for every child; and colleagues rolling their eyes at Deemar. And here we were thinking thick skin was a prerequisite for teaching middle school.

The Stakes

Deemar is asking for  —  gird your loins  —  $1 in damages. Instead of cash, the lawsuit states, she’s requesting that the district “remedy the effects of the unconstitutional, illegal, discriminatory conduct.” Translation: She wants the court to end antiracist workshops at school. In a written statement to the community, Horton says the allegations take the district’s “lawful, sensitive, and responsible” training out of context. But the stakes stretch far beyond the Chicago area. Similar cases are cropping up nationwide, and the SLF plans to file additional lawsuits. If the court rules in favor of Deemar, the case could provide enough precedent for other districts to ban teaching about racism, too. In the meantime, best of luck enduring the teachers’ lounge at Nichols this fall, folks!

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