About 7:30 p.m., a male was near the sidewalk in the 7000 block of South Merrill Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him multiple times, Chicago police said.
The male, whose age was not immediately known, was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. His name hasn’t been released.
MILWAUKEE — If anything is a given before the trade deadline Friday, it’s that the White Sox will make an addition to their bullpen. There’s room for at least one upgrade in this vitally important area.
The current bullpen is prepared to be shaken up a bit.
”Absolutely,” left-hander Aaron Bummer said before a frustrated White Sox team lost 7-1 to the Brewers to open a three-game series between two first-place teams. ”We’re very confident in the group we have. I think the team is very confident in the group we have. If the front office thinks we can get better as a staff, we’re completely cool with that.”
The bullpen, which is ranked a very respectable fifth in the majors by FanGraphs, was touted by many as perhaps the best in baseball going into the season. That was based on 2020 performances in a 60-game season, a deep stable of power arms and the addition of closer Liam Hendriks during the offseason.
But with Evan Marshall down with a strained right elbow and others, such as Bummer (4.96 ERA) and Codi Heuer (5.26), lacking consistency, it hasn’t been a dominant group.
Bummer, in his third outing since coming off the injured list with a strained hamstring, allowed no hard contact but walked Willy Adames and Christian Yelich on eight consecutive balls to load the bases when the Brewers pushed across six runs in the seventh inning for a 7-0 lead. Avisail Garcia’s infield out scored a run, and Ryan Burr, who relieved Bummer, walked two more to force in the Brewers’ third run before Tyrone Taylor hit a grand slam to blow the game open.
Burr’s walk that forced in a run prompted manager Tony La Russa to go to the mound and get ejected for arguing balls and strikes, his first ejection of the season. Shortstop Tim Anderson was also ejected by plate umpire John Libka in the eighth and had to be restrained by teammates and coaches.
“We play against the other team, we do not play against the umpires,” La Russa said. “You get your team to play with emotion, to succeed and compete. We got emotional. A couple of those calls did not decide the outcome. There’s no way that it’s beneficial to get upset at umpires.”
La Russa said he thought Luis Urias was “ducking pitches,” his long stride lowering his strike zone at the letters.
“He ducked and got away with it. That’s why I was upset, but the umpires did not decide that game.”
And that’s a fact. The Sox had five hits, one of them a homer by Andrew Vaughn in the eighth. And they walked nine batters. Nine walks are nine walks.
“We have to go out and preserve leads and keep us in games and win games late,” Bummer said. “That’s just what we need to do. We have the next two months to make sure we’re still doing that.”
With pitching matchups featuring five starters with ERAs below 2.40, the series set up to be decided by the bullpens.
Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito allowed one run in six innings, striking out three and walking a season-high five (one intentional). He threw 91 pitches, 53 for strikes. Brewers right-handed Freddy Peralta, limited to 51 pitches as the Brewers manage his innings, threw four scoreless innings.
“I thought I pitched pretty well,” Giolito said. “I’m cool with my performance. I lacked a little command with some of those walks.
With a nine-game lead in their division going in, the Sox already are thinking about October. The pen will need to be mightier.
”Trying to make this team into a true World Series contender, that is the end goal,” Bummer said. ”Whether it’s the same guys now as a week from now or not, our job is get our job done and preserve leads and wins. [Trades are] left up to [the front office], and we’re going to be happy with the guys we’re rolling out there, whoever it may be.”
A year ago, defenseman Owen Power was coping with the abrupt end of another strong Chicago Steel season and scrambling to stay in shape during the height of the pandemic.
”I’ve just been trying to keep busy outside, whether it’s putting on the rollerblades, going for a skate, or playing volleyball or basketball with my siblings,” he told the Sun-Times in April 2020. ”Anything, really. Just trying to stay active.”
He evidently made it through the shutdown without losing his groove.
On Friday, the Sabres chose Power — a Toronto-area native who spent two seasons with the Steel before starring at Michigan in 2020-21 — with the first overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
“It’s pretty special,” Power told ESPN. “It’s something I’ve dreamed about my whole life. I don’t know if my younger self would’ve really believed it.”
It was a banner day for Michigan’s hockey program, with current or future Wolverines representing four of the top five picks. Forward Matthew Beniers went second to the Kraken, defensive recruit Luke Hughes went fourth to the Devils and forward Kent Johnson went fifth to the Blue Jackets.
Forward Mason McTavish, a Canadian juniors product, went third to the Ducks.
The Steel, the Geneva-based team that has become a powerhouse of U.S. junior hockey during the last decade, are also on track for another impressive draft weekend. Matthew Coronato, one of seven Steel alumni projected to be picked this year, went 13th to the Flames.
Top goalies Sebastian Cossa and Jesper Wallstedt, rumored to be on the Hawks’ radar before they traded the 12th pick, eventually landed with the Red Wings at 15th and TKTKTK, respectively.
Power, meanwhile, emerged late in the process as the consensus first overall pick. He’ll be challenged to break the trend of recent No. 1 selections enduring slow starts to their NHL careers. The last four — Alexis Lafreniere (2020 to the Rangers), Jack Hughes (2019 to the Devils), Rasmus Dahlin (2018 to the Sabres) and Nico Hischier (2017 to the Devils) — averaged only 21.5 points last season.
Hawks hold six Saturday picks
After trading down to 32nd in Friday’s first round, the Blackhawks enter Saturday’s second round with six more selections to make.
They own one second-round pick (62nd), two fourth-round picks (105th and 108th), one sixth-round pick (172nd) and two seventh-round picks (204th and 216th).
Toews, Nylander updates
Alex Nylander — who missed all of last season recovering from knee surgery — is 100% healthy and will be ready for training camp in September, general manager Stan Bowman said Thursday.
But Jonathan Toews, despite breaking his silence and resuming daily on-ice workouts this summer, is less certain for camp.
”None of us has a crystal ball to know how he’ll feel in September,” Bowman said. ”We’ll just take that as it comes, though. We don’t have to put any pressure on him being ready for a certain date.”
Organist John Benedeck treated the Wrigley Field faithful to a cheery rendition of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” before the fading Cubs rolled Friday in the opener of what could be the final homestand for several key players.
No lyrics, of course, but it was impossible not to substitute your own as you hummed along with the timeless hit from Rockford’s finest.
“Surrender … surrender … but don’t give [Kris] Bryant away.”
Back in the lineup for this 8-3 victory over the lowly Diamondbacks after missing two starts with fatigue in his right hamstring, Bryant went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks and two strikeouts. The left fielder received a nice hand from the home crowd as he stepped in the first time, then drew a full-count walk.
Two batters later, Javy Baez bashed a first-pitch slider into the left-field bleachers for a three-run homer and a lead the Cubs never relinquished. Baez had gone 37 at-bats without a homer, dating to his two-blast game at home against the Phillies on July 6.
Bryant saw 14 pitches through his first two trips, walking on another full count in the third before chasing offspeed pitches to strike out in his final two cracks. He also was forced out at home on a hard slide in the third, a fair test for his hamstring after he was limited to one pinch-hit walk (Thursday in St. Louis) since exiting Tuesday’s game after five innings.
Nostalgia might have felt a little forced as the Cubs wore their pajama-style “City Connect” uniforms with “Wrigleyville” across the front. Yet, even with the home nine wearing a dark/light blue combo that conjures the Rays more than the glory years of this not-quite modern dynasty, the 34,059 in attendance had to grasp the significance of the moment.
“It’s really nice to be home in a situation where there’s a lot of uncertainty, and we should appreciate what we have here because this is a really special place,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “I know what it’s like to not be able to play here on a regular basis. I missed it as soon as I didn’t get to do it.”
Barring a last-minute surge back into wild-card contention, the Cubs figure to deal a few more key pieces before the July 30 trade deadline. Bryant, headed for free agency after the season, appears to be foremost among those.
Right-hander Zach Davies, another potential trade chip in the final year of his contract, struck out eight in 5 1/3 innings and left with a 7-0 lead before being charged with two earned runs. The strikeout total was one off Davies’ career high as he was pushed to a season-high 107 pitches.
“I’ve been traded three times before,” Davies said. “I know what it’s about. I know it’s there. I’m not naive about it. But I’m going to prepare for the Reds … if I’m here. If not, or if anybody else isn’t on the team, it is what it is.”
While Davies might be on to Cincinnati, at least mentally, the ex-Brewer and ex-Padre knows that might not be as easy for those who never have been through this before.
“When guys get worried too much about that, it takes them out of their game,” Davies said. “We’ve got a week left before the deadline. That’s a week of baseball [in which] guys could enhance their value for themselves, for the team, for whatever it may be.”
An Iowa man arrested during the Fourth of July weekend with a rifle, scope and pistol at a downtown Chicago hotel told police officers he accidentally brought the guns with him, according to video from Chicago police officers’ body-worn camera obtained by the Sun-Times.
Keegan Casteel was unclothed when officers arrived at his room at Hotel W, 644 N. Lake Shore Dr., after a housekeeping employee tipped off police there were weapons and ammunition in his room. Casteel insisted he accidentally brought the bag with him after packing and leaving late at night.
“It’s my gun bag and we just packed late at night,” 32-year-old Casteel said. “I emptied most of it.”
Casteel said they had spent the day in an Iowa hospital before leaving for Chicago and had a late start to packing. He thought he removed most items from the bag and believed the rifle was in its case.
Body-worn camera video shows police on the scene befuddled at what they found. They seemingly didn’t believe Casteel would carry out a violent attack but also believed they may have just prevented a mass shooting.
Both Chicago Police Supt. David Brown and Mayor Lori Lightfoot seemingly believed the latter; both touted the arrest, with Brown saying police “likely prevented a tragedy from happening,”
Casteel, an auto mechanic from Ankeny, Iowa, told officers he was visiting Chicago for the weekend to “have fun” with his family. His two children and girlfriend were with him in the room when officers arrived.
As Casteel’s children shouted and cried, an officer rounded up the weapons and ammunition. He stood at the foot of one bed disarming a handgun as a bullet flew out the chamber. On the bed sat five rifle magazines next to a children’s doll.
A Chicago police officer picking up five rifle magazines and a pistol inside the downtown hotel room where Keegan Casteel had been staying with his children and girlfriend.Screenshot from police body-worn camera video
The officer tried to calm the kids; they could trust him, he told the children, because he’s a police officer.
“We just got to talk to daddy really quick, OK? He’s not in any trouble, OK? We just got to talk to him, we just got to make sure the guns are OK, OK?,” the officer said. “You guys are OK. … There’s no need to cry.”
The hotel room was filled with stuffed animals, a pillow cover adorned with Disney princesses, stuffed animals, and a Spiderman boogie board. Snacks, clothes, Nintendo Switch video games and fireworks sat on a desk underneath two hotel TVs.
The officer told him it was imperative for Casteel to do his research before bringing his firearms with him on a trip. He noted even the hotel had stickers indicating firearms weren’t allowed on the property.
“Brother, I wish you didn’t bring any of this sh– with you,” the officer told him. “It kills me that your kids are here.”
During an interrogation back at the station, Casteel said he had planned to go to the beach and they needed a bag to take there. When he began making room in the bag, that’s when he first noticed the rifle and pistol were still in it. He “obviously wasn’t going to have it in the bag” with them at the beach so he took them out and placed them somewhere in the room — which is where the housekeeper found it.
The officers’ biggest concern, they told each other on the scene, was the view from Casteel’s room. It overlooked Lake Michigan and Navy Pier. It was also Fourth of July weekend.
A second batch of officers came to the room after Casteel and his family were escorted out. As they stood in the hallway, they seemed concerned with what they found in the hotel room — passing around rifle magazines to each other.
On several occasions officers said “it could’ve been a Las Vegas thing” if they didn’t get there in time — referencing the deadliest mass shooting committed by one person in the United States, in which a gunman fired from a hotel onto an outdoor concert. The final tally there: 60 people killed, 411 others wounded.
“I’m just saying, like it’s too much of a high risk. … Holy f—,” one officer says before a rifle magazine is handed to her to look at.
“That’s not weapons or ammo that you carry for protection,” that officer said later in the video.
The officers tried to search every inch of the hotel room. They lifted the mattresses, looked inside the hotel’s ice bucket, pulled back the shower curtains and even inside the washroom’s toilet.
While searching through Casteel’s book bag one last time, they found another magazine for a pistol.
At the end of the search, two officers stood at the window overlooking Lake Michigan and Navy Pier.
“It’s scary, though,” one officer said.
“This doesn’t make sense,” the other officer responded looking out the window. “Why would you come with your family to do all that?”
“It’s not like it hasn’t happened before,” the other officer replied. “It is crazy though.”
A rifle with an attached scope being recovered by Chicago police inside a downtown hotel room.Screenshot from police body-worn camera video.
MILWAUKEE — Jerry Narron, a manager for five major league seasons with the Rangers and Reds and a bench coach for 13 seasons with five teams, has been impressed watching White Sox manager Tony La Russa in action in the pair’s first season together in the dugout.
“I’ve been fortunate to be in the game for long time and a lot of years,” Narron told the Sun-Times. “And it’s been awesome working with Tony. Just watching him, how he prepares for a game and runs through a game, it’s impressive.”
A former catcher, Narron’s title is major league instructor, and while his primary duty is overseeing the catchers, he wears a variety of hats with various responsibilities on La Russa’s staff, as most of the coaches do. Bench coach Miguel Cairo, for example, isn’t La Russa’s right-hand man as some bench coaches are for the manager.
“The way he does it, we all have different jobs on the bench,” Cairo said. “That’s the way he runs it, everyone has specifics. He uses everyone in different ways.
“I’m learning so much from Tony and Jerry. All the little details and things Tony covers in a game, it’s amazing.”
La Russa, 76, is the second-winningest manager of all time behind Connie Mack. Narron says he’s seeing why first-hand.
“I’d like to tell you some things [he excels at] but I don’t want to give away any trade secrets from a Hall of Famer,” Narron said. “But he has a pretty good idea who’s going to be on the mound every night, from now till the end. It’s pretty impressive. He’s pretty sharp.”
Harrelson’s Day
Ken Harrelson watches the White Sox on TV whenever he can.
But not Saturday.
The longtime Sox broadcaster is in Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation, which will be broadcast as a television-only event on MLB Network at 11 a.m. Sunday, featuring the 2020 and 2021 award winners.
Harrelson was the 2020 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters.
The event will also be livestreamed on MLB.com and at facebook.com/baseballhall. MLB Network will re-air it at 7 p.m. and will air Hawk: The Colorful Life of Ken Harrelson at 9 p.m.
Harrelson will return to watching his first-place Sox soon.
“I’ll tell you what, I’m having fun watching these kids play,” he said.
“I’ve never seen so many injuries in my whole career. But it’s given these kids like [Andrew] Vaughn a chance to show they are for real. Vaughn has a chance to be a stud. He reminds me of me when I was playing. He goes up there ready to hit, and he’s strong.
“And all of a sudden you get Luis Robert and Eloy [Jimenez] back. It’s going to be interesting how Tony works it out. But it’s a nice problem to have.”
Jimenez soon
Jimenez’ 20-day maximum stay for his minor league rehab stint runs out Wednesday when the Sox are in Kansas City. Robert just started his this week.
“We’ve got a lot to think about,” La Russa said when asked when Jimenez might return. “Been in touch with our front office, and I know they’ve gotten reports back from [Triple-A manager Wes [Helms] about not only Eloy’s progress but Jake [Lamb] is there playing well. At this point, everything is all go forward, but I haven’t heard a deadline.”
LOS ANGELES — LeVar Burton’s quest to become the new host of “Jeopardy!” has been a confident, upbeat effort by the actor and those who rooted him on with a petition drive.
But when the day came to tape the first of his week’s share of episodes as one of a succession of guest hosts, the show’s pace and the challenge of following in Alex Trebek’s much-admired footsteps threw Burton off stride.
It made for a rough start to the five back-to-back tapings that begin airing Monday, said the veteran actor known for “Roots,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Reading Rainbow.” He turned for advice to wife Stephanie Cozart Burton, who as his makeup artist was on hand to play coach during a production break.
“Being at home, it feels like a really relaxed half-hour, but it’s not relaxed at all,” he said. “You can’t let your focus drop for a nanosecond.”
Burton has been watching and assessing the other guest hosts — in other words, his competition for the position that the Canadian-born Trebek held from 1984 to shortly before his November 2020 death from cancer at age 80. Art Fleming was the quiz’s show’s original and only other host, in the 1960s and ’70s.
Although Burton had made the show’s producers aware of his interest in being considered, his addition to the roster came after a petition backing him as the new “Jeopardy!” host caught fire (with more than 250,000 signatures to date).
He faces other openly eager would-be hosts — including NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers — but the actor, director and education and literacy advocate sees himself as a solid match for a game show that rewards knowledge.
Burton spoke with The Associated Press about his wife’s on-point advice, why diversity matters for “Jeopardy!” and what he thinks of his chances for the job expected to be filled this summer, before next season’s taping begins. Remarks have been edited for clarity and length.
Q.What was the guest-host experience like?
A. Scary. Really, really, really scary. Did I mention it was scary?
Q.How so?
A. I’ve jumped out of airplanes. I’ve walked over hot coals. This was a real challenge. First of all, because (‘Jeopardy!’) is singular in the culture and what it means to people as a part of their daily lives. And the fact that there are only two hosts who have ever stood in that spot. The pressure, the natural tendency was to want to live up to Alex’s example, his legacy. I had, like all of the hosts, one day of rehearsal and the following day I shot five episodes of ‘Jeopardy!’ I came backstage after taping the first episode and I said to Stephanie, ‘Well, how did I do?’ She said, ‘ehhh.’ Now, this is a woman who loves me enough to tell me the truth. She said it wasn’t me.
Q.How did you adjust?
A. I made it my business for the next four chances at bat to just be myself, to forget about the procedure, to forget about the process, stop trying, stop focusing on the wrong thing. You’re not going to be smooth as Alex, let go of that. But what you can bring to the table is you. So that became my point of focus. And when it did, I started having fun.
Q.Why do you consider the show and the host’s role as worthwhile?
A. I’ve been about education my entire career, and I definitely believe in the medium (of television) as one where more than simply entertaining is the order of the day. I try and use the medium in a way that brings something else to the table as often as I can. I think that ‘Roots’ and ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Reading Rainbow,’ they all have that commonality about them, that common thread of entertainment, yes — and informational, inspiring, enlightening, educational, uplifting. We can do so much more than just sell each other stuff with the medium.
Q.There’s significant diversity among the guest hosts. Would there be value in ‘Jeopardy!” having its first person of color or woman as host?
A. There’s nothing like ‘Jeopardy!’ in the cultural consciousness. It’s not that I’m trying to put it on the same level, but I liken it to Barack Obama being elected president in the United States in 2008. I personally never thought I would see that happen in my lifetime. Did his election mean that we were in a post-racial America? Obviously not at all. But it was an important step. Every time we reach that milestone of a first, it does say something about us. It also tells us something that we continue to have these moments of firsts…. that white is the normative default. The reason that white is the default is the conversation that we are trying to have in this country now, that there’s so much resistance to.
Q. How optimistic are you about being picked as host?
A. I am a preternaturally optimistic person. Look, if I don’t get this job, will it be devastating to me? No. I mean, it will hurt, I’ll be disappointed. And I’ll be fine, because what I know about my life is that which is supposed to be for me comes my way. And that which is not mine, doesn’t. The most important thing is that I went for it and my passion was rewarded. I got what I wanted, which was an opportunity to compete for the job. If I don’t get the gig, it’s not immaterial, but it certainly is secondary. I got what I was after. The chance — get me in the room.
COVID-19 cases have almost quadrupled across Illinois over the past month, nearly a quarter of counties have hit a coronavirus warning level, and more patients are filling hospital wards.
Troubling figures released Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health suggest the state’s latest coronavirus surge is showing no signs of letting up days before daily crowds of 100,000 and up descend on Grant Park for Lollapalooza.
City officials have insisted the massive festival will be safe — and Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he’ll be there himself — but University of Chicago epidemiologist Dr. Emily Landon called it “a bad idea” to move forward with the jam-packed event, especially with the more infectious Delta variant looming.
“Lolla is too crowded. That’s the bottom line,” she said, acknowledging odds are slim Mayor Lori Lightfoot would pull the plug on the lucrative attraction.
“It’s about harm reduction. You have to make the decision for yourself. These cases that happen because of Lolla aren’t likely to be a huge drag on the health care system. But will we see a bump? Yes, and Delta will probably make it higher,” Landon said.
“A bunch of people are going to get COVID at Lolla, but a lot of people are getting it from other places now, too.”
Fans attend Day 2 of Lollapalooza in Grant Park in 2019.Santiago Covarrubias/For the Sun-Times
They’re getting it across the state, especially in downstate counties with lower vaccination rates. Cases started rising a few weeks after the state fully reopened June 11.
Nearly 8,000 Illinoisans tested positive over the past week alone, an average of 1,140 new cases every day. The state was logging just 294 cases per day at the start of the month, and 238 per day in mid-June.
Since then, the average statewide case positivity rate has increased fivefold, from a pandemic low of 0.6% up to 3.3% — the highest it’s been since the first week of May. Hospitals were treating 670 coronavirus patients Thursday night, the most they’ve seen since early June.
New COVID-19 cases by day
Graphic by Jesse Howe and Caroline Hurley | Sun-Times
State public health officials on Friday singled out 25 of the state’s 102 counties for being at a coronavirus warning level. DuPage is the first Chicago-area county to land on that list in several months, due to an increase in hospital visits for COVID-like symptoms.
Most of the other warning-level counties are in central and southern Illinois, where vaccination rates are sometimes less than half the statewide rate. About 72% of all Illinoisans have gotten a shot, with about 56% fully vaccinated.
Counties marked orange are considered at a COVID-19 warning level.Illinois Department of Public Health
Even though Lollapalooza takes place in the heart of Chicago, it could have a devastating impact on far-flung areas, said Landon, who urged attendees to “assume you’ve been exposed” and get tested afterward.
“It can amplify the spread in areas with low vaccination rates. The people who go home to some south suburbs, to central Illinois, to Missouri — they’re going to set off little wildfires,” she said.
But as far as personal risk, Lollapalooza “can be done safely,” according to Dr. Vishnu Chundi, chairman of the Chicago Medical Society’s COVID-19 Task Force.
“Outdoors is the safest place you can do it,” Chundi said. “If you’re vaccinated, you’re safe. If you’re vaccinated and masked, you’re really safe. If you’re not vaccinated and not masked, you’re not safe.”
Attendees at the four-day music festival, which opens Thursday, have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test from within three days of entrance, according to Lollapalooza.
Anyone who is unvaccinated will be required to wear a mask while attending the event. And even those who got the shot are urged to consider masking up.
Chundi said the check-in process could actually result in more transmission than other parts of the fest.
“The bathrooms themselves are porta-potties, the vendors, they’re open-air — that all is basically OK. It’s getting huge crowds of people in and then getting them out of these choke points that causes concern,” he said.
Thousands of music fans arrive in Grant Park for the first day of Lollapalooza in 2019. Erin Brown/Sun-Times file
Still, Chundi said the likelihood of Lollapalooza turning into a super-spreader event “is very low.” He expects cases to keep rising in the short term no matter what.
“You’ve got 30,000 people going to Sox games, Cubs games and soon Bears games. In the U.S., we’ve decided the decision about getting vaccinated is your personal responsibility and your right. That’s getting us into some trouble,” Chundi said.
“If we could get everyone to just mandate vaccination, we could get out of this whole mess. But that needs to happen at a national level. … It’s not rocket science. Everyone knows how this works by now.”
The Blackhawks’ pursuit of a No. 1 defenseman has reportedly culminated Friday with the acquisition their No. 1 pursuit: Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones.
In a draft-day blockbuster, the Hawks acquired the 26-year-old Texan and will sign him next week to an eight-year, $76 million contract extension, per multiple reports. The trade and contract make Jones the centerpiece of the team’s defense in the post-Duncan Keith era.
To make it happen, however, Hawks general manager Stan Bowman surrendered a massive package of assets.
Adam Boqvist — the 20-year-old heralded for the past two years as the Hawks’ top defenseman-in-grooming — went to the Jackets alongside the 12th and 44th overall picks and next year’s first-round pick. The Hawks received the relatively insignificant 32nd and 165th picks along with Jones.
Bowman also committed a massive chunk of the Hawks’ future cap space — $9.5 million annually — to fit Jones.
The contract drastically reduces the Hawks’ financial flexibility not only now, when they have a relatively decent amount to work with, but also years down the line, when the situation could be far different. Jones will become the NHL’s third highest-paid defenseman.
It’s a gamble that may define Bowman’s post-Stanley Cup-era tenure as GM — if his possible involvement in the alleged 2010 sexual assault cover-up doesn’t end that tenure promptly — and determine whether or not the Hawks return to contention in the next decade.
Jones has established himself as one of the league’s most prominent defensemen over his eight seasons and counting, averaging more than 25 minutes per game each of the last three in Columbus.
He became a face of the otherwise obscure Jackets franchise after he was acquired from the Predators in 2016, finished fourth in Norris Trophy voting in 2018 and helped the Jackets win a playoff series for the first time ever in 2019.
But his results took a downward turn in 2021, both in terms of points — he tallied 28 in 56 games — and especially in his underlying numbers.
Federal prosecutors in New Yorksay a crisis manager for R&B star R. Kelly bribed a clerk in Cook County to get information about the singer’s legal trouble following the release of the Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly.”
The new allegation surfaced in a lengthy court filing in which prosecutors asked a judge permission to admit allegations of uncharged crimes — including sexual abuse of minors, unlawful imprisonment, hush-money payments and physical abuse — during Kelly’s racketeering trial in Brooklyn, set to begin next month.
The document also alleges Kelly had a member of his entourage pay an Illinois state employee $500 to create a fake ID in 1994 for Kelly’s then-protege, the singer Aaliyah Haughton, who was 15 at the time.
The feds say they want to introduce evidence of Kelly’s sexual abuse of Aaliyah to show he had motive to marry her so she could not be forced to testify against him. Aaliyah died in a plane crash in 2001.
Another claim made in the document involves Kelly’s alleged sexual abuse of boy he met at a McDonald’s in 2006, when the boy was 17. It said Kelly invited the boy to his studio, purportedly to help the boy with his musical aspirations. Kelly allegedly asked the boy what he would do to succeed in the music business and then had sexual contact with the boy.
The feds say the boy then introduced Kelly to a close male friend who was 16 or 17. They said Kelly started a sexual relationship with that person several years later.
Meanwhile, the bribery of the Cook County clerk allegedly occurred around February 2019. That’s when someone claiming to be a crisis manager for Kelly told him he had “two people” who “know a lot” and told Kelly to “figure out what you can do for them.”
Kelly allegedly replied, “What you do, man, is write something on a piece of paper and give me what I should tip the bailiff. What I should tip the, uh, the valet. Like when my uncle come up here and say‘Rob, the valet guy, he parked the car over there.’ I say, ‘So what should I give him?’ He say, ‘Well, 20, 30, 30 dollars.’ I gave him 30 dollars. So what I’m saying is I don’t know that number.”
Later during that same conversation,the crisis manager allegedly told Kelly he had paid a Cook County clerk $2,500 and obtained a “burner” phone for the clerk to help get information about Kelly’s legal trouble. Cook County prosecutors charged Kelly with aggravated criminal sexual abuse in February 2019.
“That’s done,” the crisis manager allegedly said of the payment to the clerk. “You don’t know nothing.”
Kelly allegedly replied, “Exactly.”
The feds say they recovered a recording of the conversation by searching Kelly’s phone.
Kelly’s indictment in Brooklyn alleges he led an “enterprise” made up of his managers, bodyguards, drivers and other employees who helped him recruit women and girls for illegal sex. A federal indictment filed against him in Chicago also alleges child pornography and obstruction of justice.
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