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A man, 38, was standing outside around 11:30 p.m. in the 1800 block of North Monitor Avenue when someone approached and opened fire.
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Aug 9, 2021, 12:47am CDT
1 seriously wounded in North Austin shootingSun-Times Wireon August 9, 2021 at 5:47 am Read More »
Chicago Police Officer Ella French joined the department because she “wanted to do good for the world,” her brother said Sunday.
“You know I never questioned it. Same as she never questioned me joining the Army,” Andrew French wrote in a message to the Chicago Sun-Times on Facebook on Sunday night.
“… My sister is a bada–. She always wanted to make a difference … however it was possible. I was never surprised when she said she was going to be a sheriff and then a cop. It just made sense.”
Ella French, 29, was identified Sunday by the Chicago Police Department as the officer who was fatally shot in West Englewood while in the line of duty Saturday night. Her partner, who was also wounded during a traffic stop shortly after 9 p.m. at 63rd Street and Bell Avenue, remained in critical condition Sunday at the University of Chicago Medical Center, CPD Supt. David Brown said.
“Our officers need this city to pray for their strength, to pray for peace that they are comforted, that their families are comforted,” Brown said Sunday during a news conference at CPD headquarters, where he announced the arrest of a third suspect in the fatal shooting on the South Side.
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Andrew French said their mother, who adopted the two of them, gave them everything she could growing up while instilling in them the important values of being kind and helping others in need.
“She raised us to be of service. To care. To have integrity,” Andrew French wrote.
Andrew French said his sister was not married and had no children, despite stories being circulated on social media Sunday.
French and the other officer were shot during a traffic stop shortly after 9 p.m. at 63rd Street and Bell Avenue in West Englewood. They returned fire, hitting at least one suspect, police said.
Officers involved in the incident were equipped with body-worn cameras and much of what happened was caught on video, Brown noted.
He commended officers for continuing to show up and do their dangerous work after a night of tragedy. “I’m asking Chicago to wrap their arms around our police officers today and encourage them to continue their great work in protecting us all,” he added.
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Chicago police union President John Catanzara said Sunday in a Facebook live video, “Our city is less safe today because Officer French is no longer with us.”
All city buildings will have flags lowered to half-staff, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, speaking after Brown and declaring Sunday an official day of mourning.
Lightfoot urged an end to constant bickering over police reform, the argument over whether police are over-regulated, or whether they’ve been given free rein.
“Stop. Just, stop,” Lightfoot said. “This constant strife is not what we need in this moment.”
While the mayor said “we need to continue the journey to achieve constitutional, accountable policing,” she insisted “the police are not our enemies.”
She continued: “They are human, just as we are. Flawed, just as we are. … But also risking their lives every day for our safety and security.”
Chicago residents, she said, should remember the danger police officers put themselves in every day.
“When you see a police officer, say ‘thank you,'” Lightfoot said. “Just say, ‘thank you.'”
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Brown said so far this year, 38 officers have been shot at, and 11 have been hit by gunfire.
Brown declined to release details about the slain officer at her mother’s request, noting the department will delay issuing any information “until she is ready.”
The wounded officer has been with the department six years, Brown said. He remained at University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was “fighting for his very life” in critical condition, according to First Deputy Eric Carter, who spoke to reporters outside the hospital early Sunday.
With him was Lightfoot, who said the officer who died was “very young on the job, but incredibly enthusiastic to do the work.” Brown had been out of town Saturday to finalize details of his mother’s funeral. On Sunday, he explained that she died suddenly last week.
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Ald. Raymond Lopez, whose ward covers the shooting scene in West Englewood, took to Twitter on Sunday after the news conference to slam the city’s response to the shooting.
“Lightfoot, Brown & Carter need to shut up & stop,” tweeted Lopez, a staunch advocate for officers. “Let the families & police process last night’s tragedy in peace [without] confrontation or argument. It’s not about you or your petty feelings. It’s about the brave men & women dealing with a collective pain, only needing our support.”
Investigators believe a male passenger in the suspect vehicle first opened fire, prompting the cops to shoot back, Brown said. The alleged shooter was then struck in the exchange of gunfire, the superintendent added.
He and another suspect were taken into custody shortly after the shooting, according to police communications from the scene.
While the alleged gunman was initially taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Brown said all the three suspects were now being questioned at Area One Headquarters. He declined to comment on what potentially prompted the deadly interaction.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the officer-involved shooting, Brown said. An agency spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Although Brown said none of the suspects appears to have “extensive” criminal backgrounds, he told reporters the alleged shooter had been arrested for robbery in 2019. He said that case has been adjudicated and resulted in some form of probation.
Both officers were part of CPD’s Community Safety Team, created last year. The unit is intended to help forge stronger community ties on the South and West sides. It was started with about 450 officers, and 200 more were added last September.
The incident was part of a violent night in Chicago, which also saw two mass shootings in Gresham and several triple shootings. In all, at least 45 people were shot between 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.
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Diana Luna, 37, was at her home Saturday night near the West Englewood shooting watching television with two of her children when she heard what sounded like four gunshots ring out.
Startled, Luna then tapped into her home security camera’s feed and saw what appeared to be a person collapsing near the front of her home. The single mother of four had just installed the camera about two months ago, hoping to protect her kids and keep tabs on a yard that had apparently been the scene of some recent petty thefts.
Despite those incidents, and being locked between areas with active gang conflicts, Luna said Sunday her area has remained safe since she moved there from Chicago Lawn about three years ago.
“You don’t see these things,” she said of the shooting.
Another neighbor, who wouldn’t provide his name Sunday, described the shooting as an isolated incident, saying the block is a haven for families that’s “basically quiet.”
In the Galewood neighborhood Sunday, where French apparently lived until recently, a person who used to live nearby described her as a courteous and “very respectful” neighbor who usually kept to herself.
They said they often would see her playing with her dog in the patch of grass in front of their apartment building before she moved out.
“That’s shocking” said the person, who declined to share his name. “She was a really good person… she was respectful. She let us know if she was going to have a party or something they would leave a sign downstairs, ‘We might have people going in and out.’ … that was nice.”
French had recently purchased a new home in the Parkview neighborhood on the Southwest Side in June, records show.
Her neighbor, who identified himself Sunday only as Johnny R., was shocked to learn the fallen officer from recent news reports was the same “decent person” who lived next door to him.
“That … breaks my heart right there,” Johnny, 62, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “She literally just moved in.
Some of the first police calls from the scene described one officer being shot.
“Officer down,” an officer radioed around 9:10 p.m.
“I got an officer down,” a police dispatcher repeats. “6-3 and Bell, officer down, officer down, shot twice, shot at police, officer down.
“Stay off my air, stay off my air,” the dispatcher continues, asking for no unnecessary calls on the channel. “Everybody stay off the air, I got an officer down, 6-3 and Bell, start rolling.
An officer is heard yelling, in apparent distress, and the dispatcher says, “Give me two ambulances, two ambulances needed for two officers down, two officers down … Get those officers wrapped up going to 6-3 and Bell. I want a perimeter set up three blocks, north south, east, west.”
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22769503/COPSSHOT_080921_14.jpg)
“
The last Chicago Police officers who died in the line of duty were Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo, who were chasing a man with a gun on the Far South Side when they were struck by a train and killed in December 2018.
The last officer shot to death in the line of duty was Samuel Jimenez, who was killed just a month earlier while responding to a shooting at Mercy Hospital. Three other people died, including the gunman.
Contributing: Mohammad Samra
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22769486/COPSSHOT_080921_17.jpg)
Chicago Police Officer Ella French joined the department because she “wanted to do good for the world,” her brother said Sunday.
“You know I never questioned it. Same as she never questioned me joining the Army,” Andrew French wrote in a message to the Chicago Sun-Times on Facebook on Sunday night.
“… My sister is a bada–. She always wanted to make a difference … however it was possible. I was never surprised when she said she was going to be a sheriff and then a cop. It just made sense.”
Ella French, 29, was identified Sunday by the Chicago Police Department as the officer who was fatally shot in West Englewood while in the line of duty Saturday night. Her partner, who was also wounded during a traffic stop shortly after 9 p.m. at 63rd Street and Bell Avenue, remained in critical condition Sunday at the University of Chicago Medical Center, CPD Supt. David Brown said.
“Our officers need this city to pray for their strength, to pray for peace that they are comforted, that their families are comforted,” Brown said Sunday during a news conference at CPD headquarters, where he announced the arrest of a third suspect in the fatal shooting on the South Side.
Andrew French said their mother, who adopted the two of them, gave them everything she could growing up while instilling in them the important values of being kind and helping others in need.
“She raised us to be of service. To care. To have integrity,” Andrew French wrote.
Andrew French said his sister was not married and had no children, despite stories being circulated on social media Sunday.
French and the other officer were shot during a traffic stop shortly after 9 p.m. at 63rd Street and Bell Avenue in West Englewood. They returned fire, hitting at least one suspect, police said.
Officers involved in the incident were equipped with body-worn cameras and much of what happened was caught on video, Brown noted.
He commended officers for continuing to show up and do their dangerous work after a night of tragedy. “I’m asking Chicago to wrap their arms around our police officers today and encourage them to continue their great work in protecting us all,” he added.
All city buildings will have flags lowered to half-staff, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, speaking after Brown and declaring Sunday an official day of mourning.
Lightfoot urged an end to constant bickering over police reform, the argument over whether police are over-regulated, or whether they’ve been given free rein.
“Stop. Just, stop,” Lightfoot said. “This constant strife is not what we need in this moment.”
While the mayor said “we need to continue the journey to achieve constitutional, accountable policing,” she insisted “the police are not our enemies.”
She continued: “They are human, just as we are. Flawed, just as we are. … But also risking their lives every day for our safety and security.”
Chicago residents, she said, should remember the danger police officers put themselves in every day.
“When you see a police officer, say ‘thank you,'” Lightfoot said. “Just say, ‘thank you.'”
Brown said so far this year, 38 officers have been shot at, and 11 have been hit by gunfire.
Brown declined to release details about the slain officer at her mother’s request, noting the department will delay issuing any information “until she is ready.”
The wounded officer has been with the department six years, Brown said. He remained at University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was “fighting for his very life” in critical condition, according to First Deputy Eric Carter, who spoke to reporters outside the hospital early Sunday.
With him was Lightfoot, who said the officer who died was “very young on the job, but incredibly enthusiastic to do the work.” Brown had been out of town Saturday to finalize details of his mother’s funeral. On Sunday, he explained that she died suddenly last week.
Ald. Raymond Lopez, whose ward covers the shooting scene in West Englewood, took to Twitter on Sunday after the news conference to slam the city’s response to the shooting.
“Lightfoot, Brown & Carter need to shut up & stop,” tweeted Lopez, a staunch advocate for officers. “Let the families & police process last night’s tragedy in peace [without] confrontation or argument. It’s not about you or your petty feelings. It’s about the brave men & women dealing with a collective pain, only needing our support.”
Investigators believe a male passenger in the suspect vehicle first opened fire, prompting the cops to shoot back, Brown said. The alleged shooter was then struck in the exchange of gunfire, the superintendent added.
He and another suspect were taken into custody shortly after the shooting, according to police communications from the scene.
While the alleged gunman was initially taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Brown said all the three suspects were now being questioned at Area One Headquarters. He declined to comment on what potentially prompted the deadly interaction.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the officer-involved shooting, Brown said. An agency spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Although Brown said none of the suspects appears to have “extensive” criminal backgrounds, he told reporters the alleged shooter had been arrested for robbery in 2019. He said that case has been adjudicated and resulted in some form of probation.
Both officers were part of CPD’s Community Safety Team, created last year. The unit is intended to help forge stronger community ties on the South and West sides. It was started with about 450 officers, and 200 more were added last September.
The incident was part of a violent night in Chicago, which also saw two mass shootings in Gresham and several triple shootings. In all, at least 45 people were shot between 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.
Diana Luna, 37, was at her home Saturday night near the West Englewood shooting watching television with two of her children when she heard what sounded like four gunshots ring out.
Startled, Luna then tapped into her home security camera’s feed and saw what appeared to be a person collapsing near the front of her home. The single mother of four had just installed the camera about two months ago, hoping to protect her kids and keep tabs on a yard that had apparently been the scene of some recent petty thefts.
Despite those incidents, and being locked between areas with active gang conflicts, Luna said Sunday her area has remained safe since she moved there from Chicago Lawn about three years ago.
“You don’t see these things,” she said of the shooting.
Another neighbor, who wouldn’t provide his name Sunday, described the shooting as an isolated incident, saying the block is a haven for families that’s “basically quiet.”
In the Galewood neighborhood Sunday, where French apparently lived until recently, a person who used to live nearby described her as a courteous and “very respectful” neighbor who usually kept to herself.
They said they often would see her playing with her dog in the patch of grass in front of their apartment building before she moved out.
“That’s shocking” said the person, who declined to share his name. “She was a really good person… she was respectful. She let us know if she was going to have a party or something they would leave a sign downstairs, ‘We might have people going in and out.’ … that was nice.”
French had recently purchased a new home in the Parkview neighborhood on the Southwest Side in June, records show.
Her neighbor, who identified himself Sunday only as Johnny R., was shocked to learn the fallen officer from recent news reports was the same “decent person” who lived next door to him.
“That … breaks my heart right there,” Johnny, 62, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “She literally just moved in.
Some of the first police calls from the scene described one officer being shot.
“Officer down,” an officer radioed around 9:10 p.m.
“I got an officer down,” a police dispatcher repeats. “6-3 and Bell, officer down, officer down, shot twice, shot at police, officer down.
“Stay off my air, stay off my air,” the dispatcher continues, asking for no unnecessary calls on the channel. “Everybody stay off the air, I got an officer down, 6-3 and Bell, start rolling.
An officer is heard yelling, in apparent distress, and the dispatcher says, “Give me two ambulances, two ambulances needed for two officers down, two officers down … Get those officers wrapped up going to 6-3 and Bell. I want a perimeter set up three blocks, north south, east, west.”
“
The last Chicago Police officers who died in the line of duty were Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo, who were chasing a man with a gun on the Far South Side when they were struck by a train and killed in December 2018.
The last officer shot to death in the line of duty was Samuel Jimenez, who was killed just a month earlier while responding to a shooting at Mercy Hospital. Three other people died, including the gunman.
Contributing: Mohammad Samra
WASHINGTON — From Hawaii high school buddies, to old friends from Chicago, to former Cabinet members, to Beyonce and Jay Z, former President Barack Obama threw himself a 60th birthday bash Saturday, with about 200 people attending the event that was scaled down over concerns about the spreading COVID Delta variant.
Obama turned 60 on Aug. 4 and spent last week celebrating in the run-up to the Saturday night outdoor party at his oceanside mansion on Martha’s Vineyard with spectacular views. Obama golfed and bowled with pals Wednesday and Thursday and then did a pre-party reception Friday night.
I’ve put together this report from sources with details about the party and were there.
Last week, Obama announced that party would be “significantly” scaled back after the Biden White House was put on the defensive over Obama hosting “hundreds” at his birthday party. The Obama team decided to reduce the size of the party in order to avoid it becoming a distraction from the larger message that everyone should get vaccinated and other COVID prevention work being done by the Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control.
Still, this scaled back party had about 200 guests, an eyewitness told me.
Obama erected a giant tent — open on all sides — on his grounds and had a COVID compliance officer on duty at the party to monitor the situation and health safety. Guests were asked to take COVID tests before the party. There were lots of masks available — some with a party logo — if someone wanted one.
Here’s what I learned:
. President Joe Biden, who was Obama’s vice president, did not attend but sent a video tribute, talking about their accomplishments and the closeness of their families.
. Chicagoan Marty Nesbitt, who is one of Obama’s best friends — he chairs the Obama Presidential Foundation Board — gave an emotional toast. Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha also spoke. So did Obama’s Hawaii high school buddies, who he remains close to. I’m told they were hilarious.
. John Legend sang “Happy Birthday” to Obama. Other performers included Common and The Roots.
. Former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, whose fundraising was crucial to Obama becoming a viable presidential candidate, was there with her husband, Bryan Traubert. She is also on the Obama Foundation board.
. Valerie Jarrett, close friend and confidant to Obama and former first lady Michelle — who introduced them to Martha’s Vineyard years ago — was there. After serving as a senior Obama White House official, she is now the Obama Foundation president.
. Chicago lawyer Tina Tchen, who was Michelle Obama’s chief of staff was also at the party.
. Others from Chicago include former Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan; friend and early supporter John Rogers; Jim and Paula Crown, who were also in on the ground floor when Obama was starting his political climb.
. Once the guest list had to shrink last week, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — who was Obama’s first chief of staff — was like others, including David Axelrod, Obama’s strategist, asked not to come. Making the cut and attending: former Obama White House photographer Pete Souza and Reggie Love, who at one-time was Obama’s “bodyman” and basketball playing buddy.
. Others at the party from the Obama Cabinet include his first Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
. Actor Tom Hanks, a long-time figure in the Obama orbit — was also there as was former NBA great Dwyane Wade, who was born in Chicago and raised in the southern suburbs.
. This was a sit-down dinner. Obama danced a lot. The party was still going on at 1 a.m.
This week in space brings a meteor shower, a launch, and a free day at the museum. Even more exciting, as Chicago continues to open up, so does space outreach and observing events in the city.
Here’s your guide to this week in space!
Scopes at the Adler, Adler Planetarium, Monday, August 9th, 8:45 pm
In place of the immensely popular Scopes in the City events the Adler held throughout the city pre-COVID, the planetarium is now back to in person observing sessions. For now, the events are being held at the Planetarium, in the Doane Observatory, and in extremely limited numbers. You will need to purchase a ticket to attend the experience. Tickets go on sale the morning of here: Adler Planetarium
Northrop Grumman CRS-16 Launch, Wallops Flight Facility, August 10th, 4:30 pm CDT
NASA and Northrop Grumman are launching the 16th resupply mission to the Space Station this week. The launch will be broadcasted on NASA TV Live beginning at 4:30 pm Chicago time. Watch here: NASA Live
Museum of Science and Industry Free Day, August 11th
This Wednesday the Museum of Science and Industry is free to Illinois residents. The Henry Crown Space Center is part of the general admission ticket, where you can explore space history and the future of space exploration. More information here: MSI Free Days
Perseid Meteor Shower 2021, Peaks August 12th
The Perseid meteor shower peaks this week on the morning of the 12th so if you can stay up it would be worth going outside to look up. Anytime after midnight until dawn there will be numerous meteors streaking across the night sky from the north.
Naperville AA Public Stargazing, Saturday August 14th, 8:30-10:30pm, NAA Education Center
The Naperville Astronomical Association is kicking off its return to in person events with a public stargazing session. Join the club for a tour of the night sky and visit the observatory that the club operates. Event information here: NAA Calendar
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What’s Happening This Week in Space: August 9th, 2021on August 9, 2021 at 2:12 am Read More »
In an undated photo posted on Twitter, Chicago Police Officer Ella French is equipped with everything that should have protected her on Saturday night.
She is wearing a safety vest. She has a police radio attached to her uniform so she can call for backup. She has her gun strapped to her waist.
Most importantly, Officer French is wearing the insignia of the Chicago Police Department on her left sleeve, and that should have been enough. In a better world — a better city — that should have been the only armor she needed. It should have kept her safe.
It did not.
Officer French was shot and killed in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side about 9 p.m. on Saturday while making an apparently routine traffic stop. Another officer was shot, as well. He is fighting for his life, as we write this, in a hospital intensive care unit.
This city should be so ashamed of itself.
Every weekend, Chicago shoots itself up. More than 60 people were shot just this past weekend. And now the city can’t even claim to reasonably protect the police officers it throws into the streets to push back against the violence. So far this year, Police Supt. David Brown said Sunday, 38 officers have been shot at, and 11 have been hit by gunfire.
Let’s understand:
When the police are not respected, when the authority of their uniform and badge no longer holds, nobody is safe. We either stand as a city with the police, even as we support police reforms, or we sink as a city without the police.
We will learn more about Officer French in the coming days.
She was just 29.
We will learn more, as well, about the traffic stop, near 63rd Street and Bell Avenue, that ended in Officer French’s death and the critical wounding of the other officer. There is body cam video. We urge the city to release the video as quickly as legally possible.
Who were the three people in the car, now arrested? What in hell were they up to? What exactly transpired?
And perhaps this is the most pressing question of all: What might our criminal justice system have done to keep us safe from the people in that car before this bloody night?
Chicago flags are at half-staff again. And men and women in blue, standing at attention and saluting, will line the streets again as funeral hearses roll by.
Will we all, in every neighborhood, stand with them, in person and in spirit?
We had better.
On Sunday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot was asked whether the surge of shootings of police officers might be related, somehow and indirectly, to Chicago’s continued efforts at police reform. There has been so much criticism of the department, and so much defensive lashing back.
To which Lightfoot responded quite rightly: “Stop. Just, stop it.”
Yes, the mayor said, Chicago must “continue the journey” to more “constitutional, accountable police,” but “the police are not our enemies.” On the contrary, they risk their lives for us “every day.”
They risk their lives and give their lives.
Every day.
Send letters to [email protected].
Jane Withers, the former child actor who bedeviled Shirley Temple on the screen and went on to star in B-movies and the “Josephine the Plumber” TV commercials, has died, her daughter said. She was 95.
Withers died Saturday, her daughter Kendall Errair said. Withers was one of the last remaining stars from the 1930s and 1940s, the height of Hollywood studio dominance.
After a series of minor roles as a child actress, Withers was cast by Twentieth Century-Fox in the 1934 “Bright Eyes,” as the nemesis of lovable Temple, then Hollywood’s most popular star.
“I had to play the meanest, creepiest little girl that God ever put on this planet,” Withers recalled in 2000. “I ran over Shirley with a tricycle, and a baby buggy. And I thought, ‘Oh dear, everybody’s going to hate me forever because I was so creepy mean to Shirley Temple!’ “
It didn’t turn out that way. Critics claimed that she stole the picture from Shirley. Children wrote fan letters admiring what she did to Shirley “because she’s so perfect.”
Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck figured there was room for another child actress at the studio, and she was signed to a contract. She played the anti-Shirley, a bright, talky, mischief-prone girl with wide eyes, chubby cheeks and straight black hair that contrasted with Shirley’s blonde curly top.
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For four years, Fox ground out three or four Withers films annually at budgets far lower than the Temple specials. Among the titles: “Ginger,” “Paddy O’Day,” “Little Miss Nobody,” “Wild and Wooly” and “Arizona Wildcat.”
Even though B pictures were aimed for the bottom half of double bills, a theater owners poll named Withers one of the top money-making stars in 1936 and 1937.
Withers proved less of a draw as a teenager, and her career dwindled.
As an adult she appeared in a few films and on television.
Her biggest prominence came from portraying “Josephine” in TV commercials for Comet cleanser for 12 years.
“Oh, the money is nice, all right,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 1963. “I got five figures for eight of those commercials, and I’m doing four more.”
The main advantage, she said, was that unlike the Broadway offers she was getting, the job didn’t interfere with her home life in Hollywood.
She said in a later Times interview that she felt the original Josephine character was “too smart-alecky, too brash,” but she thought “any lady who was going to become a plumber” would take pride in her work and care about her customers.
Fame started early for Jane Withers. Born April 12, 1926, in Atlanta, she had appeared as Dixie’s Dainty Dewdrop on local radio by the age of 3.
Her mother had greater ambitions, and she persuaded her husband to move the family to Hollywood.
Jane played bit roles in movies and supplied voices for the Willie Whopper and the Looney Tunes cartoons.
Her experience with W.C. Fields in “It’s a Gift” (1934) belies the legend — encouraged by Fields himself — that the comedian hated children. Fields chose her for a scene in which she played hopscotch in front of his store, frustrating his exit. He coached her and afterward praised her professionalism.
When she won her first starring role, he sent her two large bouquets and a note saying, “I know you’re going to knock them dead in ‘Ginger’ and you’re going to have a fantastic career.”
Her popularity led to Jane Withers dolls and other merchandise. At her peak, she was earning $2,500 a week and $50,000 a year in endorsements. Unlike other child stars, she did not watch her earnings disappear.
She explained in 1974: “Fortunately, my dad had a great love of California land. He kind of dibble-dabbled in real estate in a marvelous way.”
During her childhood she started collecting dolls and teddy bears, and she continued throughout her lifetime. In 1988 she reported that she owned 12,000 dolls and 2,500 teddy bears which were boxed and crated in a 27,000-square-foot warehouse.
Withers’ film appearances as an adult were sporadic, partly because of three marriages and five children. Her most notable credits were “Giant” (1956) and “Captain Newman, M.D.” (1963).
In 1947, Withers left Hollywood to live with her first husband, producer-oil man William Moss, in Midland, Texas. The marriage produced three children and ended after seven years.
She returned to Hollywood and was paralyzed with arthritis. She recovered after spending five months in a hospital.
She had two more children with second husband Kenneth Errair, one of the Four Freshmen singing group, who died in 1968. In 1985 she married Thomas Pierson, a travel agency executive.
An interviewer in 1974 asked Withers how she managed to escape the troubles that plagued many child stars in adulthood. A lifelong Presbyterian, she commented: “I always took my troubles to the good Lord, and I never failed to get an answer.”
More than 100 museums, architecture studios, and community organizations—including Douglass 18, SOM, Museum of Contemporary Art, 6018 North, Studio Gang and Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs, and many others—will offer lectures, panels, performances,
workshops, and other events in neighborhoods across Chicago
The Chicago Architecture Biennial announced more than 100 city- wide cultural partners that will present programming in coordination with this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial, The Available City, which will take place from September 17-December 18, 2021 at locations across the city. The 2021 edition will present ideas and possibilities for vacant urban spaces, activated with and for local community groups in collaboration with designers.
Comprising in-person and digital programs, The Available City moves outside of what has historically been the main venue of the Chicago Cultural Center to upwards of ten outdoor sites and two indoor exhibition venues. The 2021 Biennial spans ten neighborhoods and features 18 projects created by more than 68 contributors, with site partners ranging from community gardens and historic sites to schools and vacant lots. Each will bring The Available City’s community-focused exploration of architecture and the urban landscape into neighborhoods throughout Chicago, augmented and broadened by the participation of cultural partners across the city.
“It is beyond inspiring to see our city’s communities and cultural organizations collaborate together on the impressive, global platform that is presented by the Biennial,” said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “The Available City’s alignment with my administration’s signature neighborhood investment initiative INVEST South/West will only amplify this collaboration and allow us to continue addressing issues that are impacting our residents by highlighting our shared histories and hopes for the future.”
The Available City reveals the wide-ranging possibilities for creating and introducing new spaces to serve community needs—including education, arts and culture, health and wellness, businesses, urban agriculture, and affordable housing—by reimagining available and vacant space in and around the city. The programs organized by cultural partners are central to ensuring that the conversation around the Biennial is inclusive and ever-changing in a diverse range of settings, venues, and communities throughout the Biennial.
“The participation of organizations across the city is very important to the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,” noted DCASE Commissioner Mark Kelly. “We are excited to be once again partnering with the Biennial—especially with this edition, which is deeply focused on artists, architects, and cultural organizations in neighborhoods across Chicago.
The Biennial’s 2021 cultural partner programs include:
The opening of a mini-golf course by Douglass 18, a community-led project supported by the Lincoln Park Zoo, is being redesigned with a theme of bird conservation. Located in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, the plan to reinvigorate the underutilized course was developed by a cohort of young adults and community partners from Chicago’s West Side, inspired by the park’s migratory bird population. The course is set to open on August 7, 2021.
Architecture firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), in partnership with Tsz Yan Ng and Wes McGee at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, is designing and building an outdoor pavilion utilizing robotic fabrication techniques for Epic Academy in South Shore, Chicago. The pavilion, which will be on view starting September 17, is constructed from sustainably sourced timber and will function as an outdoor classroom and an event and performance space, designed with the needs of Epic Academy students and teachers in mind.
RAISIN, an exhibition presented at 6018North, is inspired by and explores themes from Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play A Raisin in the Sun (1959)—from first-time homeownership, gender dynamics within communities of color to generational dreams, and more. Featuring artworks created by more than 30 Chicago and international artists, the exhibition offers local and global perspectives on ‘home’ and was organized by guest curator Asha Iman Veal with curatorial assistants Shannon Lin and Esraa Youssef.
Studio Gang, presenting the first exhibition in their new Wicker Park gallery space—a look at the Studio’s collaboration with apparel manufacturing workers co-op Blue Tin Production to transform a vacant former post office in Chicago Lawn into a new production headquarters and community hub.
On view at the Museum of Contemporary Art from September 4, the exhibition Bani Abidi: The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared brings together nearly two decades of the work of Bani Abidi, a multidisciplinary Pakistani artist whose work explores cosmopolitanism through semi- fictional scenes of everyday life captured with a barbed sense of humor that are informed by her experiences in metropolitan cities including Chicago.
Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is supporting public art and site-specific cultural programs led by the Artists-In-Residence in four INVEST South/West communities: Auburn Gresham (Dorian Sylvain), Austin (Antonia Ruppert), Englewood (Eric Hotchkiss) and New City/Back of the Yards (Fernando Ramirez in partnership with Project Onward). This program addresses the urgent need for cultural investment in neighborhoods on Chicago’s South and West sides—and furthers the City’s ongoing commitments to equity and access to the arts. Additionally, DCASE will present free cultural events and exhibitions at the Chicago Cultural Center, Millennium Park and in communities across Chicago—including a new “Music Lives Here” public art initiative launching August 29 with historical markers installed at 50 sites across Chicago and a special Record Row concert series, presented as part of the new citywide “Chicago In Tune” festival.
“The Biennial’s partnerships with both world-renowned and distinctly local arts and cultural venues across Chicago add a diversity of ideas to an exposition intended to foster an international dialogue on architecture in the city known for groundbreaking, innovative design,” states Jack Guthman, Chicago Architecture Biennial Chairman of the Board. “We greatly value these alliances.”
Throughout the Biennial, there will be a series of dedicated activation weekends between September 17 and October 31, 2021, that bring CAB’s installation sites to life through conversations, performances, and workshops in partnership with community organizations. Installation sites include Grow Greater Englewood, Community Christian Alternative Academy’s PermaPark, Central Park Theater, Westside Association for Community Action’s playlot, and El Paseo Community Garden. All projects and programs are developed in close collaboration with neighborhood organizations, schools, local residents, and the global architects who are contributors to the Biennial.
“It is exciting to see the full city coming alive with site activations and programs that highlight the work of community based and black led organizations dedicated to contributing to the future of our city” explained Anton Seals Jr., Director of Grow Greater Englewood. “In addition to participating as an installation site, we are looking forward to engaging the public from across communities and around the world to explore the significance of community-led design.”
Chicago Architecture Biennial 2021 Cultural Partners:
062
6018North
ACE Mentor Program Chicago
ACRE
AIA Chicago
Alliance Française de Chicago
ALLL x Leapfrog Project
ArchAgenda
archKIDecture :: architecture teaching for kids Arquitectos Inc.
Art Institute of Chicago
Art on theMART
Arts + Public Life
Association of Architecture Organizations Auditorium Theatre
Bronzeville Artist Loft
BUILD
Canopy / architecture + design, LLC Carol Fox & Associates
CCA Academy PermaPark
Central Park Theater
Chicago Architectural Club
Chicago Architecture Center
Chicago Art Deco Society
Chicago Cultural Alliance
Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Chicago Humanities Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago Mobile Makers
Chicago Public Library
College of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology Could Be Architecture
Cultural services French embassy / French consulate Danish Arts Foundation
DePaul Art Museum and Stockyard Institute
Design Museum of Chicago
Douglass 18
Eastlake Studio
Edgar Miller Legacy
El Paseo Community Garden European Cultural Centre – USA Exhibit Columbus
Experimental Sound Studio EXPO Chicago
Galaudet Gallery
Gallery Guichard
Glessner House
GnarWare Workshop
Good City Group
Graham Foundation
Grow Greater Englewood Historic Stone Temple Church HOK
Human Scale
Hyde Park Art Center
Kuumba Lynx
Landon Bone Baker Architects Legat Architects
Lincoln Park Zoo
MAKE Literary Productions
MAS Context
Memorial Nature Fund
Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize at IIT College of Architecture MLK District Garden
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Museum of Science and Industry National Museum of Mexican Art NeighborSpace
NEXT.cc STEAM by DESIGN Eco Web North River Commission
Omni Ecosystems
Open sheds used for what? Openlands
Overton Elementary School PLAMEN Art Foundation Plant Chicago
Poetry Foundation
Project Hood
Roman Susan Art Foundation NFP
SAIC Sculpture Department
SAIC Visual and Critical Studies Department
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
School of the Art Institute of Chicago Homan Square
site design group
SITE/less, an experimental architecture, movement and research center Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
Society of Architectural Historians
Space p11
SpaceLab.info
Studio Gang
Tender House Project
Terrain Biennial
Terrain Exhibitions
Territory NFP
The Arts Club of Chicago
The Franklin
Theatre Y
Unity Temple Restoration Foundation
University of Chicago
Volume Gallery
WACA
Water Wayfinding
Watershed Art & Ecology
Whose Lakefront Planning Group YMEN
Zephyr
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Chicago police on Sunday captured the third suspect in the fatal shooting of a police officer and the wounding of another the night before during a traffic stop in West Englewood.
Chicago Police Department Supt. David Brown announced the arrest Sunday morning at CPD headquarters. He said the wounded officer remained in critical condition.
“Our officers need this city to pray for their strength, to pray for peace that they are comforted, that their families are comforted,” Brown said.
The slain officer was identified by the department as Ella French, 29, who had started with CPD in April 2018.
French and the other officer were shot during a traffic stop shortly after 9 p.m. at 63rd Street and Bell Avenue in West Englewood. They returned fire, hitting at least one suspect, police said.
Officers involved in the incident were equipped with body-worn cameras and much of what happened was caught on video, Brown noted.
He commended officers for continuing to show up and do their dangerous work after a night of tragedy. “I’m asking Chicago to wrap their arms around our police officers today and encourage them to continue their great work in protecting us all, he added.
All city buildings will have flags lowered to half-staff, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, speaking after Brown and declaring Sunday an official day of mourning.
Lightfoot urged an end to constant bickering over police reform, the argument over whether police are over-regulated, or whether they’ve been given free rein.
“Stop. Just, stop,” Lightfoot said. “This constant strife is not what we need in this moment.”
While the mayor said “we need to continue the journey to achieve constitutional, accountable policing,” she insisted “the police are not our enemies.”
She continued: “They are human, just as we are. Flawed, just as we are. … But also risking their lives every day for our safety and security.”
Chicago residents, she said, should remember the danger police officers put themselves in every day.
“When you see a police officer, say ‘thank you,'” Lightfoot said. “Just say, ‘thank you.'”
Brown said so far this year, 38 officers have been shot at, and 11 have been hit by gunfire.
Brown declined to release details about the slain officer at her mother’s request, noting the department will delay issuing any information “until she is ready.”
The wounded officer has been with the department six years, Brown said. He remained at University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was “fighting for his very life” in critical condition, according to First Deputy Eric Carter, who spoke to reporters outside the hospital early Sunday.
With him was Lightfoot, who said the officer who died was “very young on the job, but incredibly enthusiastic to do the work.” Brown had been out of town Saturday to finalize details of his mother’s funeral. On Sunday, he explained that she died suddenly last week.
Ald. Raymond Lopez, whose ward covers the shooting scene in West Englewood, took to Twitter on Sunday after the news conference to slam the city’s response to the shooting.
“Lightfoot, Brown & Carter need to shut up & stop,” tweeted Lopez, a staunch advocate for officers. “Let the families & police process last night’s tragedy in peace [without] confrontation or argument. It’s not about you or your petty feelings. It’s about the brave men & women dealing with a collective pain, only needing our support.”
Investigators believe a male passenger in the suspect vehicle first opened fire, prompting the cops to shoot back, Brown said. The alleged shooter was then struck in the exchange of gunfire, the superintendent added.
He and another suspect were taken into custody shortly after the shooting, according to police communications from the scene.
While the alleged gunman was initially taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Brown said all the three suspects were now being questioned at Area One Headquarters. He declined to comment on what potentially prompted the deadly interaction.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the officer-involved shooting, Brown said. An agency spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Although Brown said none of the suspects appears to have “extensive” criminal backgrounds, he told reporters the alleged shooter had been arrested for robbery in 2019. He said that case has been adjudicated and resulted in some form of probation.
Both officers were part of CPD’s Community Safety Team, created last year. The unit is intended to help forge stronger community ties on the South and West sides. It was started with about 450 officers, and 200 more were added last September.
The incident was part of a violent night in Chicago, which also saw two mass shootings in Gresham and several triple shootings. In all, at least 45 people were shot between 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.
Diana Luna, 37, was at her home Saturday night near the West Englewood shooting watching television with two of her children when she heard what sounded like four gunshots ring out.
Startled, Luna then tapped into her home security camera’s feed and saw what appeared to be a person collapsing near the front of her home. The single mother of four had just installed the camera about two months ago, hoping to protect her kids and keep tabs on a yard that had apparently been the scene of some recent petty thefts.
Despite those incidents, and being locked between areas with active gang conflicts, Luna said Sunday her sleepy enclave has remained safe since she moved there from Chicago Lawn about three years ago.
“You don’t see these things,” she said of the shooting.
Another neighbor, who wouldn’t provide his name Sunday, described the shooting as an isolated incident, saying the block is a haven for families that’s “basically quiet.”
In the Galewood neighborhood Sunday, where French apparently lived until recently, a person who used to live nearby described her as a courteous and “very respectful” neighbor who usually kept to herself.
They said they often would see her playing with her dog in the patch of grass in front of their apartment building before she moved out.
“That’s shocking” said the person, who declined to share his name. “She was a really good person… she was respectful. She let us know if she was going to have a party or something they would leave a sign downstairs, ‘We might have people going in and out.’ … that was nice.”
French had recently purchased a new home in the Parkview neighborhood on the Southwest Side in June, records show.
Her neighbor, who identified himself Sunday only as Johnny R., was shocked to learn the fallen officer from recent news reports was the same “decent person” who lived next door to him.
“That … breaks my heart right there,” Johnny, 62, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “She literally just moved in.
Some of the first police calls from the scene described one officer being shot.
“Officer down,” an officer radioed around 9:10 p.m.
“I got an officer down,” a police dispatcher repeats. “6-3 and Bell, officer down, officer down, shot twice, shot at police, officer down.
“Stay off my air, stay off my air,” the dispatcher continues, asking for no unnecessary calls on the channel. “Everybody stay off the air, I got an officer down, 6-3 and Bell, start rolling.
An officer is heard yelling, in apparent distress, and the dispatcher says, “Give me two ambulances, two ambulances needed for two officers down, two officers down … Get those officers wrapped up going to 6-3 and Bell. I want a perimeter set up three blocks, north south, east, west.”
“
The last Chicago Police officers who died in the line of duty were Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo, who were chasing a man with a gun on the Far South Side when they were struck by a train and killed in December 2018.
The last officer shot to death in the line of duty was Samuel Jimenez, who was killed just a month earlier while responding to a shooting at Mercy Hospital. Three other people died, including the gunman.
Contributing: Mohammad Samra
Chicago police on Sunday captured the suspect in the fatal shooting of a police officer and the wounding of another the night before during a traffic stop in West Englewood.
Chicago Police Department Supt. David Brown announced the arrest Sunday morning at CPD headquarters. He said the wounded officer remained in critical condition.
“Our officers need this city to pray for their strength, to pray for peace that they are comforted, that their families are comforted,” Brown said.
The slain officer was identified by the department as Ella French, who had started with CPD in April 2018.
French and the other officer were shot during a traffic stop shortly after 9 p.m. at 63rd Street and Bell Avenue in West Englewood. They returned fire, hitting at least one suspect, police said.
Officers involved in the incident were equipped with body-worn cameras and much of what happened was caught on video, Brown noted.
He commended officers for continuing to show up and do their dangerous work after a night of tragedy. “I’m asking Chicago to wrap their arms around our police officers today and encourage them to continue their great work in protecting us all, he added.
All city buildings will have flags lowered to half-staff, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, speaking after Brown and declaring Sunday an official day of mourning.
Lightfoot urged an end to constant bickering over police reform, the argument over whether police are over-regulated, or whether they’ve been given free rein.
“Stop. Just, stop,” Lightfoot said. “This constant strife is not what we need in this moment.”
While the mayor said “we need to continue the journey to achieve constitutional, accountable policing,” she insisted “the police are not our enemies.”
She continued: “They are human, just as we are. Flawed, just as we are. … But also risking their lives every day for our safety and security.”
Chicago residents, she said, should remember the danger police officers put themselves in every day.
“When you see a police officer, say ‘thank you,'” Lightfoot said. “Just say, ‘thank you.'”
Brown said so far this year, 38 officers have been shot at, and 11 have been hit by gunfire.
Brown declined to release details about the slain officer at her mother’s request, noting the department will delay issuing any information “until she is ready.”
The wounded officer has been with the department six years, Brown said. He remained at University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was “fighting for his very life” in critical condition, according to First Deputy Eric Carter, who spoke to reporters outside the hospital early Sunday.
With him was Lightfoot, who said the officer who died was “very young on the job, but incredibly enthusiastic to do the work.” Brown had been out of town Saturday to finalize details of his mother’s funeral. On Sunday, he explained that she died suddenly last week.
Ald. Raymond Lopez, whose ward covers the shooting scene in West Englewood, took to Twitter Sunday after the news conference to slam the city’s response to the shooting.
“Lightfoot, Brown & Carter need to shut up & stop,” tweeted Lopez, a staunch advocate for officers. “Let the families & police process last night’s tragedy in peace [without] confrontation or argument. It’s not about you or your petty feelings. It’s about the brave men & women dealing with a collective pain, only needing our support.”
Investigators believe a male passenger in the suspect vehicle first opened fire, prompting the cops to shoot back, Brown said. The alleged shooter was then struck in the exchange of gunfire, the superintendent added.
He and another suspect were taken into custody shortly after the shooting, according to police communications from the scene.
While the alleged gunman was initially taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Brown said all the three suspects were now being questioned at Area One Headquarters. He declined to comment on what potentially prompted the deadly interaction.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the officer-involved shooting, Brown said. An agency spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Although Brown said none of the suspects appears to have “extensive” criminal backgrounds, he told reporters the alleged shooter had been arrested for robbery in 2019. He said that case has been adjudicated and resulted in some form of probation.
Both officers were part of CPD’s Community Safety Team, created last year. The unit is intended to help forge stronger community ties on the South and West sides. It was started with about 450 officers, and 200 more were added last September.
The incident was part of a violent night in Chicago, which also saw two mass shootings in Gresham and several triple shootings. In all, at least 45 people were shot between 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.
Some of the first police calls from the scene described one officer being shot.
“Officer down,” an officer radioed around 9:10 p.m.
“I got an officer down,” a police dispatcher repeats. “6-3 and Bell, officer down, officer down, shot twice, shot at police, officer down.
“Stay off my air, stay off my air,” the dispatcher continues, asking for no unnecessary calls on the channel. “Everybody stay off the air, I got an officer down, 6-3 and Bell, start rolling.
An officer is heard yelling, in apparent distress, and the dispatcher says, “Give me two ambulances, two ambulances needed for two officers down, two officers down … Get those officers wrapped up going to 6-3 and Bell. I want a perimeter set up three blocks, north south, east, west.”
About a block from the shooting, neighbors looked out cautiously from their front yards on what one resident said was a “quiet block.”
“Be careful, they’re still looking for someone,” a woman warned a neighbor as she walked by.
Dozens of officers could be seen patrolling the neighborhood and blocking streets in the area while a police helicopter flew overhead.
Officers tied blue ribbons to trees shortly before midnight near the medical examiner’s office in preparation for a procession to bring the officer who died to the morgue.
Outside the medical center, a large crowd of police officers gathered outside an ambulance bay. They included city, county and state police officials and supporters.
Some in the crowd held a group prayer, and others hugged each other and engaged in hushed conversation. Water bottles were passed out by police personnel wearing jackets that read “peer support.”
The last Chicago Police officers who died in the line of duty were Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo, who were chasing a man with a gun on the Far South Side when they were struck by a train and killed in December 2018.
The last officer shot to death in the line of duty was Samuel Jimenez, who was killed just a month earlier while responding to a shooting at Mercy Hospital. Three other people died, including the gunman.
Contributing: Mohammad Samra
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